It started on a rainy day in 2020.

Nah, I am kidding.

I don’t even remember what day it was but it was somewhere in 2020 that I was called to womb work and womb healing. As I put my intention on doing womb work, I attracted teachers, workshops and books related to womb healing. In early 2021, Maisie Hill’s Period Power led me to Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer.

And that was it. As I read Wild Power, I was initiated into the world of Menstrual Cycle Awareness(MCA). 

Reading the book was one thing and practicing the philosophy totally another. Nonetheless, I began. I started enthusiastically with the charting and noting down the different things happening to me in different phases of my cycle and began gathering immensely useful data about myself. I slowly and steadily started to notice the nuances in my moods, my reactions and responses and my behaviours throughout the cycle.

For example – I noticed how my energy rose steadily from Day 3 of my cycle and I started feeling better. I noticed that my energy levels were high during mid-cycle and I needed less sleep in my ovulatory phase than in the other phases. I noticed my need to speak less towards the end of my cycle and I noticed that there were one or two days of frustration or unrest a week before my period began.

Now, I can tell you in excruciating detail about all the things I started noticing about my cycle, my body, my emotions and behaviour but it might not be as useful as telling you how all of it impacted my overall life.

Here is how MCA impacted my overall life –

As I noticed and wondered about so many details around my emotions, behaviour, habits and needs, I started making better choices. I allowed myself guilt-free rest before my period began and on the first 2 days of my period. As much as I could, I reduced my work load on these days. The more I rested, the better organised I was. Resting is not my natural or any other state of being. I was quite rest-averse. I still struggle to find regular rest breaks. However, with MCA I am becoming more and more rest-oriented.

I started connecting deeply with my body and the feminine wisdom that it offered me. I started becoming more deeply in tune with my intuition. There were a few months in 2021 when I was so attuned to my body and my womb that I could feel the exact moment when my uterus started shedding the lining and my period began. Previously, I used to know exactly which day my period will begin but during these few months of 2021 I could sense the almost exact timing in the day. This was so powerful. My intuiiton was heightened and peaked during this particular time.

All the things that I was frustrated about in my pre-period phase (some people call it PMS which might be true for them, for me I don’t feel it as PMS) told me something about what needed to change. Either I had to set healthy boundaries or needed more rest or I had to start saying no more often. 

I learnt(and am still learning) to accept change with ease and surrender to the flow. This helped me do less and BE more. This has been essential for me because I was a human doing, not a human being. As I grew into the idea of being, relaxing, resting and receiving, I started growing more, in every way. I let go of control. I allowed ease to flow into my life. I started enjoying my rest time. And all of this led to efficiency in whatever I did. My energy and vibration shifted. I attracted more opportunities and amazing people into my life.

Then came 2022. It began with me contracting covid in February and then a whirlwind of dramatic events in my life took over everything. My period was haywire. For the first time in 27 years of bleeding, my cycle varied from 26 days to 32 days over a period of 6-7 months(April to October). For someone used to a regular 28-30 day cycle, this was bat-shit crazy. I was going insane. I didnt know what hit me. I was at my lowest, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The only thing I kind of kept doing almost consistently was charting my cycle in my laptop. In all honesty, I stopped charting on paper(my usual favourite method). However, this digital charting and my last 1 year of menstrual cycle awareness is what helped me keep whatever sanity I could. I did not run to my GP. I did not go for lab tests. I did not pop any pills. And I did not think of myself as crazy. I knew I was going through a rough phase, I accepted that and did whatever little I could do. By November, my cycle began to stabilize again and I was feeling better. By early 2023 I could again make sense of my period and my life.

Another very important thing that happened in 2022 was that practicing MCA attracted for me the opportunity to learn from Claire Baker at her Cycle Coach School. This training has brought so much more knowledge and understanding to me. I am really grateful to have Claire as a trainer and her team as a support.

And most importantly, I have started to love my period and to accept my womanhood which was not possible earlier. I hated the fact that I was a girl. I spent years hating the fact that I had a period and I had to go through it every month.

Moving forward in life I know that my body is changing and moving towards perimenopause years. And I am acutely aware of the importance of MCA for me in the years to come.

I can say from my own experience that menstrual cycle awareness is a radical change we all need. More than a tool or a technique it is A WAY OF LIFE.

My wish and hope for all those who menstruate is to have more support, guidance and education around this life-affirming event of menstruation that happens in our body every month.

With me, you can practice MCA in three ways –

1 – sign up for one-on-one period coaching with me 

2 – join my workshop on menstrual cycle awareness, Reclaim Your Period

3 – Both of the above

If you have any questions or curiosities, please put them in the comments here. I would love to hear from you.