Simple Self-Care tips for the Inner Winter of your Menstrual Cycle
Exercise, Stimulation, Food Energetics & your Intuition
In the last edition of Cycles, Psyche & Soul newsletter on The Dark & Light Inner Seasons of your Menstrual Cycle, I shared about the four inner seasons1 of your menstrual cycle that reflect the outer seasons of nature and how our perspective on life can change through these different phases.
Over the next few newsletters (with some creative freestyle writing in between), we’ll look at some simple self-care for you to consider in your different cycle seasons. Today, we’re going to explore the inner season of winter which is the bleed time in your whole cycle.
Simple Self-Care Tips for your Inner Winter
Exercise
Like the outer season of winter in the northern hemisphere – inner winter is naturally a time to hibernate. This is a time for body and soul to rest after the leaves of autumn have shed, and now – to stillness. Be still for a while so that you can feel yourself, so that you can listen. Your body is performing a miraculous release and cleanse, you're letting go of the lining of your womb, but you're not just letting go of a physical part of you, you're also, at the same time, letting go of emotions, of psychic ‘debris’ and the mental accumulation of what's happened through the course of that previous month (when I say ‘letting go’, a deep processing is happening as well – I call this ‘moontime processing’ – more on that another time). So, depending on your levels of sensitivity, this can be quite a challenging phase for some women. Your bleed might be three days, or it might last for seven days, with three full heavy days and four lighter days. The length of your actual period will also determine the type of exercise you do during this time.
The first few days of your period is when you generally have the heaviest flow, and it's really good to just do nothing. I know that's not often possible for many of you so try to rest and sleep as much as you can, early nights, a short nap, a longer lie-in - and where possible, don’t fill your schedule with too many commitments. Keep it as empty and as loose as you can. Give yourself extra space to ease the process. Time for stillness, quiet listening, and tenderness. In doing so, you give yourself a chance to access deeper currents of intuitive awareness that are often more available at this time.
Apart from rest, some movement is still important to support your body. Do gentle stretches when you wake up and intuitively listen to how your body would like to move with your current rhythm. And as you move into the lighter phase of your period, you might feel inspired to go on walks in nature.
Rather than ashtanga and power yoga types, which can be more about pushing yourself and getting a good workout – this is not the time for pushing – it’s a time for unravelling, listening and allowing. Think gentle, slow, stretching flow. Yin yoga that supports the female body followed by yoga nidra to relax is great. Practicing Qi Gong can help to keep your energy flowing during menstruation to move stagnancy and support you to move into the inner spring phase of your cycle more gracefully. Check out some of these online video classes from Canadian yoga teacher Kassandra, from Yoga with Kassandra:
Yoga for Menstrual Cramps – Gentle yoga for your period.
Yin yoga for PMS & Menstrual Cramps:
A question I like to ask myself in each inner season is; “What is this cycle phase asking of me?”
To hear the answer, practice listening to yourself by tuning in to what's going on in your body, your emotions and your energy.
We’re all different and some women are much more athletic and sportier than others. The thought of not doing ‘proper’ exercise (i.e. cardio, running, strength training, etc), might be difficult to consider yet we all need days of rest and the first few days of the bleed is the best time for it.
Stimulation
Get away from screens!
Stimulants include everything that you're taking in. In some phases of your cycle, this can be very nourishing, but during your inner winter, too much stimulation can aggravate your sensitive nervous system so it’s a time to be more mindful of what you’re consuming.
Switching off from social media, watching TV or world news is a really good idea because what your body's trying to do is to let go and relax. Imagine that you’re sinking into the earth and it’s holding you, the tightness of your muscles loosens as you sink deeper into the earth’s holding, it’s quiet and serene - you can fully let go.
And then you pick up your phone and start scrolling through Instagram. As you’re taking in stimulants from social media, you're bringing yourself back up into your head again when your body and your emotions and your mental state are trying to sink into a deep place of rest and stillness.
Tactile. To help your body relax, do some tactile things that bring your body into connection with something tangible. That might be the earth, by tending to your house plants. If you have a garden, put your hands in the soil and work in your garden, be amongst the trees, flowers and insects and just get your hands dirty. Or pick up a paintbrush and start spontaneously painting, moving with the colours you’re drawn to or bake a healthy treat, make crafts, knit or weave, creating something with your hands. Anything that brings you into connection with a tactile expression. These tasks can be gentle and flow with how you feel on each day of your period.
FOOD ENERGETICS FOR YOUR INNER WINTER
I eat very simply when I'm bleeding. And that's because we take in information through the energy of food2. If you're eating very complex foods with lots of flavours, spices and many ingredients, that's more complex information coming into your system when your body is trying to cleanse.
Because of this, the simpler the food you eat during this phase, the easier it will be to support your system to release and let go of what it's holding on to.
Keep it simple. That might look like fewer food types on your plate or using fewer condiments and spices.
I'll give you a few examples of some food I eat during my menstrual phase.
On the first day of my period, I generally eat less than usual. Food like steamed vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of salt. I often have kale and spinach stir-fried with tamari or a drizzle of tahini (sesame paste) on top.
I tend to try and avoid sweet food and caffeine because it’s too stimulating for my nervous system. I’ll eat sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes because they’re less inflammatory and I avoid dairy as this causes too much mucus and can also contribute to inflammation.
This is when I might have some wild venison or wild meat. I'm not a big meat eater, but if I do have some, it's often during inner winter to help regenerate levels of iron. If you're vegan or vegetarian then look into other options for that.
I have soothing, relaxing herbal teas like chamomile, calendula or peppermint, and fortifying tea like nettle or raspberry leaf, which supports the uterine lining.
Intuition. THE most important thing you can do for you and your cycle, is to deepen your relationship with your intuition (my book Language of the Feminine goes deep on this topic). Your inner winter phase is an ideal time to quieten down and hear your inner voice and guidance through the wisdom of your body.
Inner Winter is about:
letting go
resting
creating space for stillness and listening to body and soul
slow movements and gentle exercise
nature connection
decreasing stimulation
increasing connectivity to tangible things like cooking food, nature, art and crafts
eating simply (simplifying in general)
I hope you’ve found these simple self-care tips for your inner winter helpful.
I’ll see you in the next season!
with love for your week,
Jane x
Thoughts? Share them below >
the concept of cycle phases as ‘inner seasons’ mirroring the ‘outer seasons’ of nature originates from Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer of Red School.
I’m not a qualified nutritionist or doctor, so the food suggestions I make are based on my own experience and are included to inspire you to consider the food that supports you in different phases of your cycle.