Women are cyclical. Just like the moon, just like the seasons, the night and the day…whether we like it or not, whether we believe in it or not, we are animals and we are very united to mother earth.
Ours, the menstrual cycle, is generally divided into 28 days and is made up of four phases: pre-ovulation, ovulation, pre-menstruation and menstruation. During these, our needs, our mood, our sexuality, our way of dressing, eating or resting can change.
Instead of becoming exasperating, we have to live it as a cycle of continuous renewal. Our menstruation should be a guide to what we want and need and not a burden. Sometimes it is difficult to think like this because in this society it is not taken into account. We live in a linear way, where these cycles that involve ups and downs are not considered. Or worse, they are denied.
So that our cycle is not synonymous with madness and we can understand ourselves better, I invite you to try the lunar calendar or diagram (for me it is also the first time)
Surely it will not reveal anything new to us but it will help us to be more aware of the changes we undergo during our menstrual cycle and to make us see and understand the reason for our behavior.
There are several types of diagrams, downloadable and even mobile applications. I’m old school and I like to write everything down by hand…
We will make a circle in the middle of the sheet and divide it into as many days as our cycle has. This will be the central part of our diagram. We will make another inner circle in which we will put the date of each day of our cycle. The first day of the cycle coincides with the first day of bleeding. In another inner circle the phases of the moon (full moon, new moon, waxing moon and waning moon)
On the outside of the diagram we will write down all the changes that we consider appropriate: energy levels, sexual desire, the desire to socialize, our mood, physical changes, the way we dress… and everything that we experience. The idea is to identify patterns that repeat. Know when they are repeated and know why. Surely it has happened to you many times that you just feel like crying and many times we find it difficult to identify it or we don’t even want to see that they are changes in our mood due to our menstrual cycle.
It is also curious to know the relationship that our menstruation has with the moon. For most women it coincides with a new moon or a full moon. I can’t tell you because, although I like to know, I almost always miss it.
Maybe in a few months I will tell you what my impressions are with this type of calendars. Because if my patience allows, I want to try it.
And you, do you have some type of calendar to observe your cycles?
Happy Breastfeeding.
