Be the Master of your OWN Period
Ladies, it is time to step out of the dark and into the light! It is time to take control and be the queen bee of your period. YES it is possible. No you are not broken, sick, stupid, and not worth it. YOU are smart, beautiful, and WORTH EVERYTHING. It’s time to be your own period guru and learn more about your body than ever before. Let me help you…
Naturally you want to know more about your period. Maybe some of you are wondering why you have irregular periods, heavy periods, go crazy with PMS, or you cannot get pregnant. It is total normal to be scared when things are not going the way they should, and it is frightening when you don’t understand it. Guess what, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand a period, you don’t have to be a doctor. You are perfectly capable of getting down to the bottom of the period problem. Let me clear it up for you.
I’m going to spend the next few blogs teaching you about how to become your own period master. This is going to do so much for you. You’ll be educated, empowered, and inspired to make proper changes in order to get yourself on the right path. I encourage women who have regular periods to do this as well! Every woman should do this!!
The first thing we all must do is channel our inner detectives…and the best detectives take notes. In order to understand more about your body and master your period, you need to listen to your body…you need to start taking notes in order to get down to the bottom of this period conundrum by recognizing patterns. These patterns will paint a picture of your overall health, and give you a good place to start having health periods. TOGETHER we are going to take the next three months to chart and monitor our cycles. I am going to outline some important things we need to start doing, and over the next few months we are going to go on a journey of period discovery. Now, I am not going to go into interpretation of the results just yet, I don’t want you to worry about what it all means; we need to focus on first getting down the notes.
To get started here is what WE are going to do, here is our GAME PLAN:
· Get a period app. You can get one on your phone, or smart device for free and they are AMAZING!!! They track everything for you- your cycle length and your ovulation. You also have the ability to take notes like when you get PMS or when you get acne. You can even program them to send you reminders like “You are going to start your period soon” and so on. Get a period app. Get on and start taking notes. Even if your period is irregular, take notes. Your symptoms might seem random now, but when we look at the big picture, you’ll be able to get answers to the questions you’ve been asking.
· How many days are in your cycle? This includes the start of your period, until the next time you get a period. Day 1 is a full day of bleeding. Is it 21 days? 28 days? 35 days? Start noticing if it is regular.
· Start taking your waking body temperature and chart your cycle. Sorry ladies, but I am a stickler for this, you need to do it. It may be a pain in the butt for the first few days, but you’ll get use to it. Every morning take your temperature BEFORE you get out of bed. Write this down and then start putting this in a fertility awareness chart. Look for a biphasic graph with a temperature rise in the middle. The great thing about this is that a lot of period apps will chart this for you, all you have to do is take your temperature.
· Are you stressed? Stress will 100% effect your period. Be sure to write this down. When are you stressed? What is making you stressed out? Is it making you sick? THEN start thinking about some solid stress reduction techniques.
· Do you spot during your cycle? Do you have cramps, cravings, or acne…take notes, write it down.
· When you have sex is it painful? On your period app, mark when you have sex and if it is painful.
· Learn about your body. Yes, learn about your uterus, cervix, and ovaries (along with others). Have you seen your vagina? What are you waiting for and take a look!! Listen…it’s time to start loving your body, your reproductive system, and your vagina.
The first thing you need to do before you interpret these results in get data. In the next few blogs we are going to talk about interpreting results and why Traditional Chinese Medicine can help with period problems, but first GET out and get that data ladies, download your period app, or go out and buy a period diary. You are in charge now.
A last quick note about charting periods, it is going to be difficult if you are on hormone replacement therapy AKA birth control. If you are on a copper IUD, that is fine. If you are taking any sort of hormonal birth control, you are not ovulating and the “period” you are getting is not a true period. You can still chart it, and make notes of side effects of the HRT. I encourage all women to think twice about HRT, and educate yourself on other options of protecting yourself from pregnancy and STDs.
Happy charting ladies!! Xoxo