Happy (nearly) Imbolc!
I could really feel an awakening in the energy today as I walked in the woods with a friend. In-between down-pours, the sun shone through the trees.
We are past the 10-darkest weeks of the year - hoorah!
I always love teaching and singing this wonderful song by Penny Stone at this time of year as we wait for longer days. Celebrating “2-more minutes of sunlight every day" from February onwards.
In girls rising puberty retreats, we discuss how helpful it is to have a practice of tracking the menstrual cycle at whatever stage of womanhood we are at. Why is it helpful? For understanding our energy patterns, the baseline of how we feel physically and emotionally on our menstrual cycle, how much we bleed, what our nervous system tells us. It is a super quick and easy tool for self-discovery and knowledge.
There are a myriad of ways this can be done and it can be as elaborate or simple as you desire. I personally have a very simple method of menstrual-cycle tracking that will get more in-depth if theres something I want to concentrate on, but otherwise it is a case of tracking on my phone calendar whilst I put my kids to bed at night. I put emojis that resonate for that day.
Simple, easy, quick and visual.
I loved using the Spinning Wheels Cycle tracker app for a time. Again, very visual (which is helpful to me) and linked the seasons of the year, the season/archetype of womanhood, with the season of my menstrual-cycle, as well as the phase of the moon - something we do very visually and physically in Girls Rising retreats too!
I encourage the girls on the retreats to track their cycles - even before menarche. It's such a great way to start to find patterns in their lives. What works for them, what doesn't. They can use the phases of the moon for guides if they do not cycle regularly. In fact, even after a girl starts her periods, it can take a while before the menstrual cycle becomes regular and having full cycles with ovulation and progesterone too.
For the first year or more, girls can experience an anovulatory cycle (meaning without ovulation). Without ovulation, the production of progesterone - the calming hormone that balances out the production of oestrogen in the body, is not fully released. This can cause skin-outbreaks, heavy menstrual-flow, cramps and mood that will settle-down given patience and time. When we track our cycles, this can become much more clear and some gentle tools put into place to help.
Blessings for 2025!
Laura xx
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