Connecting with your Menstrual Cycle by Moon Times

This is written by Rachael, the mum behind Moon Times and an expert on all things menstrual, she is among other talents also a Doula, artist and a wonderful woman I am privileged to know in real life. Moon Times are the Sponsor of the month on www.lactivist.net and these blog posts are to give Lactivist readers some insight into what the sponsors do.

“Why would you want to connect more to something that perhaps you were brought up with to think of as a ‘curse’? In my experience women who begin to make friends with their cycle, perhaps by charting it and getting a deeper understanding of the whole hormonal monthly cycle, are able to tap in to the ‘power’ their period holds. In ancient cultures women retreated to the ‘red tent’ or moon lodge during their bleeding time and any visions or dreams they had where revered and seen as powerful messages for the whole tribe. Of course in our busy working lives we aren’t able to retreat each month, but when we understand the hormonal highs and lows of our cycle we can allow ourselves some rest time or ask others to take on tasks we no longer have the energy to do.

In my Power of Menstruation courses, and my Cycle Charting book, I support women in learning to connect with their cycle, which can have a powerful healing effect on any ‘period problems’ they may have been experiencing. For some women just switching from disposables to reusable’s can have a positive effect on their flow!

Since having my third child in 2010 and having another on the way now, I have stepped back from running so many workshops and have been focusing on other ways to support and empower women and their daughters. My main way to do this is still to encourage switching from disposables to reusable’s and really have a ‘hands on’ experience of their bleeding. And teaching women to explore their cycle themselves through journaling and charting; I have written and complied 3 books now to support women in rediscovering the power their period holds for them.

I would say that on a personal level I feel completely content with my body and the changes it goes through each month- before I had any understanding of the hormonal rollercoaster ride I had felt out of control and in battle with my body- I tried to control it with contraceptives, painkillers etc but once I surrendered to my natural cycle and stopped trying to make it fit in our linear world my periods become lighter, almost pain free and I was able to celebrate it on a monthly basis! (And also use my knowledge of my cycle to control my fertility naturally.)

I continue to give my cycle the respect it deserves and plan ahead knowing when my hormonal highs and lows will be and asking for support from my family when I need time out to be in my Moon Time.