5 powerful tools to implement during menstruation

In the fast paced world we live in today, it is often hard as women to completely throw in the towel and do absolutely NOTHING during the time of our bleed. However much we want to give it all up, as the tiredness or the need to hide becomes louder and louder, the demands of the world are often more convincing. Below are 5 powerful tools that you can begin to think about implementing

during the time of your menstruation. We can refer to this process as 'menstrual cycle awareness'.

If you feel you can't do all of them to the fullest (most of us can't), start with one and see if you implement it into your life even just 1% more. There may be some resistance that arises with these practices. If it does, that's okay. See what happens when you welcome it and stay curious with what comes up for you.

1. Say no to the world

Of course, it is very difficult (especially if we are working full time or have children) to completely press pause on life and disappear for up to a week. What we can do, is consider this concept of tuning into our needs and saying no to the things that aren't absolutely pressing. We can cancel that pub lunch with friends, rearrange that personal training session we had planned, and we might be able to reschedule a client meeting. During the time of menstruation, our bodies are inviting us to go inwards: we have the opportunity to check in with our true energy levels and give ourselves what we need by saying no to others, and yes to ourselves. If we can do this as much as possible, we reserve our vitality as we allow our bodies to endure the energy expending process of bleeding. Not only does this mean we have more to give when we emerge on the other side, it will leave us feeling nourished and more easily able to cope with the demands of the world.

2. Surrender to rest

This is an area of self love that I have personally struggled with over the years. Being an active, ambitious woman, I always assumed that rest was counterproductive. It wasn't until I really practiced it regularly that I understood the power of it. Most of us have to-do lists, requirements or generally quite busy lives. When the importance of re-charging is disregarded, we can be led down the long and painful road towards stress and burn out. Rest is paramount to our physical and mental well-being, particularly when our bodies are using a lot of extra energy during menstruation.

Even if its only for 5 minutes, can you take some time out to simply rest and be still today. Take some deep breaths, get out into nature, do some very gentle stretching to release any physical tension in your body. Maybe you lie down and take a nap, or simply sit and allow yourself to be still and silent for a while. The more we can incorporate rest in bite sizes, the more we will reap the benefits and understand the need to prioritise it.

3. Pace yourself

This piece is tied into the previous point of resting, but is more aimed at the parts of life that we can't completely halt. We may not have the privilege to take time off work, or to let someone else take care of our children. So we must find ways within our busy schedules to change the pace slightly in order to take care of ourselves. A good way to do this is to set an intention at the beginning of the day to honour your rhythm regardless of what you have to do. Check in with yourself throughout the day, noticing if you're doing too much. Take regular short pauses, finding micro ways of slowing down when you can.

You may not be able to completely cancel the meeting, but how could you pace yourself and be gentle with yourself during the meeting? All of these little changes create healthier habits which ultimately lead to bigger, longer term shifts that we can learn to sustain as a new way of being.

4. Gratitude and appreciation

Two hugely important aspects to weave into your everyday life if you want to feel more fulfilled and content are gratitude and appreciation. Even more importantly, during the time of menstruation, where our hormones can affect our mood and outlook on life. Having said that, I also want to reiterate the importance of honouring any feelings of negativity or feeling less upbeat than usual. We mustn't push them away, as this only creates more of the same. But the invitation is, as we honour the 'darker' emotions (e.g. anger, sadness, irritation), we can also make space to acknowledge and appreciate the qualities in our lives that make us feel proud, worthy and happy.

A simple gratitude practice could be every morning when you wake up or just before you go to sleep (the most potent times of the day for rewiring the subconscious parts of the brain), list 1-3 things you feel grateful for that day. Include something you feel grateful for in yourself, and really notice how gratitude feels in your body. Gratitude helps us to honour what we have and helps us to call in what we want.

Appreciating and celebrating ourselves is crucial to strengthening our sense of self worth, and it helps us to recognise our value and contribution in the world. It nourishes us and amplifies what is already working, steering us away from concentrating too much on what we are lacking. This practice can be similar to the gratitude practice, in the morning or evening you can write your appreciations and celebrations in list form. Of course, the more you become conscious of reminding yourself of your own beauty and the good things you have in your life, the more you will feel called to focus on positivity throughout your day.

5. Meditate/ bleed on it

The time of menstruation can be profound if we really do rest and surrender to slowing down. We can gain insights about our life, our purpose, and our calling. Our bodies are constantly sending us bites of wisdom, which are only available to us when we honour our cycles and give ourselves the time and space to tune in. If we follow all of the above steps: saying no to the world, surrendering to rest, pacing ourselves by slowing down and practicing gratitude and appreciation, we can access a higher state of consciousness through stillness or meditating.

This could look like meditating on ideas or problems, feeling into or writing down a dream or desire you have and noticing what comes up internally, journaling and generally just listening to the wisdom that arises when we really slow down and pay attention to how we are feeling. Take a bit of time out during the day and contemplate something you desire to call in. Sit quietly, and speak to your bleed as though it was a person. Ask yourself “What is the wisdom that you hold for me around my desire?”. If nothing comes up, that is okay. Nothingness is also information. Try journaling from whatever place you're in, and see what comes out on paper.

Your task during your next bleed is to implement these 5 steps, to the degree that you are able to. Notice the subtle differences that arise in how you are feeling at the end of your bleed. As women, we are incredibly intuitive and emotionally adept, a superpower that can be strengthened through the practice of menstrual cycle awareness. As we stretch our capacity to be with ourselves and any emotions that arise, the light or the dark, we expand our abilities to be with the full range of our human experience.

For more information on how you can access deeper levels of knowing and expansion within yourself, check out the 'Work with me' page on my website.