Reality of it
“Listen to your body” has become the iconic phrase of the emerging holistic health world. It’s an idealistic model. But I'm here to keep it real, and frankly, sometimes it’s less than realistic. Yes, I can (and will) give you the guidelines for syncing your lifestyle to your menstrual cycle, but it is never as simple as knowing the information and applying it. Aside from the fact that your cycle is probably not running like clockwork (or if it is, you’re in the lucky minority), external factors drive variation each month. This means that one month on day 2 of your period you may feel like you could run 5 miles and on day 2 of the next month, you aren’t getting out of bed. Both are okay. In a less extreme example, you might know that heavy weight lifting is the kind of workout you are supposed to do in the ovulatory phase, but maybe HIIT or pilates just isn’t satisfying during your follicular phase. We can decide at the moment we want to lift, but the weight might feel heavier, or make you feel super low energy the next day. These are the sort of queues your body gives you when it’s operating at less than optimal. I’m guilty of this too, but there is a biological reason that each phase of your cycle has a suggested exercise type and intensity level. At peak ovulation, your body gets a surge of Testosterone, allowing for a window of increased ability to build muscle. Same thing goes for the way we eat, feel, interact, and work. Each phase has its own model for the standard practice of care, but there are times that we just don’t feel like doing it that way or can’t for some reason.
While in an ideal world, your period would not be full of pain and emotional roller coasters, it sometimes is. Life gets tough and things stress us out and our diet fluctuates. All things that cause changes to a cycle. So while we strive to synchronize our cycle with how we exercise, eat, work and socialize, unfortunately it isn’t always picture perfect.
So what do we do about it? We educate ourselves, and do our best. We’re only human. I would be lying if I said my own life was synced perfectly with my menstrual cycle, that my cycle comes every single month at the same time, and that I never experience less than favorable symptoms around my period. But I can tell you that I have never felt so good in my own body. My cycles have never been more regulated, my spirit never more in tune with my physical body, and my fitness never better. I’m still working to increase all these factors, yes, but the good news is that while we fluctuate, the facts don’t. So when I experience cramps or moodiness- I can take a step back and figure out what my body is trying to tell me and adjust accordingly. This is why they call a woman’s period her 5th vital sign. Your period tells you so much about your overall health. Every month may not be the poster child of periods, but aiming for it will improve and empower your life in all aspects. It takes a lot of patience and intention to bring your body back to a state of equilibrium and maintain a natural balance in a world of chaotic imbalance and unexpected events. You got this. You are strong. You are a woman, after all.
