Starting a habit of menstrual cycle tracking can bring so many benefits to your life. From increasing body literacy, to self empowerment, cultivating a deeper connection to yourself and your feminine power and utilising your cycle as a tool for self development, productivity and transformation.
Day 1 is the first day of your bleed. You can start there and each day note down the things below. After a few months you'll start to see the patterns and can then work with what you discover about yourself.
If you're new to menstrual cycle tracking then you most likely be amazed at how many things are affected by it!
What to note down:
1. Feeling/emotions
Even if it’s just one word that sums up the theme of the day for you, try noting down how you feel emotionally. As you do this consistently, you’ll gain insight into how your cycle is affecting your emotional health. Then you can start to make allowances for how you know you’ll feel at any given time. For example, if you know you always feel irritated on day 18, then scheduling in a day to yourself at home will give you the space to prioritise your needs and not subject yourself to what might feel triggering.
2. Bodily sensations
Our bodies are always communicating to us. Maybe the painful breasts always occur on the same day of your cycle? maybe you notice you feel heavier in your workouts on day 23 for example? With whatever you notice coming up (it will be individual to you) you can start to work with it and gently adjust your routine to have compassion for your body and show it that you’re listening. The more you honour your bodies needs the less it will have to shout (through physical symptoms) to get your attention.
3. Inner dialogue
There are certain times of the cycle when the inner critic is louder than others. Once you start to notice what she’s saying and which phase she likes to show up in you can start to work with her. All she wants is to be heard so even if most of what she says isn’t true, if you give her the floor (at a convenient time for you) you can learn to filter down her chatter to seeds of truth then take action on what you need to do and disregard the rest. I’ll dedicate a whole other post to exploring this topic at a later date, so stay tuned for that.
4. Cervical fluid
As women, we aren’t really taught about our own anatomy, signs of fertility, or much about our cycles *sigh*. As much as it irritates me, the most empowering thing we can do to take our power back is learn about how our bodies work. The best way to do that is by noticing what’s happening within. Cervical fluid isn’t often spoken about but it’s an important marker for fertility so taking note of how it changes throughout your cycle can be beneficial. Once you start tracking your CF, you’ll notice the sticky fluid consistency in the lead up to ovulation, which lets you know you’re in your fertile window. It helps to also track your basal body temp too as another ovulation marker. That way you can use what your body is telling you to either promote or avoid pregnancy.
5. Cravings/desires
It’s useful to also note down what you’re craving throughout your cycling month. Often times our cravings can illustrate something that’s lacking within. For example, a chocolate craving may mean your body is asking for magnesium. So take note and do your own research to see what your body is communicating to you. Aside from nutrition, it can be beneficial to notice what you desire in other areas of your life too. Maybe your libido peaks during ovulation? (no prizes for guessing why!). So having knowledge of what you’ll want at different times of your cycle makes it easier to meet your own needs – or have someone else meet them
This may sound like a lot to take note of. To make it simpler when you first start tracking just jot down 1 or 2 key points and build from there. Some days you may end up writing pages and pages in your journal and other days you might forget to do it altogether, that's ok. You can always start again and build the habit over time – maybe even the pattern of when you forget vs when you write pages is linked to your cycle too ! who knows? As you deepen into the journey it can feel exciting to get to know yourself on such an intimate level and notice just how many things have been led by your cycling hormones all these years without you even noticing!
Get in touch if you’d like support with this work or if you have any questions on this topic. I work 121 with clients to help them harmonise with their menstrual cycle and live a life of alignment.
If you want to learn more about working with your cycle you can :
Book a discovery call with me to see how I can help you on your self discovery journey.
Check out my events both online and in person where I often cover these topics in more depth.
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