Hormones and Balance: Why Women Feel More Unsteady at Certain Times
When Balance Feels “Off” for No Clear Reason
Some days you feel planted, steady, certain in your body. Other days, it’s as if the ground shifts a little beneath you — a wobble in a movement you usually do without thinking, a moment of dizziness when you stand, a strange clumsiness walking up the stairs. Many women describe this experience over and over, and it often arrives in patterns that feel mysterious until you begin paying attention.
You’re not imagining it. Hormones influence balance in ways far deeper than most people realize. Understanding these changes isn’t about blaming your hormones, but about learning how to work with your body’s internal rhythms instead of feeling betrayed by them.
How Balance Really Works — and Why Hormones Matter
Balance is not a single skill. It’s a conversation between three systems:
the vestibular system in the inner ear,
proprioception — your body’s ability to sense itself in space,
and your vision.
Your brain integrates all three. Hormones influence every one of these pathways: how your tissues respond to load, how your inner ear handles fluid changes, how your nervous system processes stress, how quickly muscles activate, and even how focused or grounded you feel.
When hormone levels shift — whether across the month or across life stages — the way your body organizes itself shifts too.
The Menstrual Cycle and Why Some Days Feel Wobblier
Hormonal changes across the menstrual cycle influence coordination, energy, and tissue dynamics in ways that directly affect balance.
In the follicular phase, when estrogen rises after your period, many women feel more coordinated and energetic.
Around ovulation, reaction time often improves, and balance feels easier.
But in the late luteal phase (PMS) everything tends to soften or slow. Fluid retention can subtly affect the inner ear. Fatigue lowers reaction speed. Mood changes shift posture and breathing. Attention becomes more scattered.
By the time menstruation begins, pelvic discomfort or low-back tension can change the way you stand, walk, and stabilize. Even small changes in pelvic mechanics influence balance.
These aren’t flaws. They’re patterns — and knowing them gives you more control.
PMS, Mood, and the Nervous System’s Influence on Stability
Emotional and nervous-system changes during PMS have physical consequences.
Fluctuations in serotonin and GABA can increase irritability or anxiety. A more reactive nervous system naturally moves differently: shoulders lift, breathing becomes shallow, the jaw stiffens.
When the body feels guarded, movement becomes guarded too. You may hold your breath when balancing, tense your hips, or grip the floor with your toes. These protective responses reduce the smoothness of movement and make stability harder and more draining.
Small nervous-system regulation practices — slow exhalations, grounding through the feet, gentle weight shifting — can ease this significantly.
Perimenopause, Menopause, and Why the Rules Suddenly Change
Perimenopause introduces unpredictability: estrogen and progesterone can spike and drop quickly. Sleep becomes lighter. Recovery slows. Many women describe sudden dizziness, unexpected clumsiness, or a noticeable shift in stability during midlife.
Lower estrogen affects collagen and connective tissue, making joints feel stiffer or less supported. The vestibular system may become more reactive. If you’re waking up frequently at night, your sensory systems don’t get the reset they need for coordination.
These changes aren’t a decline — they’re an evolution. But they do require new strategies and a movement practice that respects the realities of a shifting physiology.
Pelvic Stability: The Central Hub of Balance
The pelvis is one of the most influential structures in the entire balance chain. The deep core, pelvic floor, and deep hip muscles together determine how stable you feel from moment to moment.
Hormonal changes influence these tissues throughout life.
Menstrual cramps can alter gait and posture.
Pregnancy and postpartum stretch and stress the pelvic floor.
Perimenopause affects tissue integrity and load tolerance.
Even if you’ve never been pregnant, hormonal fluctuations alone can impact pelvic stability.
Signs of reduced pelvic stability include:
feeling wobbly on one leg,
discomfort around the hips or low back during walking,
needing to brace or hold your breath to feel steady,
sensing that one side “works harder” than the other.
These aren’t weaknesses — they’re invitations.
Cortisol, Sleep, and How Stress Quietly Disrupts Your Balance
Cortisol is your wake-up hormone — high in the morning, lower at night. But chronic stress, hormonal shifts, and sleep disruption flatten this rhythm.
When cortisol is too high at night, sleep becomes shallow. When it’s too low in the morning, your brain feels slow to organize movement. Add nighttime waking from perimenopause or PMS, and the body’s ability to coordinate smooth motion drops even more.
This is why poor sleep can make you feel unsteady the next day. The nervous system performs worse when tired or overstimulated.
Gentle morning mobility, breathwork, and light exposure can help re-establish rhythm. Evening downshifts — slow stretching, low lighting, intentional exhalations — support your system when hormones make sleep tricky.
Practical Ways to Feel More Stable Through Hormonal Ups and Downs
The most powerful step is simply noticing patterns — steadiness, dizziness, fatigue, clumsiness — and linking them to your cycle, stress, or sleep. Patterns reveal opportunities.
On high-energy days (often follicular or around ovulation), explore:
more dynamic balance challenges,
step-downs or directional transitions,
single-leg work with gentle head movements.
On lower-energy or PMS days, focus on:
slow, supported standing work,
gentle ankle mobility and weight shifting,
wall or counter support during balance drills,
calming breath-led movements.
Throughout the month, prioritize pelvic and core stability:
breath-based deep core activation,
standing or side-lying hip work with attention to alignment,
slow pelvic tilting,
gentle pelvic floor–core coordination.
Balance is not trained through force. It’s trained through safety and repetition. A supportive environment, a hand on the wall, steady breathing — these create the conditions for true progress.
When It’s Time to Seek Professional Help
While hormonal fluctuations can explain a lot, some symptoms deserve clinical attention, including:
sudden or severe dizziness,
vision changes,
intense headaches,
sudden weakness or numbness,
falls or near-falls that cause concern.
A pelvic health specialist, vestibular therapist, neurologist, endocrinologist, or gynecologist can help unravel anything more complex. Getting checked is never a sign of worry — it’s a grounding act of self-care.
A Final Shift in Perspective
Most women eventually discover this truth: steadiness is not just physical. It’s relational. Hormonal rhythms shape how we feel, how we move, how we respond to the world. None of this means you’re losing ability or control. It means your body is cyclical, adaptive, and speaking in its own language.
A movement practice that honors these rhythms — like the Balance work we teach at Banyan & Nomad — helps women rebuild stability with curiosity rather than judgment. You become responsive instead of reactive, grounded instead of guarded.
Your balance isn’t disappearing. It’s communicating. And when you learn to listen, you don’t just regain your stability — you deepen it.
