Is Your PMS a Curse or a Message From Your Body?

For too many women, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is treated like a curse they have no choice but to endure—or silence with medication. It's not uncommon to see ads encouraging women to suppress their menstrual cycles altogether or to reach for antidepressants as if monthly discomfort were simply a chemical error.

But what if PMS wasn’t just a symptom to be suppressed?
What if it was a message from your body, trying to tell you something deeper?

Why So Many Women Feel Disconnected From Their Cycles

In over 30 years of working with women, I’ve noticed something both concerning and revealing: very few come to therapy wanting to understand their physical symptoms. Most are there for anxiety, stress, or relationship issues. But their PMS, irregular cycles, or period pain are often left unexamined—brushed aside as “normal” or “genetic.”

Rarely do they ask the question:

What is my body trying to say through these symptoms?

Many women have been taught to believe the only solutions are medication, hormonal birth control, or simply learning to cope. But at what cost? And with what long-term effects?

There’s a Rising Shift—And It Matters

Thankfully, a growing number of women are beginning to question this model. They’re seeking natural PMS relief through vitamins, homeopathy, nutrition, and holistic therapies. These women are ready to see themselves as more than a collection of symptoms. They’re beginning to listen inward.

And they’re tired of being told to “just take a pill and get over it.”

The Historical Roots of Dismissing Women’s Pain

Let’s take a moment to reflect on something: the word hysterical comes from hystera, the Greek word for uterus. For centuries, women’s emotional and physical experiences were pathologized and dismissed—often labeled as irrational, dramatic, or hormonal.

When a man is assertive, he’s respected.
When a woman is assertive, she’s often labeled “too much.”

It’s no surprise that this double standard has influenced how we view our bodies and respond to them.

Reclaiming the Power of the Mind, Body Connection

In truth, your body is always speaking. The question is—have you learned how to listen?

Leaders in holistic health like Dr. Joan Borysenko, Caroline Myss, Dr. Gladys McGarey, and Dr. Deepak Chopra all affirm that healing begins with understanding the connection between emotion, thought, and physical health.

Dr. Chopra says it plainly:

“Every emotion creates a biochemical reaction in the body.”

Our stress, trauma, and suppressed truths live not only in our minds but in our cells. And if those emotions go unacknowledged, our bodies will find ways to bring them forward—often through pain or imbalance.

You Are Not Broken, You’re Just Not Being Heard

PMS doesn’t mean you’re weak.
A painful period doesn’t mean your body is betraying you.
It may mean your body is asking you to slow down, feel more deeply, or address an emotional wound that’s been pushed aside.

In my work, I’ve seen it again and again:
Women who begin listening to their bodies find that their symptoms start to shift. Not overnight, and not without effort—but with compassion, awareness, and curiosity.

There Is Wisdom in Your Symptoms

You are not a machine. You are a whole, complex, spiritual being having a human experience, as Dr. Wayne Dyer so wisely reminds us.

There’s no shame in using medication when it’s truly needed. But we must also reclaim our birthright to listen to ourselves deeply and without judgment.

You have an inner healer.
She may be quiet. She may be buried under years of societal messaging. But she is still there. And she’s waiting for your invitation.

The Next Step: A Journey Inward

If you’ve been feeling out of sync with your body…
If you’ve been told your symptoms are “just part of being a woman”…
If you’ve wondered whether your PMS might actually be trying to tell you something…

You’re not alone. And there is another way.

In my book, My Beauty & My Beast, I explore the deeply personal, often hidden stories behind women’s physical symptoms and the transformative healing that happens when we begin listening.