What is Cycle Awareness?
And how can the practice support your life?
Just like how the Moon goes through phases in a cyclical way, and Mother Earth goes through the four seasons, we too have our own phases and Seasons in our monthly Cycle.
I invite you to become curious in understanding your Womb, Body, and its Cycles through the practice of Cycle Awareness.
The practice of Cycle Awareness is a reclamation of intuition, innate wisdom and in reverence to the Divine Feminine within you. It’s a shift in perspective, unlearning and repairing generations of distortions and disconnection.
By understanding the four different phases of the Menstrual Cycle, while practicing Fertility Awareness through the observation and tracking of fertility markers such as Cervical Fluid and Basal Body Temperature (BBT), you can see how your body, energy and emotions can change in a cyclical way, just like the Seasons and Moon cycles.
It invokes the remembrance that women and men are physiologically different, that women are intricately connected to the rhythms of Mother Earth and we are not meant to be “ON” all the time.
Cycle Awareness is practiced during the childbearing years for various different reasons including (but not limited to):
Creating a loving, kind, compassionate relationship with your body;
Reclaiming your body and autonomy after being on hormonal birth control;
Learning how to avoid pregnancy naturally;
Learning when you are most fertile, and confirming ovulation if you are trying to conceive;
Connecting to your intuition and creative potential;
Learning to live in alignment with how your energy fluctuates, when the best time to express yourself is, when to prioritize rest, and how to communicate with others in your life;
AND SO MUCH MORE!
The practice of Cycle Awareness may support you if you have irregular/painful periods that you would like to support and regulate without going on the Pill, especially if your care providers have been unable to offer you insight or support in a holistic, compassionate way.
It may also support in the diagnosis of PCOS, Endometriosis and fertility challenges (particularly when working in conjunction with a Naturopath, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctor, Herbalist, Women’s Health Care Practitioner, OBGYN or Functional Medicine Doctor).
For many, the practice is a gateway to connecting to their Womb, understanding their body and how to live in harmony with their natural rhythms, the Moon and Mother Earth.
If you don’t currently have a Menstrual Cycle because you’re Pregnant, Postpartum, in Menopause, or no longer have a Womb, this practice can still be invaluable to you.
By learning the practice, you can integrate the wisdom and energies of the seasons and the Moon to support yourself when you’re not cycling.
You can also learn how to share this wisdom with your daughters and other women in your life, creating a generational ripple effect of awareness, support and reclamation for women far and wide.
The practice of Cycle Awareness requires radical self responsibility.
The positive impact is endless with the integration of more self-compassion, energetic alignment, flow and ease with life in general.
The wisdom around Fertility Awareness and the phases of the Menstrual Cycle are what I wish I had been taught when I got my first period at 10 years old. If only this wisdom and connection to the body had been taught in “health” class, instead of the fear mongering and programming that you can get pregnant at any time in your cycle, which I only learned to be completely false at 31 years old.
Most women I know and work with have been programmed to hide their Menstrual Cycle, that it’s shameful and dirty. It’s a taboo topic for so many that has left women silent and alone for generations.
From a young age we are taught to resist and ignore symptoms like painful periods or mood swings under the guise that this is a “normal” part of being a woman. It’s not, and I hold a vision for all women to unlearn this deeply ingrained belief.
We have been conditioned to downplay symptoms associated with the Womb, to cover them up, to gaslight our experience, to blame being emotional on “hormones” and “PMS”.
We are conditioned into believing our bodies are “broken” or that to experience any negative symptoms or emotions is “bad”, that there is something “wrong” with us, simply because we don’t understand why or how to support ourselves.
This was my experience for over 20 years. I hated my Cycle and did everything in my power to “control” and suppress it, so if you’re still in this experience, or have ever been, I see you.
I spent nearly 16 years on the Pill because I had painful periods, constantly running to the man in a white coat to “fix” me as other symptoms popped up, which always ended up with more gaslighting and pharmaceuticals prescribed, keeping me numb and disconnected from the innate wisdom of my Womb, Body and Soul.
I’m here to tell you, as many times as I need to, there is nothing wrong with YOU.
It’s the external programming and systems around women, their cycles and the collective belief that we are separate from nature that is problematic, not YOU or your body. If you have symptoms or a negative relationship to your cycle, it’s because your body is trying to alert you to an imbalance that needs tending to, and/or where you’re overstepping your boundaries.
Your body is always working towards healing and repair. It’s time to tap in and listen. For a shift to occur “out there” it first needs to begin within YOU.
It takes time, patience, compassion and practice to connect with your body in this way, especially if you’ve had a challenging relationship with your body and Cycle up until this point in your life.
I recommend a minimum of 3 months of practice and conscious awareness to get a baseline of what is normal for your Cycle. What is normal for you may be different than normal for someone else, and that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s “bad”.
This timeframe allows you an opportunity to begin connecting with and learning about your body, to discover what may need additional support, and to remember how to work with the energetics of your Cycle, the Seasons and the Moon.
Instead of resisting and resenting the shadow side of the Menstrual Cycle and stories of shame we’ve been conditioned with, let’s embrace curiosity and lean in together.
There is potent wisdom we can harness and remember when we live in alignment with the energies and practice of Cycle Awareness.
This is why I have created Blissful Cycles, a virtual sacred container for women to come together in community from far and wide, in deep honor, reverence and reclamation of the innate wisdom we all hold within our Womb, Body and Soul.
I have created 3 Module Guidebooks to dive deeper into the wisdom and practice of Cycle Awareness as follows:
MODULE 1 - Connecting to your Body & Womb, Introduction into Fertility Awareness, and How to Track Fertility Signs
MODULE 2 - Menstrual Cycle Awareness, the Energetics of the 4 Phases/Seasons, and Connecting to the Energetics of the Moon & Seasonal Cycles
MODULE 3 - Embracing the Season Changes, Embodiment & Integration Practices
Over the course of 3 Months/Cycles we will gather online in a virtual circle to dive deeper together. I will open each Circle with a grounding in practice, meditation, sharing and review/deep dive into the material in the Module Guidebooks, followed by a Q & A. Finally, we will close with an embodiment practice and a song.
Learn to integrate and embody this wisdom into your life while walking alongside other women who are doing the same.
You will also receive access to weekly Blissful Yoga classes (live online) as a way to deepen your connection to your Womb, Body & Soul.
The intention with Blissful Cycles is to empower you through intimate, compassionate, nurturing connection with your body.
Through the integration you will begin to experience a deeper connection with Self, your Womb, the women, sisters and mothers in your life. You will magnetically be drawn to connect with Mother Earth more and begin to see the cyclical and harmonious nature all around you.
I have had a vision for this creation since I began my own personal spiral into my Womb that all began when I came off the Pill after nearly 16 years in 2020. I feel like I understand why everything happened in my life the way it did, to lead me to bringing this wisdom we all hold within, out into the world as a radical act of sovereignty and reclamation for our ancestors, the daughters and women in our lives, and future generations to come.
Are you ready to begin the spiral into your body, Womb and Soul?
You are worthy of living your life with more bliss, flow and ease.
Thank you for being curious and open to shifting your relationship with your Womb, Body and Soul. Whether you choose to join Blissful Cycles or not, my prayer is you listen to your intuition and nurture seeds planted, for one day they will blossom, just like the wild flowers swaying in the wind on a summer day.
May you remember the innate wisdom held within your Womb and your connection to Cyclical Living.
With love, bliss and gratitude,
- Brittany