Understanding the Menstrual Phases & Inner Seasons: How to Align with Your Cycle for Better Health & Wellbeing

Connecting with Your Menstrual Cycle: A Path to Healing and Empowerment

Connecting to my female cycle has been a profound journey in healing my relationship with my womb, body, and energy. By tuning into this natural rhythm, I’ve found a way to honor my body's cyclical nature and maximize my vitality. There are countless reasons to track your cycle, each one offering an opportunity to deepen your self-awareness and self-love. Let’s explore why connecting to your menstrual cycle is so powerful. Connecting to my female cycle has helped me heal my relationship to my womb, body, and to maximize and honor my energy levels. There are an abundant of reasons to track you cycle, more below!

**Important note: The average menstrual cycle is estimated to be 28 days, however it can be anywhere from 21-35. Day 1 represents the first day of your bleed. Every body is unique. What is shared here is for educational purposes. Consult your healthcare provider if you feel as though something with your health and menstrual cycle may be off or out of the ordinary.**

Reasons to connect to your menstrual cycle:

• Honor Your Body’s Cyclical Nature as a Form of Self-Love: Recognizing the phases of your cycle helps you nurture yourself and create a rhythm that works in harmony with your body.

• Fertility Awareness: Understand your fertile window to naturally prevent pregnancy or to conceive, depending on your goals.

• Optimize Your Energy: Aligning your life with your internal rhythms ensures you can make the most of your physical and emotional energy, prioritizing self-care.

• Nourish Your Body Properly: Learn what your body needs throughout each phase to keep it nourished and balanced.

• Embrace Your Womb's Wisdom: Your womb holds ancient feminine wisdom. By connecting with it, you embrace your divine feminine essence.

• Connect to the Source of All Life: Your womb is where life begins—reconnecting to this power grounds you in your body and the cycles of nature.

• Align with the Moon: The word "menstruation" comes from Latin and Greek roots meaning "moon" and "month." As you connect to your cycle, you may also notice your rhythms aligning with the moon’s phases.

Just like nature’s seasons, our menstrual cycle is divided into phases, each with its own energy and focus

The Four Inner Seasons of Your Menstrual Cycle

Inner Winter | Menstrual Phase | Days 1-5

Themes: Release • Death • Stillness

Physically: Day 1 of bleed (if egg not fertilized), uterine/endometrial lining is shedding. Hormones are at their lowest, lasts approximately days 1-5

Energetically:

• Reflective, inward energy, craving lots of alone time. (Especially days 1-2 of shedding)

• Physically tired, time for rest, and release

• Mental capacity low, highly intuitive

Follicular | Inner Spring | Days 6-14

Themes: Rebirth • Blossoming • Re-emergence

Physically: Follicular phase occurs days 6-14 (begins after bleeding ends), estrogen and testosterone levels are rising, boosting our energy and sharpening our cognition, hormonal changes increased vaginal lubrication and surge in sexual energy

Energetically:

• Feeling energized, playful, focused, and inspired

• Mental clarity, confidence, alertness, sharpness

• A great time to slay and get into action on ideas that came to you in autumn and winter, start a new project, tackle to-do lists, physical strength - higher intensity workouts

Ovulation | Inner Summer | Days 15-20

Themes: Rise • Magnetic • Achieve

Physically: Ovulation usually occurs between days 15-20, egg gets released, you are fertile at this time ~ use protection!! Keep in mind everyone’s fertile window may be slightly different. Highly recommend tracking your cycle with an Oura Ring to have a better sense of when you’re fertile and ovulating.

Energetically:

• Feeling happy, energetic, joy. expressive, connected, flirty, sexy, social

• Feeling radiance: confidence is at its peak, skin is radiant and clear

• Socialize: nourish relationships, outward energy, giving, teach, good time for challenging conversations

• Use protection during sex (if not looking to conceive)

Luteal | Inner Autumn | Days 20-28

Themes: Reflect• Insight • Shadow

Physically:

The luteal phase happens days 20-to the day prior to your bleed. After ovulation & the week prior to menstruation, uterine lining thickens to nourish the potential embryo. Hormones begin to drop and so might your energy

Energetically:

• You may experience PMS (aka please make space): Irritability, agitation, breast tenderness, senses heighten, anger, and frustration with others and demands placed on you. The intensity of your premenstrual symptoms/pain is a reflection of previous month

• May be irritated with others and likely to react, self care is a priority here. Highly intuitive, more time inward to reflect with self. Schedule in more time off for rest and self care

How to Track Your Cycle

If you are you ready to honor the wisdom of your cycle and understand yourself through the ebbs and flows of your cycle start by tracking your cycle. Grab a notebook or open a Google Doc (this is what I do now). You can begin by tracking the day of your cycle along with how you’re feeling emotionally, physically, to see how each stage of your cycle influences your energy and emotions. Once you begin to see your own pattern you can begin planning your life in accordance with your cycle to maximize your energy. You can also check out the Oura Ring here to keep track of when you’re actually ovualting.

What a typical “Tracking My Cycle” Entry of mine entails:

• Day of cycle, date, phase of cycle

• Mind / Body check in - How’s my energy? How am I feeling in my body? Hows my temperament? How’s my skin?

• What did my day look like? What am I working on? Am I taking it east today?

• Food log - What am I eating to support this phase of my body? How much water did I drink?

• Dream journal - Do I remember my dreams from last night? What meanings do I associate with them?

Example of a typical “Tracking My Cycle” Entry:

• Day 1: March 13, 23 - Menstruation Began (or day 1 of bleed)

• Overall feeling calm, relaxed, and a bit emotionally tender. Cried seeing the cutest video of a cat being rescued on Instagram. Having minimal cramps and bloating. Skin is clearing up, yet feels a little dry.

• Morning beverage: Raspberry leaf tea. Breakfast: Sweet potato and black bean hash with an egg over the top. Lunch: Baked salmon with lemon and parmesan over an arugula salad. Dinner: Steak and sweet potato with lots of grass fed butter for dinner. Dessert: Chia seed pudding and banana on top. Soothing peppermint tea before bed.

• Had a dream where I was a dominatrix and Mark Cuban was there and there was a vortex of energy in the center of the room that turned in to a glass ball that would reveal what he most desired. Meaning: This could be because we watched The Shark Tank last night and I was watching Kimi Inch’s videos on Instagram yesterday.

Play with logging all of this inormation at first. Then as you get the swing of how you’re impacted by each phase of your cycle, you can predict and plan for whats to come, when to schedule passion projects and events when you’re feeling social, pencil in down town when you need it, etc. Decide what information feels valuable to you to keep record of once you have down this enough times to get familar with it.

Embrace the Cyclical Wisdom of Your Body

Your menstrual cycle offers a profound opportunity to connect with your body on a deeper level. Each phase holds unique energy, from the quiet introspection of your inner winter to the confident radiance of your inner summer. By aligning your life, work, and self-care with these natural rhythms, you can enhance your well-being, deepen your self-love, and fully embrace the wisdom of your feminine essence.