One of our greatest, and free wellbeing tools
The power and potential of tracking
Menstrual cycle tracking is where I started with this….but hear me out, tracking serves us whether or not we have a menstrual cycle…read on!
I think our natural cycles are under served.
When it comes to our menstrual cycles, we are taught only about ovulation and bleeding in school, and then much of the rest of our experience is surrounded by shame. We hide our menstrual products and battle through pain and low energy.
Or we are laid low by pain, which can take years to resolve.
But learning to live with it, to understand how our cycle affects us as an individual is powerful and important.
It isn’t just about pain and blood and pregnancy.
There are important messages in the ups and downs we experience during the month, and it gives us feedback on our self care.
Tracking becomes really helpful in perimenopause.
Even if you have a coil and don’t experience a bleed, there’s a benefit in paying attention to mood, energy, pain, and other symptoms. It can tell you a lot about how your body is responding to HRT, other medications, supplements or changes in lifestyle.
I want to talk to you about tracking.
I’ll refer to the menstrual cycle but actually it is helpful whether or not you have a monthly bleed.
About paying attention, on a daily basis, to your mood, energy, pain levels, sleep, hot flushes, brain fog, digestion (basically to whatever feels important to you).
This simple tool can help you make the most of your life right now, and cope better with any perimenopausal symptoms.
I like to use a written note in my journal, or on a tracker (download below). There are lots of apps too. I like Clue and Life, but there are many out there. Balance has been developed with perimenopause in mind.
You don’t even have to have a menstrual cycle to benefit from tracking. If you are beyond menopause, perimenopause, on hormonal birth control or HRT, you can also track the ups and downs, either using the lunar cycle or a 4 week block of time. You may notice there’s a regular trend in your energy levels, mood or creativity, and this is worth paying attention to).
When we are menstruating our energy, focus and mood can be hugely affected by our hormone levels. At every stage in the month these have an impact and if we build and plan our lives around it a little we can really get in sync and access our inner superwoman.
Tracking is simple and free
Choose a method (journal, printout or app)
Take a moment to check in and complete it daily.
Reflect back on the end of the month - what might have been the story of that month for your wellbeing.
Repeat each month, for at least 3 months, and then take a look and see if you can see a pattern.
What patterns might you notice?
I love the way that the yogis and Red School talk of the menstrual cycle in terms of seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Perhaps because this can bring me back to trees and nature.
It’s a really helpful way to think about you, your energy and your experience of the cycle.
Winter is the bleed itself, your period, a time that should be devoted to rest and time to look inwards, as well as a great time to tap into your intuition, and for some it can be a good time to get creative for just that reason. It’s not a great time to be social, stay up late and generally burn the candle at both ends. You’ll have a more dramatic stress response if you do so.
Work wise, this can be a time to mull over big decisions and to create and write from the source but not to go all out on a big launch or big event. And if that’s unavoidable, then you build in rest as much as you can before and after.
And even if you don’t menstruate, planning in downtime on a regular basis can be really restorative.
Spring is the pre-ovulatory, follicular phase, when oestrogen starts to rise again as well as testosterone. You get your energy back and can be FULL of ideas and excitement. But as you aren’t quite in full bloom, it can be really easy to over extend yourself and fall back.
Summer is the phase around ovulation itself, when oestrogen and testosterone levels peak and your libido should be in full force as mother nature thinks that procreation should be the name of the game. Even if you don’t fully agree! This is when those super woman days can happen. If you have a big presentation to give, or an event to run, this can really work well! It works better if you’ve allowed yourself rest in the winter phase. It’s a great time to be sociable.
And Autumn - the phase post ovulation and pre menstruation, the luteal phase of our cycle. This can be a tricky time, oestrogen levels drop slightly and progesterone rises as it is released from the corpus luteum. Progesterone is a very calming hormone and this can be a good time in the cycle to make big decisions, to have more focus to finish off big projects and to be more connected to yourself and what you want and need (think nesting). As we reach the end of this stage of the cycle and progesterone drops off, this can be when we experience the symptoms of PMS and feel less patient, more likely to speak our mind...or even experience the rage. Not the best time to deal with a difficult client whose services you want to retain.
The rise and fall of oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone dictate our mood, our energy and our stress levels in the cycle, but stress (and hormonal birth control) also affect our cycles. Both stress and hormonal birth control suppress ovulation, as can other health conditions, which can mean that our levels of oestrogen and progesterone are lower and we don’t get the energy surge mid month.
When planning events and retreats I try and ensure this is around my spring and summer of my menstrual cycle. But I’ll do the planning and prep work in my autumn and winter.
I’ll make videos, and run my workshops and retreats in my Spring/Summer phase, but will find it easier to write newsletters and blogs in my autumn/winter. Although my cycle is now more vulnerable to stress/change in my 40s - but that is a message in itself.
I’ll track the low days and the high days each month as this gives me important information on my overall health. I see the menstrual cycle as a health indicator. PMS or continued low mood means I likely haven’t been looking after myself, haven’t given my follicles a good chance to develop to ovulation and therefore OEst and prog levels are low.
I use a written tracker and apps to do this. There’s something about pen to paper which enables me to be more honest, especially when the drop down list of mood options doesn’t include ‘aaaaaargh’.
Key tips
Track your mood, energy, creativity and focus throughout the month and notice your peaks and troughs
Start to tweak timings of events, launches or your social life to take account of your monthly cycle.
Don’t overdo it during menstruation itself, allow yourself to be replenished by your bleed.
If you notice that your mood is flat or you don’t experience any sense of a high or boost in energy, track back and notice whether you’ve experienced more stress, less sleep, illness or had a higher than normal alcohol consumption...all of this can affect our hormone levels and are an indicator that an increase in self care is necessary.
For me, in my 40s, being more connected to my cycle will help me to notice and understand how the changes of perimenopause affect me, which is what brought me here in the first place.
And as for PMS, I can generally predict it, and warn the family. Some months I don’t experience it at all. And then I give myself a gold star for excellent self care.
How do I use this with clients?
Menstrual cycle tracking and journaling is something I use with all clients. I want to understand what their current experience is and help them to understand this as well.
Often women come to me with perimenopausal symptoms connected to PMS. The rage, the lack of sleep, the low mood, low level anxiety, or low libido and cycle tracking is one of the tools I use to help them work out what is going on.
I offer one to one coaching sessions as a 3 or 4 month programme, or as a one-off ‘power hour’, and can explore this in more detail with you.