Week 2
Welcome to Module 1 Week 2 of the Fertile Ground Holistic Fertility Program
Module 1
Week 2
This week we are going to be concentrating on Charting, Tracking Your Cycle and What a Healthy Cycle Should Look like
What is a Normal Menstrual Cycle
I’m going to talk about what a healthy menstrual cycle should look like so that you know what to be aiming for, along with the red flags to be aware of.
Have you ever wondered what a normal menstrual cycle actually looks like? Every day tons of people are Googling questions like, “How long is my period supposed to be?” or “What happens if I have sex while on my period?” or “How much pain is normal with a period?” And so much more!
These are important questions, and more often than not, we’re not taught this vital information - hence the reason everyone turns to Google.
What is a period?
Your menstrual cycle is the entire cycle, from day 1 of bleeding to the last day before your next bleed. The term period is used to describe vaginal bleeding that lasts roughly 2 to 7 days and occurs approximately every 28 days.
A true period is always preceded by ovulation. If you did not ovulate in a particular cycle, then you’re experiencing what is known as an anovulatory cycle. In this case, none of the steps I described in the four phases module occur, and instead, you experience a kind of ongoing follicular phase without the significant rise of progesterone that normally follows ovulation. Estrogen does a few little rises here and there, but progesterone remains flat lined.
In some cases of anovulation a person will skip a period, and in other cases, a person will experience an anovulatory or breakthrough bleed that seems like a period. This is because estrogen is no longer at a level to sustain the uterine lining, and so the lining begins to shed. Depending on how long the cycle has been, one may experience very light bleeding (common in short cycles) or heavy to very heavy bleeding (which is common in longer cycles with high sustained levels of estrogen stimulating the growth of the endometrium over time). The same goes for any form of hormonal birth control that suppresses ovulation as its mechanism for preventing pregnancy. A quick note: Hormonal IUDs like the Mirena are not designed to suppress ovulation, so this is an exception. I will say though, that I’ve seen lots of clients not ovulate on these IUDs.
Bleeds on hormonal birth control that suppress ovulation are known as withdrawal bleeds, due to the withdrawal of the progestin (a synthetic version of progesterone) in the contraceptive. Once the person begins taking the placebo pills and the progestin leaves the body, the uterine lining begins to break down.
The only true way to know whether a cycle was ovulatory or anovulatory is to track your basal temperature and your cervical fluid patterns for the duration of the cycle.
Is it important to have a period?
The importance of having regular ovulation and a regular period now goes without saying. Having a healthy menstrual cycle is necessary. And a regular period is part of the deal because of the myriad ways in which it can tell you something is up with your body. Heavy, light, missing, irregular, painful, too dark or light in color, clumpy or scanty. These are all important clues about what’s up with the endocrine system. Without these clues, we don’t have a gauge for what’s actually going on.
How long should the menstrual cycle be?
The length of a cycle is the number of days between periods, including the first day of a period until the day before the next period starts. The average length of a cycle is 29 days. Cycle length is determined by the length of the follicular phase, which is determined by the day of ovulation.
Ovulation actually changes from cycle to cycle. This fluctuation depends on a variety of factors, like physical and psychological stress, nutrient deficiencies and hormonal imbalances to name a few. These factors all determine two things:
The first is when we actually ovulate, and the second is the health of the follicle and the corpus luteum, which will then determine how much progesterone is produced and for how long, which will influence the length of the luteal phase.
The follicular phase should be at least 11 days long, with ovulation occurring between days 12 and 21, in order to have a cycle that falls within the ideal range.
Cycles that regularly fall outside the 25-to-35-day range are almost always indicative of something happening on a deeper level. Often, longer cycles indicate polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or something else that might be causing estrogen not to reach its threshold, which delays or stops ovulation. On the other hand, shorter cycles could mean ovulation is occurring too early, or a luteal phase deficiency caused by corpus luteum dysfunction, which would negatively affect progesterone output.
How long should a period be?
There is also a lot of debate about how long our periods should last. There is some research that shows that a normal period can be anywhere between 2 and 7 days, and that 5 days of menstruation is the statistical average. In addition, five days of bleeding appears to be ideal for fertility. However, this is not to say that if you or your clients are not bleeding for five days every month, that you won’t get pregnant.
In my experience, a normal period should range between 3 and 7 days. When a period is at least three days long, it signifies that the FSH and LH were doing their job, and there was adequate levels of estrogen to sufficiently build up the uterine lining in the first half of the cycle, and that estrogen reached the threshold that allowed ovulation to occur.
If a period consistently lasts 8 days or longer–this is often a sign of estrogen dominance (when estrogen is too high in relation to progesterone), progesterone deficiency, low thyroid function , iron deficiency or even a bleeding disorder.
Two days or fewer often signifies lack of ovulation and/or insufficient estrogen to maintain all the other functions in the body that are dependent on this critical hormone. Low-estrogen symptoms include vaginal dryness, painful sex, low libido, joint pain, an inability to focus, crankiness, anxiety, sleep disruption, and night sweats.
How much blood loss is considered normal?
Normal periods consist of an average range of 30 to 50 ml of blood loss, and the research suggests that 60 ml or less is ideal, although the range women experience is much wider.
Measuring menstrual blood loss is tricky and has limitations. This is because, in addition to blood, you’re also expelling the uterine endometrial lining (which includes tissue and clots), and vaginal and cervical fluids, so in terms of menstrual fluid volume, according to the scientific research, you’re potentially losing more than I’ve described.
One fully soaked regular tampon or pad holds approximately 5 ml, or 1 teaspoon of blood, and a fully soaked super tampon holds 10 ml. A half-soaked regular pad or tampon equals 2.5 ml, and a half-soaked super tampon equals 5 ml.
Based on these numbers, it’s considered normal to soak about six to ten regular pads and/or tampons during each period. Most of us don’t wait until our pad or tampon is fully soaked and different brands have varying absorbencies, so if this number seems low to you, it may be because of the brand you use or because you change your pads or tampons more often.
If you’re losing more than 80 ml of blood per cycle then this is a sign of menorrhagia, or an excessively heavy period.
What does this look like?
Other signs of a heavy flow include periods that last longer than 8 days, flooding (when you’re literally bleeding through pads/tampons every thirty to sixty minutes), having to change period protection during the night or double up on period protection just to get through the night, clots that are an inch long or bigger and complete exhaustion or even dizziness when a period arrives (this may look like low iron and low ferritin levels on blood work).
Excessively light periods are problematic, too. Just as short periods can indicate a lack of adequate estrogen or a lack of ovulation, so can a light or scanty period. If bleeding lasts for just 1 to 2 days each cycle and blood loss is such that only a total of five pads or tampons (25 ml, or roughly 5 teaspoons or less) are used during an entire period, this is a sign that estrogen is not where it’s supposed to be to build a substantial-enough uterine lining. Or it isn’t high enough to kick off ovulation, so both estrogen and progesterone are low throughout the cycle resulting in light bleeding.
What should a period look like?
The endometrium is extremely sensitive to the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and they exert their effects on the uterine lining throughout the menstrual cycle. I like to refer to estrogen as the builder hormone, coming in and constructing the house and then progesterone as the interior decorator hormone, who comes in and makes the house all pretty and gets it ready for its new resident.
So in terms of what a period should look like, ideally it should start with a saturated red color. A relatively wide range of reds can be used to describe healthy menstrual blood. These include ruby, berry, cherry, currant, crimson, scarlet, and rose.
If the blood is brown or very dark, that’s a sign of slower-moving blood at the beginning or end of the cycle. There are a number of reasons why one may have darker blood or brown blood. You may notice it after lying down for long periods of time, which causes blood to pool and not move as it would if standing or moving about.
Or if the uterus is in a flexed or severely tipped position it may slow down the flow of menstrual blood leaving the body. The blood then becomes brown in color. This is because the oxygen containing compound hemoglobin, that makes blood red, contains iron, and this becomes iron oxide when exposed to more oxygen in the air. And oxidized blood is browner or darker.
Additionally, this malposition makes it harder for the uterus to expel all the blood, so you may see darker blood flow or spotting from a previous cycle. This may be accompanied by pelvic pain, menstrual cramps, constipation, and low-back pain during your period.
Let’s move onto consistency and clots. Blood clots bigger than an inch or two and a half centimeters that are present consistently in period blood are not considered normal. When I say consistently, I don’t mean a few clots here or there in period blood that flows well. That’s totally fine!
Period blood that is clotted, clumpy, that looks like some kind of jam (think strawberry jam), or is pasty like mud could be indicative of a few things. First, I find that lack of adequate blood flow to the pelvic region is problematic.
The other issue I see related to blood flow problems is estrogen dominance and progesterone deficiency. Too much estrogen causes the lining to thicken. Progesterone’s job is to reduce the effect of estrogen on the lining, so too little progesterone can be problematic.
So how should period blood flow? Period blood should have a consistency similar to high-quality maple syrup—that is, it should flow easily and consistently. Or, not too watery and not too thick.
On the flip side of the estrogen dominance, progesterone deficiency problem I just described period blood that is thinned out, too little, lighter in color, and pink rather than red (i.e., like watermelon juice or watered-down cranberry juice) could mean there is an iron deficiency, estrogen deficiency or anovulation.
What should the pattern of bleeding look like?
The first day of your period is the first day of your typical flow, when you experience significant bleeding and need a pad, tampon, period underwear, a menstrual cup, or some other form of period protection. Spotting is not considered the first day of a period and should be marked as end of cycle spotting on a tracking chart.
A period typically starts out heavier and then moves to medium and then light before ending. But because each of us is unique, some women experience periods that start out lighter, become heavier, and then become lighter again. In others, the flow is consistent every day of the period and then abruptly ends or tapers off with some spotting. Each of these scenarios is considered healthy and nothing to worry about.
What accompanying symptoms are normal?
What’s normal and what’s not for accompanying symptoms? Symptoms that disrupt your life mean something is up! Some of these include spotting in the leadup to your period, period pain, and emotional symptoms.
Spotting causes a great deal of distress, so it’s important to know that there are different types of spotting—some are okay, some are not so great.
Please note that spotting is not considered your period, and if you’re tracking your cycle, spotting should not be counted as the beginning of menstruation. Premenstrual spotting for 1 to 2 days before your period begins is no big deal; this blood is often darker red or brown because like I said before, it’s slow moving or is leftover blood from the previous cycle, which is common with a flexed or tipped uterus.
However, spotting for more than 3 days leading up to your period is not considered normal. In fact, it is often a sign that your progesterone is dropping too quickly or was never high enough to begin with, thus triggering the lining to shed. It could also indicate a condition such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or hypothyroidism (especially if you’re spotting in the follicular phase too).
On the flip side, when your period ends, you should experience bleeding that either stops completely right away or tapers off over a day or two rather than spotting that lingers for 3 or more days. The latter could also be indicative of those same conditions I just mentioned.
If you have pain that disrupts your daily routine, or requires more than 2 regular ibuprofen per period, then something is up and it warrants further investigation. Finding the cause of period pain isn’t always easy, but it is necessary to determine the course of action.
And last but not least, I want to touch on emotional symptoms that correlate with our periods. If emotions are running high and they throw your life into chaos in the lead up to your period, and then during your period you crash physically and mentally, this usually means that hormonal imbalances driven by inflammation, detoxification problems and blood sugar imbalances abound!
So, this is all why it is so important to be tracking your cycle, looking at what is consistent, not consistent and how gathering all of this information can help decipher what is happening and how we can make changes. A healthy cycle is so important at many levels. Owning your health is a journey. You'll get the best results when you are patient and make small changes over time.
HANDOUT - What is a Normal Menstrual Cycle
Have you ever wondered what a normal menstrual cycle actually looks like? Every day tons of people are Googling questions like, “How long is my period supposed to be?” or “What happens if I have sex while on my period?” or “How much pain is normal with a period?” And so much more!
These are important questions, and more often than not, we’re not taught this vital information - hence the reason everyone turns to Google.
What is a period?
Your menstrual cycle is the entire cycle, from day 1 of bleeding to the last day before your next bleed. The term period is used to describe vaginal bleeding that lasts roughly 2 to 7 days and occurs approximately every 28 days.
A true period is always preceded by ovulation. If you did not ovulate in a particular cycle, then you’re experiencing what is known as an anovulatory cycle. In this case, none of the steps I described in the four phases module occur, and instead, you experience a kind of ongoing follicular phase without the significant rise of progesterone that normally follows ovulation. Estrogen does a few little rises here and there, but progesterone remains flat lined.
In some cases of anovulation a person will skip a period, and in other cases, a person will experience an anovulatory or breakthrough bleed that seems like a period. This is because estrogen is no longer at a level to sustain the uterine lining, and so the lining begins to shed. Depending on how long the cycle has been, one may experience very light bleeding (common in short cycles) or heavy to very heavy bleeding (which is common in longer cycles with high sustained levels of estrogen stimulating the growth of the endometrium over time). The same goes for any form of hormonal birth control that suppresses ovulation as its mechanism for preventing pregnancy. A quick note: Hormonal IUDs like the Mirena are not designed to suppress ovulation, so this is an exception. I will say though, that I’ve seen lots of clients not ovulate on these IUDs.
Bleeds on hormonal birth control that suppress ovulation are known as withdrawal bleeds, due to the withdrawal of the progestin (a synthetic version of progesterone) in the contraceptive. Once the person begins taking the placebo pills and the progestin leaves the body, the uterine lining begins to break down.
The only true way to know whether a cycle was ovulatory or anovulatory is to track your basal temperature and your cervical fluid patterns for the duration of the cycle.
Is it important to have a period?
The importance of having regular ovulation and a regular period now goes without saying. Having a healthy menstrual cycle is necessary. And a regular period is part of the deal because of the myriad ways in which it can tell you something is up with your body. Heavy, light, missing, irregular, painful, too dark or light in color, clumpy or scanty. These are all important clues about what’s up with the endocrine system. Without these clues, we don’t have a gauge for what’s actually going on.
How long should the menstrual cycle be?
The length of a cycle is the number of days between periods, including the first day of a period until the day before the next period starts. The average length of a cycle is 29 days. Cycle length is determined by the length of the follicular phase, which is determined by the day of ovulation.
Ovulation actually changes from cycle to cycle. This fluctuation depends on a variety of factors, like physical and psychological stress, nutrient deficiencies and hormonal imbalances to name a few. These factors all determine two things:
The first is when we actually ovulate, and the second is the health of the follicle and the corpus luteum, which will then determine how much progesterone is produced and for how long, which will influence the length of the luteal phase.
The follicular phase should be at least 11 days long, with ovulation occurring between days 12 and 21, in order to have a cycle that falls within the ideal range.
Cycles that regularly fall outside the 25-to-35-day range are almost always indicative of something happening on a deeper level. Often, longer cycles indicate polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or something else that might be causing estrogen not to reach its threshold, which delays or stops ovulation. On the other hand, shorter cycles could mean ovulation is occurring too early, or a luteal phase deficiency caused by corpus luteum dysfunction, which would negatively affect progesterone output.
How long should a period be?
There is also a lot of debate about how long our periods should last. There is some research that shows that a normal period can be anywhere between 2 and 7 days, and that 5 days of menstruation is the statistical average. In addition, five days of bleeding appears to be ideal for fertility. However, this is not to say that if you or your clients are not bleeding for five days every month, that you won’t get pregnant.
In my experience, a normal period should range between 3 and 7 days. When a period is at least three days long, it signifies that the FSH and LH were doing their job, and there was adequate levels of estrogen to sufficiently build up the uterine lining in the first half of the cycle, and that estrogen reached the threshold that allowed ovulation to occur.
If a period consistently lasts 8 days or longer–this is often a sign of estrogen dominance (when estrogen is too high in relation to progesterone), progesterone deficiency, low thyroid function , iron deficiency or even a bleeding disorder.
Two days or fewer often signifies lack of ovulation and/or insufficient estrogen to maintain all the other functions in the body that are dependent on this critical hormone. Low-estrogen symptoms include vaginal dryness, painful sex, low libido, joint pain, an inability to focus, crankiness, anxiety, sleep disruption, and night sweats.
How much blood loss is considered normal?
Normal periods consist of an average range of 30 to 50 ml of blood loss, and the research suggests that 60 ml or less is ideal, although the range women experience is much wider.
Measuring menstrual blood loss is tricky and has limitations. This is because, in addition to blood, you’re also expelling the uterine endometrial lining (which includes tissue and clots), and vaginal and cervical fluids, so in terms of menstrual fluid volume, according to the scientific research, you’re potentially losing more than I’ve described.
One fully soaked regular tampon or pad holds approximately 5 ml, or 1 teaspoon of blood, and a fully soaked super tampon holds 10 ml. A half-soaked regular pad or tampon equals 2.5 ml, and a half-soaked super tampon equals 5 ml.
Based on these numbers, it’s considered normal to soak about six to ten regular pads and/or tampons during each period. Most of us don’t wait until our pad or tampon is fully soaked and different brands have varying absorbencies, so if this number seems low to you, it may be because of the brand you use or because you change your pads or tampons more often.
If you’re losing more than 80 ml of blood per cycle then this is a sign of menorrhagia, or an excessively heavy period.
What does this look like?
- You’re soaking more than 16 regular tampons or pads per cycle
- You’re soaking “regular flow” period underwear four or more times a day on at least 3 days of your period
- You’ve changed a half-full 30 ml menstrual cup more than six times during your period
Other signs of a heavy flow include periods that last longer than 8 days, flooding (when you’re literally bleeding through pads/tampons every thirty to sixty minutes), having to change period protection during the night or double up on period protection just to get through the night, clots that are an inch long or bigger and complete exhaustion or even dizziness when a period arrives (this may look like low iron and low ferritin levels on blood work).
Excessively light periods are problematic, too. Just as short periods can indicate a lack of adequate estrogen or a lack of ovulation, so can a light or scanty period. If bleeding lasts for just 1 to 2 days each cycle and blood loss is such that only a total of five pads or tampons (25 ml, or roughly 5 teaspoons or less) are used during an entire period, this is a sign that estrogen is not where it’s supposed to be to build a substantial-enough uterine lining. Or it isn’t high enough to kick off ovulation, so both estrogen and progesterone are low throughout the cycle resulting in light bleeding.
What should a period look like?
The endometrium is extremely sensitive to the ovarian hormones, estrogen and progesterone, and they exert their effects on the uterine lining throughout the menstrual cycle. I like to refer to estrogen as the builder hormone, coming in and constructing the house and then progesterone as the interior decorator hormone, who comes in and makes the house all pretty and gets it ready for its new resident.
So in terms of what a period should look like, ideally it should start with a saturated red color. A relatively wide range of reds can be used to describe healthy menstrual blood. These include ruby, berry, cherry, currant, crimson, scarlet, and rose.
If the blood is brown or very dark, that’s a sign of slower-moving blood at the beginning or end of the cycle. There are a number of reasons why one may have darker blood or brown blood. You may notice it after lying down for long periods of time, which causes blood to pool and not move as it would if standing or moving about.
Or if the uterus is in a flexed or severely tipped position it may slow down the flow of menstrual blood leaving the body. The blood then becomes brown in color. This is because the oxygen containing compound hemoglobin, that makes blood red, contains iron, and this becomes iron oxide when exposed to more oxygen in the air. And oxidized blood is browner or darker.
Additionally, this malposition makes it harder for the uterus to expel all the blood, so you may see darker blood flow or spotting from a previous cycle. This may be accompanied by pelvic pain, menstrual cramps, constipation, and low-back pain during your period.
Let’s move onto consistency and clots. Blood clots bigger than an inch or two and a half centimeters that are present consistently in period blood are not considered normal. When I say consistently, I don’t mean a few clots here or there in period blood that flows well. That’s totally fine!
Period blood that is clotted, clumpy, that looks like some kind of jam (think strawberry jam), or is pasty like mud could be indicative of a few things. First, I find that lack of adequate blood flow to the pelvic region is problematic.
The other issue I see related to blood flow problems is estrogen dominance and progesterone deficiency. Too much estrogen causes the lining to thicken. Progesterone’s job is to reduce the effect of estrogen on the lining, so too little progesterone can be problematic.
So how should period blood flow? Period blood should have a consistency similar to high-quality maple syrup—that is, it should flow easily and consistently. Or, not too watery and not too thick.
On the flip side of the estrogen dominance, progesterone deficiency problem I just described period blood that is thinned out, too little, lighter in color, and pink rather than red (i.e., like watermelon juice or watered-down cranberry juice) could mean there is an iron deficiency, estrogen deficiency or anovulation.
What should the pattern of bleeding look like?
The first day of your period is the first day of your typical flow, when you experience significant bleeding and need a pad, tampon, period underwear, a menstrual cup, or some other form of period protection. Spotting is not considered the first day of a period and should be marked as end of cycle spotting on a tracking chart.
A period typically starts out heavier and then moves to medium and then light before ending. But because each of us is unique, some women experience periods that start out lighter, become heavier, and then become lighter again. In others, the flow is consistent every day of the period and then abruptly ends or tapers off with some spotting. Each of these scenarios is considered healthy and nothing to worry about.
What accompanying symptoms are normal?
What’s normal and what’s not for accompanying symptoms? Symptoms that disrupt your life mean something is up! Some of these include spotting in the leadup to your period, period pain, and emotional symptoms.
Spotting causes a great deal of distress, so it’s important to know that there are different types of spotting—some are okay, some are not so great.
Please note that spotting is not considered your period, and if you’re tracking your cycle, spotting should not be counted as the beginning of menstruation. Premenstrual spotting for 1 to 2 days before your period begins is no big deal; this blood is often darker red or brown because like I said before, it’s slow moving or is leftover blood from the previous cycle, which is common with a flexed or tipped uterus.
However, spotting for more than 3 days leading up to your period is not considered normal. In fact, it is often a sign that your progesterone is dropping too quickly or was never high enough to begin with, thus triggering the lining to shed. It could also indicate a condition such as endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or hypothyroidism (especially if you’re spotting in the follicular phase too).
On the flip side, when your period ends, you should experience bleeding that either stops completely right away or tapers off over a day or two rather than spotting that lingers for 3 or more days. The latter could also be indicative of those same conditions I just mentioned.
If you have pain that disrupts your daily routine, or requires more than 2 regular ibuprofen per period, then something is up and it warrants further investigation. Finding the cause of period pain isn’t always easy, but it is necessary to determine the course of action.
And last but not least, I want to touch on emotional symptoms that correlate with our periods. If emotions are running high and they throw your life into chaos in the lead up to your period, and then during your period you crash physically and mentally, this usually means that hormonal imbalances driven by inflammation, detoxification problems and blood sugar imbalances abound!
So, this is all why it is so important to be tracking your cycle, looking at what is consistent, not consistent and how gathering all of this information can help decipher what is happening and how we can make changes. A healthy cycle is so important at many levels. Owning your health is a journey. You'll get the best results when you are patient and make small changes over time.
HANDOUT - What is a Normal Menstrual Cycle
Cycle Tracking 101
Cycle tracking is the first step to gaining deeper knowledge of the body. This is useful for reasons far beyond issues of fertility and conception. As you are now aware, irregularities in the menstrual cycle can signify a whole host of brewing hormone imbalances, and even chronic conditions, so it’s important for us to tune into these signs from the body. By keeping track of the cycle and noting irregularities you can pinpoint what’s going on.
Cycle Tracking Basics
Cycle tracking is the first step in getting acquainted with our menstrual cycles and attaining period literacy. Quantifying things such as the length of the menstrual cycle, the number of days of bleeding or spotting, and any period-related symptoms will empower us to make more educated decisions about our health and wellness. I promise you will see the immense benefits of this practice very early on and get used to it pretty quickly.
There are literally dozens of available apps, so I recommend you find one that works for you. There are also paper charts available online that can be printed. There are suggestions provided to you in the Welcome Module and an extra paper chart is included below.
Basic Cycle Tracking
As part of basic cycle tracking, you should track:
The most bothersome physical and emotional symptoms they experience before, during or after their period. These may include:
A period tracking app cannot accurately predict ovulation each cycle! These apps just take previous data and make predictions based on that data. One must enter their basal body temperatures and cervical fluid data into the app and this will help determine when ovulation has occurred and when a period will be due.
Advanced Cycle Tracking
This is the kind of cycle data collection you should be aiming for in addition to the basics I just described! The more data that we have, the more we can learn about and improve our cycles.
With more advanced tracking, you are essentially tracking three things:
These three parameters will tell you if and when in your cycle you are ovulating, which will give you a picture of your individual menstrual cycle patterns and fertility.
Step 1: Chart Basal Body Temperature
The first step is to chart basal body temperature. A basal body temperature is a person’s temperature first thing upon awakening. Before ovulation, your waking temperature will be on the lower side, often anywhere from 97.0 to 97.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.11 to 36.5 degrees Celsius.
A day or two after ovulation, your temperature will typically rise at least two-tenths of a degree (both fahrenheit and in celsius) and stay elevated until right before your next period. Postovulatory temperatures usually rise to 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.55 degrees Celsius or higher. This is caused by the production of the thermogenic or heat-inducing hormone progesterone.
How to Chart Your Basal Body Temperature
Do your best to take your temperature every day. If you take it later or earlier than normal or miss a day, don’t worry! This is a fact finding mission, and you’re aiming for an overall temperature pattern throughout your whole cycle anyways.
Interpreting Temperature Patterns
The main reason you chart your temperature in conjunction with observing cervical fluid is to determine if and when you have ovulated in any given cycle. Here’s how you do that:
Pay attention to when your temperature rises more than two-tenths of a degree above the previous six temperatures, and stays elevated for at least 3 days. This is the first step in determining that you’ve ovulated. And once you have combined this temperature shift with the change in your cervical fluid, you can confirm ovulation has occurred.
How to Draw the Coverline on Paper Charts
To interpret whether ovulation has occurred accurately, you’ll need to draw a coverline on your paper chart to help you differentiate between low temperatures (pre-ovulatory) and high temperatures (post-ovulatory). The coverline is automatically added on some apps like Kindara, so make sure to check the app you use for this feature.
Chart one cycle and then follow the steps below for future cycles. And again, if you’re not using a paper chart, likely the app you’re using will have a cover line feature so this might not be applicable to you but it’s really important and useful information regardless.
For many women, it takes about three to four months to see a pattern in their temperature readings. If you’re ovulating, there should be a pretty distinct difference in the temperatures between the first and second halves of your cycle.
Step 2: Tracking Your Cervical Fluid
When we know our unique cervical fluid patterns, we are able to determine when we are fertile and when we are not. After your period, you may notice little to no cervical fluid and a “dry” vaginal sensation: when you touch your vulva it feels only slightly moist, and when you wipe yourself it feels kind of dry or rough. As estrogen begins its ascent your cervical fluid will take on a “wetter” consistency, often becoming creamy (like lotion) or milky, and white in color.
As you enter your fertile window, you may notice it becomes more slippery, viscous, stretchy (like egg white), or watery or even gushy. This is known as fertile-quality cervical fluid. You will also experience a wet or slippery vaginal sensation, meaning that when you touch your vulva, it feels very wet or moist, or the toilet paper will feel slick when you wipe. After ovulation, with the rise of progesterone, the fluid becomes thicker, with a sticky, tacky, or pasty texture, or it just may dry up completely.
For the remainder of the luteal phase, you will likely notice little to no cervical fluid and a dry vaginal sensation similar to what you experienced right after your period. You may notice the wetter-quality fluid again around the middle of your luteal phase (about 5 to 7 days before your period). This happens because of a rise in estrogen during that time and is not a sign of ovulation.
If you’re not seeing any on your underwear, which is quite common after coming off of hormonal birth control or not ovulating for a long period of time, use a finger to check internally. I always recommend being patient with your body as it begins to readjust to having ovulatory cycles again if you have not been ovulating.
If you have not been on hormonal birth control and you’ve been ovulating consistently, and you don’t produce a lot of cervical fluid in the 5 to 7 days before ovulation, don’t worry just yet. It doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong. There are a few things to consider:
Now let’s talk about typical patterns of cervical fluid throughout a given cycle. The dry-wet-dry cycle is a typical pattern, but there can be deviations from this. If you continue to experience the wet cervical fluid after ovulation occurs, or if you generally notice cervical fluid throughout your cycle, this often indicates endocrine disruption. Keep in mind that your cervical fluid is produced in response to rising estrogen. If you have PCOS or your estrogen is dominant over your progesterone for other reasons, such as a thyroid condition, then this could be the cause.
A yeast infection, bacterial vaginosis, or a sexually transmitted infection can also throw your cervical fluid off. If you have a thick white discharge that smells like yeast and is accompanied by itching or irritation, you may have a yeast infection. A fishy-smelling, grayish discharge could be bacterial vaginosis. There are other infections and conditions that can cause changes in cervical fluid consistency, smell and color, like gonorrhea, chlamydia and cervical dysplasia and cancer. If you experience any of these symptoms or a deviation from your norm, definitely see your doctor for testing as soon as possible.
How to Tell If You’ve Ovulated by Observing Cervical Fluid
The first step in determining if you have ovulated is to identify your peak day. Your peak day is not necessarily the day of the greatest quantity of cervical fluid or the most wetness, but rather, the last day that you’ve observed fertile-quality cervical fluid or have a wet vaginal sensation in any given cycle.
The peak day is named this because it represents the peak day of fertility. It usually occurs a day or two before you ovulate, but it can also occur on the day of ovulation. I know, not confusing at all!
You will be able to determine your peak day only in retrospect, on the following day. It’s the day before your cervical fluid starts to become sticky or tacky or dry up, and that wet vaginal sensation has dissipated. So you’ll only be able to recognize it once this change happens.
For instance, if you have lots of egg-white cervical fluid on one day, then a little egg-white cervical fluid the next day, and then sticky cervical fluid the third day, then the second day (with that little bit of egg-white cervical fluid) would be considered your peak day. As you can see on the chart, the egg white fluid ends on day 16 and then it’s followed by sticky cervical fluid so that is how day 16 was determined to be the peak day.
Knowing your peak day will help you determine the end of your fertile window: if you observe that your cervical fluid has changed consistency or been dry for 3 days after your peak day, then it’s one pretty sure sign that you’ve ovulated.
Step 3: Monitoring Your Cervical Position
Your cervical position is the third sign of fertility that you would pay attention to during your cycle. This is not a necessary step, as it just confirms what your cervical fluid and temperature told you, but if you wanna feel for your cervix you absolutely should!
Your cervix is usually firm and remains low and closed throughout most of your cycle. However, as estrogen increases during the lead-up to ovulation, it causes the cervix to become soft, move up higher, open up and produce the characteristic fertile quality cervical fluid.
Cervix position can be felt by checking internally using your middle finger or your longest finger or two fingers. This is where the “knuckle rule” comes into play. As you can see on the image, the knuckle rule will help you determine the position of your cervix. If it’s low, you should feel it somewhere around your first knuckle, if it’s medium height then you should feel it at your second knuckle and if it’s high you should feel it at your third knuckle. Don’t forget to wash your hands before and after and do this practice standing up with one leg on the tub or toilet.
Tracking Irregular or Missing Periods
Regular cycles are wonderful, but let’s face it, all women experience times in their life when their cycles are irregular or stop altogether. These times most commonly include when your period begins at puberty, during the teenage years, after coming off of hormonal birth control, during an ongoing stressful life event, during extreme weight change, postpartum or after a miscarriage, during breastfeeding, and in perimenopause. The great thing about tracking your cycle is that it can be a tool during all of these phases, not just when your cycles are regular.
If your cycles are irregular, track as I have described. Take your temperature at the same time and track your cervical fluid daily. You’ll be able to glean lots of information by tracking, such as if and when you’re ovulating, when your period is coming, and when you’re potentially fertile.
If you are not ovulating but are having a bleed, your charts won’t show the biphasic temperature pattern (the shift from low preovulatory temperatures to high postovulatory temperatures) or a clear ovulatory cervical fluid pattern.
Instead, your temperature will bounce up and down, and your cervical fluid will display a basic infertile pattern, rather than going from dry to wet to dry again. A basic infertile pattern just means your cervical fluid doesn’t change dramatically because there is no ovulation.
When ovulation does return, your chart will alert you to this as well within a few days of ovulation occurring, with a change in temperature and cervical fluid consistency and texture.
For menopausal women, I suggest charting in conjunction with the moon cycle phases.
What else can charting your cycle tell you?
What is so amazing is your basal temperature can tell you other things too. In addition to telling you if and when you have ovulated, your basal temperature can tell you if you are pregnant, it can indicate low progesterone levels or a possible thyroid problem, it can indicate when you’re having a long or short cycle and it can even tell you what’s going on with your cortisol levels.
Once you have 18 days of sustained high temperatures, this is a sign of pregnancy. So you’ll know you are pregnant long before a pregnancy test will tell you.
Your temperatures can also possibly tell you about low thyroid function or low progesterone levels, with low post-ovulatory temperatures.
What’s also interesting about your temperatures is that they can indicate adrenal or HPA Axis dysfunction. Usually a saw tooth, zig zag or erratic pattern means that you may need to focus on supporting your adrenal glands and cortisol output.
You’ll also be able to see if you have long cycles and determine how long your luteal phase is. A luteal phase should ideally be 10 or more days long. If it is less than 10 days, oftentimes that means low progesterone or progesterone dropping prematurely, which causes the uterine lining to disintegrate and your period to arrive.
This has a major impact on fertility because the fertilized egg needs about 10 days minimum to travel to the uterus and implant. If the uterine lining is disintegrating before the egg implants, pregnancy cannot happen. It also has a major impact on our physical and emotional health because of the profound effect progesterone has on various body systems.
Aligning with the Moon’s Phases
The menstrual cycle and the moon cycle are exact mirrors of each other. The four phases of the moon’s approximately 29-day cycle (the new, waxing, full, and waning) synchronize perfectly with our four biological phases (bleeding, follicular, ovulatory and luteal). It’s as if the cycle of the moon were meant for us!
If you have hypothalamic amenorrhea or you don’t have a period for whatever reason (some of these include being pregnant, breastfeeding, perimenopause, or menopause or you’ve had a hysterectomy), harnessing these external moon phases will help you re-create the phases you have lost if your period is MIA or you no longer have it.
Living in accordance with the moon cycles will provide a framework for you to live as if you’re still cycling menstrually. This practice has even encouraged their periods to return if they have something like hypothalamic or post–birth control amenorrhea. Similarly, if you have an extremely irregular cycle (i.e., you get a period every two to three months maybe), aligning your energetic patterns with the phases of the moon during the times you don’t have a period can be very helpful. (see previous handout for more info)
Here’s what to do…
Add the moon cycles to your calendar—Google Calendar allows you to do this—download a moon calendar app, or purchase a paper moon calendar, so you know when the different phases of the moon occur.
Each moon phase indicates the start of a new biological phase and a new set of lifestyle guidelines to follow for that phase. Start day 1 of the “cycle” on the day of the new moon, which is the beginning of the moon cycle. The “follicular” phase would be the waxing phase between the new moon and full moon.
“Ovulation” would be at the full moon, and then the “luteal” phase would be the waning phase or the time in between the full moon and new moon. Even though your period is absent, act as if you are in each phase by following the same guidelines for food, self-care, and activities as outlined for the four phases of a regular cycle.
Cycle Tracking 101
Cycle Tracking Basics
Cycle tracking is the first step in getting acquainted with our menstrual cycles and attaining period literacy. Quantifying things such as the length of the menstrual cycle, the number of days of bleeding or spotting, and any period-related symptoms will empower us to make more educated decisions about our health and wellness. I promise you will see the immense benefits of this practice very early on and get used to it pretty quickly.
There are literally dozens of available apps, so I recommend you find one that works for you. There are also paper charts available online that can be printed. There are suggestions provided to you in the Welcome Module and an extra paper chart is included below.
Basic Cycle Tracking
As part of basic cycle tracking, you should track:
- The first day and the last day of bleeding to find out how long your period is
- How heavy or light their flow was on each day—paying particular attention to heavy bleeding days (and if they feel heavier than normal)
- Days of spotting they experience either before or after their period, or at other times in their cycle
The most bothersome physical and emotional symptoms they experience before, during or after their period. These may include:
- Pain that keeps you from doing what they want to do or need to do
- Intense cravings for sugar or salt
- Energy levels and brain fog - are you completely wiped out or can’t think straight on some days?
- Significant mood swings - things like anger, feeling depressed, anxious etc.
- Sleep - are there nights you're not sleeping?
- Bowel movements - note constipation or diarrhea as well as days with good bowel movements
- Acne or breakouts - these often correlate with hormone changes so they’re good to pinpoint
A period tracking app cannot accurately predict ovulation each cycle! These apps just take previous data and make predictions based on that data. One must enter their basal body temperatures and cervical fluid data into the app and this will help determine when ovulation has occurred and when a period will be due.
Advanced Cycle Tracking
This is the kind of cycle data collection you should be aiming for in addition to the basics I just described! The more data that we have, the more we can learn about and improve our cycles.
With more advanced tracking, you are essentially tracking three things:
- Basal body temperature - which is your temperature upon awakening.
- Cervical fluid - cervical fluid changes significantly throughout your cycle.
- Cervical position - the cervix moves up or down depending on where you are in your cycle.
These three parameters will tell you if and when in your cycle you are ovulating, which will give you a picture of your individual menstrual cycle patterns and fertility.
Step 1: Chart Basal Body Temperature
The first step is to chart basal body temperature. A basal body temperature is a person’s temperature first thing upon awakening. Before ovulation, your waking temperature will be on the lower side, often anywhere from 97.0 to 97.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.11 to 36.5 degrees Celsius.
A day or two after ovulation, your temperature will typically rise at least two-tenths of a degree (both fahrenheit and in celsius) and stay elevated until right before your next period. Postovulatory temperatures usually rise to 97.8 degrees Fahrenheit or 36.55 degrees Celsius or higher. This is caused by the production of the thermogenic or heat-inducing hormone progesterone.
How to Chart Your Basal Body Temperature
- The first step in cycle tracking is to purchase a basal thermometer. This kind of thermometer measures temperatures in 100th’s of a degree versus a regular thermometer which measures in 10ths of a degree. In other words, a basal thermometer will give you a temperature that reads as 97.11 whereas a regular thermometer will say 97.1 degrees. If you can’t purchase one right now, don't worry at all, you can use a regular thermometer!
- Keep the thermometer by your bedside. Set an alarm on your phone and name the alarm “take temperature”, or whatever will remind you to take it each morning as soon as you wake up.
- To get an accurate reading, you need to take your temperature first thing upon awakening after at least three consecutive hours of sleep and before any other activity such as using the toilet, brushing your teeth, or texting. Your temperature tends to rise about two-tenths of a degree per hour, so aim to take it at roughly the same time every day. If you can’t take your temperature at the same time every day, then get as close as you can. The goal is to see an overall pattern in your temperatures before ovulation and then after ovulation.
- Record your temperature in an app or, if you’re using a paper fertility chart, use a pencil to circle your daily temperature. Each day you can then draw a line connecting your daily temperature to the previous temperature.
- You should also note any events such as illness, air travel (especially across time zones), alcohol consumption, or periods of excessive stress, and any temperatures taken earlier or later than usual. You should take all these factors into consideration when interpreting your temperature pattern.
Do your best to take your temperature every day. If you take it later or earlier than normal or miss a day, don’t worry! This is a fact finding mission, and you’re aiming for an overall temperature pattern throughout your whole cycle anyways.
Interpreting Temperature Patterns
The main reason you chart your temperature in conjunction with observing cervical fluid is to determine if and when you have ovulated in any given cycle. Here’s how you do that:
Pay attention to when your temperature rises more than two-tenths of a degree above the previous six temperatures, and stays elevated for at least 3 days. This is the first step in determining that you’ve ovulated. And once you have combined this temperature shift with the change in your cervical fluid, you can confirm ovulation has occurred.
How to Draw the Coverline on Paper Charts
To interpret whether ovulation has occurred accurately, you’ll need to draw a coverline on your paper chart to help you differentiate between low temperatures (pre-ovulatory) and high temperatures (post-ovulatory). The coverline is automatically added on some apps like Kindara, so make sure to check the app you use for this feature.
Chart one cycle and then follow the steps below for future cycles. And again, if you’re not using a paper chart, likely the app you’re using will have a cover line feature so this might not be applicable to you but it’s really important and useful information regardless.
- Start to pay close attention to your temperatures as you approach ovulation. Refer back to your cervical fluid tracking.
- Every day from that first wet day, start glancing back over the last six days, always noting the highest temperature in that cluster.
- Identify the first day your temperature rises at least 2/10ths of a degree or 0.2 degrees higher than the highest of the last six days.
- Highlight those last six temperatures before the rise.
- Draw the coverline 1/10th of a degree or 0.1 degrees above the highest temperature of that cluster of six highlighted days preceding the temperature rise. **Note that you may have had high temperatures during menstruation due to the residual effects of progesterone lingering from the last cycle. Those high temperatures as well as other aberrant high temperatures can usually be ignored, especially if there is an obvious reason that they are high.
- Once you observe at least three consecutive high temperatures above the coverline or above the previous six temperatures before ovulation, you can confirm you have ovulated.
For many women, it takes about three to four months to see a pattern in their temperature readings. If you’re ovulating, there should be a pretty distinct difference in the temperatures between the first and second halves of your cycle.
Step 2: Tracking Your Cervical Fluid
When we know our unique cervical fluid patterns, we are able to determine when we are fertile and when we are not. After your period, you may notice little to no cervical fluid and a “dry” vaginal sensation: when you touch your vulva it feels only slightly moist, and when you wipe yourself it feels kind of dry or rough. As estrogen begins its ascent your cervical fluid will take on a “wetter” consistency, often becoming creamy (like lotion) or milky, and white in color.
As you enter your fertile window, you may notice it becomes more slippery, viscous, stretchy (like egg white), or watery or even gushy. This is known as fertile-quality cervical fluid. You will also experience a wet or slippery vaginal sensation, meaning that when you touch your vulva, it feels very wet or moist, or the toilet paper will feel slick when you wipe. After ovulation, with the rise of progesterone, the fluid becomes thicker, with a sticky, tacky, or pasty texture, or it just may dry up completely.
For the remainder of the luteal phase, you will likely notice little to no cervical fluid and a dry vaginal sensation similar to what you experienced right after your period. You may notice the wetter-quality fluid again around the middle of your luteal phase (about 5 to 7 days before your period). This happens because of a rise in estrogen during that time and is not a sign of ovulation.
If you’re not seeing any on your underwear, which is quite common after coming off of hormonal birth control or not ovulating for a long period of time, use a finger to check internally. I always recommend being patient with your body as it begins to readjust to having ovulatory cycles again if you have not been ovulating.
If you have not been on hormonal birth control and you’ve been ovulating consistently, and you don’t produce a lot of cervical fluid in the 5 to 7 days before ovulation, don’t worry just yet. It doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong. There are a few things to consider:
- There is a range for cervical fluid production
- Fluid production declines with age
Now let’s talk about typical patterns of cervical fluid throughout a given cycle. The dry-wet-dry cycle is a typical pattern, but there can be deviations from this. If you continue to experience the wet cervical fluid after ovulation occurs, or if you generally notice cervical fluid throughout your cycle, this often indicates endocrine disruption. Keep in mind that your cervical fluid is produced in response to rising estrogen. If you have PCOS or your estrogen is dominant over your progesterone for other reasons, such as a thyroid condition, then this could be the cause.
A yeast infection, bacterial vaginosis, or a sexually transmitted infection can also throw your cervical fluid off. If you have a thick white discharge that smells like yeast and is accompanied by itching or irritation, you may have a yeast infection. A fishy-smelling, grayish discharge could be bacterial vaginosis. There are other infections and conditions that can cause changes in cervical fluid consistency, smell and color, like gonorrhea, chlamydia and cervical dysplasia and cancer. If you experience any of these symptoms or a deviation from your norm, definitely see your doctor for testing as soon as possible.
How to Tell If You’ve Ovulated by Observing Cervical Fluid
The first step in determining if you have ovulated is to identify your peak day. Your peak day is not necessarily the day of the greatest quantity of cervical fluid or the most wetness, but rather, the last day that you’ve observed fertile-quality cervical fluid or have a wet vaginal sensation in any given cycle.
The peak day is named this because it represents the peak day of fertility. It usually occurs a day or two before you ovulate, but it can also occur on the day of ovulation. I know, not confusing at all!
You will be able to determine your peak day only in retrospect, on the following day. It’s the day before your cervical fluid starts to become sticky or tacky or dry up, and that wet vaginal sensation has dissipated. So you’ll only be able to recognize it once this change happens.
For instance, if you have lots of egg-white cervical fluid on one day, then a little egg-white cervical fluid the next day, and then sticky cervical fluid the third day, then the second day (with that little bit of egg-white cervical fluid) would be considered your peak day. As you can see on the chart, the egg white fluid ends on day 16 and then it’s followed by sticky cervical fluid so that is how day 16 was determined to be the peak day.
Knowing your peak day will help you determine the end of your fertile window: if you observe that your cervical fluid has changed consistency or been dry for 3 days after your peak day, then it’s one pretty sure sign that you’ve ovulated.
Step 3: Monitoring Your Cervical Position
Your cervical position is the third sign of fertility that you would pay attention to during your cycle. This is not a necessary step, as it just confirms what your cervical fluid and temperature told you, but if you wanna feel for your cervix you absolutely should!
Your cervix is usually firm and remains low and closed throughout most of your cycle. However, as estrogen increases during the lead-up to ovulation, it causes the cervix to become soft, move up higher, open up and produce the characteristic fertile quality cervical fluid.
Cervix position can be felt by checking internally using your middle finger or your longest finger or two fingers. This is where the “knuckle rule” comes into play. As you can see on the image, the knuckle rule will help you determine the position of your cervix. If it’s low, you should feel it somewhere around your first knuckle, if it’s medium height then you should feel it at your second knuckle and if it’s high you should feel it at your third knuckle. Don’t forget to wash your hands before and after and do this practice standing up with one leg on the tub or toilet.
Tracking Irregular or Missing Periods
Regular cycles are wonderful, but let’s face it, all women experience times in their life when their cycles are irregular or stop altogether. These times most commonly include when your period begins at puberty, during the teenage years, after coming off of hormonal birth control, during an ongoing stressful life event, during extreme weight change, postpartum or after a miscarriage, during breastfeeding, and in perimenopause. The great thing about tracking your cycle is that it can be a tool during all of these phases, not just when your cycles are regular.
If your cycles are irregular, track as I have described. Take your temperature at the same time and track your cervical fluid daily. You’ll be able to glean lots of information by tracking, such as if and when you’re ovulating, when your period is coming, and when you’re potentially fertile.
If you are not ovulating but are having a bleed, your charts won’t show the biphasic temperature pattern (the shift from low preovulatory temperatures to high postovulatory temperatures) or a clear ovulatory cervical fluid pattern.
Instead, your temperature will bounce up and down, and your cervical fluid will display a basic infertile pattern, rather than going from dry to wet to dry again. A basic infertile pattern just means your cervical fluid doesn’t change dramatically because there is no ovulation.
When ovulation does return, your chart will alert you to this as well within a few days of ovulation occurring, with a change in temperature and cervical fluid consistency and texture.
For menopausal women, I suggest charting in conjunction with the moon cycle phases.
What else can charting your cycle tell you?
What is so amazing is your basal temperature can tell you other things too. In addition to telling you if and when you have ovulated, your basal temperature can tell you if you are pregnant, it can indicate low progesterone levels or a possible thyroid problem, it can indicate when you’re having a long or short cycle and it can even tell you what’s going on with your cortisol levels.
Once you have 18 days of sustained high temperatures, this is a sign of pregnancy. So you’ll know you are pregnant long before a pregnancy test will tell you.
Your temperatures can also possibly tell you about low thyroid function or low progesterone levels, with low post-ovulatory temperatures.
What’s also interesting about your temperatures is that they can indicate adrenal or HPA Axis dysfunction. Usually a saw tooth, zig zag or erratic pattern means that you may need to focus on supporting your adrenal glands and cortisol output.
You’ll also be able to see if you have long cycles and determine how long your luteal phase is. A luteal phase should ideally be 10 or more days long. If it is less than 10 days, oftentimes that means low progesterone or progesterone dropping prematurely, which causes the uterine lining to disintegrate and your period to arrive.
This has a major impact on fertility because the fertilized egg needs about 10 days minimum to travel to the uterus and implant. If the uterine lining is disintegrating before the egg implants, pregnancy cannot happen. It also has a major impact on our physical and emotional health because of the profound effect progesterone has on various body systems.
Aligning with the Moon’s Phases
The menstrual cycle and the moon cycle are exact mirrors of each other. The four phases of the moon’s approximately 29-day cycle (the new, waxing, full, and waning) synchronize perfectly with our four biological phases (bleeding, follicular, ovulatory and luteal). It’s as if the cycle of the moon were meant for us!
If you have hypothalamic amenorrhea or you don’t have a period for whatever reason (some of these include being pregnant, breastfeeding, perimenopause, or menopause or you’ve had a hysterectomy), harnessing these external moon phases will help you re-create the phases you have lost if your period is MIA or you no longer have it.
Living in accordance with the moon cycles will provide a framework for you to live as if you’re still cycling menstrually. This practice has even encouraged their periods to return if they have something like hypothalamic or post–birth control amenorrhea. Similarly, if you have an extremely irregular cycle (i.e., you get a period every two to three months maybe), aligning your energetic patterns with the phases of the moon during the times you don’t have a period can be very helpful. (see previous handout for more info)
Here’s what to do…
Add the moon cycles to your calendar—Google Calendar allows you to do this—download a moon calendar app, or purchase a paper moon calendar, so you know when the different phases of the moon occur.
Each moon phase indicates the start of a new biological phase and a new set of lifestyle guidelines to follow for that phase. Start day 1 of the “cycle” on the day of the new moon, which is the beginning of the moon cycle. The “follicular” phase would be the waxing phase between the new moon and full moon.
“Ovulation” would be at the full moon, and then the “luteal” phase would be the waning phase or the time in between the full moon and new moon. Even though your period is absent, act as if you are in each phase by following the same guidelines for food, self-care, and activities as outlined for the four phases of a regular cycle.
Cycle Tracking 101
Handouts and Resources
Action Items:
- Read each of the above lessons
- Review Handouts for each of the two lessons
- Listen and do the MP3-Spontaneous Creation
- Continue to Track Cycle
- Implement info from the Phase Tracker for whichever part of your cycle you are currently in
- Implement guidelines for your current phase of your cycle
- Read and implement Take Home Guidelines and Practices
- Continue to use your Food Diary
- Continue to implement food choices and recipes
- Continue to use your Gratitude Journal
- Continue to use your Affirmations
- Continue to use your Fertility Journal
- We will review cycle information, lessons from this week and any questions or concerns you may have and review what is working and not working for you at our next appointment
Please complete this form so we can talk about info at next appointment
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