Living in Flow With Your Menstrual Cycle: The Four Phases

So. You may or may not know that your menstrual cycle has several phases (four, in Chinese medicine). But what do these have to do with how you go through your day, week, month? The answer: a lot!

As women, our menstrual cycles have a lot to do with how well we feel, how much energy we have, how outgoing or confident we feel, how social we feel, our sex drives, and whether we feel like doing an intense workout or a yin yoga class. And how we feel about all of these things will change as we move through our cycles from our menstrual phase, through to ovulation, into the luteal phase and then coming back around to the menstrual phase again.

Learning this was life changing for me. Once I realised that I wasn’t supposed to operate at the same level of energy and vitality ALL THE TIME, the way I looked after myself completely changed. I don’t know about you but I never knew that hormones like oestrogen and progesterone, which are produced in different amounts at different stages of the menstrual cycle, could affect the way I felt so profoundly. It wasn’t until I was in my twenties and doing my degree in Chinese Medicine that I really grasped the concept.

It’s crazy, that in a country like Australia where we are all lucky enough to have access to education, we don’t learn much about such an important part of our physiology and how it can truly shape how we feel. Thus, my fascination with women’s health and the many facets of female physiology began. Disclaimer: we are sooo complex but that’s what makes us so great!

Shall we dive in? Let’s talk about each phase and what that means for us.

Phase 1: Menstruation/Blood Phase
This phase involves the shedding of the uterine lining after which conception has not occurred in the previous ovulation phase. It is in this phase where you are bleeding or have your ‘period’. Often times, patients explain to me that their rigorous exercise regime continues throughout this phase, despite feeling like their energy isn’t great and they’d rather be resting or taking it slow. And I get it, I used to be one of them! The messaging around me from a very young age was one of hustling, to keep pushing no matter what, and that having your period was no excuse to sit something out. Fast forward a decade and I have a completely different view.

Now I do sit things out during my menstrual phase if I’m not feeling up to it, and I encourage my patients to do the same. This is called honouring your body and the messages it is trying to send to you. Throughout history, this has been a time of inwards refection, a time to retreat into the home and nurture yourself, and with good reason!

During this phase, oestrogen and progesterone levels are low, which is why you might feel like your energy isn’t overflowing and you’d prefer to stay home and rest. You’re also losing blood and other tissue, so it’s important not to deplete yourself even further with intense exercise, lack of sleep or any other taxing lifestyle habits during this time.

During this phase, the pituitary gland also starts producing follicle-stimulating hormone to start preparing follicles (which house the eggs) for the next ovulation.

To support yourself in this phase I recommend skipping the more intense workouts and opting for something more gentle like yoga, stretching and walking. I also recommend eating warming, nourishing meals such as soups, stews and bone broths etc, to nourish you while you bleed. You may also like to take advantage of this slower time in your month to reflect on anything that has been on your mind – it’s a great time to do it as you will have fewer distractions.

Phase 2: Follicular/Yin Phase
This phase begins right after your period and finishes just before ovulation. In this phase, yin is abundant and is when oestrogen is at its highest. One follicle becomes dominant and continues to mature in this phase, and this follicle causes a rise in oestrogen (our most yin hormone) to thicken the uterine lining in preparation for a possible conception/implantation.

The higher oestrogen in this phase of our cycle gives us a good amount of energy and that ‘get-up-and-go’ feeling, so you may experience feeling a little more outgoing, motivated and energetic in this phase. You may also feel a little happier or more content through this phase as oestrogen can increase serotonin, our happy hormone!

I recommend eating a good amount of protein and other nutrient rich food in this phase to replenish the blood lost during the menstrual phase and to ensure a healthy uterine lining is created in the lead up to ovulation. If you’re into it, more high energy/vigorous exercise is recommended in this phase. It’s also a great time to start any projects you’ve been planning as you will most likely have the energy and motivation to finish them!

Phase 3: Ovulation/Yang Phase
Ovulation can occur at different times of the menstrual cycle for each individual, even if a large proportion of the population believes it occurs on day 14 (which it does for some, but not the majority of women as it is believed by many. For some reason, the 28 day cycle was touted at the ‘perfect’ menstrual cycle length, and therefore ‘one must ovulate on day 14’).

In reality, ‘normal’ cycles can vary from 22-35 days in length, and therefore the time at which someone ovulates will also vary. Ovulation generally occurs 11-16 days before day 1 of your period, so if you count backwards from day one of your last period you can work out roughly when you may have been ovulating. (There are many other ways to determine your specific day of ovulation or fertile window, but I’ll leave that for another post!)

In case you didn’t know, I should also mention that ovulation is the time when a conception /pregnancy can occur, so this is the time to be extra careful if a pregnancy is not something you are hoping for at this time in your life.

Just before ovulation occurs, Yin builds to its peak, with the production of abundant fertile mucus (in a healthy cycle) to assist sperm on its journey up to the fallopian tubes in pursuit of a healthy egg to fertilise. There is a surge of Luteinising Hormone (LH for short) in this phase, which triggers the release of the egg from that dominant follicle we spoke about in the follicular phase. With the release of the egg, this phase switches from yin to yang as oestrogen decreases and progesterone increases.

Most women still feel pretty well around ovulation, so it is a good time to be productive and get things done, just like your follicular phase. You may also be feeling a little playful or creative, so lean into it and see where it takes you! Lastly, if pregnancy is your goal, this is the time to get into action – once ovulation has passed you will have to wait a whole month before another opportunity arises!

Phase 4: Luteal/Qi Phase
This phase begins after ovulation and continues until your next period. In this phase, the follicle (which housed the egg that was just released) becomes a gland called the corpus luteum (let’s just appreciate that for a second – your body produces a whole new gland every month?! Amazing.). The corpus luteum is a secretory gland which produces progesterone, in order to support a possible pregnancy. Progesterone is a very yang hormone, so it raises our basal body temperature slightly.

At the beginning of this phase, you may still feel quite robust and energetic, but as oestrogen drops away you may not feel quite as energetic, happy or outgoing. It’s ok to go inward in this phase and focus on calm reflection and ‘being’ as opposed to ‘doing’. As hormones decrease before your next period (if conception hasn’t occurred) you may start to feel a bit flat and unmotivated, or even irritable and depressed depending on how balanced or imbalanced your hormones are. As you near the end of your luteal phase I recommend slowing down and blocking out some time so you can really nurture yourself. Maybe a quiet weekend at home sounds good to you, or meeting a friend for a walk instead of the HIIT class you usually do together. Whatever you choose, make sure it with aligns with how you’re feeling as opposed to what you feel you “should” be doing.


So do you now see how our cycling bodies really do have different requirements at each stage of the month? I hope this gives you the permission to really honour your moods and the signals your body is trying to send to you. I hope this post allows you to start moving through your cycles in a much more gentle way, in order to support both your physical and mental health. It really is a gamechanger.