How to Work with Your Menstrual Cycle to Create Your Best Life
The 4-Phases of the Menstrual Cycle and How They Affect Our Lives
In this blog, we will learn about the 4 phases of the menstrual cycle — Menstrual, Follicular, Ovulation, Luteal. We will delve in to what is going on physiologically in each phase, and how you may feel physically or mentally. In addition, we will learn about what activities, supplements or foods are most nourishing for you in each phase to enhance your natural cycles and to benefit the most from the ebbs and flow.
Learning about the menstrual phases and understanding the cycle should be taught in Health classes in school. I’m constantly surprised by how many women are completely disconnected from their hormonal cycles, or don’t know if their periods are normal. For many, they’ve spent decades on the birth control pill shutting off their natural hormones and cycles, and have never learned to get to know them. It is only when they come off the pill, start experiencing problems, or are looking to conceive that they start to ask questions about their cycles.
Teaching women how to understand and connect with their hormone cycles is one of my favorite things. Not only can we achieve physical and emotional relief, we can learn SO much about ourselves and our general health by looking at our cycles. The phases of our natural cycles provide so much information about our bodies, including our nutrient status, our digestive health, our adrenals, stress tolerance, nervous systems, and more.
One of my favorite women’s health naturopathic doctors, Lara Briden writes:
“Your period is your monthly report card“
If you have less than ideal periods (painful periods, mood disruptions, inflammation, anxiety, depression, PMS, cramps, achy, fatigue, etc), there are other underlying issues going on with your health. If we are on birth control pills or other synthetic hormonal birth control, we lose that vital information about our bodies and health. For example, our periods can give us hints that there may be systemic inflammation, blood sugar imbalances, metabolic issues, HPA axis/nervous system/adrenal problems, thyroid imbalances, etc.
If you come off the pill, and notice uncomfortable symptoms, the good news is that we can see changes fairly quickly once the right protocols are implemented. When we see improvements in a woman’s menstrual cycle, it gives us great insights that we are on the right track with her health in general.
When we understand what’s going on with our cycles, we realized that just like nature, we are cyclical and not meant to be or feel the same exact way every day. Our needs, moods and strengths vary in our cycle. In a society that expects and values a certain type and level of productivity, there can be a lot of pressure to feel and be the exact same way every day. This is just not sustainable, natural and not realistic. However, once we understand what’s going on, we can use our cycles to our advantage and learn how to benefit from every phase. I encourage patients to get to know their own cycles so they understand how to use their hormones to their advantage, live optimally, feel more connected to their bodies, and learn how to thrive.
My patient sometimes find it helpful sharing this with their partners to help with communicating their changing needs.
PHASES STEP 1 – TRACKING. These phases described below are written based on a 28 day cycle, though in longer or shorter cycles, these phases may look different. Tracking our cycles, especially with a BBT chart, we are able to see which phases may be out of whack and what sort of hormonal imbalances are going on. Many women only start tracking when they are trying to conceive. I encourage ALL women to track and get to know their cycles even if they don’t plan on getting pregnant.
By tracking your cycles and taking notes month after month on how you’re feeling and what you’re seeing in your cycle and your life, you collect data and see patterns. When we have data and can see the patterns each month, our feelings, emotions, perception, urges, likes, dislikes are no longer random and out of our control. There is some meaning and reason to it, which puts us in the driver’s seat and empowers us to appreciate and take control of our health.
Examples of cycle trackers I love:
Daysy – takes the guess work out of fertile or non-fertile days, done for you
Hormonology App – essentially a hormone “horoscope” as the app calls themselves. Great tool for checking what day of your cycle you are, with a daily report on what you might be feeling and needing that day. A perfect tool to share with your partner, and in fact, there is a “share via text” option to send your daily hormone forecast to someone. You will need a separate temperature tracking app like Kindara or Daysy.
Kindara – You can enter your notes, symptoms, cervical fluid information, and daily BBT temperature manually. Charts can be shared with health care practitioners of your choice.
Our cycle can affect our lives in more ways than many women realize. For example, depending on where we are in our cycles, we may notice significant difference in our sleep, appetite, mood, weight, self-esteem, optimism, outlook on life, what we are attracted to, etc. If we don’t realize that these things are intimately connected to our hormones, we may feel crazy or out of control. My favorite part of helping women understand their cycles is empowering them to take control and create their best lives.
Physical sensations written below are commonly seen, however, when hormones are balanced via stress relief, adrenal work, digestion optimization, nutrient replacement, etc., many of these can be relieved. Women are often told that physical pain and emotional distress are normal during their cycle, but these are often signs that things are imbalanced. Natural interventions and a look at our lifestyles can help enormously with the discomfort and disruptions to our daily lives.
The 4 Phases of the Menstrual Cycle:
Menstrual – quiet, inward, releasing, detox, letting go, rest, making space
Seasonal Comparison: Winter
- What’s Happening: if egg from the cycle was not fertilized, estrogen and progesterone drop resulting in shedding of the uterine lining,
- Physical Sensations: cramps, headache, fatigue, bloating, low back ache, possible diarrhea or constipation, lightheaded, trouble sleeping or poor quality sleep
- Timing: 3-7 days
- How We Feel: starting out with a tendency toward introversion and introspection, moving more in to emotional relief and “coming out of our shell” as the days progress in this phase. The physical shedding provides a symbolic shedding, women often feel a lightening of their mood after day 1 or 2.
- What We Need: for day 1 or 2 of bleed, giving ourselves a break and allowing rest until our estrogen goes up and we start feeling more energetic. Some women require more sleep on day 1-2, might feel lethargic initially. Less social, more rest and quiet time for self-care. Meditation or a good cry is ok. As the phases progresses, once energy start improving, we may feel the need for more interactions and activity.
- Possible Supplements: food – based iron pill (and iron rich foods in general – red meat, lentils, spinach, sweet potatoes), active B-complex, magnesium, chamomile (for cramps and calming), turmeric (for cramps, pain and general achiness)
(Note: It is always best to check with a qualified health care professional to guide you with supplement and herb use)
Follicular – moving from inward to outward, confidence boosting, create, implement, move
Seasonal Comparison: Spring going in to Summer
- What’s Happening: your hypothalamus signals to the pituitary gland to release Follicular Stimulating Hormone (FSH). FSH stimulates the ovaries to produce follicles. Each follicle includes an immature egg inside. One of the healthiest eggs will mature, and the other follicles get re-absorbed. Estrogen also rises to increase uterine lining to prepare for embryo development.
- Physical Sensations: some may experience fatigue in the beginning part of the cycle as iron levels stabilize after bleed, and estrogen rises again. After a few days, women tend to feel lighter, happier, more positive and more energetic. Bloating goes down as we lose water weight. Bowel movements more regular. Sleep improves.
- Timing: starts on the first day of your cycle (overlaps with day 1 of the menstrual cycle) and ends when you ovulate around day 14. In a normal cycle, it is typically around 13-16 days (in an average 28 day cycle).
- How We Feel: More optimistic, lighter, tolerant. A lot of times I have patients reporting that they feel bad about how they felt or reacted the week before when emotions were running high, wondering why they cared so much about an issue for example (nothing to feel bad about; each phase serves a purpose, and the more we learn about ourselves, the better we are able to communicate our needs to ourselves and loved ones).
- What We Need: as energy rises, we feel more optimistic. Just as our bodies are “creating” an egg, now is the time to get “creative” in our lives. Launching new projects, doing the creative work for new projects. Getting back out there to connect with social circles and networking.
- Possible Supplements: magnesium + zinc + vitamin C (to optimize for progesterone phase), leafy greens and fruit, myo-inositol (if insulin resistant PCOS)
- Other Suggestions: moving from slower forms of exercise to more active forms as the phase progresses – eg. yoga or walks for the first few days, to HIIT or cardio (trust your body)
Ovulation – active, energetic, optimistic, sexual, confident
Seasonal Comparison: Summer
- What’s Happening: the pituitary gland responds to the rising estrogen and produces luteal hormone (LH). LH plays a role in triggering ovulation. The egg is released and travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus. Testosterone is higher. BBT rises (we may actually start to feel a little warmer or revved up)
- Physical Sensations: egg-white or thicker discharge, slight cramping as egg is released, higher energy, acne + oilier skin for some lasting in to luteal phase
- Timing: around day 14 of cycle
- How We Feel: higher energy, more assertive, sexual
- What We Need: good time to launch projects, be active, socialize, network, present ideas, get out and about/be seen/in the spotlight, feel more attractive and confident, often will find other more attractive too, go on a date!
- Possible Supplements: myo-inositol for PCOS women, active B-complex
- Other Suggestions: get out there and play! HIIT workouts, cardio, team sports.
Luteal – inward, instrospection, introverted, brainstorm, intuitive, review
Seasonal Comparison: Autumn/Winter
- What’s Happening: the follicle has released the egg and becomes the corpus luteum which releases predominately progesterone, further prepping the uterine lining for potential pregnancy. If the egg is not fertilized, the corpus luteum gets reabsorbed and progesterone and estrogen drop, triggering a shedding of the lining (and symptoms in some). If the egg is fertilized, HCG is produced to maintain the pregnancy.
- Physical Sensations: insomnia, restlessness, pent up energy, but tired, tired but wired feeling, bloating, achey, headache, palpitations, nervousness and anxiety, weepy, irritable, lower immune system, more allergy symptoms, more food sensitivities, higher histamine (rashes, congestion, flushing, itchiness, etc.)
- Timing: after ovulation until bleed, usually around 14 days
- How We Feel: might feel a little brain fog, not as focused, daydream-y, quieter, introspective and introverted, emotional, more sensitive, connected to our emotions, empathic, less emotional or stress tolerance (that annoying person seems EXTRA annoying right now!), our normal tasks may feel extra burdensome right now.
(Note: If you feel any of these in excess, or they are disrupting your life significantly, you may have a deeper imbalance that needs more intervention. A qualified health care professional can help you assess and determine the best plan for you.) - What We Need: time-out, solo time, self-care, slow things down, not as productive (action-wise), brainstorming phase, but may not be as active with implementing ideas (which is OKAY, that time will come). More connected to our intuition – good time to tune in to our gut and re-assess things, people and events in our life. Not a time to take drastic action though… take notes, write, journal, and re-assess whether to take action or not during next follicular phase. Our bodies are getting ready to shed, so it’s appropriate to have the urge to review our actions from the earlier phases of the cycle, processing and feeling. Emotions may be high and we need to set aside time for self-care to allow us to process, in order to set us up for the next cycle.
- Possible Supplements or Interventions: magnesium (to relax nervous system and improve sleep), omega-3 (for inflammation or cramps), chamomile or other GABA boosting supplements, whole grains for serotonin boost, turmeric if achey, active B-complex for serotonin boost and mood, immune boosting supplements, ashwaganda or other adaptogen herbs to help with our stress tolerance.
- Other Suggestions: massage and other bodywork, energy work, slower and nourishing movement like gentle yoga, stretching (we may not feel as up for intense exercise during this time for good reason), connect with music, walks in nature, breathwork, meditation, journaling, hugs — physical/emotional connection increases oxytocin in our bodies that help us feel loved and boosts our immune systems.
I hope this gives you a better sense of what’s going on in your cycle, and my goal, as always, is to empower women to take control of their health, wellness, bodies and spirits. Society, advertisements, tv shows, pop culture all give us the impression that suffering through our periods is part of being a woman. This can’t be further from the truth. Our hormonal cycles are just one of the amazing ways we are connected to the natural rhythms of the earth and universe.
The birth control pill was ironically a big part of the women’s liberation movement. If we could control our fertility, we could open up opportunities for ourselves in the workforce, and in life. While this is true, in some ways, it also disconnected us from our own bodies, and shut off our body’s signaling system or “report card”. In many cases, this disconnection from our bodies made us feel “crazy” due to symptoms either caused by the birth control methods, or by not understanding the beauty of our natural hormones.
I know this is potentially a controversial stance and topic, however, I am finding that over the years, women in my life and in my practice are more and more disillusioned by synthetic hormones, understanding and seeing negative physical and mental effects from them, and are looking for alternatives to take control of their health and fertility.
Many women report starting birth control pills or synthetic hormonal methods to help control bad periods or symptoms like acne, heavy bleeding, or bad PMS/PMDD. The issue with this is that, 1. the symptoms exist for a reason and are the body telling us that there is a deeper and further imbalance going on. Symptoms don’t exist in isolation. The pill does not fix those problems. 2. When or if the woman decides to come off the pill or hormones, they are most likely going to experience the same troublesome symptoms as before, or even a worsening of the issues. Why not use the symptoms as clues as to what is actually going on instead of masking them and temporarily shutting them off?
Some women are perfectly happy with the birth control pill or other hormonal methods they are on for now. There is a percentage that do fine on them and come off them with no problems, conceive quickly and have no issues. For others, who notice side-effects, unpleasant symptoms, issues when coming off the hormones, or are interested in connecting with their natural hormone cycle, there are alternatives.
Learn how to naturally fix your periods and menstrual cycle.
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