How to Cycle Sync Your Self-Care with Your Hormonal Cycle

A lot of the wellness world today talks a big game about self-care being built around habits, routines, and “biohacking your way to better health” by creating an almost militant consistency.

It’s the “Do this one thing every day, and the results will blow your mind!” kind of clickbait that pulls us in, and then when we don’t “stick to it,” we beat ourselves up, blaming our lack of willpower for not following through…

Boo. 👎

As women, during our fertility years, we experience such wildly fluctuating energy levels as our hormones ebb and flow throughout the month. To expect that we’ll feel the same connection and fulfillment to the exact same self-care practices all month long… Sounds kinda ridiculous, doesn’t it?

This “stick to one thing to fix it all” approach has bogged me down so many times, too. I entered into the “wellness world” in 2012 or so and dove right into getting certified as a holistic health coach. This is where I proceeded to interpret our entire curriculum as a massive “self-care to-do list” and couldn’t figure out why I felt overwhelmed and resentful when I couldn’t manage to maintain a three-hour morning routine that encompassed all of the “suggestions” we were being taught. 🫠 Oops.

When you learn to cycle sync your self-care, you can begin to parse out a way to continuously care for your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being all month long.

Let’s look at each phase of the fertility cycle throughout the month and explore different self-care practices that you might enjoy cycling through instead of being yelled at by your inner drill sergeant. 🫡

Before You Begin… Uncover Your Inner Seasons with Cycle Tracking

If you aren’t already familiar with the four (very) different phases of your monthly cycle, cycle syncing may feel totally daunting.

“How can I practice self-care when I have no idea what phase I’m in?”

So glad you asked, my dear! This is where the wildly powerful and oh-so-simple practice of Cycle Tracking comes in.

In short, this practice starts with taking daily notes throughout your cycle to observe the fluctuations in your mental, physical, and emotional energies over the course of the month. To read more about the practice of cycle tracking, check out the Cycle Tracking 101 blog post.

Inner Spring: your Follicular Phase (the 5-7 days after bleeding ends)

Your Inner Spring is a time of building energy and enthusiasm for getting back out into the world after the solitude of your Inner Winter (bleeding) phase. This phase can infuse you with renewed curiosity for life, and is a great time to try out anything new-to-you that you’ve been wanting to explore in the realm of your self-care.

Self-care during your follicular phase might look signing up for a new dance class, a new Meet-Up group, or maybe trying out some new recipes- this is a great time to get experimental.

With hormones on the rise, you’re not quite at peak energy yet, but getting there. So take care to consciously craft your schedule during this week so that you aren’t all-in and then quickly all-burnt-out.

Inner Summer: your Ovulatory Phase (the 2-3 days before & after ovulation)

Your Inner Summer is when your energizing hormones hit their peak, and you are likely fired up to do allthethings. This might be where you are, in fact, totally on board with that ginormous self-care to-do list of every possible thing you’ve ever been told is “good for you.” Or maybe you’re too hyped up to spend time doing anything but socializing and soaking up the sweetness of your social circle.

Inner Autumn: your Luteal Phase (the 7-10 days before bleeding)

Transitioning into Inner Autumn from Inner Summer can be a rocky time for many of us. Going from the all-out peak energy of ovulation, to realizing your energy levels aren’t gonna cut it for late nights or super-full schedules can be frustrating — especially when we live in a world that glorifies and promotes non-stop productivity.

Just like the Earth’s season of Autumn, where farmers harvest the last crops, and prepare for the winter ahead, self-care during this phase is absolutely crucial to the experience of your Inner Winter.

Self-care during your luteal phase might look like: preparing hearty meals in bulk that you can easily re-heat during your Inner Winter, consciously crafting a slower schedule for the week ahead, and engaging in slower exercise routines will all allow the slow-down of energy to happen during the Inner Autumn, and can help to make the dip into Inner Winter that much more easeful and enjoyable.

Inner Winter: your Menstrual Phase (the 5 – 7 days of bleeding)

I’ll be honest, some months my Inner Winter self-care looks like a full day of posting up in my bed and reading an entire book cover-to-cover, not moving except to make another cup of the Inner Winter tea (and go pee, because… 80 cups of tea…).

Other months, I feel just enough energy to play with the mystical, veil-is-thin vibes of bleeding. When that happens, my favorite self-care during menstruation looks like drawing cards from the Sacred Cycles Oracle Deck or from the Tarot, watercolor or drawing or any kind of mindless creative outlet, or wandering out into the woods and sitting in silence with Nature.

But the one piece of self-care that will always serve your Inner Winter is the simple focus of sloooowwwwinnnngg dowwwnnn. Like way down. Like make-as-little-plans-as-possible. The less you ask of yourself during this phase, the more your body can reap the benefits of your built-in-restoration phase.

Cycle-Sync your Self-Care with Herbal Teas

Don’t get me wrong, of course, there are some self-care practices that we create daily habits around (like brushing our teeth, having a skincare routine etc…). The common theme within these consistent practices is usually that they are quick, simple, and (generally) enjoyable.

That’s why herbal tea also falls under my “I’m down to do this every day” list for self-care. BUT again, in the name of being a cyclical being, who wants to drink the same dang tea every dang day?

Cue… The Inner Seasons Tea Set

I designed the Inner Seasons Tea Set after years of cycle tracking, honoring my monthly energy flows, and learning what herbs were most supportive for each of our four phases during the monthly fertility cycle. If you’re an herbal tea lover looking to support her monthly hormonal cycle and set some sweet self-care habits, I think you’ll love the Inner Seasons Tea Set.

And if tea isn’t your thing, I hope you find a way to bring a sense of ease and enjoyment to your self-care practices throughout the month. Remembering that you are cycling through the mountains and valleys of your experience, and the way you care for yourself does NOT have to look the same every day to ensure you’re doing a “good job.”

As you find ways to bring a sense of self-honoring to your every day, throughout the entire month, you’ll have crafted a self-care routine that is not only unique to you but is your own personal biohacking key to deeper self-love and happier hormones.

Happy cycle-syncing babes!

Big Love,