Why didn’t anyone tell me that my body worked this way?!
One day you’re living la vie da loca, energized, happy, and magnetic. The next day feels wonky and it’s hard to get out of bed. You’re exhausted, confused and now stressed out and frustrated because you feel like you’re missing out on your life. This whole time you might have thought that your inability to knock it out every day was a willpower thing, when in actuality...
You might be feeling a sigh of relief as your body is now releasing its uterine lining and your body JUST started to replenish itself with a tiny bit of uplifting estrogen again. Deep, wise insight might come more easily to you in this phase, which can be useful when communicating with friends, family and work. Conserve your energy on what matters most to you, and know less is more right now. Focus on getting good sleep, enjoy potentially rich and vivid dreams, allow yourself to be supported, stay hydrated and do gentle light grounded movements to keep your chi flowing.
You might be feeling more stimulated and energetic each day now as the bleeding has ended and that uplifting estrogen is starting to really rise each day. Your body is also probably feeling a little less heavy now that the uterus lining has shed. Getting out and enjoying physical activities can feel stimulating and great for your body. Testosterone (sex hormone) begins to come out to play a bit - helping us feel extra ‘in the mood’. The rising Estrogen helps your brain accomplish more analytical functions. Great time to learn new things easily. Be sure to make space for stillness during this time as over-stimulated, rushed lifestyles will deplete your body’s energy and will pay the price later on in your cycle.
You might be feeling extra sexy and chill AF during this phase as we move through ovulation and the releasing of progesterone (chill and relax hormone). This is a great time to easily socialize and communicate from a place of compassion. And you may feel more drawn to teamwork than independence. You may feel extra great to be out and active in the world. Working out is great and can feel really centered during this time. Avoid stress and cultivate more grounded, fulfilling activities in your life during this time to help you ride these fluctuating energies.
You may be feeling cool as a cucumber and so much so - would rather hang out alone. The heightened progesterone (chill AF hormone) with a little estrogen is beginning its final descent before it runs out and the cycle begins again. You may feel extra bold, assertive and have some great out of the box ideas during this time. See if you can utilize these propensities in your life (*cough raise *cough). If you’re not trying to conceive, be sure to work out a bit more intensely during this phase to help balance the body and mind (aka smooth out mood swings and lethargy) so you can keep riding your energy waves with ease.
(The trick is just to know what moment you’re in!)
I created the My Moontime app (the first of its kind) back in 2013 because I was hitting my own wall. I was working at one of the most famous places in L.A. (maybe the world). My job required me to be energetic and always on. And while I was lucky enough to be rubbing elbows with celebrities, I was also exhausted.
And no matter how much I tried to push through, I’d hit an energy slump every month that would wipe me out. I just couldn’t keep up, nevermind get ahead. And worse, I was worried that if I didn’t find a solution, I’d be let go from my job. Maybe you can relate to this feeling? Feeling frustrated with yourself? Wishing you could wake up every morning and keep to the exact same schedule but somehow, no matter how much willpower you have, it’s just not working? My turning point came when I started to learn about the four phases of the menstrual cycle in books written by Lucy Pearce, Miranda Gray, and Jane Bennett with Alexandra Pope (all based in Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts). It was an eye opening. I realized for the first time that my body wasn’t meant to feel the same way every day. And that if I could learn the patterns of my biological rhythm, I could use it as a power source -- I could ride my own internal energy.
I no longer beat myself up - expecting myself to feel overly energized every day. Learning I had an inner compass and I was discovering how to work with it, listen to it, and learn from it - my life became more exciting and fulfilling. I also planned my life better because I could schedule around important times and events easier (hello full moon drama). I became obsessive about tracking my cycle using tools that were available to me. Apps, journals, sticky notes. They were all too clunky and what I really needed was something that gave me a head’s up when I was moving into a new phase. So I went on this wild quest to build my own app. You’d find me in the library deep in books learning everything I could about a woman’s biology. I would sketch pencil drawings on scraps of paper, determined to create a solution that every woman could benefit from, and that’s when MyMoontime was born.
Since going live with the app, we’ve had over 140,000 IOS downloads from women just like you who are determined to stop fighting their bodies and instead embrace them. Listen, if you’re reading this right now, know that I totally get it. I know what it’s like to feel like I'm a totally different person one day to the next. You’re not meant to operate like a man who feels the same day after day. You’re much more complex than that. You’re much more powerful.
If you’re ready to take the next step, download My Moontime:
I love the app! I follow the moon cycle and my cycle and the female archetypes... and I was like ‘oh it would be so good if there was an app for that’ and then my friend showed me My Moontime and it was perfect.
Thank you so much for doing this...I always try to help my female clients reconnect to their cycle and again and again I see their lives completely change. Your app is a HUGE gift to the world!!! Thank you sister.
(This app) is really great!! It’s helping me to pinpoint changes in my mood with my cycle which is super helpful.
I can't even express how discovering you recently made me feel your app and the whole concept behind is truly wonderful.
