A Woman’s Seasons: Understanding Your Cycles

The earth goes through natural cycles. The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes and the seasons have a rhythm of blossoming and falling away.

The earth’s cycles are balanced and rhythmic.

They keep the harmony of all the species that live here. The animals depend on the cycles to know when to migrate, conceive and birth their kin and when to store food for a long winter.

We, humans, also depend on the earth’s cycles, however we have gotten so far away from the natural elements. Kids are more familiar with screens than greens. We had to invent practices like “earthing” to remind people to walk on the earth. Dis-ease is normalized, birth is institutionalized and we have completely handed over our power to forces outside of us.

Women’s bodies are a mirror reflection of the earth and carries out these natural cycles, each and every month.

Every period is a moon phase, a waxing a waning. She journeys within her an entire winter, spring, summer and fall. Our bodies depend on these rhythms for inner balance and harmony. When we throw off or interrupt our natural cycle, we interfere with the whole system. Our body forgets that ebbs and flows are the norm and we forget that there are times of going deep inside and times to express ourselves out into the world.

When we take away the seasons of our bodies, we strip ourselves of the juice of life. Fall colors are dull, spring flowers do not fully bloom, and the body begins to come out of balance, or into dis-ease. We push against the natural flow, we swim upstream and we make everything more challenging then it needs, or wants, to be.

It’s no wonder so many girls and women are suffering from ‘PMS’ symptoms and fertility issues. When the rhythm of life is not honored, the body will offer signals of this imbalance in the form of symptoms. The symptoms get more and more severe the more off balance the body is.

The body wants to be in balance, peace and vitality.

It’s our job to listen and take direction from it.

Hormonal birth control (HBC) is the biggest disrupter of the women’s natural balance. It takes away the cycles and seasons. It alters the ph, hormones, pheromones and chemical balance in the body. It removes us from our natural ebb and flow and puts the power of our rhythm into a man-made pill. This pill is supposed to save us from the worries of conception, and what most don’t realize is it removes us from our primal power and intuition as women.

A women’s power is in her belly. Her power to create, to dream and to see. When we take a woman away from her inner sight, she forgets who she is and what her purpose is.

A woman in her natural rhythm is a woman in her full essence.

She understands the cycles of her body like she understands the cycles of nature. She is not controlled by her monthly shed (period), rather she is honored to greet it. And when/if she is ready to conceive she has an inner intelligence that guides her.

This is one of the greatest gifts of being born in a women’s body.

My favorite way to track my cycle is with Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). It’s a complete method of deciphering the bodies cues to figure out your unique rhythm. It looks at your body basal body temperature, cervix position and cervical mucus. These 3 markers are the most important for gauging where you are in your cycle. Each season, like the earth, has it’s own signature; our temperature rises and falls, the cervix (flower) opens and closes and the mucus (precipitation) varies.

FAM is accurate and empowering. It’s scientific and also deeply intuitive.

I’ve noticed for myself over time, the physical charting has become secondary to the inner knowing of my cycles. After charting for some years, I learned my particular signs and signals and have been able to successfully use this method for both conscious conception and contraception.

The best place to start is by becoming aware of big and subtle changes throughout the month as well as getting in the habit of daily cervix checks.

The best books to learn more are The Garden of Fertility by Katie Singer and Taking charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler.

Remember, your body is your compass, and HBC completely altars your north star.

There is nothing more empowering than learning the cycles and rhythms of your own body and making informed decisions regarding your fertility.