What is a menstrual cycle?
What exactly is a menstrual cycle, and why is it so important?
I was in my mid-twenties when I truly began to understand the significance of my menstrual cycle. It all started when a friend of mine let me in on her new wellness hack called “Seed Cycling”. I’ll have you know that I’m a total sucker for experimenting with wellness trends, so when she filled me in that she was eating different seeds according to the four different phases of her cycle, I was intrigued straight away.
What I soon learned was that my monthly cycle was much more complex than what I’d been led to believe. It turns out that contrary to what I thought, Estrogen is just one of my sexual hormones that fluctuate monthly, and even though ovulation and menstruation play key roles in my cycle, they're not the only players in the game.
The Four Menstrual Phases
There are a total of four menstrual phases within our monthly cycle. These phases represent predictable fluctuations that our hormones and reproductive organs go through each month.
Menstrual Phase
Follicular Phase
Ovulatory Phase
Luteal Phase
As mentioned before, these four phases represent the fluctuations of our hormones and therefore our sexual reproductive functions, mood energy, etc. Our hormones are what steer this train we call a body, so before we dive in, let me introduce you to the female sex hormones.
The Female Sex Hormones
Estrogen
Progesterone
Testosterone
Luteinizing Hormone/LH
Follicle-stimulating Hormone/FSH
These hormones play a vital role in female reproductive function and overall wellbeing. Throughout the monthly cycle, these hormones fluctuate from firing on all cylinders to being almost completely dormant, and our energy and mood react accordingly.
For now, we’ll mostly focus on Estrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone, since this trio impacts our energy and mood the most. We’ll learn how to support these hormones and how to work with their effects on our bodies instead of against them. The application of this knowledge helps to balance your hormones, which leads to a plethora of benefits.
The Benefits of Balanced Hormones
Relief from PMS symptoms
Relief from headaches
Healthier skin
Better mood
Higher libido
Less stress and anxiety
More energy
Better Sleep
Improved gut health and digestion
And while having no PMS symptoms and glowing skin is incredible, I really wanted to share this insight with you because this information has the ability to mend your relationship with your body. We live in a world that’s catered to supporting a 24-hour hormone cycle otherwise known as our “Circadian Rhythm”, which completely disregards anyone living on a monthly hormone cycle (i.e. half the darn population!)
Once I finally felt and understood how my body changes each month, I learned how to honor those changes. As a result, I’ve cultivated a deep connection with my body, I’ve had more energy to do the things that I love, and I’ve gained the self-understanding and appreciation to leave the things that I don’t.
This is possible for you too, so let’s get started on your path to knowing yourself a little better!
Deep Dive of the Cyclical Phases
Menstrual Phase
The Menstrual phase, aka your period. This is the first phase of your cycle and typically lasts 3-7 days. This is when your body sheds its endometrial lining from your uterus, which results in your monthly bleed. Hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are at their lowest during the first part of this phase and because these hormones help to give you energy and regulate your mood, you’ll typically feel your most introverted and lethargic. That makes this the perfect time to rest up, recover, and reflect on your past month. Try to avoid any big social engagements during this time and take advantage of the introspective mood that you’ll likely be in. Pick up your journal and answer some prompts, meditate, do tarot, read a good book or watch a new series on your favorite streaming app. Oh, and don’t forget to nourish yourself with lots of warm comforting foods. As you move through this phase estrogen will slowly start to trickle in and you’ll start to feel more energetic, so it’s really helpful to take things day by day and tap into how your energy is moving along. Once you start to feel the urge to be a bit more social and start moving your body again, you’ll likely be in transition into the next phase of your cycle, the Follicular phase.
Follicular Phase
Just to set things straight, the follicular phase technically begins the day that you start your period, but to properly break things up into different categories, we’ll be focusing on this phase separate from menstruation. This phase is considered the second phase of your cycle and typically lasts 7-10 days. It starts right after you stop bleeding and is when you start to pick up energy after all of that downtime. If this phase were a season it would be spring, so you’ll likely be itching to claw your way out of hibernation thanks to estrogen steadily increasing. You’ll be feeling much more social and upbeat in this phase which makes it a perfect time to get together with friends and family. You can also expect to feel optimistic making this time ideal for focusing on setting goals for the month ahead. You may even consider trying something new in this phase. Your energy will be much higher than it was during menstruation, and because progesterone stays low throughout this phase your resting heart rate will be low, making it an optimal time to play with intense physical activity.
Ovulatory Phase
Ovulation itself is only 1 day of the month, but you’ll likely feel the effects of hormones like estrogen and testosterone that spike during ovulation for approximately 4 days. These 4 days are considered your ovulatory phase, the third phase of your cycle. This is where you are your most energetic and social. In a perfect world, all presentations and social gatherings would occur during this time because this is when you’ll feel your most confident and outgoing. You’ll also have the most energy during this time thanks to estrogen and testosterone hitting their peak. Go crazy and ride this wave because once this phase is done and you’ve sowed your wild oats, it’ll be time to shift down a gear or two in our next phase, the luteal phase.
Luteal Phase
This is the fourth and last phase of your cycle and lasts around 12 days. This phase is a very transitional time of your cycle as hormones drastically change in your body. Estrogen and testosterone which had just peaked in your ovulatory phase are now starting to drop, which means your energy and social capacity will drop with them. Progesterone on the other hand is on the climb! Progesterone increases your metabolic rate, affects your tolerance to heat and increases your resting heart rate making it more difficult to exercise. This will mean staying away from intense workouts and hot environments best. You’ll also feel calmer and more subdued due to progesterone, making this a perfect time to find a slower pace and begin to retreat to more introspective activities. This is a wonderful time for things like admin work, studying, meditation, and slower styles of yoga.
Fun fact: Women typically burn approximately 300 extra calories per day during their Luteual phase and as a result, have a heartier appetite. This means that you don’t need to move your body quite as much as you would in your previous 2 phases, so enjoy moving slower, and fill up your plate a little bit more!
Breakdown of the cyclical phases
Menstrual Phase/Phase#1
Duration: 3-7 days
Hormones: Estrogen, Progesterone, and Testosterone are low
Mood: Sleepy and introverted
Appetite: Typically medium to low if you ate enough during your previous phase
Energy: Low
Exercise Recommendation: Little to no exercise for the first couple of days, with an increase of movement towards the end.
Follicular Phase/Phase #2
Duration: 7-10 days
Hormones: Estrogen steadily is on the rise, Progesterone is low, and Testosterone is medium to high
Mood: Happy and optimistic
Appetite: Medium to low
Energy: Medium to High
Exercise Recommendation: Higher-intensity workouts that challenge you and help you reach your movement goals.
Ovulatory Phase/ Phase #3
Duration: 1-4 days
Hormones: Estrogen is high, Progesterone is low, and Testosterone is high
Mood: Social and Outgoing
Appetite: Low
Energy: High
Exercise Recommendation: Your performance will be top-notch, so choose your favorite exercise and go all out!
Luteal Phase/ Phase #4
Duration: 12-14 days
Hormones: Estrogen low, Progesterone high, and Testosterone medium to low.
Mood: Relaxed and more introverted
Appetite: High
Energy: At the beginning medium energy, towards the end, low energy.
Exercise Recommendation: Slower forms of exercise that keep a moderate heart rate.
Tips to help you get started
Period Tracking App
The first thing that you can do is download a period tracking app. You’ll get to know what your body feels like during each phase and start to notice patterns and timelines. This should ultimately help you anticipate what your body might be going through on any given day and help you understand what you might need.
Edit: Sadly I’m well aware that my southern neighbors have recently been stripped of their reproductive choices, and therefore the safety around using period tracking apps is extremely risky. I’m currently working on an article to help you build a calendar on paper that does exactly what these apps do for you. Love you.
Schedule social engagements according to your cycle
This is a big one for me, and it admittedly is not always easy. We lead busy lives and sometimes this is unavoidable but I do try and avoid big social gatherings around my period. I don’t necessarily avoid everyone altogether but I try and keep it intimate with more sedentary activities. Often times when I stretch myself too thin socially around this time I end up not showing up as my best self which is no fun for anyone. Instead, I stick to mostly one-on-one intimate settings like a movie night or a picnic at my favorite park.
Syncing up workouts according to your cycle
I am someone who loves to move my body. I love to run, practice yoga, dance, bike… you get the idea. But what I’ve found is that I can still enjoy all of these activities throughout almost my entire cycle but I have to LISTEN TO MY BODY! If you’re someone who is competitive this might be challenging but the more you practice going with the flow, the easier it gets. I also make sure to utilize my high-energy phases and book in the more challenging workouts that I love. That way when I do arrive at a more sedentary phase I’m more than ready for it and am really able to enjoy it and focus on my other passions like writing, mediation, and breathwork. To learn more about what this looks like visit my post on “Excercise for your cycle”.
Conclusion
The great news is that there are so many ways to work with the hormonal fluctuations in your menstrual cycle. There are supplements, teas, seeds, nutrition, and many more methods that you can incorporate. It’s also important to keep in mind that all of these phases are gradual and move in a unique timeframe for every woman so feel out what works for you and do your best to listen to what your body is telling you. Women are such beautifully intuitive creatures, we just need to learn to trust our intuition and our bodies to know that they know what’s best for us. Most importantly if something feels off or/and you’re noticing a pattern of symptoms like cramps, headaches, bad mood swings, or really anything else that’s hindering your ability to live happily and comfortably, then get it checked out. See a doctor, a naturopath, a nutritionist, or anyone else that can help you get to the root of what’s causing your issues. After all, it’s YOUR body, and you know what’s best for it.