For years, I cursed, hated, dreaded, and cried over my period, every cycle. This phase caused me SO much pain, embarrassment, disgust. It tortured me, scared me. However, it was through loving myself through the pain, the shame, the guilt, the anger, the stress. It was through nourishing myself, listening to what my pain had to teach me, that I now love my cycle.
Our bleed is actually the most beautiful & sacred part about being a woman.
Like me, maybe your period was something you were taught to fear, feel embarrassed and ashamed for experiencing. Maybe you were taught to never talk about it; to pretend like it doesn’t exist. Maybe you were taught to never discuss or be curious about your cycle, even with other girls and women. Maybe, you were taught that it needs to be stopped and plugged up to keep it from flowing. You may have been taught to control it with a tiny pill. You may have been taught to push through the pain, numb the pain, to curse the pain, ignore the pain. You may have been taught to never listen to what your symptoms are trying to tell you. You may have been taught that PMS is normal, that all of these symptoms are part of the experience. This is what I learned growing up. Does this ring true for you? You may have more to add to this list, what you were taught about your period, as well as what you experienced. I am here to tell you; you have been lied to. You have been denied access to the truth, the medicine of your menstrual cycle. It is time to remember what you know to be true deep deep deep within, hidden away by many layers of conditioning and shame.
Your bleed is THE MOST NATURAL, BEAUTIFUL, SACRED PART ABOUT YOU!
Each cycle we die and are reborn, we shed what no longer serves us, we are so tuned into our inner wisdom, all of the answers are available to us. Each cycle we cleanse our mind, body, soul, womb through our blood. You are a powerful woman. It’s time to reclaim that power and use it to create your most nourished life.
Sister, let me be the first to welcome you on this journey. Your compass on this journey is your menstrual cycle. Everything you need is within. A woman’s cycle isn’t just about knowing when she can or can’t get pregnant.
We have been taught that our fertility is the most important thing to focus on when it comes to our menstrual cycle. However, our cycles provide us with so much more; our cycles are the foundation of our health. It’s your inner health system, a compass guiding you how to flow through the month with ease; your inner healing system. It tells you when to take action and when to rest. When it’s time to embody the feminine, to use this energy to dream and create. When to embody the masculine to take action, manifest and birth your dreams and ideas into reality.
Why is it Important to Live in Flow?
If you are experiencing PMS, painful/irregular periods, lack of period, you feel stressed, anxious, depressed, fatigued all the time, confident and self assured half of the month and the other half of the month you feel lost, angry, irritable, sad. These are all signs that you are experiencing hormonal imbalances which are impacting your reproductive and overall health. When our hormones are balanced everything flows with ease, our periods aren’t painful, they are regular for our body. We ebb & flow, our immune system is strong, all systems function optimally. When one system in the body is out of balance, everything is out of balance. When we are out of flow we experience dis-ease.
How to Live in Flow
Let me introduce you to the four phases that you cycle through each month, that support your health and wellbeing as a woman. Follow these guidelines to Live in Flow with Your Cycle to create your optimal health and life.
Follicular Phase
Season: Spring
Energy: Rising, Dynamic, Masculine, Growing, Outwards
Length: 7-10 days
Physical: Egg Follicle Ripening, Preparing for Ovulation
Emotions: Calm, Open, Energetic, Enthusiastic
Flow Focus: Start New Projects, Organize & Prioritize, Plant Ideas, Put Yourself Out There, Rebirth
Movement Focus: Cardio, Hiking, Biking, Swimming, Skipping, HIIT
Food Focus: Fresh Veggies, Light Foods, Lean Protein, Light Cooking Methods
Ovulatory Phase
Season: Summer
Energy: Full, Sustaining, Expressive, Sexual, Masculine, Focused, Mothering, Driven
Length: 3-4 days
Physical: Egg released from ovary into fallopian tubes becomes corpus luteum, uterine lining builds up to prepare for fertilization
Emotion: Loving, Nurturing, Nourishing, Connected, Energized
Flow Focus: Work Hard, Love Well, Birth Creative Projects, Play, Stand in Your Power
Movement: Strength Training + Cardio, HIIT, Power Yoga
Food Focus: Veggies/Fruits, Raw, Lean Proteins, Easy on Carbohydrates
Luteal Phase
Season: Fall
Energy: Feminine, Inwards, Destructive, Powerful
Length: 10-14 days
Physical: Transition between Masculine & Feminine Energy, Sustaining Pregnancy or Preparing for Menstruation
Emotion: Creative, Assertive, Emotional, Focused, No Patience for B.S
Flow Focus: Edit Life, Finish Up Projects, Reflect, Address Problems/Issues, Turn Focus Inwards, Set Boundaries, Listen to Intuition, Relax
Movement Focus: No Cardio, Slow Strength Training, Restorative Yoga
Food Focus: High Fiber, Cruciferous veggies, Roasting & Baking, Warming Foods, Complex Carbs
Menstruation
Season: Winter
Energy: Feminine, Slow, intuitive, Contained, Internalized
Length: 3-7 days
Physical: Bleeding
Emotion: Introspective, Reflective, Sensitive, Intuitive
Flow Focus: REST, Retreat, SLOW DOWN, Tune into Your Needs, Release & Let Go, Death
Movement Focus: REST, Stretches, Yin Yoga
Food Focus: Low Glycemic, Cooked, Seafood to Re-mineralize, Increase Proteins & Healthy Fats
If you are experiencing reproductive health conditions, painful periods, PMS I would love to help you get to the root cause. Let’s connect. When you live in flow with your cycle; you nourisHER (your highest self) MIND BODY SOUL WOMB.
A nourished woman in love with herself heals the world.
With nourishing love,
Rebecca
