The Inner Seasons of the Menstrual Cycle

[00:00:00] In this video, I want to teach you about the inner seasons of your menstrual cycle. So a lot of us learned in school that our periods were something that had to be managed and no one needed to know about it. And maybe we learned about tampons, about using pads. And maybe when we learned about our periods, we learned about not getting pregnant. and so what's lovely about menstrual cycle awareness is that we learn about all the and so what's lovely about menstrual cycle awareness is that we learn about all the different stages of the cycle and it's not just about your period and if you are someone who wants to connect more with your menstrual cycle for fertility reasons or you want to learn how [00:00:41] to manage your energy better with your cycle for your your energy or your health or maybe you're on a journey of healing from chronic pain or suffering in some way with the menstrual cycle learning about the seasons of your cycle and the different phases of your cycle is a beautiful thing to practice and it's also very practical really really helpful so I'm going is a beautiful thing to practice and it's also very practical really really helpful so I'm going to explain it to you so if you think about the seasons of the year the winter it's cold it's dark and nature goes underground and dies there's a death that happens within nature in order for it to be replenished and in order for new life to emerge and it's the same thing with the cycle [00:01:19] when we are in the menstrual phase of our cycle um the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest and that means that we have generally lower energy and we might feel more at their lowest and that means that we have generally lower energy and we might feel more tired and more vulnerable or maybe um we want to be alone and go into our own inner winter cave and that's a very normal thing to feel so the teaching of the inner winter is to encourage you to go with that, to go with the energy, to not resist it, to practice self-care, to take rest where you can, to go easy on yourself, to not have your standards so high in terms of, I don't know, work or housework or things, to let yourself be comfortable and to really lean in, leaning into, [00:01:57] work or housework or things, to let yourself be comfortable and to really lean in, leaning into, yeah, to your self-care and to rest. Then after the inner winter of your cycle, we come into the inner spring phase of the cycle and the inner spring that's also known as the pre-ovulation stage the stage before ovulation and that's when the hormone estrogen is just starting to rise so you might feel more energy again after having your period you might feel therefore more um capacity for socializing and maybe you have more interest in going back to the gym and working out capacity for socializing and maybe you have more interest in going back to the gym and working out and so that's where your energy is starting to pick up and it's important that we um learn how [00:02:41] of navigate that energy if we push ourselves too much after menstruation especially if you're someone who has a lot of pain and suffering we can actually burn out halfway through the cycle so it's important that we kind of pace ourselves from an energetic point of view in the spring after the spring we have the summer and the summer is the high fertile time of the cycle this is after the spring we have the summer and the summer is the high fertile time of the cycle this is where fertility is at its highest and the hormone oestrogen is at its highest and generally speaking we have more energy we have more capacity for other people's needs and so this would be the time to let yourself go and live life and be out in the world and enjoy yourself here take risks [00:03:19] say yes to things connect with people enjoy being in your body sensuality exercise movement all these all these things creativity as well and then as you come out of the summer we come into the these all these things creativity as well and then as you come out of the summer we come into the what's called the autumn of your cycle the luteal phase or the premenstrual phase and this is where the hormone progesterone starts to increase and oestrogen starts to decrease so there's a kind of a swap over in hormones and some people really can feel tired when that happens or maybe you feel suddenly very moody that's all very normal and similar to the autumn of the the seasons in the world autumn is preparing for winter so the leaves are shedding and the days are getting shorter [00:03:57] world autumn is preparing for winter so the leaves are shedding and the days are getting shorter there's less light and there's more darkness and it's a preparation time for winter so in terms of our self-care um yeah it's good to think about that that's happening inside of our bodies too we're starting to have this um drop in energy and you might notice yourself needing more space or more more more sleep or um maybe you need more food as well we have more requirements for more calories as well during this time as as women so asking ourselves how can we take care of ourselves calories as well during this time as as women so asking ourselves how can we take care of ourselves in our inner autumn how can we look after our emotions too um how can we learn to be okay with [00:04:40] saying no to things and if you are somebody who suffers um with your cycle in some way or with your premenstrual phase it is a good time to prepare for that so you might batch cook some food or you might clean your house and get your get your your change your sheets on your bed or you might ask for help or say yes to offers of help and finding all these little ways that we can