Learning How To Listen – Managing PMS

What if I told you that your premenstrual phase was sacred, would you believe me?

Many know this phase as their ultimate enemy, perhaps because of the mood swings they experience, bloating, constipation, diarrhea or overall general fatigue.

Actually, if you experience difficulties in this phase – it’s probably just a few of the symptoms that make up the 150 symptoms that compile the word ‘PMS’.

But there’s more for us here than just discomfort, actually – this phase is one of the most powerful, intuitive, and connected times of our ENTIRE cycle, so how come we don’t see it that way?

Could it be a coincidence that a time when we’re the most powerful, is also the time when we’re most caught up in society’s projected shame?

I think not.

So let’s smash the stigma and miseducation that surrounds PMS.

I want to invite you to my FREE Power of the Period Workshop that will teach you to kick PMS symptoms to the curb and reclaim your cycle as a source of power…

This online workshop will teach you how to heal from pain, numbness and discomfort by attuning to your menstrual cycle. Are you ready to smash the stigma that surrounds not only PMS, but menstruation in general?

GAIN ACCESS TO THE WORKSHOP

But now onto the really good stuff…

I believe that the unwanted symptoms that occur for some during their Luteal Phase are a reflection of our inner landscapes.

Just like nature around us our bodies go through different cycles and seasons, the season represented by the Luteal Phase is Fall.

This is the time of year when nature starts to turn inwards and hibernates and the fields and forests are transformed as their leaves begin to brown and fall.

Within us, this phase marks the transition between our most fertile period (ovulation) and the cleansing time of menstruation.

It’s during this phase in our cycle that our attention shifts from the external to the internal. Just as we like to pull on a sweater and cuddle up in front of a fire as summer turns to fall. Our bodies naturally crave this shifting of internal energies.

Yet when we are fighting against our bodies natural rhythms, wants and needs we will undoubtedly come up against some kind of resistance.

It’s because of the resistance we have to listening to our bodies that this phase is often the most misunderstood of them all.

To make peace with this phase we first need to make peace with ourselves.

While I understand the importance of naming the HUGE number of symptoms that can occur during this phase. A BIG problem I have is the way it is most often used to shame or guilt people who bleed if they experience moodiness during this phase.

But PMS symptoms are so much more than just mood changes.

In fact, there are over 150 known symptoms of PMS including;

• Cramps
• Moodiness
• Water retention
• Breast tenderness
• Headaches
• Bloating
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Digestive issues

Do you ever experience any of these symptoms in the latter half of your luteal phase?

If you do, know that you are not alone – at least 90% of people who bleed live with these symptoms every month.

But I believe it doesn’t have to be that way.

You see I believe that the reason why PMS symptoms occur is due to us living out of sync with our cycles and our bodies. Because when womben come back to their bodies, take responsibility for their health and reclaim their rhythm and routine their symptoms actually lessen and become much more manageable.

To get back into alignment is to learn to listen.

To really tune in and hear what our body is trying to tell us. Then we can notice, observe and accept what arises for you in your premenstrual phase without judgement.

So instead of labelling the uncomfortable sensations that might come up in this phase as just PMS.

I’m inviting you to…

• Attune yourself to notice which symptoms come up for you.
• Accept and love whatever is coming up for you because there may well be a reason for this.

It’s during this time in our cycle that the veil between what we know to be true and what is actually true lifts.

So feelings and emotions that haven’t been fully processed during your cycle may well arise now as the veil between our consciousness and our unconsciousness thins.

This is why learning to listen and honor your body is so important…

I’m not asking you to literally sit there with a stethoscope on your womb and listen – though that does sound kinda fun to me – instead, tend to your humanness from a place of compassion, curiosity and observation.

I’m gonna level with you again, this process won’t just happen overnight.

This path of love and understanding is a long and winding one so I’ve also given you the gift of my top 3 tips to help you relieve PMS symptoms.

1. Eat Regularly

Though many have forgotten this, every time we eat a meal, we are taking medicine. The food we consume throughout the day has the potential to either support the process of healing through hormonal imbalance or hinder it. ⁠

This is why I believe to make lasting change in our bodies I believe we need to look inside and at what we eat.

Not only is the food we eat important. But how the food is prepared matters too.

During this part of our cycle, I recommend eating lightly steamed foods – especially if during this time you suffer from bloating and digestive issues.

Eating foods that are lightly steamed aids digestion as the system doesn’t have to work too hard to process it and draw all the nutrients from it.

2. Have a daily movement practice

When we don’t move, stagnation builds within us.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the womb is part of the energetic Liver organ. The Liver is responsible for the smooth flow of qi throughout the body for many things but especially for our emotions and menstruation.

Because of this, the Liver is very prone to stagnation. And when stagnation occurs the following symptoms can arise:

• Pain
• Irritability
• Mood swings
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Bloating
• Digestive issues

Sound familiar?

But, one of the most important things that we can do to support our Liver and help to smooth out our qi is to MOVE.

So I invite you to turn to your body, ask it what it needs today and how it would like to move and follow through.

Because I can guarantee that you’ll feel better after you’ve done it!

By exercising and moving our body we provide fresh and new life force throughout our womb and our body to support hormonal imbalances as we burn through extra blood sugar.

3. Get Ample Rest

Rest is something we’re so often told to do. But we’re never told how to do it. In our fast-paced go-go-go society resting is a skill we were never taught.

But if we can rest now it can help support us through the rest of this cycle and then the next one too. Because how we take care of ourselves in one month, impacts how we will feel the next month too.

After all, we are cyclical beings.

If you struggle to switch off, try one – or all – of the following practices to find some peace…

• Guided yoga nidra
• Restorative/yin yoga
• Qi gong
• Tai chi
• Walking in nature
• Slow dancing
• Calming breaths

I hope with these practices you can begin to find some peace with your PMS symptoms. But these tips are just a band-aid to help us in the moment.

My mission is to support you in translating what your body is telling you. Which is why I invite you to my FREE Power of the Period Workshop – to teach you how to attune to your menstrual cycle and rebalance your life.

REGISTER FOR THE FREE WORKSHOP