CALM: Cycle Tracking Sheet and How To Basics
We know so much nowadays about … all sorts of things (!) … it is an age of information overload really and yet some key foundational information about the wisdom of our very own feminine natures and bodies seems to still for the most part to not be common knowledge. You can find it if you look but it’s not being taught in schools (yet!) …
Why track and tune into our cyclical nature?
We live in a world that works predominantly within the masculine (yang) hormonal energy pattern of testosterone where energy rises in the a.m. and goes down in p.m. (like the Sun) and is focussed on thinking, doing and producing. It is a linear rhythm. In the last 50 years or so most women have defaulted to work, mother and lead from this pattern as it is just so prevalent and seems to be the way to bring things into the world. Problem is that it leaves the gifts of the feminine (yin) on the table. It is not how we are wired.
Our hormonal rhythm is cyclical and creative with our monthly menstrual cycle designed to prepare our body to create and nourish a life (!). We are connected to Nature in such a profound, powerful way as natural born Creators and tuning ourselves to the wisdom of Nature’s cycles - where we see the importance for cyclical times of rest and reflection for example is essential.
Our rhythm is cyclical like the Moon. I have seen that being disconnected from our cyclical, creative nature can be the road to unhealth/burnout hormonally and nervous system wise. We do better when we are connected to our monthly rhythm and nature and conscious about the gifts and wisdom each of the stages of our cycle brings. It’s a more balanced, connected way of working and creating for us.
Menstrual Tracker Lowdown
If you’re here chances are you have heard me talk a little or a lot about the gifts of the feminine - of our cyclical (non-linear) hormonal nature and of feminine power principles of embodiment, being connected to our feeling life, to nature’s rhythms, to our senses and bodily sensations, of the magnetic power of our being/presence.
This blog is mainly to give you a tool to get practical with this and savvy to what your own monthly cycle looks like through the eyes of daily tracking (beyond simply when your period starts or when you ovulate).
Knowing your needs, energy, mood, etc during the different days and stages of your monthly cycle (or if you are not menstruating the Moon’s) informs all other aspects of your work, mothering and life. It’s an act of self care and empowerment to know yourself and your needs . When you step back and look at your monthly rhythm you’ll notice that your cycle has a predictability that is helpful for you to be aware of.
Simply put, knowing how you roll through the month is game changing. Think about how you use the info of what you already know about your child’s rhythm during a day. Maybe you know they need quiet/rest in the afternoon and need to eat by a certain time or go to sleep before a certain time. How harder it would be to care for them and attend to their needs if you weren’t attuned to their rhythm. In this example we’re tuning into just the daily/linear rhythm. You also probably have a sense of your daily/linear rhythm —- when in the day your energy is higher or lower, when it’s best for you to work out, eat, go to sleep by. Maybe you’re a night owl or morning person.
Having cycle awareness is much more than knowing when you’re going to get your period. It’s building capacity for connection with ourselves and self-knowledge so we can do our work in the world in a sustainable way that honours all our needs and our cyclical changing nature.
Tracking the whole month tunes you into the subtle and not so subtle changes that happen not just before your period (which many women are aware of a little in terms of different PMS symptoms) but throughout the whole month. Our hormones are different every single day and this affects every aspect of us and our changing needs as physical, emotional and evolving spiritual beings.
Below is a link to a simple tracker PDF to use as a guide to finding your rhythm. Print out 3 copies and track for 3 months daily and then look at them all to see your patterns.
You can track various things. Here are a list of somethings that change through a cycle and women have felt have been helpful to know for themselves. Pick whichever you’d like to track.
Tracking will help you be more efficient and effective in the world not by doing more/working harder but by doing less /working smarter because you are connected, clear and nourished and are attuned to and attending to (even in a 1% way) your real daily changing needs vs pushing through/always being in doing.
Things to track:
Where you are in your cycle and where the Moon is at
Energy, Mood, Sleep, Digestion, Sex drive, Skin
When you have the urge to clean/declutter
When you want to be alone or feel irritable/impatient
When do you crave company
When do you want to set things in order in house or work
When you feel mentally out of it
When you feel clear and sharp (on it)
When you want to rest/be quiet
Looking forward to supporting you with this and hearing about your ‘ahas’ for yourself! xo, Dr. Monika 🦋
Dr. Monika supports brilliant, heart centred women shine their light and share their gifts while staying healthy, calm and energized (and bypassing the all to common path to burnout that shows up as low energy, overwhelm, weight gain, headaches, hormonal symptoms, poor sleep or poor digestion). She is passionate about supporting moms and moms to be as well as any woman navigating one of the key 7 year transitions which occur around 35, 42, 49 and 56 years. AND really any big life change so that moving forward in her life can happen in the way she truly is called to.
Interested in Somatic informed and Transformation Coaching Infused Naturopathic support? (403) 609-8385 to call to book with Jill/Joyce or www.opentowellness.ca to book online.
Next Women’s Restorative Wellness & Joy Retreat at Xinalani Eco-Yoga Resort in Mexico runs November 23-30, 2024. Email inspired@opentowellness.ca if interested.
