Most of us learned at school that a woman’s body goes through hormonal changes over a twenty eight day period, culminating in menstrual flow of around 3-4 days if there is no fertilised egg in the uterus. However, there is actually much more to this subject than many of us realised.
Ovulation- usually takes place after the first fourteen or so days of the cycle. The days prior to this are known as the pre- ovulatory phase, during which time oestrogen builds up in our bodies.
As the egg is released from the fallopian tubes many women experience physical symptoms including pain and/or swelling in the pelvic area, headaches, breast tenderness, craving for certain foods, or even ‘spotting’ or breakthrough bleeding. After the egg is released, both oestrogen and progesterone are produced, allowing the uterus to develop a thickened wall lining, providing a place for a potential foetus or fertilised egg to lodge and gain nourishment.
Pre-Menstrual phase- If the egg that has been released is not fertilised, oestrogen levels fall and progesterone builds up, causing the uterine lining to break down, eventually leaving the body through the vagina as our menstrual flow. The symptoms of Pre Menstrual Syndrome are well known and are similar to those of ovulation, but the fact that they occur at more than one time per cycle can be confusing for many women.
Still sounds fairly simple- but in actual fact it’s much more complex. For one thing, twenty eight days is the ‘average’ length of the cycle, in the same way that 3-4 days is the ‘average’ length of menstruation- but that doesn’t make them ‘normal’.
When oestrogen is the dominant hormone studies have shown that women are more outgoing, creative and extroverted, and when progesterone is more prevalent that we are more introverted, intuitive and aggressive.
Each and every day of our cycle these hormones shift and change according to what phase we are in, what we think, feel, eat, how much sleep we get and how much exercise and work we do. Even the kind of light we live in and the time spent in it affect our hormonal balance! And our hormonal balance affects not only our bodies, but our emotions and even our dreams.
Tracking your individual cycle puts you in touch with all of these changes as they apply to you, personally. Another study discussed links between the menstrual cycle and it’s affect on female athletes preparing for the Olympics. Hormonal changes can affect the elasticity of muscles, increasing or decreasing the possibility of injury. Knowing when such a possibility is likely to occur could make a real difference to the performance level and confidence of female athletes.
Learning to track the lunar cycle was once part of initiation into womanhood. Connected with spiritual expression as well as physical survival, traditions and ceremonies around this idea of tracking time have been credited by many anthropologists and archaeologists as the beginnings of mathematics and other sciences.
Women were able to discover patterns in their cycles, knowing through experience when they were likely to be feeling vulnerable, intuitive, creative, or needing solitude, and also when they were more likely to be fertile.
This inner knowledge allowed them to understand their physical condition, emotional needs, drives and desires, and to make choices accordingly.
One simple but effective way to begin tracking your own cycle is to grab a packet of different coloured markers. Assign each colour to how you feel (ie- brown for tiredness, orange for energetic, green for healthy) and make a mark to correspond on a daily calendar. Also, note the days of actual menstruation.
It won’t be long before you see patterns develop right before your eyes.
Reclaiming the ability to track our own cycles empowers us to become aware of what we are capable of and when. This understanding enhances our self esteem and ability
to make confident positive choices. From a physical point of view it can aid with knowledge about fertility. It can help with PMS and in the transitions of Menopause. It
can also allow us to discover a potential health problem long before anyone else and seek early treatment. So try a bit of Moon watching. It’s a win-win situation!
No comments:
Post a Comment