lunar cyles, fresh starts.

Fun facts about the menstrual cycle to preface today's post:

Allopathic medicine places the menstrual cycle along with pregnancy under "Diseases and Conditions", even on pubmed, which is hardly a positive framework for a naturally occurring cycle that is expected throughout the course of fertility in all women.

Pain and irritation premenstrually and  during menstruation are signs of imbalance. Some of the reasons of imbalance I've heard most frequently in naturopathic classes are a magnesium deficiency, or toxicity of tissues. In chinese medicine, the imbalances are usually spiritual in nature and related to liver stagnation. This isn't to say that there are not clinical cases of dysmenorrhea- both branches of medicine both recognize that dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome are conditions that many of today's women face on a monthly basis. There are many more reasons that women can have pain, irritation, and craving beyond merely magnesium deficiency, toxicity, liver stagnation, and disconnect.

Most women cycle for 26- 35 days, with 28 days considered most normal. The count begins on the first day of blood. The uterus, ovaries, and hormones follow an intricate dance of growth, fertility, more growth, and sloughing of unused womb tissue.

Women are less likely to have iron toxicity, and have a remarkable capacity for detoxification.
Historically, the beginning of the cycle was a time when women removed themselves from society and spent time taking care of themselves. In Jewish tradition, the second week of "cleansing" actually made it more likely that every time a couple had sex was within the window of ovulation and fertility, thereby making it easier to have a large family. 

There are many more interesting historical facts and myths that can make cycling less of a "disease or condition" and more like a beautiful time that nature has set aside for introspection and self care, but given the skeptical nature of many of my readers, I thought I'd skip the airy faerie stuff I'm so fond of and go directly for the facts:

Today, I'd like to celebrate the beginning of my first normal cycle since late December!
The 2 months of pregnancy and month of miscarriage had conditioned me to fear the sight of blood- especially by the end of the miscarriage, when I couldn't really spare any blood for any purpose beyond basic metabolism. As I recovered, I missed it.

I'm a fairly body conscious person- though "solidly built" by societies standards, I have a regular exercise routine which has consisted mainly of sprinting up a quarter mile hill to correct some work catastrophe and yoga for the last 5 years. Yoga means unity, between movement and breath, breath and spirit, spirit and body. It's a great way to get comfortable with how your body moves and looks- as long as you have a decent teacher who's got even a little of the classical texts before instruction. I also dance, which requires a lot of coordination and staring at myself in the mirror. And sometimes I lift weights. I lose more weight when I do that, but I hate the activity and the "rosie-the-riveter" arms it gives me. I eat well, I meditate, I track my cycles and basal metabolic temperature.

So when a month passed after recovery, I knew my body was still building up blood and trying to deal with the postpartum hormones. But when two months passed, I was concerned. I felt blocked, and stifled.

My doctor (who is graduating this month!) and I discussed seed cycling the first time I felt ready to try to cycle again. Seed cycling is based on giving your body a lot of hormone precursors, in plant form, according to the lunar cycle. I was doing flax seed from the new moon to the full moon, and then evening primrose oil from the full moon to the new moon. That was a disaster. My body hated that.

So month three, we tried a different plant based support-
(try nothing without talking to your doctor! I have not presented all aspects these herbs traditionally treat, and none of the contraindications!)
 a tincture made of:
angelica sinensis (dong quai)- used for pain, vasodialation, and stimulating/relaxing uterine muscles.
achillea millefolium (yarrow)- used for amenorrhea, reduction of inflammation and pain
vitex agnus castus (chaste tree berry)-normalizing hormone levels
gentiana lutea (gentian)- amenorrhea, reduction of nervous stress
scutellaria lateriflora (skullcap)- european uses- anxiety, native american use- amenorrhea
and dandelion flower essence- for joy and boundaries.

In addition, the supervising doctor recommended that I join the yoga classes that she teaches on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I had a meeting this morning, but my experience on Wednesday was profound. Since she knows my case, she was able to modify poses for me before I tried them, and we did a lot of pelvic opening throughout the routine. She's trained specifically through a lineage of teachers who originated pretty much with the classical texts, and the workout was the best- bar none- I've had all year, p90x or no.

I've been incorporating parts of the routine I started learning on wednesday into my twice daily twenty minutes of yoga, and I feel so much more connected to myself already.

Then I went to meditation group, which meets every friday, and spent the hour really focusing on my pelvis and the blockages that have kept this beautiful, natural cycle from occurring. I visualized a wall made of hard sand, and felt a small hole in the center, like an hourglass, pouring through. I focused on making that hole wider, and allowing clearance to flow....

And two hours later I'm back in the cycle! I'm probably magnesium deficient, and I don't feel totally normal, but I'm so glad to be one step closer to being healthy again, and so in love with the personalized care I've been given by my healthcare practitioners. I even called my primary to let him know that the plan worked, and quickly, and I think he may have been more excited than I was.
What a beautiful medicine this is.