Cycle Tracking 101: Unlock Your Body’s Rhythm
Have you been feeling a little at war with your body lately? Like… you know something needs to change, but you’re not sure what? I’m going to let you in on the not-so-secret shift that I made that re-connected me to my body and changed my relationship with my hormones: Cycle Tracking!
So, a few years ago, after completing yoga teacher training at an off-grid jungle retreat, I was hellbent on tapping back into the magic of my body and connection to Earth that had nourished me through the training. Serendipitously (or not) I read Lisa Lister’s “Code Red” around this time and it introduced me to the profound practice of cycle tracking. This practice opened my eyes to the language of my body — putting me on the same team as my body instead of at war with her.
Whether you are a woman in your fertility years or no longer experiencing a monthly cycle, rewriting our relationships with our bodies begins with Cycle Tracking. In this post you will learn about the basics of cycle-tracking and how they can tune you into the wisdom and unique language of your body.
Cycle Tracking Methods
The Basics: Calendar Marking
The basic cycle tracking method is simply marking your calendar when your period shows up. You can do this with a wall calendar, a planner, or one of the many apps available out there today. This allows you to have a general sense of the “most obvious” part of your cycle (your period) so you can identify how long your cycle is and how long you generally bleed.
Where the Magic Is: Adding Daily Notes
This is where I recommend you start with cycle tracking to really begin decoding your body’s language and unlocking your body’s rhythms.
Daily Note Cycle Tracking is as it sounds — observing your daily experience in your cycle and taking brief notes. I really recommend handwriting these notes for this practice instead of recording in your phone or an app. But hey, you do you, boo boo.
These notes can include your mental, physical, and emotional states — jotting down how you’re feeling any changes in energy levels, moods, or cravings.
My recommendation is to commit to sticking to this practice for at least three months. This is the minimum amount of time for you to go through multiple cycles in order to start noticing patterns and gain that deeper understanding of your body’s unique rhythm and its Inner Season shifts.
If you’re looking for some support and guidance on delving into this super simple but super profound practice, check out my “Inner Seasons Inner Wisdom” cycle tracking guidebook for everything you need to crack the code on your body’s language and the wisdom it wants to share with you.
Be the Scientist and the Experiment: Other things you can track
So you’ve been taking daily cycle tracking notes for a few months, and you’ve been blown away by the realization that there are patterns emerging throughout the entire month.
If you’re ready to take it up a notch you can begin noting your body’s bio-markers: like temperature and cervical fluid. These little clues can provide valuable insights into your fertility and overall health.
Temperature:
Grab a basal body thermometer (something like this one) and start taking your temperature every morning before getting out of bed. This baseline temp can tell you SO MUCH — from confirming ovulation to metabolic health. Learn more about this here: (link blog post)
Cervical Fluid:
If you’re like me, you might have spent most of your life thinking that you had chronic infections or that something was just wrong “down there” because of what was showing up on the gusset of your underwear… Why did no one tell us what cervical fluid looked like, or how it changes throughout the month depending on your hormones?!
Yes, sometimes cervical fluid is showing you that there’s an imbalance BUT likely your cervical fluid is simply reflecting your body’s cycle. When tracking cervical fluid, pay attention to its consistency and how it changes throughout your cycle. As your hormones fluctuate throughout your cycle you may you may notice none at all, shifting to a creamy consistency, and then to an egg-white consistency — all are normal depending on where you are in your cycle.
I recommend the app Read Your Body for recording your BBT and cervical fluid. They are the most secure app I’ve found that will NOT be selling your data, unlike other apps out there 🙄
My goal with this post is to give you all the tools you need to effectively start tracking your cycle and ultimately show you a path to creating a partnership with your body.
As you uncover your body’s language and it communicates more clearly with you, you’ll be able to anticipate your needs, make informed decisions, and live a more embodied life. Basically you can say goodbye to those days of feeling disconnected from your body and 👋 haaaay👋 to a newfound sense of empowerment and self-awareness.
Want to go deeper? Head to the GOTM Instagram where we dive deeper into all things embodied living and self care. Until then, my loves, happy tracking!
Big Love,
SHOP THE INNER SEASONS TEA SET
CYCLE SYNCED HERBAL TEAS TO NOURISH THE FEMALE FERTILITY CYCLE
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