Women's Health

Every day 800 million women menstruate. To me, this fact is astounding. It’s one of many attributes that differentiate females from males. Yet, we’re still very much living in a male world despite ongoing progress in equality and feminism. What I mean is that our world functions predominantly around male authority,

expectations and values.

 

The female body is very different to the male. We have an intricate system of constantly shifting moods and energy that really affects our lives and how we function day to day. Yet the world seems to be operating around all humans having one dimension! I’m not condemning men, not at all, but the fact is they don’t fluctuate hormonally as women do. They are so different.

 

The female body is designed to be the life-giver. It’s our primal purpose and with it comes the need for our hormonal and endocrine systems to constantly initiate changes in the body. These constant changes ensure the body is always in its optimum state to host, create and sustain life, not forgetting to nourish and nurture that life once it has been born. 

 

Men do not have hormonal fluctuations as women do. Yet, if women expect to be treated equally in life more often than not there are no allowances made for the effects that hormones can play in their ability to function. For most they just have to get on with it regardless!

 

When I acquired this knowledge about female health, I felt so grateful and excited to have this deeper and more essential understanding. It all made so much sense to me, but at the same time it made me sad not having this knowledge sooner when I really needed it!

 

My newly gained understanding has made me feel determined to spread this word even further. In particular to younger girls, who are just starting out on their menstrual journey. What I really hope is that the younger girls won’t have the same struggles as the generations before them have had. This is for Mums too. So that they can reassure and inform their daughters that whatever is going on to make them feel out of balance within themselves and in their life is only temporary. Plus it’s an opportunity to empower them to realise that within that state there is always purpose and incredible strength to be found. 

 

I truly believe that nature has designed us so that every function has purpose. Nothing ‘intentional’ that goes on in our body is there to harm or hurt us. It’s there for a reason. Our job is to maintain ourselves to stay healthy, so that our whole body and mind can get on and do what it needs to do. If that means a day or more within our cycle where we need to go easier on ourselves and rest more or run more, cry more, read more, dance more, play more, then we must trust what our body is saying and believe it. If we listen and follow, the conditions within us will most likely change as quickly as they came because that need has been met. The body will move on to a different demand.

 

“If a woman is in alignment with her internal ecosystem, her body can begin to transition and to heal.”

 

As a female, we begin our journey into womanhood with ‘adrenarche’. This is the time when both the female and male child go through hormonal changes as they head towards puberty. Signs include body odour, body hair, moods and tearfulness or in some cases no symptoms at all. Everyone is different.

 

The next stage for a female is ‘menarche’. This is the first bleed; a time I now understand to be hugely important that sadly is often overlooked or very much played down. Menarche is an opportunity to celebrate this transition. It’s a time to recognise this milestone and use it as an opportunity to normalise this bodily function as well as marking this change as positive. 

 

It’s at this point onwards in a young girl’s life that she can be gently and consistently taught that there is so much more to having a cycle than bleeding every month. Every menstrual cycle has phases. It’s those phases that make us feel so different from one day to the next, which can be challenging but equally empowering and rewarding.

 

I spent a great deal of time in my early teens and twenties feeling uncomfortably self-conscious. I thought I was alone when feeling happy and confident some days, feeling rather down other days, unable to concentrate or focus some days, then being full of motivation and energy other days! I was convinced something must be wrong. No one ever told me this was all part of being a woman with normal fluctuating hormones. 

 

To give you a simple analogy of what I mean, imagine a typical cycle being divided into the four seasons. We know that the onset of each season can bring about different feelings and energy, so we often associate each of those seasons with our hormonal cycle, this applies into menopause and beyond too.

 

In the Spring phase this is the time our body is preparing the eggs as they mature in readiness to make the journey down the Fallopian tube. We often have some good energy. We may be more ambitious, positive and optimistic. We might feel the need to socialise more, spend time outdoors and be more energetic. At this time we’re often at our most creative.

 

When in our summer phase, this is our ovulation time. We can feel brighter, energised, more confident and bold and more sociable. We often love to dress up and wear clothes that fit our mood and generally we feel well and happy. Primally, we need to attract that mate to conceive!

 

In the Autumn phase, we tend to feel our energy decreasing. This is the luteal phase, when the womb lining is thickening in preparation for egg implantation. During this phase we may feel a need for things that comfort us. We slow down. We don’t feel the need to socialise as much and our mind is quieter and more focused to spend time maybe reading, sorting, writing and planning. All these things suddenly become so much easier for us to do. We may need a little more solitude at this stage too. 

 

During the Winter phase of our menstrual time, we can feel the need to rest more and nourish ourselves. We need comfort and warmth. Moods can feel flat at times and thoughts can be darker and deeper. This time can be ideal for applying ourselves to more sedentary and tedious tasks. This is a time to take it easy without feeling guilt!

 

As a female, if you think about a cycle as roughly 28-32 days and break it down into how you felt throughout that time, you’ll most likely be able to identify which season you were in and when.

I have to say having this knowledge for me was honestly a turning point. I felt like I finally understood and accepted why I fluctuated so regularly and why some days were a lot easier than others. It was empowering and helpful and a great release for me. 

 

I wish I had discovered all of this knowledge sooner as sadly it wasn’t too long after that I entered into menopause. But all is not lost. No matter if we’re in our menstrual cycle, peri-menopausal, menopausal or post-menopausal, our body still very much operates in phases that are connected to the moon cycle. This, as we know, is connected to the tides and everything in nature on our planet, including us. At last it all makes sense!

 

I’m always happy to have a chat and share my knowledge of this with you. For more expert information where you can find courses, group sessions, etc. you can visit the addresses below:

 

 https://harmoniseyou.co.uk with Adele Wimsett 

 

https://risingwoman.com/4-archetypes-of-the-female-cycle 

 

https://www.floliving.com with Alisa Vitti