Your endocrine system is intimately connected to your nervous system through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. When chronic stress keeps your sympathetic nervous system dominant, cortisol remains elevated, which disrupts thyroid function, suppresses reproductive hormones, and creates a cascade of hormonal imbalances. Breathing exercises that restore parasympathetic tone effectively reset the HPA axis, allowing your endocrine system to find its natural equilibrium.
Coherence breathing at approximately 6 breaths per minute has been shown to optimize heart rate variability — a reliable marker of autonomic balance — which correlates directly with improved hormonal regulation. Studies in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology demonstrate that regular breathwork practice reduces salivary cortisol by 20-30%, lowers DHEA-S ratios, and improves markers of thyroid function in chronically stressed individuals.
For women experiencing hormonal fluctuations related to menstrual cycles, perimenopause, or PCOS, breathwork offers a side-effect-free tool for symptom management. The vagus nerve stimulation from slow breathing modulates the inflammatory cytokines that worsen hormonal symptoms, while the stress reduction benefits help restore the delicate feedback loops that govern reproductive hormone production.