Living Harmoniously With The Phases Of Your Menstrual Cycle
Disrupting Period Stigma With Education
Our modern societies have forgotten the importance of menstrual cycles. We are socialized to think periods are gross, painful, dirty, something we wish didn’t happen, a burden. We have become accustomed to downplaying our symptoms, shaming ourselves, feeling guilty about our bodies and cycles to the point where we disassociate with our body. This is why education on menstruation, especially from a non-Western point of view is so important. Western gynecology has historically been harmful to people of color in many ways. From experimentation on Black women, forced sterilization on Puerto Rican and Native women to the continued higher rates of Black maternal mortality and morbidity as compared to white women.
East Asian Medicine (EAM) can teach us to reclaim our periods and reconnect to the parts of our body that society tells us to ignore. EAM offers gentler, kinder ways of thinking about our periods as well as treatment options in early stage situations. Being connected to ourselves and our bodies is so important for maintaining health and wellbeing.
We, menstruators, often focus soley on the time we bleed and do not pay much attention to the rest of our menstrual cycles. Though I see a lot of positive changes recently in menstrual care, society still stigmatizes our periods in a way that causes us to think of this natural process we have, as something negative. Because of patriarchal influences in conventional healthcare, we might be experiencing a disconnect with our bodies.
Lisa Janae with a Kitara products. Photo by Chanel Govreau
Too often do I meet young people who feel unconcerned with their menstrual cycle imbalances and at the same time over 35-year-olds who are suddenly very concerned with their fertility. Here, presents a time and place where the gaps in knowledge can be filled while also lifting the burden of stress and pressure that might come with trying to conceive.
Ultimately, I hope this post gives some insight into giving more attention to ourselves and learning ways to nurture and manage our tendencies in a way that is gentle and healing for us.
The Blood Phase: Period
Days 1-7. On the days you are bleeding, plan to rest. Because your body is going through a shedding process, you want to make sure that you’re resting enough, staying hydrated and getting enough nutrition. It is also an important time to focus on keeping the body warm especially if you’re someone who experiences fatigue or pain during your period. Eat meat, protein, leafy greens, beans and/or iron rich foods. Focus on protecting the lower body from the abdomen to your feet from the cold. During this time estrogen and progesterone are meant to be lower. This is also when your follicular phase begins. When you’re done bleeding, and you don’t tend towards fatigue, you can begin to increase your physical activity. A normal healthy period lasts for 4 days. After your bleeding days, you can begin to focus on nourishing blood with good nutrition. For those who bleed longer than 4 days, rest should also be prioritized. For those who experience pain during the period, gentle movement/stretching is encouraged.
The Yin Phase: Post-period
Lisa Janae and Trevania Layne with a Kitara Steam Sauna. Photo by Chanel Govreau
Days 8-14. Focus on building Yin and Blood by eating blood nourishing foods and replenishing your body fluids. Stay well hydrated, have bone broth, goji berries, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, avocado. Exercise to help move and circulate blood flow. Estrogen levels will be rising in order to prepare for ovulation.
The Yang Phase: Ovulation
Days 15-21. A good time for more vigorous exercise if you’re not trying to conceive (TTC) Eat energizing foods, lots of fiber, sesame seeds, be extroverted. Include foods rich in B vitamins and zinc like chicken, eggs and fish. If you are not TTC and you have strong digestion, it is ok to have some colder foods or indulge - don’t over do it! If you are TTC, take advantage of your ovulation window, keep your lower body warm and stick to gentle and slower exercises as you will want your yang energy to go towards uterine functions. Estrogen should have peaked before ovulation and will be lowering shortly after ovulation.
Qi Phase: Pre-Menstrual
Days 22-28. If you're someone who experiences PMS its good to keep moving during this phase but plan for rest once your period begins. Those who experience cramping with their period can continue to do more higher energy exercises, for those who experience extreme fatigue this is a good time to move into slower more gentle movement. Start warming up the body. Though you might start having strong cravings at this time try to avoid heavier, greasier and cold foods especially if you’re someone with weak digestion. For those TTC, continue to rest and keep warm. Plan ahead by canceling things that might be too much for you to do during your period, meal prep and consciously carve out your rest time. This is also a time where you can begin to move into being more introspective and introverted. For those who experience headaches before the period focus on staying hydrated. This is also the luteal phase when progesterone peaks and drops. Towards the end of this phase will also be the secretory phase if the body is not supporting a pregnancy, it will begin to secrete hormones to signal the uterine lining shedding. During this phase continue eating fish, lean protein, include more fiber and cruciferous vegetables to balance estrogen.
If you are TTC, planning to in the near future or have weak digestion it is recommended to keep your body and abdomen warm throughout your entire cycle and focus on consuming mostly warm foods and drinks.
Everyone has different tendencies during the phases of their cycles. This is a general guide. For more information you can book an acupuncture session.
Use the code ‘BLOG’ for $25 off on an initial acupuncture visit.
Written by Dr. Emily Siy, DACm, L.Ac. 2/20/23
This chart is based on a 28 day cycle