Energies of the Female Hormone Cycle

This is part 2 of a series of posts designed to help you, ladies, make the most of your cycle. We don’t hear much about this. Usually it’s in the context of fertility planning, or managing the “symptoms” of menstruation with various products. We use painkillers, caffeine, and clever self-trickery to pretend that we are always the same. But we’re not. We have an ever-changing palette of hormonal “colors”, which is a good thing, if we know how to use them.

A few posts back I mentioned Alisa Vitti’s (2011) video, “Loving your lady parts as a path to success, power, and global change.” This isn’t the only resource for understanding your hormone cycle. I also highly recommend Dr. Christiane Northrup’s book Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom (1998), which I rely on below for information on the hormonal aspects, as well as the concept of a creative cycle being expressed through ovulation, premenstrual processing, and menstrual renewal. Finding this true for me, I simply extended the metaphor to include the 4 seasons. Below, you'll find the energies and hormones present in each phase, with tips on how to maximize them. However, it’s your body’s wisdom that will be your best guide.

(Medical literature typically identifies the follicular phase (high-estrogen) as Week I. However, since menstruation correlates with winter/rebirth, I find it appropriate to begin with menstruation, so I'm taking the liberty to present it this way.This will be a change from earlier posts.)

I: Menstruation

Hormones: None. The left and right brain communicate well during this time.

Energy: Feminine.

Life cycle: Birth/Infancy, Winter.

Ideal activities: Rest, dreaming, prayer and meditation, nurturing activities (baths, cuddling), right-brain activities (brainstorming, improvisation).

II: Follicular Phase. Beginning on the 4^th-8^thday after your period starts, and lasting ~7 days, this is when your hormones rev up again. You may feel more energetic and more interested in socializing, work, and sex.

Reproductive hormones: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteal hormone (LH), estrogen.

Energy: masculine, forward-moving, 3^rd chakra.

Life cycle: Adolescence (formation of identity and trying new things), spring (building and preparing for reproduction/creativity).

Ideal activities: Reminiscing about the past, bonding with partners and close friends, gathering information, planning.

III: Ovulatory Phase. The week in which you ovulate, this is a time of high energy and communication power. According to Alisa Vitti, “you are like a magnet” - can you relate?? 

Hormones: Having peaked just before the egg is released, your estrogen, FSH and LH start to decline. Progesterone starts to rise in their place.
Energy: Feminine, connecting, heart chakra.

Life cycle: Adult, Summer: Seeing multiple perspectives, having an instinct to produce, create, and nurture.

Ideal activities: Having difficult conversations, asking for things, being social, work that requires connecting the dots, creative projects.  

IV: Luteal Phase.

Hormones: Progesterone peaks about 7 days before menstruation, then begins to decline.

Energy: Masculine/feminine balance; 5^th and 6^th chakra.

Life cycle: Elderly, Winter: Possessing wisdom earned through experience; “composting” the past in order to aid the next cycle's growth. 

Ideal activities: Touching up/finishing projects; Presenting work/creative projects to others; Giving and receiving feedback; Processing areas for improvement in work or personal life; Expressing needs that have not been met, or gratitude if they have. 

See my next post for how to optimize your life based on your unique cycle.