A woman’s natural cycle
Part 1:
I was afraid to even start writing on this topic as it is of such depth and vastness I know I will only skim the surface. I know we all have much innate wisdom and I would love your input in the comments below. While this topic is about women’s cycles, it is relevant to men who want to understand more about the women in their life and community.
Mensturation
The menarche is the onset of the menstrual cycle, the very first time a woman gets her period. For me, this time came when I was in my first year of high school, age 12. I recall coming home and explaining to mum that I had blood ‘down there’, and she insisted she should inspect in case I was haemorrhaging! After swallowing my humiliation and because I wouldn’t like to be hemorrhaging, I allowed her to inspect me. She deduced that it all seemed to look OK and agreed that this was the onset of my ‘periods’. I understand now that she meant well and I probably received more care than she did from her mother, but this is a far cry from the recognition that some tribal cultures such as native American Indians gave to young women.
The traditional Navajo, for example, are known to honour this time as a ‘coming of age’ puberty-rite, and see it is as one of the most important in a women’s life because a girl is now of age to bring new life to the clan. Christiane Northrup’s book Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom contains an excellent summary of this and is a great read for anyone wanting to know more about women’s health in general.
A work colleague recently shared a beautiful story of when his daughter got to this stage of her life. Her mother arranged a beautiful gathering to honour this time. She chose significant women at all stages of life to write something for her daughter – a pearl of wisdom that she could carry throughout life. The occasion sounds beautiful, the room full of honour and respect for this young woman, an opportunity for elders to pass down wisdom, and all to share friendship and connection which I’m sure has added to her feeling of a place in the world.
When it comes to onset time, apparently I was in the ‘normal’ category. However the age when girls get their first period has been decreasing over time, with some girls as young as eight getting their first bleed. To be able to menstruate, girls need to have a certain body composition including enough body fat. One of the reasons for early onset is due to increased obesity, but on the other side of the coin, anorexic girls or even dancers or athletes who have very little body fat may not start bleeding until much later, or have very irregular cycles. There can also be other emotional issues that can cause irregular cycles or cycles to cease for periods of time.
The flow
Menses is that time of the menstrual cycle when the lining of the uterus (that was built up in preparation for a fertilised egg to be embedded) sheds away. From the time of ovulation to menses is about 14 days for every woman. The time from menstruation to the next cycle varies in women from about 10 to 14 days on average. Ovulation occurs around the middle of the cycle.
An excerpt from Dr Northrup’s website touches on the earthy connection of this natural cycle:
The menstrual cycle is the most basic, earthy cycle we have. Our blood is our connection to the archetypal feminine. The macrocosmic cycles of nature, the waxing and waning, the ebb and flow of the tides and the changes of the seasons, are reflected on a smaller scale in the menstrual cycle of the individual female body. The monthly ripening of an egg and subsequent pregnancy or release of menstrual blood mirror the process of creation as it occurs not only in nature, unconsciously, but in human endeavor. In many cultures, the menstrual cycle has been viewed as sacred.
In certain traditions and cultures, the time of blood flow, the menses, women are encouraged not to disrupt the flow. To respect and allow the flow that is occuring in a women’s body. Like other bodily excretions – mucus, urine and so on, these traditions don’t encourage retaining these in the body as this is a disruption of the natural flow.
On the other hand, in more recent western culture , women have been encouraged to even try and stop menstruation altogether, offering versions of the pill that can stop a women from menstruating for years. In my experience I have felt pressure in regards to this, for instance in hiding the time of my menses. I remember one boyfriend being so repulsed by the whole deal, he didn’t want me mentioning or referring to it at all. At the time this perplexed me, but I understand now that at least part of his reaction would be as a result of this being embedded into our culture, that it is a time that should be hidden. On the other I have had other boyfriends who have welcomed this time, being very respectful and honouring of my body during menstruation.
In yoga tradition, it is encouraged that when a women has her menses, that she refrains from doing any position that may disrupt the flow of blood such as inversions (e.g. headstands, shoulder stands).
This is an individual choice of course, but in my classes I do encourage women to respect their flow and abide by this rule of thumb, which according to the law of gravity, makes sense. For those who do inversions you may notice a temporary stopping of the flow, which does start up again, but this shows the impact it has. Some women may not experience this and it is up to the individual to tune in with their own rhythm. Ashtanga yoga tradition abides by this guideline, and women do not practice on their first day, their ‘moon day’. For me, I would prefer to follow this guide and to also have the bleeding part of the cycle completed as efficiently as possible. These days I don’t stop the flow. Also in line with this thinking, I don’t tend to use tampons anymore. Again, a personal choice, but one that feels right for me. A tampon in effect pushes the flow upwards slightly and while not stopping the flow, dams it for a time. It was just a natural thing for me to stop using them.
Resting
Another aspect that I have just started to pay more attention to is the natural cycle that a womens body goes through, and honouring this monthly rhythm by taking more time to rest when needed.
This month it hit me. On day one of my menses I always feel more tired than usual. I seem to have a burst of energy the day just before but that first flowing day I could literally stay in bed, or on the sofa for hours. My mental conditioning struggles with this, and as I become more aware of my bodies desire to rest, I feel the struggle in my mind and internal chatter: “how unproductive, what about all those things you had planned, you are one lazy chickadee (with a usually far more foul mouth!)”.
As I work a Monday to Friday week and I am not my own boss, I cannot be flexible enough with my days to take the necessary time when my body clock tells me I need it. However during this last cycle, my first day fell on the weekend, and so I could have the time off. I fought it and fought it, and finally allowed myself to fling on the day bed for a few hours. To some I may sound particularly retentive (get it, stopping the flow), and perhaps on this aspect I do appear to be, but I would say this is part of my cultural conditioning and so it is not only an internal belief but a societal belief I am up against.
Referring again to Dr Northrup’s book, she believes that if women do not honour this time in their cycle it could lead to things like pre-menstrual syndrome, migraines, and other conditions, where one is out of sync with natural cycles. Like the ebb and flow of the moon or the tide, both very much symbolic of the menstral cycle, especially the moon, have their own natural ebb and tide and do not perform a tirade of demands on themselves at the waning moon wishing they were at their peak, they must give over to their nature. Dr Northrup says that as women, if we follow these flows we could even make use of this natural ebb and flow and try and plan our month around these events. The first two weeks being the highest productivity, of course ovulation a time of juicy sensousness and then the start of the menses as a time of replenishing and ‘not doing.’
I don’t recall any time during my adolescence of this being honoured, except by girls who had debilitating pain and weren’t physically able to do anything but lay down. I have personally been lucky in this way, and only once experienced any pain. I remember wincing at a friends place, needing to draw my knees to my chest and do nothing for hours to relieve the pain.
…Part 2 coming soon..
natureglow 