That’s right ladies, it’s not just about that time of the month when we bleed.
There’s a whole lot more to it that shows us we are in optimal health.
Things like:
– A cycle within a normal range, which despite beliefs, is not 28 days, but anywhere from 24-34 days
– A healthy ovulation, which can be determined by cervical fluid, and again, is not necessary on day 14. In fact assessing a health ovulation is in some opinions more important than your actual period in determining balanced hormones. And yes, healthy ovulation is important in all stages, not just when we want to conceive.
– Healthy amounts of cervical fluid with the right consistency, and at the right time
– The amount of blood lost during your period, with healthy amounts being between 25-80 mls. Outside of these parameters can show something is up. You’re not always the lucky ones if you only bleed for a day and just need one pad. It’s a sign that you’re not producing enough lining in your uterus, which could lead to fertility issues.
– The amount of days you bleed for. 3-7 is a healthy range.
– Pain during any part of our cycle, including breast pain
– Your premenstrual symptoms. If there outside anything that is normal for you, then something is likely up. Extra irritable or anxious this month (yes me!), craving more carbs than usual, having trouble getting out of bed? All things we’ve been told are “normal”, but also signs that something is not balancing right.
– How stored emotional trauma affects your cycle
We don’t often talk about these things, so how do we know what is normal or not. Especially when we are in our teens or have just started your period. You might think that just because you experience something, everyone does. But it’s not like that, and how do we know if we are never told, or never talk about it. We can go through decades of not properly understanding our bodies. I did, and I’m still being blown away by the information I learn.
Talking with our girls about what is normal and healthy, and more importantly, how to be aware of what is going on for them, is vital for them as they get to know the changes in their body. Giving them the knowledge to know their bodies, understand what is normal for them, and trust that when their bodies show them different signs they will know something is up. These are all things I talk about in our workshops.
One thing I say in our workshops is that periods are not something to hate on. Sure they can take us by surprise at times and put a spanner in the works with some plans. But how lucky are we as females to get an ongoing report card of how healthy we are! How often have we heard that women get the raw deal, we have to have periods and all that come with it, and go through the pain of carrying and birthing children.
But what if we’ve just been taught to look at it the wrong way for all these generations.
Our whole cycle is a way of letting us know how healthy we are. How balanced our hormones are, how balanced our lifestyle is, how balanced our diet is. If we could learn to tune in to those signs more, and if we were taught this when we FIRST STARTED OUR PERIOD, how different would things be?
So don’t think of your period as just your period. Start looking at it as an ongoing report card to your overall health.
If you’d like your girls to learn more about this, we’d love to see you at our workshops. See here for more details