Meet Your Infradian Rhythm
Have you ever wondered why some days you’re on fire and other days you find it difficult to string a sentence together? What if I told you, you could anticipate the days you’ll be ‘on fire’. What if I told you, by adjusting your food choices, exercise routine and adding in some self care you could have more of those ‘on fire’ days?
I want to tell you about the most important and little known fact about the female body. Our mood and energy are dictated by our hormones and our female hormones are cyclical, as in, they have a clear and predictable cycle.
In order to understand the cyclical nature of the female body let’s first discuss a biological cycle you’ve probably heard of, the circadian rhythm. It’s what makes you wake up with the sun and go to sleep when it gets dark.
Here’s what’s going on inside your body; in the morning cortisol levels spike which causes you to wake up and when you see the sun in the morning serotonin (the feel good hormone) is released and you feel energised are ready to take on the day. When the sun goes down at night melatonin is released and you start to feel sleepy, a few hours later you go to bed and fall asleep. If your circadian rhythm is out of whack; you'll be tired when you wake up and find it difficult to get to sleep when your head hits the pillow.
Here’s the big news: women have another rhythm
It’s called the Infradian Rhythm and its job is f*cking epic. It controls the hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle and it has the ability to make you feel totally amazing or totally sh*t house. Your infradian rhythm takes roughly 29 days to complete a full cycle. Whereas the circadian rhythm takes just 1 day to complete a full cycle.
If you’re not supporting your infradian rhythm you might feel a little off, you might feel frustrated, cry, get snappy or agitated… we call that PMS.
Let’s imagine something you’ve probably experienced, say you had a huge day at work, then you went out for dinner, dinner turned into drinks and before you know it, it’s 3am. The next morning you wake up at 11am and even though you got 8 hours of sleep, you still feel a little off. That’s your circadian rhythm being a bit out of whack, making you feel crappy.
If you have female sex hormones coursing through your body you have another rhythm ruling how you feel everyday - the infradian rhythm - and not only have you probably not been supporting it but you didn’t even know it existed *mic drop*.
How can you support your infradian rhythm when you didn’t even know you had one? Is it any wonder you have PMS and Painful Periods every month?
So, how do you support your infradian rhythm?
I want you to imagine the most stereotypical Hollywood version of the four seasons. Imagine a cold gusty winters day, it’s snowing and all you want to do is sit inside and cosy up with a warm cup of coco. When spring hits you can’t wait to peel back those layers of clothes and get outside in the sun. The flowers start to blossom and you feel a sense of possibility in the air. By summer you’re ready to take on the world, it’s all about socialising, BBQs and pool parties. Longer days mean you get so much done, believing and achieving is your middle name. And then that sweet smell of autumn arrives, the leaves start to turn red and fall off the trees. The days get shorter and you need to chop wood and get yourself ready for winter hibernation. Then the first fall of snow signals it’s winter and cycle begins again.
These four seasons directly correlate to the four phases of your menstrual cycle. It’s the feelings these seasons evoke that correlate to the natural hormonal fluctuations of your cycle. When you start to track how you feel you will notice a rhythm appearing in your life and you will be able to support the changes and ride the waves of energy.
What’s the deal with female hormones?
Let’s talk about four of the hormones that control your menstrual cycle; estrogen, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). These four hormones are at their lowest during your period (your winter phase). Estrogen and LH gradually increase (in spring) and you start to have more energy, they peak (in summer) along with FSH and you’ll feel ready to take on the world. These three hormones take a sharp dive after ovulation, (which starts your autumn phase) this is where you can be experiencing pesky PMS symptoms. Progesterone and estrogen gradually rise and fall in this last phase and if you don’t fall pregnant your cycle will begin all over again.
It’s really not that complicated right?
Do you wish you knew this sooner? I did, I practically had steam coming out of my ears when I realised there was a biological reason for my PMS and I could fix the issues myself without pills.
It’s important to know you have the power to fix your Period Problems.
I fixed my Period Pain and PMS issues by changing my diet, my lifestyle and by syncing my life to my menstrual cycle. You do not have to rely on hormonal contraception to “fix” your Period Problems. The Pill and other forms of hormonal contraceptives do not fix your problems, they are a ban-aid solution to a hormonal imbalance that can be corrected naturally.
You have the power.
Living an Infradain Life is about taking your power back. It’s about understanding and supporting your body through the four phases of your cycle. Living by your infradian rhythm means resting in your winter phase when your energy is naturally lower and pushing your limits in your summer phase when your hormones are at their peak. You can do it all, you can have it all but first you must listen to your body.
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