Your menstrual cycle is a powerful natural biological process. It’s a series of complex cyclical rhythms that happen within a woman’s body and reproductive system that is triggered and controlled by hormones.
Asides from the science, there’s a lot of mystical magic in your menstrual cycle. Many women are conditioned to fear, reject, or dislike their menstruation. Many see it as a cumbersome burden—and for some, depending on the circumstances it can be a burden.
But in general, many women have been taught to disconnect from some of their most powerful energetic sources—the womb, yoni, sex organs, and reproductive system.
Did you know that you can work with your menstruation cycle as opposed to against it, in order to enhance your overall lifestyle, daily rhythms, and productivity?
Flowing in tandem with the natural cycles of your body enables you to manifest what you need, and live with more happiness and fulfilment.
In this article, we break down the basics of understanding the inner seasons of your menstrual cycle, the different phases of your menstrual cycle, and top tips for your inner seasons to enhance your lifestyle!
What Are The Inner Seasons Of Your Menstrual Cycle?
Much like the earth around you, your body goes through cyclical seasons. These seasons are managed by hormones and control your menstruation cycle.
These hormonal seasons can change a variety of things within your mind and body such as the way you look, feel, think, and behave. Understanding what these cycles are, and how they can affect you enables you to work with your hormonal inner seasons and menstrual cycle as—opposed to against them.
When you make the most of your own natural rhythms you can tap into more abundance and happiness. As opposed to feeling like you’re working against life and against your body, you can start to feel as if you and your body are teammates and besties— instead of competitors, or even frenemies.
Your body goes through seasons—just like mother nature—which are correlated to spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They are also sometimes correlated to the lunar cycle too.
Mapping your menstrual cycle into phases, corresponding seasons, and lunar cycles can be really helpful and empowering to help you feel more in flow and self-aware.
What Are The 4 Phases Of A Menstrual Cycle?
Your menstrual cycle goes through four phases. These phases are managed by your endocrine system and glands, along with the hormones that these glands secrete into your body.
The four phases of the menstrual cycle are menstruation, the follicular phase, ovulation, and the luteal phase.
Menstruation | Inner Winter
Menstruation is the inner season of winter because, like mother nature, your body is shedding and stripping away its old unnecessary foliage to make way for the new. In order to make way for new growth, you must first let go of anything that doesn’t serve you.
In winter, the earth refreshes and renews to prepare for the budding growth of spring, and your body is doing exactly the same!
Menstruation is also known as a period, bleed, or moon cycle. During your menstruation, your body sheds and naturally cleanses itself.
If you aren’t pregnant, then once a month your uterus lining and the unfertilized egg are released by your body through your period blood. Your menstrual blood contains mucus, some cells from your uterus lining, and blood.
The phase of menstruation is triggered when the egg from your previous menstrual cycle was not fertilized. When the egg isn’t fertilized and you don’t become pregnant the levels of your estrogen and progesterone hormones drop.
At this stage of your menstrual cycle, your uterus lining is thick because it was preparing to support the fertilized egg and your pregnancy. But because this is now no longer needed, it gets released from your body through your vagina so the menstrual cycle can begin again.
The length of menstruation, or your moon cycle bleed, is different for everyone but on average lasts between three to seven days.
A variety of different period products can be used to absorb your menstrual blood such as tampons, sanitary pads, menstrual cups, or period underwear.
Top Tip #1 For Your Menstruation And Inner Winter
Many people find that it is really nice to rest during inner winter. However, it’s important to note many women also find a spike in energy during the first day or so of their bleed!
Watch your energy levels during your menstruation so that you can see what happens in your unique body.
If it feels good—give yourself the opportunity to relax, restore, and rejuvenate. Take the time to pamper yourself and indulge in deep restorative self-care.
Follicular Phase | Inner Spring
The follicular phase is your inner spring because, like mother nature, your body is establishing and growing beautiful new buds to bloom. Inner spring is the preparation for blossoming and birth to take place.
There is an overlap between the menstrual phase and the follicular phase of your menstrual cycle, because the follicular phase begins on the first day of your menstrual bleed (period), and lasts for approximately 13 to 14 days. And the follicular phase ends when you ovulate.
The follicular phase is also sometimes known as the proliferative phase because the endometrium proliferates during the follicular phase. Proliferative endometrium is basically when your uterus lining (the endometrium) thickens and prepares for the attachment of a fertilized egg.
During the follicular phase of your menstruation cycle, the level of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in your body increases. Your pituitary gland receives a signal from the hypothalamus, which tells it to start releasing more FSH, and this triggers your ovaries to produce roughly 5 to 20 follicles on the ovary surface. Follicles are small sacs that each contain an immature unfertilised egg.
When ready, the healthiest egg will mature and be released, and the other follicles will simply be absorbed back into the cells of the body. The maturation of the follicle into an egg can happen from roughly day 10 of your menstrual cycle.
As the healthy follicle starts to mature this triggers an increase in estrogen. The surge in estrogen tells your body to thicken the lining of your uterus ready for the egg to implant itself. The thickening of the uterus lining creates a safe and nutrient-rich environment for the embryo to develop and grow.
Top Tip #2 For The Follicular Phase And Inner Spring
Your inner spring is a great time to start utilizing your creative energy for dreaming, planning, brainstorming, and preparing for action, creation, and manifestation.
You’ve experienced the deep purification of winter, and it’s likely that you’re ready to start opening new channels of thought and action which will fully bloom during your inner summer.
Inner spring is a great inner season for creating vision boards, journaling, organising, and beginning to take action on your goals.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of cycle syncing with your menstruation, then be sure to check out my blog article here.
Ovulation | Inner Summer
The ovulatory phase is your inner summer because, like mother nature, your body is in full colourful bloom. The buds of spring have ripened and blossomed!
During the ovulatory phase of your menstruation, a mature egg is released from your ovary, and you can get pregnant. The egg moves from the fallopian tube towards your uterus, in order to be fertilized by sperm.
In the ovulation phase, your estrogen levels increase, and this tells your pituitary gland to release a hormone called luteinizing hormone (also known as LH). The increase of estrogen and luteinizing hormone is what triggers the process of ovulation.
Ovulation commonly happens once a month, approximately 14 days before your next menstrual bleed and it can last anywhere from 16 to 31 hours. If you have a 28-day menstrual cycle, then your ovulation will happen right in the middle of it. But this changes, if you have an irregular monthly cycle, or your monthly cycle is longer or shorter than 28 days.
In general, you can only get pregnant during the ovulation phase of your menstrual cycle, or very close to it—because the egg needs to be available for fertilization.
If you don’t wish to conceive, then you have to be extra careful and use protection for approximately five days before ovulation, on the day of ovulation, and for two days after ovulation. Pregnancy is most likely to occur on the day of ovulation and the three days leading up to it, but there is still a wider window in which you can still get pregnant.
Once the egg is released it will survive in the body for roughly 24 hours as it makes its way from the ovary to your uterus, the sperm must reach the egg within the time frame for the egg to be fertilized. If the egg isn’t fertilised then it dissolves back into the other cells of your body.
Top Tip #3 For Ovulation And Inner Summer
You may find yourself with extra energy during ovulation! In evolutionary terms, women have higher levels of energy during ovulation because it would be used to find a mate to fertilize the egg.
And many women also report feeling extra clarity, grounded, and feel-good hormones during ovulation too.
There are multiple ways in which you can use this surge of energy. Your inner summer can be a great time to take on a new project or finish that big project that you’ve been avoiding. You can channel your ovulation energy into a creative project or simply rest and enjoy feeling great!
Or, you can use your inner summer to explore and channel your sensual and sexual energy. If you’d like more tips on sexual awakening for women, then you can check out my blog article here.
Luteal Phase | Inner Autumn
The luteal phase is your inner autumn because, like mother nature, your body is winding down and preparing for the shedding of winter.
The flowers and leaves that vibrantly blossomed during the summer are starting to wane. And autumn is preparation for the cold winter season which refreshes and renews the earth so that the entire cycle can start again.
The corpus luteum is a temporary organ that plays a vital role in fertility. The corpus luteum is an endocrine structure of cells which is located within the ovary after the mature egg is released during ovulation.
In the luteal phase, the corpus luteum releases progesterone along with a small amount of oestrogen. This causes and helps to sustain the thickening of the uterine lining in preparation for the implantation of the fertilized egg and the maintenance of a healthy pregnancy.
Once a fertilized egg implants, the corpus luteum continues to maintain the thickened lining of the uterus through the production of progesterone. And if a pregnancy doesn’t occur then the corpus luteum has no function so it ‘dies’.
This causes your progesterone hormone levels to drop, which triggers your uterus lining to shed—because it also has no function without a growing baby—and et voila your menstrual bleed begins, and the cycle starts again!
Top Tip #4 For The Luteal Phase And Inner Autumn
Autumn is a great time to start turning inwards and slowing down. Inner autumn can often be a really great time for self-care and relaxation as you wind down from the high energy of ovulation.
And it can also be a lovely time to do chores and cleaning in preparation for the full deep cleanse and hibernation of winter. You may be called to declutter during your inner autumn. This might be decluttering your house, body, or mind!
What Is A Menstruation Cycle?
Your menstruation cycle is a natural biological process that prepares your body for pregnancy each month, and hormones control it. If you don’t become pregnant, then your progesterone hormone levels drop.
When your progesterone levels drop, it sends a signal to your uterus that it must shed its lining—which is the process of your menstrual bleed. And once you have a menstrual bleed it then triggers the entire cycle again, and your body once again starts preparing for conception and motherhood.
A menstrual cycle is officially counted and measured from the first day of your menstrual bleed, also known as a ‘period’, until the first day of your next menstrual bleed.
On average, unless you have an irregular cycle, menstruation cycles last roughly 28 to 29 days, but in reality, the length of menstruation cycles can actually vary a lot between women. A variety of different things can affect your cycle length, from genetics and health to age.
Did you know that your very first menstrual bleed is called ‘menarche’? And your last menstruation bleed or period is called ‘menopause’?
Conclusion
You have a unique relationship with your menstrual cycle and your body. Cycle tracking and understanding the different ways in which your menstrual cycle can affect you can help you to harness your inner power and start living the life you dream of.
The most important thing with tracking your inner seasons and your menstrual cycle is to notice what is happening within you. The moon cycle affects each woman differently, so be present with your experience, and unique rhythm, and intuitively fulfil your needs.
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