What is Cycle Syncing?
Welcome future cycle sync-ers! Right now, you might be just coming to learn about cycle syncing, and that's amazing. You are signing up to learn so much about your body through cycle syncing, specifically how hormonal shifts in your brain change everything week to week.
Cycle syncing is based on the four phases of the Menstrual Cycle, starting from day 1 we have the Menstrual phase, the Follicular phase, the Ovulatory phase, and the Luteal phase. These phases all correlate directly to hormonal shifts throughout the cycle that flow in to each other over the course of 28 days (on average).
Put even more simply, your hormones change every week, and that's why you feel so different. Most of us are aware of Menstrual and Ovulation, yet I'd always assumed you were either in one of those, and there wasn't anything in between. I now understand the full picture of the cyclical shifts that represent the energetics of the seasons in nature, with Menstrual being winter, Follicular being spring, Ovulation being summer, and Luteal being fall.
Cycle syncing is the art of living in harmony with these hormonal-seasonal cyclical shifts. You can adjust your work-outs, your eating, your calendar, your work life, your domestic life, your relationship, sex, and most importantly, your mindset, all around these phases.
Yup. Fo realz. Life. Altered.
Shifting your lifestyle according to these phases can balance your hormones naturally, allow you to have full and complete control of your fertility, help you be more successful in life and relationships, and give you the deepest appreciation and respect you've ever had for your body. It's truly life changing.
Who Invented Cycle Syncing?
The principles of Cycle Syncing are rooted in ancient wellness systems as well as science backed research, and it is being continually shaped by the lived experiences of women and menstruating people everywhere. For example, Ayurveda helps shape the elemental eating and living factors, while Traditional Chinese Medicine brings in concepts of treating the body as a whole interconnected system. Alisa Vitti is one pioneer in this field and has several helpful books that I highly recommend. By practicing cycle syncing, you will come to understand more about your hormones than you ever have in your life.
Are You Cycling?
Cycle syncing meshes nicely with the Fertility Awareness Method, while hormonal birth control shuts down this entire 28-day cycle completely. Perhaps you're one of the millions of women who've been prescribed the pill for medical issues. Let's get on the same page, the pill does not regulate your cycle, it deletes it, and that's why your symptoms go away while you're on it. However, once coming off of hormonal contraceptives, hormonal issues come back and must be dealt with on a deeper root cause level in order to really shift. In fact, many women begin practicing cycle syncing in anticipation of a shift off of hormonal birth control and find the transition to be much smoother!
Be sure to speak with your doctor about any hormonal concerns, although sadly I have found that many OBGYN's opt to prescribe the pill indefinitely than do testing or recommend alternative care, so be aware that you will need to become your own advocate and do your own research. I myself made this transition after 10 years of pill use, and had several hormonal imbalances to rectify. Cycle syncing was a game changer for me. If you'd like further support or information in this area, don't hesitate to reach out, you can email me at hello@thehormonoscope.com.
If you are struggling with PCOS, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, etc... I highly recommend reading the book Womancode.
Syncing With The Moon
The Menstrual Cycle and the Moon Cycle have so many similarities; the length, the phases, the energetics of yin and yang, and more! References to this are everywhere to be discovered. Indigenous cultures referred to the Menstrual Phase as "Moon Time"
If you are no longer menstruating, don't menstruate, or your menstruation is temporarily suspended, you can opt to sync with the moon to tune in to your feminine energies more deeply. There's no "right" way to do it, however I've noticed that the energy of the Full Moon is most similar to how I feel while I'm bleeding, while the New Moon energies match how I feel in Ovulation. Perhaps you feel the same!
In Alisa Vitti's book, In The Flo, she offers a suggestion to pill users who want to prepare for a shift to a more cyclical lifestyle. Count the first day of your breakthrough bleed as Day 1, and note how long you bleed for. Once you stop bleeding, consider the next phase your "Spring" aka Follicular phase, and so on!
If you're ready to go deeper with cycle tracking, check out this blog post.
Seed Cycling
Seed cycling is a practice that I incorporate right in to my cycle syncing, however some do it more intentionally by consuming 1 Tbsp of the recommended seed daily throughout their Menstrual Cycle to balance their hormones. I shuffle through seeds simply, by adding them to my smoothies or baked goods.
The lifestyle shifts you make when cycle syncing don't need to be complicated to work, it's simply a matter of working with what nature gave us and using it at the right time to support our body through the process of making and releasing an egg every month. You might be surprised by the effect that something as simple as rotating the types of food you eat each week can have. Start small, remember, healing takes time; and your body is wired to do it.
Join Hormonoscope to get your monthly "Horoscope for your Hormones" texted directly to you. It's the simplest way to learn Cycle Syncing amidst a busy life. Sign up here: www.thehormonoscope.com.
Yours in wellness,
Christina
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