Under stress, men and women have different brain activation patterns. Stress causes men and women to respond differently to risky decision making, with men charging ahead for small rewards and women taking their time, according to a new study in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, published by Oxford University Press on June 4^th, 2011.

After being subjected to stress, men appeared to be more motivated to act quickly while women slow down.

According to the study, when men are under stress, playing a risk-taking game stimulated areas in the brain that are activated when one gets a reward or satisfies an addiction. The same experiment found diminished brain activity for women in the same areas when they were stressed. It appears women do not feel the drive to get a reward as much under stress. So under stress men are risk-takers, while women are risk-adverse.

This compelling information has many ramifications when it comes to making life decisions with a partner or spouse on matters of importance to the wellbeing of the partnership.

While there might be advantages to both stress responses, especially in areas with the need to weigh short-term gain, such as the stock market, and long-term benefits, such as health decisions or retirement planning, there are many implications for daily life and relationships.

For example, it would not be wise for a man to invest the couple’s life savings on the stock market if he is under duress. Similarly a woman with a life-threatening illness might have to speed up her decision-making process if the disease is progressing rapidly with time.

In the study participants were given a task of filling up a computer-simulated balloon with as much air as possible without popping the balloon.

Subjects earned from $4 to $45 based on their performance, with the men earning much more cash under stress.

Although men performed this task better, the more important conclusion may be that important decisions made under stress should include input from both genders. It might be better to have more gender diversity on important decision because men and women offer differing perspectives. Being more cautious and taking the time to make a decision will often lead to the right choice.

Men and women faced with tough decisions might improve their communication by waiting until a stressful situation has passed because in the absence of stress their behaviour and brain activation is more compatible.

According to lead author on the study Nichole Lighthall, "Men and women appear to think more similarly when they are not stressed. Each party in a couple needs to be aware of the way they are biased in their decisions especially when under stress."

Last year Lighthall authored a study in the journal PLoS One that showed that men under stress may be more likely to take risks, correlating to such real-life behavior as gambling, smoking, unsafe sex and illegal drug use.

Gender differences in brain structure and response to environmental stimuli mean that men and women respond to the world from a very different world-view. Other areas of gender differentiation come into play in the bedroom, social behaviour, attitudes to work and health and in the area of parenting.

In our Essence of Woman Relationships Workshop we explore how to navigate the rocky waters of gender difference so that you can enjoy complementary harmony in your relationship in the way that Nature intended.

If you are interested in learning more about how gender differences shape your relationship and how by understanding them you can bring compatibility into your sexual life, your workplace, your parenting and your extended family life in concert with your partner, click here to go to our Spirit of Woman website where you can view the details of our July 30th and 31st workshop and to book online. Simply scroll down to the Essence of Relationships workshop and you can click through to book.

If you find that you view your spouse or partner as if you are looking in the mirror, expecting the same responses and behaviours from him as you have,  and yet somehow  he 'lets you down every time', then this workshop will delight, comfort, empower and lift you and your your relationship up to where it belongs – to harmony, joy, balance and inner peace.

You can then return here to read more blogs about how gender differences can either make our lives hell or take us to heaven……..

When women artificially control their hormones and their fertility they are affecting more than just bodily processes. For example, taking the contraceptive pill can result in physical side-effects such as weight gain, as well as personality changes including depression. When a woman is on the pill it is so much more difficult for her to stay in touch with the truth of her own inner being.

The healthier and more attuned to her feminine core, the more readily a woman will naturally conceive a healthy child. Being in touch with her body also assists her to practice safe and natural contraception so that she consciously makes a choice about when to start a family.

The need for Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) is an indication of a compromised reproductive system. Babies conceived in this way are being cheated of the right to be born fully healthy and functioning optimally, because by forcing reproduction when the body is not ready, we create babies that are less healthy than they can be if conceived naturally. Women in touch with their feminine intelligence can actively promote reproductive health and happy, healthy off-spring through maintaining a healthy body and mind.

When a woman is true to her essential being and embraces her natural femininity she steps into her power and to that of the ancient female lineage that is as deep as time itself. From this position she effectively shapes the world around her, and that of the generations to come. 

if you would like to understand how to embrace your natural femininity, you may be interested in attending some of our Spirit of Woman workshops. Here you will learn how flower essences made from the purity of nature can help you step into your power as a woman. To view our 2011 workshop schedule, click here.

We hear so much about the incoming Divine Feminine energies but what does this mean for contemporary women from all walks of life, and in the various stages of womanhood?

The “Divine Feminine”, “Return of the Feminine”, the Sacred Feminine ” are all metaphors for the return to higher consciousness. We seek balance between the male and female aspects of the Self and when we find that balance we come into our power. The return of the feminine, is not about women ruling society; that would create imbalance. It is about the return to nature, to masculine/feminine aspects in harmony, yin and yang re-united so both hemispheres of the brain are working in balance leading to higher levels of consciousness.

When we take an overview of the changes taking place on a cultural level right across the globe we can begin to see that there is a subtle energy shift, in wake of the GFC, that calls for a slow-down of the galloping pace of life and a move towards co-operative rather than competitive relationships at home, in the business world and in the community.

This is an expression of the Divine Feminine whose values include co-operation, net-working, process-orientated, conservation, and support. The values we have been operating under are competitive, hierarchical, linear, expansion, and dog-eat-dog. The incoming Divine Feminine is ushering in a change in the way that society functions as well as a shift in the way that women perceive themselves and men relate to them.

Women are being called on to acknowledge these powerful energies within themselves and align with the vital primary forces of life that drive both their physical functioning and their psychology.

When a woman is empowered through this alignment she becomes exactly what nature intended her to be: sexy, articulate, intuitive, playful, feeling and healing. As the bearer of children, she carries the baton of life force energy through to the next generation. And because she is compelled to seek compassionate quality connection with those in her intimate circle, she is the connector, creating and re-creating the web of life that sustains us all. Her primary drive is to conserve, nurture maintain and support. With the planet teetering at the brink of exhaustion, it is the feminine principle that is now needed to redress the imbalance and heal.

When, as a woman, you tune into your female biological underpinning, you will learn how to listen to the whisperings of your own truth. You will then be open to the immense source of power that comes from acknowledging and living in alignment with your feminine core.

When, as a man, you understand the essential nature of the woman in your life, you will more easily dovetail into the soft undulations of the feminine psyche whilst retaining, upholding and engaging your own potent masculine spirit.

Introducing ……….. Blue Mink

This is one of the exciting NEW flower essences that is part of my Spirit of Woman Australian Flower Essences range. The range will be launched at the Endeavour College

on 21st June, 2009. For details and to register for an invitation click here

Blue Mink
Ageratum Houstonianum

Description:
Native to tropical Mexico, this member of the Asteraceae or Compositae family (which contains daises, sunflowers and asters) is a popular and easily grown annual that has escaped cultivated gardens and now flourishes as a classified weed.
It is fully established in Australia and is commonly known here as Blue Mink or Blue Top.
It has low sheen, heart-shaped leaves that are slightly furry, with showy blue, lavender and mauve-pink fluffy, soft flower-heads.
Medicinally, it is classed as an anodyne – an agent that soothes, comforts or relaxes. The juice of the plant is used externally to treat cuts and wounds.
An ornamental plant, the flowers are very attractive to butterflies that can be seen dancing around their soft, blue fluffy flower-heads in the sunshine.
Doctrine of signatures:
The soft, puffy appearance of this attractive little flower calls out to be touched. It gives the impression that it could be used to stroke the skin soothingly.
It has heart-shaped leaves that are soft, furry and pleasing to touch.
Its soft blue, lavender and pink colours are classically feminine and evoke a sense of tenderness.
Medicinally, it is classed as an anodyne, which is used to relax and soothe, so it carries the quality of softening the hard lines of tension and stress that grip and tauten the body.
Its use in treating cuts and wounds on the skin suggests a strong healing quality for emotional wounds that have penetrated deeply through the protective barrier of the aura which, when intact and healthy, protects the skin and keeps us feeling safe and relaxed.
It loves to grow in the filtered sun, evoking the image of lying in a relaxed state, soaking up gentle warmth and feeling no anxiety, stress, tension, pressure or sense of threat.
It likes to be protected from harsh cold windy conditions, signifying the sense of wanting to be kept safe from the outside world.
Originally a cultivar that has escaped and now roams free across the landscape, it suggests the feeling of freedom that women experience when they are liberated enough to relax and enjoy their sensuality and sexuality.
This soft and attractive little flower evokes a feeling of wanting to touch it. It resonates with women because of its tactile softness and feminine colours. It is particularly appropriate for women in the area of sexual expression and intimacy where stress is an ongoing factor in their busy lives.
Stress affects women differently to men, particularly in the areas of sex and intimacy.
The stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline boost the inflow of testosterone into a male’s bloodstream causing him to want to have sex. In fact, sexual connection relieves a man’s stress by draining the build-up of tension from his body leaving him feeling relaxed and soothed and brimming with oxytocin, the hormone that fosters connection and love of intimacy. A sexually satisfied man will sleep easy after a love-making session with his partner, feeling secure and comfortable.
But the hormonal drivers work differently in a woman’s body. They cause a distinct physical and emotional adverse response to sexual advances from her partner. Cortisol and adrenaline dampen down the oxytocin inflow into a woman’s body so that she does not respond to touch in the way that she normally would when relaxed. They also diminish the production of the neuro-chemical dopamine, which triggers her desire for pleasure.
So stress acts to restrict and harden a woman to the sexual advances of her partner.
In fact, often her stress is increased when he reaches for her because she feels so stretched already, and the last thing on her mind is sex when all she wants to do is sleep! Blue Mink relaxes and soothes, paving the way to being open to physical contact.
One of the old-fashioned advices that came to me from my grandmother was, if you want a happy marriage and you can’t ‘make it’, then fake it!
The women’s liberation movement looked sternly down its nose at this old adage as it seemed to be suggesting that a woman is acting against her best interests by giving in to her husband’s request for sex when she doesn’t really want it.
The biological reality is that, for women, all the normal triggers for sexual desire do shut down when she is stressed, making sex seem like a chore rather than a pleasure.
But the secret is that there is truth in what our grandmothers were saying.
Research demonstrates that even though we may not be open to sex at the outset, by going ahead and engaging sexually, the hormones of sexual pleasure, relaxation and satisfaction start to flow once sex begins.
Below conscious level, the ‘pleasure and connection’ hormones, stimulated by the act of sex, switch on the body’s relaxation response, causing the body-mind to unwind naturally.
The outcome is deep healing sleep and relief from the tension burden that could otherwise persist for days and even weeks, if not cleared.
Stress and tension generate an unhealthy tightening of the body musculature and debilitation of the nervous system, causing both physical and emotional pain and reduced function.
Physical symptoms can include headaches, PMT, tiredness, palpitations, acne and digestive dysfunction. Blue Mink assists with these stress-induced conditions, assisting the Body-Mind to relax and release.
Emotional repercussions can range from overwhelm, anxiety, irritability and irrational anger and striking out, to feelings of isolation, separation and a desire to escape from the world. Use Blue Mink first then follow up with another essence, appropriate to the specific emotional state.
In the long-term, chronic stress is the precursor to many debilitating disease states.
Healing Challenges:
For stress.
For dislike of intimate touch.
For feeling stressed by sexual advances from a partner.
For dislike of partner and feelings of mistrust.
For being closed off and hard-edged to children, family or friends.
For deep emotional pain from a past relationship.
For skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, neuro-dermatitis, superficial wounds and scratches.
Healing Outcomes:
Relieves stress and tension.
Opens a stressed woman to the comfort and protective energy of her partner.
Softens the hard lines of tension through gentle touch of the skin, in a non-sexual way.
Restores a sense of connection and intimacy, particularly when stressed.
Heals long-held emotional heart wounds from the past.
Has a soothing healing effect on the skin
Soothes a ruffled or torn aura.
For psoriasis, neuro-dermatitis, eczema, especially when worse with emotional stress.

To find out more about this exciting new range of flower essences specifically for women, click here

 Optimum female health depends on staying warm, so Winter is the season to rug up, making sure that your body,

especially feet and legs, is always toasty. This keeps the all-important blood supply to the pelvis circulating

freely, ensuring that periods are painless and trouble-free.

More seriously, chronic cold affects a woman’s fertility, making pelvic circulation so sluggish that there is not enough

free-flowing blood in circulation to nourish a developing baby in the uterus. This can result in problems as the

baby grows in the womb when crucial developmental stages are taking place, leading to health problems after birth. 

Moreover, sluggish pelvic blood circulation restricts free-flow of blood to the genitals, so necessary during intercourse

for a pleasurable and complete climax.

So many good reasons why it is  so important to keep the pelvis, legs and feet warm!

Tips:

• Wear slippers on hard, cold floors.
• Wear closed shoes to work on cool days, even if it means taking them off and replacing them with strappy shoes once when you get to work.
• Wear tights or leggings that protect your legs.
• Wear a long, warm singlet or camisole that covers your butt.
• Take a hot water bottle to bed and lay in at the small of your back. It will warm your whole body. 

Chronic cold in the pelvis is one of the underlying cause of a range of gynaecological problems. It comes from failing to maintain easy, warm circulation in the pelvis and is usually the result of years of neglect in keeping warm.

Apart from the above more serious health outcomes, ultimately it will result in the appearance of unsightly spider-veins at the ankles and the legs, particularly the lower legs. These are irreversible.

Keeping warm all over is very much to be recommended for super-health.

A general tip is to always wear enough clothes to keep hands and feet warm – cold consumes valuable body energy that otherwise maintains the health of the functional organ systems, particularly the digestive system.

At the bottom line, one of the major differences between a dead body and a live one is that the live one is warm!

The colder we are, the more our body systems begin to hypo-function (become under-active and inefficient).

A typical example is a hypo-functioning thyroid – the gland that governs the transformation of food into useable energy. An under-active thyroid causes tiredness, bloating, lower basal body temperature and can lead to a mild form of depression.

Although our Winters are not very cold here in Brisbane, that does not mean that we mustn’t strive to maintain our body warmth. Your body is your the barometer to health – if you feel cold, then rug up.

Click here to read about how you can protect you and your loved ones from Swine Flu. 

Female and male differences in physiology, psychology, emotional responses, values and perceptions mean that in any heterosexual relationship the two parties that are relating to one another are as alike as chalk and cheese. In fact, they might as well be from different planets.

Differing circulating hormones and inflows of neuro-chemicals have shaped the brains and bodies of men and women from the time they were in the womb, resulting in two totally unique genderised expressions of the human being.  When women and men relate in the confined space of a relationship these differences always come to the fore, shattering the commonly held romanticised view of a love match that will continue forever.

Sex is one of the stumbling blocks. In my last blog I described how the effects of testosterone on males and oestrogen and progesterone on females drives sexual desire and readiness in vastly different ways.  So much so that it is often a wonder that men and women experience any permanence in relationships at all.

After the initial honeymoon period where bucketfuls of certain hormones drive a passionate sexual frenzy for both of them, couples generally experience the slow-down of desire that signals that they have moved into the ‘settled’ phase of the relationship. It is at this stage that the divergence between the sexes is most obvious.

For the man, what heralds this shift is a need for regular sex with a ready availability (ever-ready would be more appropriate) but not so frequent. Also characteristic for males is a greater or lesser degree of possessiveness that is mediated by the arrival in his brain of male-specific ‘bonding’ hormones.

For the woman driven by other, more female-specific hormones that are equally as potent, there is a move into a more  ‘nonchalent’ phase of relating where she becomes less eager for sex and less ready to turn herself inside out to please her man. She goes into a kind of ‘taking for granted’ stage.

Many people do not understand this shift and, whether they be male or female, they often question whether the ‘love fairy’ has ceased sprinkling stardust down on their particular union meaning that they have ‘fallen out of love’

When both females and males understand the biological process that is occurring here, that is, the couple have shifted naturally to a phase in their relating that can now accommodate children, they can go with the shift and learn new behaviours that will ensure the ongoing status of the relationship.

Here are some tips on how to survive the shift:

1. Recognise that the changes, whether they appear subtly or with a bang, are not personal. That means:

For him – she is not refusing your advances because she is tired of you but rather because of a genuine physiological change in the function of her body that is preparing her (subconsciously) for becoming pregnant. She needs to be able to divert her attention and love to the newborn for its survival.

For her – he is not becoming possessive of you because he doesn’t trust you, but rather because his biology is directing him to become protective of you (subconsciously) in anticipation of you being the mother of his children. He is biologically wired to protect his family.

2. Learn how to foster the feelings of connection between you, but in different ways:

For him – try to understand that a woman needs to feel connected and that the more she feels that bond the more readily she will desire your body! Connect to her through listening to her. She needs to talk to feel connected. Touch her often, not sexually, but affectionally. That will kindle her desire. Recognise that she needs a sense of security – it is part of her biological inscription, so hear her fears about money and having a home, without criticism. Soothe her fears with an air of certainty. Women like men to love them unquestioningly and to let them run the show. If you can do that she will follow you anywhere.

For her – try to understand that a man doesn’t connect as easily as a woman – he is not wired as thoroughly for connection. Don’t talk him into a corner. He doesn’t want to hear about his failings in the relationship or what he has or hasn’t done to make the household run smoothly. He hears that as criticism that makes him feel uneasy and inadequate. He would rather connect through sex -touch him affectionally and sexually as often as possible. That keeps his fire stoked and his love barometer high. Then he will cooperate just to get more of the same! And don’t expect him to get on with your relatives or friends the way that you get on with his. Many men feel uncomfortable in forced social settings because it makes them feel that they have to put on a show. If that’s your bag, you take care of that side of things recognising again that it isn’t personal, just the way his brain is wired. Men like their women to be sexy, playful and caring. If you can manage that you’ll have him eating out of your hand.

Are you wondering what you have let yourself in for as your relationship moves out of the intense ‘honeymoon’ stage to a settled, calmer and more ‘long-term’ phase? Have you discovered that he is checking your text messages, telling you what to wear, or restricting your movements, or all of these?

All the above are warning signs that a communication breakdown has occurred during a normal shift in the natural progression of the relationship that neither party has been able to recognise. This shift occurs in every relationship as the initial intensity of the ‘first bloom of love’ is replaced by a calmer, more peaceful phase, mediated by differences in hormonal levels responsible for driving the attraction between the sexes.

Belle first came to see me because she felt sad that she and Harry must be falling out of love.

“At first, we used to make love at every opportunity.” she said, “Every day it was exciting to come home from work and I looked forward to spending every spare minute with him.”

She went on, “But now when I get home from work I am tired and often don’t want sex. And when I try to talk to him about getting married, starting a family and saving for our own place, he just seems to be more interested in having sex”

She started to get fired up. “He tells me that because I am not as interested in him any more in that way that I must have a boyfriend! Honestly,” she said scornfully, “as if I have time for anyone else. I’m so busy working and doing things for us, like cooking and keeping the place clean, that I don’t have time for anyone else, even my family and friends! I’m starting to feel really ‘flat’ about this relationship” She had started to wonder if Harry was really the right man for her.

Belle is suffering from a hormonal shift that has effectively damped down her sexual intensity and is typical of a phase-shift in her new relationship. Harry too, is experiencing a hormonal swing, but his does not result in a dampening down of his sexuality. In fact what he experiences is more of a sense that sex should be now available at any time, along with a need to protect and possess his woman!

And the trouble is – neither of them can recognise that the way they are feeling is a direct result of an in-built strategy that nature designed into their biology to ensure that the relationship will result in the patter of little feet. The drive to procreate is a powerful instinct compelled, in both males and females, by a cascade of gender-specific hormones. But more than anything, both of them are likely to think that the other is thinking the same way that they do.

So, in Harry’s case, for example, he mistakenly thinks that because Belle isn’t as ready for sex as he is at the drop of a hat, then it must be because she no longer desires or loves him. On the other hand Belle can’t fathom why Harry isn’t as enthusiastic as she is to start a family and mistakenly sees his wanting sex ‘all the time’ as an indication that he no longer loves her in the way he used to but just uses her for his own selfish ends.

When they first fell in love both Belle and Harry began to exhibit some of the most irrational behaviours known to both men and women when they fell head-over-heels in love. Their brains were under the influence of chemicals whose intense effects can only match those of a drug addict craving the next fix. The pleasure-reward systems of the brain are fully turned on while the worrying and critical thinking circuitry is turned way down. In fact, some people can become so addicted to the state of being ‘in love’  that they continually abandon a new relationship as it shifts gear from the ecstatic state to the calmer, more sedate coupling phase. These people typically engage in serial relationships, as they are never able to hang in there for the long haul! Both women and men can suffer from this fixation of being perpetually ‘in love’ and hurt a lot of people along the way.

Belle’s brain was bombarded by the neuro-chemicals oxytocin, known as the ‘love hormone’, dopamine, which stimulates the reward-pleasure centres of the brain, along with liberal amounts of testosterone which stirred up her sexual fires. Oestrogen and progesterone intensify these responses also. Belle’s brain was being motivated to attach to her new love, and every cell in her body responds ecstatically to the hormonal soup that causes her to thrill at his every touch, look and whispered word.

Harry’s fevered brain too, is being driven to distraction by the heady hormonal and neuro-chemical mix of dopamine, oxytocin and testosterone, but in different proportions than Belle. Nonetheless his passions are fired to an intensity that causes the two to feed off one another, in a feast of sensual delight.

This cornucopia of delight however has a use-by date embedded into the biology of both Belle and Harry, but via gender-specific pathways and with different effects. The shift is from the romantic, passionate state of being ‘in love’ to the more sedate ‘mated mind’, orchestrated by a change in the levels of neuro-chemicals and hormones. This transition specifically results in the couple moving from a state of inwardly-turned intensity to a more casual, relaxed acceptance of the bonded relationship. They are now an established couple! And what’s more the next step is to create a family.

Belle’s dopamine levels decrease, which means that she experiences a lessening of the intensity of pleasure when she and Harry make love, but her oxytocin (the connecting hormone) levels increase. This means that she feels more deeply bonded to Harry and a greater sense of ‘belonging’ within the relationship. She settles in and enjoys a sense of security that is a prerequisite to the feeling that she can now begin a family. Women need to be safe for their reproductive processes to kick in. So she can now begin to take the relationship a little more casually as she is feeling confident that ‘she has found her man’.

Harry’s behaviour on the other hand is being moulded by a different set of brain chemicals. Males have many more brain receptors for vasopressin while women have many more for oxytocin. Successful bonding for a male requires both these neuro-hormones. The vasopressin acts on the male to give him a laser-like focus on his beloved by boosting his energy, aggression and attention. It enables him to develop a protective and possessive tracking capacity to ensure that his partner is solely his and no longer ‘open slather’ for any other male. While the oxytocin, in far less quantity than in females yet nonetheless necessary, causes him to feel relaxed, fearless, bonded and contented with his partner in the same way that it does with her.

Oxytocin is stimulated in both males and females by touch and closeness, but because males have less oxytocin receptors than females they need to be touched up to three times more frequently than females to maintain the same level of oxytocin.

So getting back to Belle and Harry, when she comes home tired and falls into bed to sleep and because she is feeling flat about the relationship anyway, she is less likely to reach out and touch Harry. Because there is no oxytocin being stimulated in Harry by her closeness he feels starved of loving affection and deduces, wrongly, that Belle must be interested in somebody else, otherwise how is her need for touch and intimacy being satisfied? The vasopressin dominates (remember he has plenty of those receptors) and he becomes aggressive, accusing her of having an affair.

Belle just wants to feel safe and comfortable, so when Harry falsely accuses her she becomes resentful because her whole being has been actually feeling so bonded with him that she has even been dreaming about the wonderful babies they would make together and planning how they could financially manage as a family with a reduced income. Suddenly he appears to turn on her and she can’t understand why he is being so stupid.

Need I go any further? It’s a bit like a catch-22. The more he accuses her, the more she pulls away, and the more aggressive he becomes. She goes into resentment and then fear because she believes that she has chosen an abusive man to father her children. Fear makes her pull away even further and the dream begins to disintegrate for both of them.

The key to this dilemma is to understand what is going on, not only physically but emotionally and mentally, because the two are inextricably linked. Neurochemicals and hormones are powerful determiners of behavioural and emotional response. In females and males the quantity and type of these potent substances varies greatly, leading to a wide divergence in the way that men and women perceive the same event. Understanding these differences can help us to navigate our intimate relationships with compassion and empathy.