Jin Shin Jyutsu can balance our hormones by helping us harmonise the energy in our body. Placing the hands on specific areas of the body encourages relaxation, reduces stress, and supports the endocrine system, which produces hormones.
Key Highlights
- Hormones are chemical messengers produced by the endocrine system
- Hormones influence many body functions including energy, sleep, mood, metabolism, and reproduction
- Hormonal changes can affect wellbeing at many stages of life, including during menopause
- The hypothalamus connects the nervous system and endocrine system, linking stress, emotions, and hormones
- Stress and lifestyle changes can affect hormonal balance
- Jin Shin Jyutsu self-help can calm the nervous system and support the endocrine system
- The Main Central flow is a powerful Jin Shin Jyutsu practice for supporting overall balance
- An easy Jin Shin Jyutsu sequence demonstrated in the video and explained in this article can help support hormonal harmony
Why You May Need to Balance Hormones
Hormones influence almost every system in the body. When they shift, you can feel it.
Many people start thinking about hormones during menopause or perimenopause. But hormonal imbalance can happen at many stages of life.
Common signs include:
- fatigue
- mood swings
- sleep problems
- weight changes
- irregular cycles
- anxiety or feeling overwhelmed
Stress, lifestyle changes, ageing, and illness can all affect the endocrine system.
The good news is that Jin Shin Jyutsu can help support the hormones with some easy self-help.
Video: Balance Hormones with Jin Shin Jyutsu
In the video I show an easy Jin Shin Jyutsu exercise that can help harmonise hormones and support the endocrine system. You can practise it anywhere and it only takes a few minutes.
What Are Hormones Anyway?
The endocrine system is a group of glands that produce and release hormones.
Hormones are chemical messengers. They travel through the bloodstream and send signals to cells in different parts of the body.
They influence many important functions, including:
- breathing
- how the body uses energy (our metabolism)
- reproduction
- movement
- growth and development
- our senses (seeing, hearing, taste, smell and touch)
It is interesting to compare how hormones work with how the nervous system works.
When the nervous system sends a message, it arrives quickly. The response is usually fast and direct.
The endocrine system works more slowly. When the glands of the endocrine system release hormones, they travel through the bloodstream. They interact with cells that have the right receptors.
Research suggests that this process is not always exact. Hormones circulate through the body and interact with cells when they “bump into” the right receptors. So in a way, it is quite remarkable that this system works as well as it does.
The main endocrine glands include:
- pineal and pituitary glands
- hypothalamus (see additional note)
- thyroid and parathyroid glands
- adrenal glands
- pancreas
- ovaries
- testes
Hormones are also produced in other parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys, and stomach.
Additional Note: Interestingly, an important part of this system is the hypothalamus, a small region of the brain that acts as a bridge between the nervous system and the endocrine system. It communicates with the pituitary gland and helps regulate the release of hormones throughout the body. Because the hypothalamus connects the nervous system and the endocrine system, it is also one of the key places where stress, emotions, and hormones interact. This helps explain why calming the nervous system can indirectly support hormonal balance.
A Powerful Jin Shin Jyutsu Exercise for the Endocrine System
One of the most helpful Jin Shin Jyutsu practices for the hormones is the Main Central exercise. This sequence supports the body’s main source of energy and therefore, it helps harmonise our entire being.
You can use it at any time when you feel ‘out of sorts’, or when there is a lack of enthusiasm for life, or fatigue. Main Central helps us with:
- the endocrine system
- hormonal balance
- emotional stability
- overall vitality
It is a wonderful daily practice. Check out the full exercise by going to : Jin Shin Jyutsu Main Central For Total Harmony.
Jin Shin Jyutsu Exercise for the Hormones
In this self-help practice, we keep one hand on the shoulder and neck using the following two Safety Energy Locks: 11 and 12. Mary Burmeister says that ‘SEL 11 is located in the center of all Safety Energy Locks’. This means that it is significant for the ‘total balance of the body’. Moreover, it is a good all around flow to do to ‘release tension and stress from the shoulders which brings peace and harmony from head to toes and toes to head.’
Left side shown
Step 1
Place your left hand over your left shoulder, so the hand rests partly on the shoulder and partly on the side of the neck at SEL 11 and SEL 12. Place your right hand on the left upper arm at Hi 19.
Step 2
Keep your left hand on the shoulder and neck.
Move your right hand to the base of the left thumb, at SEL 18.
Step 3
Keep the left hand where it is.
Place your right hand on the right cheekbone, at SEL 21.
Step 4
Keep the left hand where it is.
Move your right hand to the right side of the forehead, at SEL 20.
You can use a cushion at any point as a comfortable buffer between your arms and your body.
Step 5
Keep the left hand where it is.
Place your right hand on the left last rib, at SEL 14.
Rest the whole hand comfortably on the rib area.
Step 6
Keep the left hand where it is.
Move your right hand to the right groin, at SEL 15.
Feel the benefits of a regular Jin Shin Jyutsu practice!
If you’d like to practice Jin Shin Jyutsu on a regular basis, I offer weekly group sessions where we get together from all over the world to practice different sequences or flows. They’re online, deeply supportive, surprisingly powerful, and a lot of fun.
You don’t have to be experienced in Jin Shin Jyutsu to join or benefit from this group practice.
For more info see Weekly Group Practice.