It is thought that the moon phases influence women’s cycles. The highest rates of ovulation and conception occur on the full moon or the day before. As you’ll see, this correlates with the ovulatory phase which makes sense because that is when you are most fertile. During the new moon, ovulation and conception rates are much lower with an increase in the number of women who start menstruation. This common, traditional way of cycling is called the White Moon Cycle and is historically influenced by the increased amount of bright light from the full moon and sunlight.
Your cycle may be flip-flopped. Instead, you might ovulate with the new moon and menstruate with the full moon. This is known as the Red Moon Cycle. These women are thought to be healers, wise women, medicine women, or midwives. They can help menstruating women while they themselves are ovulating, giving them the energy and opportunity to care for and teach others.
It is thought that you will experience both the White Moon Cycle and Red Moon Cycle in your lifetime. Just one more reason to avoid hormonal birth control and instead, go with the flow.
ALIGN YOUR CYCLE WITH THE MOON
As long as your cycle is consistent and healthy, that’s all that matters. There’s no need to worry if your cycle doesn’t sync up with the moon. But if you feel intrigued, there are some steps you can take to gently shift your body to align with the moon cycle.
MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE MOON
The best way to get to know lunar cycles is to tune into the moon and find it in the sky every night. Better yet, go on an evening walk, especially during the full moon. Observe and appreciate the moon’s fluctuations. This will fuel your connection and help your body adjust. If you live in a city or are unable to connect with the moon at night, then download a moon app on your phone (like My Moontime, Full Moon Phase or Moon Phase Calendar), or hang a moon phase calendar and have a moment with the moon every day.
REGULATE YOUR SLEEP
Get your circadian rhythm and sleep-wake cycle on track. Stay off of your phone and computer a couple of hours before bed to prevent the artificial blue light from interrupting your ability to fall asleep, or get blue light blocking glasses (my favorites are from Pixel Eyewear). Get to bed earlier and wake up earlier. Make sure your living space is bright with natural light when you wake up and throughout the day. If you’re outside during the day, take off your sunglasses as often as possible. At night, keep the lights in your living space soft and dim, so your body knows the distinction between day and night.
GET CLOSE TO NATURE
Ideally, get outside and walk in the grass, soil, or sand without your shoes on for 20-30 minutes per day, or as often as possible. The earth has a natural kind of electric charge, and our bodies get charged up and “grounded” when we connect this way. This practice is well-known as “earthing” or “grounding” and has been shown to normalize the body’s biological rhythms and reduce stress while also lessening hormonal and menstrual symptoms. Open your windows as often as possible and let some natural air circulate. Listen and connect to the sounds outside. Take daily walks to fill your lungs with fresh air. Bring nature inside with houseplants that clean the air. Depending on where you live, “grounding” may not be possible in the winter months, but you can still bundle up and get outside to help your body with the distinction of day versus night.
Here’s a hormonal cycle chart of your fluctuating hormones throughout the month.
This will help you in the upcoming chapters! Remember, day one is the start of your menstrual cycle.
WINTER IN THE FEMALE BODY IS THOUGHT TO BE A TIME when the veil between your spirit and the earthly world is the thinnest. This means there is little distinction between intuition and logic, allowing you to access true inner wisdom. In ancient times, women used to separate from the men during their bleeding phase and gather in menstrual huts or tents to renew and tune into the spirit world.
When we explore winter in nature, it’s a time to rest, turn inward and conserve energy. Some animals remove themselves from the world completely and transition into deep hibernation. Winter in the female body evokes a similar yearning to hibernate and rest because the body is busy shedding your endometrium (the innermost layer of your uterus), which may leave you feeling extra tired. This offers a chance to ease up on your schedule and slow down.
As we learned before, your period is naturally cleansing, releasing bacteria and excess iron from the body. It’s also a time of emotional release and shedding what no longer serves you. During or right before your period, you may cry more easily. Take this time for internal healing and deep spiritual work. Periods are intricately intertwined with what’s happening in our lives.
Day one of your period begins on the first day of heavy bleeding, not to be confused with any days of light spotting or brown-colored blood leading up to your first heavy day. Tracking your first heavy day will help determine the length of your cycle. It’s the first piece of information you’ll want to record in your hormone journal or period tracking app, along with any symptoms you may be experiencing, like the color of the blood each day (brown, bright red cranberry, dark crimson red, light pink), if there was spotting before your period or not, and how many days your period lasts.
The Changing Color of Your Period
At the start, period blood should be bright red and cranberry colored because it is flowing quickly. By the third or fourth day, your blood is flowing more slowly and may become darker and brown or even light pink, the more it is exposed to air. If you notice brown spotting before your first heavy day of bright red colored blood, that may be old blood from your previous cycle that has oxidized and may indicate low progesterone. Low levels may be linked to anovulatory cycles (cycles without ovulation).
If your period blood is very dark and almost eggplant purple in color, this may indicate high estrogen in proportion to progesterone. The opposite would be minimal, very light pink which could indicate low estrogen levels. This may happen after extreme dieting, adrenal fatigue, or nutrient deficiencies.
YOUR HORMONES
If you do not become pregnant, the corpus luteum (the empty follicle from which the egg was released that becomes an endocrine-secreting gland) stops producing progesterone and gets reabsorbed by the body. This drop in progesterone causes your uterus to contract, which is your body’s way of eliminating the uterine lining and is also known as your period “bleed.” On average, bleeding happens 12-14 days post-ovulation. After the bleeding phase, estrogen starts to rise which signals the hypothalamus to get your body ready for ovulation again.
THE BLEED
Your bleed should last anywhere from 3-7 days, starting moderately to heavy and gradually tapering off. The second day of bleeding may be the heaviest. You can expect 90% of total blood loss to take place within the first three days. It can be difficult to measure how much blood you’re losing, and the amount will vary from woman to woman. Your period may range on the lighter side at 25 mL lost, or it may be on the heavy side at 80 mL, but the average is 35-50 mL (or 2-3 menstrual cups). There is no perfect amount.
HEAVY PERIODS: If you lose more than 80 mL every cycle and have to change your pad or tampon every hour, you are at higher risk for iron deficiency and may have an underlying imbalance (see this page). It is worth getting your hormone and nutrient levels tested to see if there are underlying deficiencies. You may also want to get checked for fibroids, endometriosis, or adenomyosis by having your doctor do a full abdominal and transvaginal ultrasound. Diet and lifestyle factors are the primary culprits for estrogen-dominance. The Happy Hormone Method can help normalize heavy bleeding.
Note: Teenagers often experience heavy periods for the first couple of years of their cycle. This is normal and will usually subside with time as they mature to make more progesterone, but can also be helped through diet and lifestyle. The birth control pill will not “fix” their heavy periods, but young endocrine systems can be supported with the Happy Hormone Method as
they develop.
Natural Menstrual Products
Choose menstrual products with care; you use them almost every month of your adult life. The feminine care industry is not required to disclose ingredient lists, so choose products that aren’t made with harmful chemicals, fragrances, gels, or additives. Here are my favorite products:
MENSTRUAL CUPS Diva Cup, Lunette, Selena Cup Soft, reusable menstrual cups are made of medical-grade silicone and collect your blood instead of absorb it.
MENSTRUAL DISCS Flex Disc, Soft Disc Disposable menstrual discs collect menstrual blood; they can be worn during sex since they don’t block the vaginal canal.
ORGANIC COTTON TAMPONS & PADS Cora, Seventh Generation, L.Organic, LOLA, Honest Company, Rael
REUSABLE PERIOD PADS AND LINERS Glad Rags, Lunapads, Hesta, Charlie Banana
PERIOD UNDERWEAR Thinx, Dear Kates, Modibodi, Harebrained, Lunapads, Knixteen, Panty Prop, Cute Fruit Undies Sustainable period underwear absorbs your period, traps moisture, and prevents leaks.
The Hundred-Day Journey
Here’s something cool: it takes one hundred days for a follicle to mature from its beginning inactive state to mature enough for ovulation. A healthy period requires healthy follicles, so if you’ve had an unusual period count back three months. What may have happened during that time? Were you experiencing extra stress? Were you not eating as much or as healthy as usual? Were you not sleeping as much or maybe going out a little too often? What you do today will affect your cycle in three months. I love to bring this awareness to light because we often don’t connect the dots that way. This is where tracking your cycle and keeping a hormone journal can be so beneficial—it helps you reflect, look for clues and patterns, and find clarity for the present day.
MOOD & ENERGY
Hormones are at their lowest levels during your period, which means you may naturally feel withdrawn, internal, and reflective. This is a time of introspection. Because your left and right brain hemispheres are communicating the most during this time, you feel the most in-tune with your gut, and whether or not anything needs to change moving forward. Consider this a chance to rewrite your life path. A common feeling during menstruation is discontent or uneasiness when life is not heading in the direction you desire, so you may feel an urge to end a relationship that is holding you back or a friendship that is no longer serving you. Any recurring thoughts, fears, or worries that come to the surface during this time, month after month, deserve your attention.
At work, you’ll want to do the same: evaluate, assess, and pay attention to anything that could be improved. Then, in the follicular phase, you can make a plan and work on areas of change throughout the ovulatory and luteal phases. For now, your time is best spent reflecting and having cozy nights at home. Give yourself full permission to rest and recharge so your body can prepare for the weeks ahead.
EXERCISE
For this phase, think of soothing and restorative activities. Stretching, twisting, medicinal-type, and yin yoga are great options. Naps are welcomed especially in the first few days of your period. Toward the end of bleeding, energy will start to rise, so consider lighter exercise like walking, pilates, or whatever yoga feels good. For an at-home workout video during this phase, I love the Floating Yoga School YouTube channel.
SEX
Every woman has different desires during her period. You may want to abstain from sex and savor extra alone time to read a book or get pampered at the spa, or you may want to connect with your partner and have sex.
Even though your hormones are at their lowest levels during your period, you may experience an increase in libido. According to functional nutritionist Alisa Vitti, this is a structural phenomenon because your uterus is expanding with blood and pressing on nerve endings in your pelvic basin. When these nerve endings are stimulated, your brain may interpret it as if something were touching you there, which can put you in the mood.
LUBRICATION & CERVICAL MUCUS
If you are going to have sex on your period, you should know that although you are bleeding, menstruation is still considered a “dry phase” in your cycle. It may sound contradictory, but the types of cervical fluid differ throughout the month. While you may have discharge and blood, the kind of cervical fluid during this phase may not feel like ideal lubrication for sex (especially near the end of your period), which means you may want to supplement with some.
SKIN AND BEAUTY
During your period, you’ll likely notice heightened skin sensitivity and more redness than usual from increased blood flow to your capillaries. Low estrogen levels may cause your skin to look dull and feel dry, making wrinkles, pores, or scarring appear more noticeable. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but there are tips and tricks for amping up the glow. Focus on anti-inflammatory, calming, and soothing products that hydrate and put moisture back into the skin. As always, drink lots of filtered water.
NUTRITION
□ During this phase, your body needs rich, comforting, and soothing foods to remineralize and replenish.
□ Focus on foods that will keep your uterus warm like broths, stews or miso soups with tofu, kombu, and kelp.
□ Restore your blood and kidneys with sea vegetables and foods rich in iron and zinc. Eat plenty of high-protein kidney beans, black beans, kale, kelp, nori, mushrooms, and beets.
□ Add sea salt to your food and water to rebalance electrolytes and minerals.
□ To help increase the absorption of iron, eat foods high in vitamin C such as dark berries, kale, broccoli, and bell peppers.
□ To help eliminate excess water, focus on low-glycemic, water-rich fruits and veggies such as cucumber, watermelon, and grapes.
□ Stir-fries with liquid aminos, tempeh, water chestnuts, mushrooms, and kale, or seaweed sushi rolls with nori, cucumber, brown rice, and tofu are great meal options.
□ Choose dense, gluten-free grains such as buckwheat kasha, forbidden black rice, wild rice, or brown rice.
□ Adding liquid chlorophyll to your water or smoothies will help to increase iron and help alleviate fatigue.
Diy Winter Face Mask
DIY WINTER FACE MASK
Soothing Avocado Aloe Mask (for dull skin)
1 tablespoon mashed avocado
1 tablespoon pure aloe vera gel (with no added ingredients)
1 teaspoon oat flour (or rolled oats)
1 teaspoon organic jojoba oil (you can sub with rosehip oil or pumpkin seed oil)
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Apply to clean, dry skin and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and pat dry.
DIY WINTER HAIR MASK
Deep Conditioning Aloe Hair Mask (for dry hair)
¼ cup avocado, mashed
¼ cup aloe vera gel
1–2 tablespoons olive oil (you can sub with jojoba or rosehip oil)
Mash avocado in a bowl and stir in the aloe vera gel and olive oil (or blend in a small blender). After shampooing, work the mask onto the ends of your hair. Leave mask in for 15-20 minutes (put on a shower cap if you have one), then rinse with warm water and condition if needed.
WINTER ESSENTIAL OIL BLENDS
2–3 drops each, or more as desired
GROUNDEDNESS: Cedarwood, Patchouli, and Sandalwood
FEMININE POWER: Bergamot and Geranium
DEEP RELAXATION: Lavender, Patchouli, Sweet Marjoram, Mandarin, Geranium, and Chamomile
INNER PEACE: Tangerine, Frankincense, and Sandalwood
Winter Food Chart
GLUTEN-FREE GRAINS NUTS AND SEEDS
black rice
brown rice
buckwheat or kasha
wild rice
chestnut
ground flaxseed
hazeln
ut
pumpkin seed
VEGETABLES FRUITS
beet
dulse
hijiki
kale
kelp
kombu
mushrooms (any variety)
nori
wakame
water chestnut
blackberries
blueberries
cranberries
grapes
watermelon
LEGUMES OTHER
adzuki beans
black beans
edamame* (organic)
kidney beans
natto
tempeh* (organic)
tofu* (organic)
** Tempeh, tofu and edamame are soy products that must be purchased organic; otherwise, they are likely to be GMO.
bancha tea
chlorella/liquid chlorophyll
coconut water
fennel tea
lemon water
licorice tea
liquid aminos
miso (organic)
sea salt
tamari (low sodium)
WINTER RECIPES
The Happy Hormone Guide Page 11