Mindful Menstruation
If you have a menstrual cycle you will see each month you can find predictable patterns. You might feel a bit slower and rundown during your bleeding phase of your menstrual cycle, you might have a burst of energy through the middle portion of your menstrual cycle and finish with more PMS style symptoms and cravings right before you bleed again.
We are not always taught to honor that predictable rhythm but it is something we can think about each month. If we want to live in alignment with our bodies in a way that feels good, balances our energy and makes us want to be more present to what happens each step of the way.
How to be mindful when it feels so hard?
Being mindful can feel extremely challenging when we don't feel like our best selves, when we feel like we are being pulled in a million different directions, and our needs feel like they come last.
When things get hard you want to know what things refill your cup up.
Not Sure what fills your cup up?
Approach your list creating with your menstrual cycle phases.
Menstrual Phase (bleeding phase)
A great time to create your list. Tune into your intuition to see what feels aligned for you at this time. Sit in a meditation, or grab your journal a cup of tea and write a list of things you enjoy doing.
Follicular & Ovulation Phases
Reexamine the list and start implementing those ideas as habits. If you can start a meditation practice or your new healthy habit at this phase when things feel easier it will be more likely to stick when things get crunchy in the luteal phase.
Luteal Phase
Now is the time where the rubber meets the road. You might be feeling those sticky thoughts, and bad habits wanting to poke their heads up. Use your list from your menstrual phase, use your habits that you've built over the last two phases and implement those practices.
I might slightly tweak my luteal phase habits at this time. Instead of doing a silent meditation for example, I might choose a guided one to do the trick. How can you keep your habits in place but tweak them to be more aligned with your current feelings and emotions?
Staying Mindful when your still learning
If the menstrual cycle is feeling new and you're still trying to remember each cycle phase and what each phase means tune into your body. I would keep a journal and track your cycle day in your journal. It doesn't have to be a long entry each day. See below as an example.
Day 17 of my cycle
I'm just entering the luteal phase of my cycle and feel really good. My energy is still high, I feel like I can still go strong with my workouts, and my mindset feels positive.
It can be something as simple as that. I would track your cycle for 3 months to compare notes. Notice what days you feel the "crunchy" feeling coming up, notice what days you're body is ovulating, how long your cycle is, what PMS symptoms you had each month and why maybe that stopped one month or were stronger one month vs another.
Wanting to go deeper?
Join my free 5 day Menstrual Cycle Live Coaching Immersion Program. We are going to be focused on one cycle phase each day of the week and examine it through an Ayurvedic lens. My goal is to help you examine your own menstrual cycle and help you fix a period problem you might have each month.
Join Here
Really ready to fix your period pain
Flow With Your Cycle
The last day to join Flow With Your Cycle is Sept. 18th!
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