Shownotes
Is your monthly period a time of angst and frustration or are you at peace and ease with your menstrual cycle? Join myself and Stasha as we discuss the trials, tribulations and opportunities that are inherent within every woman (and sometimes within men) as they navigate their monthly cycles.
With Stasha Washburn - Stasha is The Period Coach. Founder of Period Coaching School, international speaker, author of The Revolution Will Be Bloody, Bloody Brilliant Business, and Enter the Red Circle. A Certified Holistic Health Coach, and 25+ years of research have fueled her passion to reconnect women to the power in their period. Stasha is leading the bloody revolution to end the taboo of menstruation world wide. No longer whispers in bathrooms, she’s leading powerful public discussions. - Stasha's Website - @stashawashburn on Instagram - Stasha's Facebook page - Stasha on YouTube
And your host -
Eleanor Marker - Therapist and life coach - eleanormarker.com
Transcripts
Welcome to the Aprica Podcast, because a little advice goes a long way.
Speaker A:Welcome to the Aprica Podcast, your piece of weekly life advice to pick up and try out through the week.
Speaker A:And today we're joining the bloody revolution and talking about periods and when I was writing the notes for today's show, I realized just how many words and terms we have for menstruation.
Speaker A:It's like we just can't say it.
Speaker A:And some of them are really fun and really creative.
Speaker A:I remember a stage at school where we all called it Shark Week.
Speaker A:Are you on Shark Week?
Speaker A:But my mum, who's kind of old school, she would call it the curse.
Speaker A:So she'd be like, have you got the curse?
Speaker A:And I think it's really interesting how our terminology changes based on maybe how we perceive them.
Speaker A:And I think it actually makes a.
Speaker A:Makes a kind of difference how we talk about it.
Speaker A:Anyway, so we really struggle to say what it is, which is both fun and a bit dispiriting.
Speaker A:Anyway, today we're going to bring it all out into the open.
Speaker A:And to do that, I'm joined by Stasha Washburn.
Speaker A:Welcome to the show, Stasha.
Speaker A:It's really lovely to have you on with us.
Speaker B:I'm absolutely delighted to be here.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:So, periods.
Speaker A:Let's go straight in.
Speaker A:I, I, let's just dive in, Right.
Speaker A:It might, it might be messy, but we're gonna go for it.
Speaker A:Right, so, so let's talk about that feeling that some people have and quite a lot of women actually have through their life, that they're kind of battling it, like, every month.
Speaker A:They're a bit like, oh, no.
Speaker A:Rolling their eyes.
Speaker A:Like, even my daughter, who I brought up to be very empowered about it, even she's like, yeah, but it's not actually intrinsically fun, is it?
Speaker A:It's not like an inherently fun thing to have happen to you.
Speaker B:And she kind of.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But actually, I've always kind of quite enjoyed them.
Speaker A:And I know it sounds kind of weird, but I've actually, I find them quite a grounding experience.
Speaker A:And as I get towards the menopause, they get fewer and further between.
Speaker A:And it's a bit like an old friend coming and visiting.
Speaker A:I'm like, oh, hello again.
Speaker A:Oh, hello.
Speaker A:And actually, I think they used to call it like your aunt visiting or something.
Speaker A:They used to be a really old phrase.
Speaker A:Anyway, I'm meandering.
Speaker A:Stasia, talk to us about periods.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So, first of all, I want to say I have endometriosis.
Speaker B:So if anybody understands the misery of A period that feels.
Speaker B:Feels like it is actually literally trying to kill you from the inside out.
Speaker B:That would be me.
Speaker B:That's how I ended up doing this work, right?
Speaker B:I. I had the worst, most painful periods.
Speaker B:I think the only reason I'm alive is because I couldn't hold anything down.
Speaker B:I was throwing up for days in a row, and so I couldn't hold the bottle of pain pills down to do anything about it.
Speaker B:So I'm grateful that I am still here and alive, but I wouldn't be if I had had my choice about it in those really painful years.
Speaker B:And then as I really dove into how do we fix this?
Speaker B:How do we reduce this pain?
Speaker B:Like, what really is a menstrual cycle?
Speaker B:Like, it's not just a period and not.
Speaker B:There's actually something happening every single day.
Speaker B:So all this stuff I learned, and I was like, oh, gosh, I didn't know there was a follicular phase.
Speaker B:I mean, I knew about ovulation, but I didn't really know what it was or what it did or what was going on.
Speaker B:I didn't know about the luteal phase at all.
Speaker B:I didn't realize that actually I split the luteal phase in two because there's two different hormone shifts in there, and you can feel it.
Speaker B:So it's just like all this stuff that I had no idea that existed.
Speaker B:And then I started learning more about food and nutrition, and I put it all together and kind of created my own food and flow system, and it reduced my pain dramatically.
Speaker B:So that helped a lot.
Speaker B:But then I also realized, great, now I have to fix this relationship, right?
Speaker B:I hate my period.
Speaker B:I hate my body.
Speaker B:This is a very, you know, and really, I kind of realized one day that I could never really love myself fully if I still hated this part of me that was every single day an influence on my movement, on my vocabulary, on my word skills, on any everything.
Speaker B:So I realized, okay, I really have to repair this relationship.
Speaker B:And it's been a lot of.
Speaker B:Lot of work.
Speaker B:I won't say it was an easy path.
Speaker B:It probably took longer to do than to really finally, once I was on the right path of getting the pain to go down.
Speaker B:So I understand how hard it is to flip that script.
Speaker B:But then because of that, I couldn't hold on a job, right?
Speaker B:No one wants somebody who's throwing up three days in their bathroom.
Speaker B:So like, a year was basically my limit.
Speaker B:So I had to start working for myself if I was going to really ever get anywhere.
Speaker B:So I realized, okay, well, I don't have four weeks.
Speaker B:I'm disabled.
Speaker B:Like, I have to just.
Speaker B:I know while the they don't acknowledge it as a disability, I have to acknowledge it as a disability for myself.
Speaker B:So how am I going to run a business with this disability where I'm not in that incredible pain, but I can't get up, I can't function?
Speaker B:Like, I have to just be in bed and relax.
Speaker B:So it's like, how can I do this where I have basically two really good weeks, One and then one that I don't exist.
Speaker B:So that's when I started going more into the cycle.
Speaker B:Okay, well, this particular hormone, really estrogen, really boosts your verbal skills.
Speaker B:So why don't I do my copy editing, my video recording, my social media lives and make sure all those things are in that phase when I know my estrogen is going to be higher.
Speaker B:And then progesterone really boosts your visual skills.
Speaker B:So why don't I make my visuals, why don't I do my website visuals, the flow editing the canva graphics, that kind of stuff when my progesterone is high, right?
Speaker B:So I just started switching what I was doing when in my business, and it really helped.
Speaker B:And then a lot of my clients were women with problem periods.
Speaker B:A lot of them had their own businesses or they were CEOs or somebody who was really in control of their calendars.
Speaker B:So I was like, would you like to start trying this thing I'm doing?
Speaker B:It's really helpful.
Speaker B:And they did.
Speaker B:And it was incredible to see businesses transform, marriages get saved.
Speaker B:All sorts of crazy things happen down the line from just balancing our hormones and then our businesses.
Speaker B:And then it turned into like, we can do both of these at the same time.
Speaker B:In fact, balancing your business helps balance your hormones.
Speaker B:Balancing your hormones helps balance your business.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, my God, this is crazy.
Speaker B:So I just went down this path and it was just.
Speaker B:That's when I started going.
Speaker B:There is power in this cycle.
Speaker B:We just don't know it.
Speaker B:Because of the taboo, because of, you know, repression for women, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:And you know what, back in the day, we used to red tent.
Speaker B:We would leave, we would go as a community.
Speaker B:I'm gonna assume.
Speaker B:We took a bag of cookies, a thermos of tea, and left the village and just said, hey, don't burn the place down while we're gone.
Speaker B:We'll be back in three to five business days.
Speaker B:And we prob.
Speaker B:Probably just went and partied for a couple of days, right?
Speaker B:A tent, had a good Time, steamed, saunaed, you know, hot springs, whatever that local custom was.
Speaker B:But when you look at it, every country or area of the world had some kind of menstrual ritual.
Speaker B:It almost always involved going to the hot springs, going, creating a sweat lodge, whatever it was, and just kind of kicking back and relaxing for those days.
Speaker B:So it was really interesting for me to see, like, man, once upon a time, getting your period actually was a great thing.
Speaker B:So then I started thinking, like, how can I do that?
Speaker B:Like, what can I bring into having my period?
Speaker B:So now I save up shows to binge watch.
Speaker B:I put the red sheets on the bed, I make myself the fancy tea, you know, like, I just started doing these things to be like, okay, well, how am I going to enjoy this?
Speaker B:Even though I'm bedridden or I'm going to be in horrific pain?
Speaker B:So I was like, how am I going to turn this into.
Speaker B:So I just turn it into a beautiful little nesting experience.
Speaker B:And it really helped flip that script.
Speaker B:Working with it really flipped that script.
Speaker B:It was just like, bit by bit, I started to switch my mentality and started to see it as less of a pain in the butt and more of a boost, a way of working with it and using it to my advantage.
Speaker A:I think that that is really key, that flipping of the narrative.
Speaker A:And I know that for me, I. I never really had any issues with my period, so I didn't have pmt.
Speaker A:I didn't really particularly have cramps, not massively.
Speaker A:I never.
Speaker A:So I was really almost blissfully unaware of it, apart from for about three days of the month when, you know, it just got a bit messy.
Speaker A:And then I moved on and I didn't really, like, I never really got into it until my daughter started entering puberty.
Speaker A:And then, of course, as is so often the case as a mother, you end up becoming weirdly fascinated by it purely because your daughter is kind of going through it.
Speaker A:And there was nothing like becoming a mother of a daughter to make me aware of me as a woman.
Speaker A:Anyway, so I bought her a book and it talked about.
Speaker A:This was.
Speaker A:Oh, this was more than 10 years ago.
Speaker A:And it talked about the luteal phase.
Speaker A:Never heard of that.
Speaker A:It talked about ovulation, which I knew of.
Speaker A:Tiny, tiny amount from when I was conceiving.
Speaker A:And then I downloaded an app called Stardust, which I think is still going.
Speaker A:And I loved it.
Speaker A:It would send you a little message, kind of go, today you're probably going to want to eat ice cream.
Speaker A:Or like, today you're going to kill People and I thought, this is genius.
Speaker A:I love this.
Speaker A:I didn't even know we had those kind of days.
Speaker A:So let me ask you my question then.
Speaker A:Do we all have the same kind of general cycle?
Speaker A:So do we all have a luteal phase?
Speaker A:And is it generally the same for all of us?
Speaker A:You know, how it makes us feel.
Speaker B:And things like that?
Speaker A:Generally.
Speaker B:Generally, yes.
Speaker B:One of my favorite things in period coaching school is when someone finds out where they are the anomaly, because then they've gotten to know their cycle so well that they can see where their little outlying moment is.
Speaker B:I always am.
Speaker B:I like, yes, we're there, we're in, we're good.
Speaker B:But generally, yes, we talk about, like, in period coaching school, which is where I certify people to be coaches around menstruation, we really dive into what each phase is, what the hormones are in each phase, what it feels like, and then how to support it in all sorts of different ways.
Speaker B:So by and large, yes, everyone goes, so you have your period, most people feel more tired, a little more down, a little more introverted, a little more just like snuggle cozy.
Speaker A:That's like ice cream and Netflix time.
Speaker B:Yes, exactly.
Speaker B:And I.
Speaker B:And that's fairly universal.
Speaker B:There are people who are, you know, perfectly fine, can run a marathon, and.
Speaker B:And I am not one of them, but they do exist.
Speaker B:I've seen pictures.
Speaker A:When I was younger, when I was 14, they brought out this advert for body form, which was a sanitary towel.
Speaker A:And there was very famously, it was a girl in white hot pants roller skating on a pier.
Speaker A:And it was like, well, that's all well and good, but who wants to do that?
Speaker B:I know we always had the, like, white horse wearing white on the beach.
Speaker B:And I was like, but I don't want to do that.
Speaker B:I want to just binge watch a good cult show and eat chips.
Speaker B:But yeah, so by and large, most people want to just kind of come and relax and.
Speaker B:And that's fin.
Speaker B:And follicular.
Speaker B:Most people feel good.
Speaker B:So when you come out of the menstrual phase, most people feel good.
Speaker B:Your estrogen's rising, some other key hormones are rising.
Speaker B:So generally, most people start to feel more extroverted.
Speaker B:Even me, one of the most introverted people in the world, gets to follicular and goes, you know what?
Speaker B:I could tolerate some people right now.
Speaker A:Do people in small amounts for 10 days, people.
Speaker B:So it's.
Speaker B:You get a little bit more extroverted, a little bit more out there in the world, a little more verbose, because those Verbal skills rise in follicular, and so most people feel that way.
Speaker B:I actually don't see a lot of outliers where follicular is not a generally good feeling time.
Speaker B:Ovulation, which is that peak time.
Speaker B:I do find that can be real hit and miss for people, especially if you have any kind of neurodiversity.
Speaker B:ADHD symptoms skyrocket for people in ovulation, it just depends on what's going on.
Speaker B:But for some people, ovulation gets to be real scatterbrained, harder to, to think or whatever.
Speaker B:But for more neurotypical people, it's usually the.
Speaker B:When they feel their absolute best, absolute peak.
Speaker A:Is that for about three days, something like that?
Speaker B:It is, yeah.
Speaker B:It's pretty short, but you've got that nice ramp up and then your luteal phase has an echo for it.
Speaker B:So it's not too bad.
Speaker B:But it is the peak of your testosterone and it's the peak of your estrogen, which both really make you feel confident and, and really good.
Speaker B:And I like, I can T world.
Speaker B:It is also when we make the big ticket item purchases in ovulation.
Speaker B:Just throwing that out there, especially for business owners.
Speaker B:I see that a lot in my business clients.
Speaker B:It's, it's when they go like, oh yeah, I'm gonna do the two thousand dollar software.
Speaker B:And we're like, but do you need the two thousand dollars software?
Speaker B:Hold on, hold on.
Speaker A:Where are you in your cycle?
Speaker A:I see.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Because you really are like, no, no, we're gonna, it's gonna be amazing.
Speaker B:In no time this is gonna take off and we really get like ahead of ourselves in ovulation sometimes.
Speaker B:So it's fun to see.
Speaker B:But it's also like, hold on, maybe wait a week and think about it.
Speaker B:But then, yeah, when you go into that luteal phase, there's a dip in those hormones, which is where people often feel really crappy for just a day or two because your estrogen really dives down, your testosterone dives down.
Speaker B:You have this little brief moment of like recalibration, but then the estrogen goes back up.
Speaker B:So you get a bit of a second wind.
Speaker B:It's not as high as ovulation, but it does rise a bit again in that luteal phase, ideally.
Speaker B:And that's where you feel like, oh, okay, no, we're all right, we're good.
Speaker B:And this is what most people.
Speaker B:The longest part of the luteal phase for most of us is your progesterone rises, which I call the Cheech and Chong hormone.
Speaker B:It is very much like mellow chill.
Speaker B:No man, it's good.
Speaker B:We all good.
Speaker B:It's like a, a very chill hormone.
Speaker B:It helps you sleep, it does help your vision skills, those kinds of things.
Speaker B:So it is got a lot of benefits.
Speaker B:And it counterbalances the estrogen.
Speaker B:So if you're in balance, you should feel pretty good through this phase and then into that deep luteal phase when your progesterone is on the decline, your estrogen is on the decline.
Speaker B:Once it declines enough, you'll get your period.
Speaker B:But it's usually 3 to 4 ish days of decline before you get your period.
Speaker B:And that's where if you have a hormonal imbalance, it's going to show up as pms.
Speaker B:Pmdd, something to that effect.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:You'll get mood swings, bloating, sore breasts, those.
Speaker B:There's 200 plus symptoms technically, so it can be that.
Speaker B:But if you have really bad ones, like anxiety so bad you can't leave the house, suicidal ideation, that's pmdd.
Speaker B:It's a much more dramatic version of PMS in a way is the simple way to explain it.
Speaker B:So if you have a hormonal imbalance or something is going wrong, it peaks up.
Speaker B:But you're in good company.
Speaker B:90% of people have a hormonal imbalance and it shows up as pms.
Speaker B:So it's one of those things I'd love to see change.
Speaker B:It's very easy to fix, actually.
Speaker B:A little pms, a little mood swing, a little bloating, those kinds of things actually very easy to fix and improve.
Speaker B:But for the people that are on the extremes, it's a little harder, but also doable, as I am a living example of.
Speaker A:So you mentioned there about during that PMS stage.
Speaker A:This is like when you know that things are going wrong, if you see what I mean.
Speaker A:Are there any other things to look out for through your cycle that might indicate that things are not running smoothly or that you might need to get things checked out or maybe things aren't balanced or whatever it is?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:One of the most important things is ovulation.
Speaker B:And I, I'm a bit on a mission to get women or anyone who ovulates to track their ovulation properly, because ovulation has to occur for you to make progesterone.
Speaker B:So I'm going to describe this just briefly.
Speaker B:But you have your ovary and inside your ovary you have hundreds, thousands of little follicles that have eggs.
Speaker B:At the end of each one every month, you have 10 to 15 that ripen in that follicular phase.
Speaker B:And then in ovulation, your body picks the best quality egg.
Speaker B:The rest die, but that one explodes out of the ovary and in the vacuum of space that it leaves you turn into a new organ called the corpus luteum.
Speaker B:This little tiny organ becomes the most highly vascularized organ in your whole body for its brief 2ish week life.
Speaker B:And it just pumps out progesterone.
Speaker B:So if you don't ovulate, you don't make progesterone.
Speaker B:Now progesterone gives you things like helping to mood stabilize, helps you sleep, helps you feel better, helps you feel more relaxed, reduces anxiety.
Speaker B:It is an anti inflammatory, it helps you just feel better.
Speaker B:It also helps boost your hair, skin, nails, eyes, all those things, right?
Speaker B:So when we're like, oh gosh, I feel really lackluster.
Speaker B:Well, have you actually been ovulating?
Speaker B:Because you might not be ovulating, so you're not getting progesterone in the long run.
Speaker B:Progesterone is what helps you build bone density for older age.
Speaker B:So if you're not ovulating now, you're not building that bone density to carry you into your 70s, 80s, 90s.
Speaker B:Heart disease, heart issues.
Speaker B:The number one killer of women progesterone is cardiovascular protecting.
Speaker B:So if we're not getting our progesterone, we're not protecting our cardiovascular again for those later years, postmenopausal years, dementia, 70 to 80% women are affected by dementia, Alzheimer's, those kinds of issues.
Speaker B:Progesterone protects your brain health.
Speaker B:So all of these things that skew against us, right, we are higher average, you know, for mental issues down the line, right?
Speaker B:All those kinds of things.
Speaker B:Osteoporosis, we need progesterone.
Speaker B:But when we're on birth control, hormonal birth control, we're almost all, most forms of it.
Speaker B:You don't ovulate, pcos, you're not ovulating as much.
Speaker B:Other issues can reduce ovulation, stress, illness, the flu, even like a flu shot can interrupt your ovulation for that month.
Speaker B:That's fine.
Speaker B:That's what your body is supposed to do.
Speaker B:It's supposed to shut down reproduction to take care of your just staying alive, right?
Speaker B:So you get the flu, your body is busy working on keeping you alive and then you'll come back next month and ovulate just fine.
Speaker B:But when we're, you know, really stressed out chronically, when we have other issues, we're not ovulating.
Speaker B:So I really would Love to see people ovulating and tracking their ovulation and not just going by signs like cervical mucus or how they feel, but tracking it with basal body temperature.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:I was gonna ask, but how do you know if you're ovulating?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So you can.
Speaker B:And when you're younger, in your fertile years and you don't have any problems, you can absolutely do like I have got the cervical mucus.
Speaker B:It's, it's egg whitey, it's stretchy, there's tons of it.
Speaker B:You know, it's, you can do that.
Speaker B:I feel like I have a higher libido.
Speaker B:I feel more energy.
Speaker B:I feel like I could go all day.
Speaker B:I worked 16 hours and I'm still got energy to work out.
Speaker B:Like you can go off of that.
Speaker B:But if you have any kind of issues.
Speaker B:If you're in your late 30s, you really need basal body temperature to confirm ovulation because progesterone rises your body temperature by about one degree.
Speaker B:So you usually will either see a jump or maybe a couple days where it climbs.
Speaker B:And then right before you get period, you'll either see a drop or you'll see a couple day decline, just depending on your how your body works.
Speaker B:Like I usually have a couple day decline and I go, oh, I've declined for two days.
Speaker B:I'm probably going to get my period in a day or two.
Speaker B:It's great.
Speaker B:Heads up, I know it's coming.
Speaker B:So other people go, oh, I just drop and then I get my period the next day.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So when you start to know that you actually can go, I'm going to get my period in a day or two or I'm going to get my period today.
Speaker B:You know, you really can know how your body works, but you really need that basal body temperature to, okay, I have a corpus luteum, it's pumping out progesterone and my, my temperature is higher so I had to have ovulated.
Speaker A:So that's taking your temperature first thing in the morning.
Speaker B:Yeah, there's a couple ways to do it.
Speaker B:The cheap way is to just get a digital thermometer that measures 2.00, so like two decimal points after.
Speaker B:And then you just, you have to get up at the same time, take your temperature before you so much as sit up in bed and then come back later.
Speaker B:Click it on and see what it says and write it down, track it so you don't have to do that first thing in the morning, especially on weekends.
Speaker B:But you still have to get up the same time.
Speaker B:You also have to have five hours of sleep, which is tough for moms with young kids.
Speaker B:So that's one way to do it, which is what I did for a long time.
Speaker B:But now there's a thing called temp drop.
Speaker B:It's a wearable thermomet, goes around your arm.
Speaker B:I have a discount code if anyone wants it.
Speaker B:Get 15% off.
Speaker B:It can help.
Speaker B:It's really great when they have a sale, but you can wear it.
Speaker B:You need three hours of sleep.
Speaker B:You can get up whenever time you want.
Speaker B:And it just takes your temperature throughout the night.
Speaker B:And then it gives you your average.
Speaker B:It takes maybe a month or so to learn your body, but then it can really accurately go.
Speaker B:Yep, you ovulated.
Speaker B:And it will tell you.
Speaker A:So you just wear it at night.
Speaker A:You just wear that one at night?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's just an arm band.
Speaker B:You slide on at night and then in the morning you sync it to your phone and it tracks it.
Speaker A:So making sure that you're ovulating and just sort of understanding what your cycle is and the different phases, and recognizing that most of us have similar kind of phases, but just recognizing whatever anomalies you might have.
Speaker A:And to do that, you need to understand what the default is, track it against the default, and then find the differences.
Speaker A:Okay, so before I ask you about your sort of key advice for making peace with it, which.
Speaker A:Which sounds so negative, but like becoming friends with it, then let's.
Speaker A:Let's call it that.
Speaker A:I'd like to pause the podcast for a moment to thank you for listening.
Speaker A:I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker A:So please send me a comment under this podcast or on our Instagram channel, Aprica Podcast, like subscribe, download and share with family and friends.
Speaker A:And thank you for taking the time to listen to the show.
Speaker A:What about people that no longer have periods, what you were describing there, with progesterone and estrogen, it's clear that they're wonderful, right?
Speaker A:We get used to them for sort of 40 years or something and then suddenly they're gone.
Speaker A:So do people who have gone through the menopause so not having periods anymore, do they still have a cycle or is it just completely gone now?
Speaker B:Yeah, so fantastic question.
Speaker B:Turns out you do not default to dude.
Speaker B:In the end, you do not end up having a 24 hour androgen cycle like a guy does.
Speaker B:You still have estrogen.
Speaker B:It's produced by the adrenals instead of the ovaries.
Speaker B:But you do still have estrogen.
Speaker B:And I'm really actually a big fan of taking progesterone as a hormone therapy even long after.
Speaker B:I mean, and I know women in their 70s who went, you know what, I'm doing it and started taking progesterone.
Speaker A:Do you mean hrt?
Speaker A:So hormone replacement therapy, which is estrogen and progesterone.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Well, that's the thing.
Speaker B:HRT is kind of a, it's what they used to call it, but since it's so inaccurate because you're not replacing your hormones in the same way, you're doing what works for you at this new life stage.
Speaker B:So like you're not going to take an ebb and flow of estrogen twice through the month, you're not going to.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So it depends on you and what works for you and that kind of thing.
Speaker B:Like I'm not going to take estrogen because endometriosis is an estrogen fueled disease that continues after man and after menopause.
Speaker B:It's like I'm not going to supplement with estrogen, but I am taking progesterone as I've started skipping ovulation and I'm having 34, 36 day cycles.
Speaker B:So I'm taking progesterone.
Speaker B:So it depends on the person and what they want to do.
Speaker B:So currently the terminology we're using is just hormone therapy so that it can be what it works.
Speaker B:And I know some women that are taking testosterone as part of their hormone therapy postmenopausally.
Speaker B:So it really depends on what's going on for you and then finding the right combination that works for you.
Speaker B:But yeah, postmenopausally, even if you take nothing, you're still not a guy, you still don't default to dude and you still have an estrogen flow.
Speaker B:So that's where I, I personally think, and I wrote about this in the Revolution Will be Bloody.
Speaker B:I call periods training wheels for wise women.
Speaker B:I truly think that postmenopausally we are the example of living cyclically, living with the moon cycle, living with that monthly cycle, living with the seasonal cycles, living with the yearly cycles even when you don't have a period.
Speaker B:And kind of like showing the children and the men folk that yes, in fact you can live in harmony with the natural cycles even without a period.
Speaker B:And pre industrial revolution, we all pretty much would have gotten our period during the new moon.
Speaker B:We all pretty much would have ovulated with the full moon.
Speaker B:So it would have been much easier back then because you're already living kind of as a community with those moon cycles.
Speaker B:But even so, I still encourage postmenopausal women to sleep with the moon.
Speaker B:So really sleep in a pitch black room, except for around the full moon.
Speaker B:Open up the curtains or put a little light lamp in your room, like a little rock salt lamp or something, just to give you a little diffused lightning during those few days around the full moon so that you're still keeping your body in that cyclical moon cycle.
Speaker B:And I love doing that with people who have periods who maybe have irregular cycles or are struggling with ovulation or those kinds of things.
Speaker B:I've seen it help.
Speaker B:I've seen it bring really crazy erratic cycles into more rhythm.
Speaker B:I've seen people actually start ovulating more regularly.
Speaker B:And it seems like such a really weird thing.
Speaker B:I was like, no, there's no way.
Speaker B:But you know what?
Speaker B:There's no side effects.
Speaker B:So when I had clients with kind of weird ovulation or irregular cycles or stuff, I was like, well, what's the worst that can happen?
Speaker B:Nothing.
Speaker B:So let's try it.
Speaker B:And then to see it work.
Speaker B:I was just.
Speaker B:The skeptic in me was shocked.
Speaker A:It is weird, isn't it?
Speaker A:I remember when I worked in a mental health unit in the UK and at time of the full moon we'd bring more staff in and lunatic, obviously from Luna.
Speaker A:I mean, it is a really weird thing how linked we are to the moon.
Speaker A:And as you were talking there about seasons and I've noticed that as I've started going through the menopause, I've started foraging, I've started like really paying attention to the seasons without meaning to.
Speaker A:It's almost like subconsciously I'm wanting to keep something cyclical going.
Speaker A:It's really interesting.
Speaker A:Okay, so you mentioned about rituals and having sort of a nice ritual for when your period is.
Speaker A:Is.
Speaker A:Is with you.
Speaker A:So what other sort of key advice would you give people who want to just kind of form a friendship with their cycle?
Speaker A:You know, kind of like make.
Speaker A:Make friends with it and peace with it.
Speaker B:I like to fall back on the wise words from Parks and Recs.
Speaker B:Treat yourself.
Speaker B:It's a great time to treat yourself.
Speaker B:What is it that you.
Speaker B:And this is where like I got red sheets, red throw blankets.
Speaker B:I have beautiful teas that I pull out during this time that are medicinal for myself, but also the things I really enjoy and that kind of thing that I get the good chocolate out.
Speaker B:During this time, I try not to snack, but during this time all snacks are on the table at any time there.
Speaker B:It's just all rules to the wind.
Speaker B:During this phase.
Speaker B:There's a lot of things you can do.
Speaker B:Wear Red dresses, wear red jewelry, light a red candle.
Speaker B:You can do all sorts of different things.
Speaker B:You don't necessarily have to go with red.
Speaker B:It's just a way of kind of shifting how that color even has been criminalized.
Speaker B:And you know, it's either February for love, for Valentine's Day, or it's anger.
Speaker B:That is the only two options that red has in our world.
Speaker B:It's either romantic, commercialized love or being mad and angry and that's it.
Speaker B:So I kind of think of it as a way of really even just embracing the color and bringing it back to our ourselves and making it something else.
Speaker B:But bringing yourself home flowers, I like to binge watch.
Speaker B:So I keep, you know, I have the certain shows that I'm like, I don't watch those all month so that I can come back and just binge, you know, a couple, four weeks in a row.
Speaker B:So whatever it is that you really like, you know, movie marathon, that kind of thing.
Speaker B:But if you're feeling good, it's a great time to get together with the girls, have a, you know, have a tea afternoon, you know, go out and do a tea or something, but have fun with it.
Speaker B:Whatever it is that you like, that you enjoy, that feels good in that phase.
Speaker B:Like, I love to hike, I'm not going out to hike.
Speaker B:That's not, that's not what this phase loves for me.
Speaker B:So whatever it is, but really just giving yourself the opportunity and the indulgence, the luxury, really just getting out of that, like everyone comes before me mindset and put yourself first and what do you want?
Speaker B:What makes you happy?
Speaker B:What brings you joy and celebration?
Speaker B:What makes you feel like you're celebrating?
Speaker B:Get the fancy cake, get the cupcakes, whatever it is, but go do that thing that you really enjoy.
Speaker B:I'm a gluten free girl and I get chicken wontons that are gluten free and I keep them in my freezer and they only come out when I am in my period days.
Speaker B:So they're my little treat snack during the day.
Speaker B:They're expensive, but they're my once a month treat to myself on like day one or day two, you know.
Speaker B:So whatever it is for you that you really love and enjoy, you really like, bring it in, put a reminder, you know, if you know when you're getting your period, you know, maybe your period's on your calendar.
Speaker B:Maybe a week before that you put a little reminder, stock up on period treats so that it becomes a habit.
Speaker B:And then you have that in there, or you know, I have A self care app I use.
Speaker B:So I have a reminder on there that's, you know, like, get the red sheets out, make sure they're clean, whatever it is.
Speaker B:So just have a little fun with it and make it something that you prioritize because you're worth it, you deserve it.
Speaker B:You deserve better than you probably even would allow yourself.
Speaker B:But as you get better at it, you'll have more fun.
Speaker A:And what about those, those other two kind of key stages of the, of the cycle?
Speaker A:So you mentioned during ovulation, maybe have your curtains open or have a rock crystal lamp or something.
Speaker A:What about during the follicular stage?
Speaker A:I hope I said that right.
Speaker A:And the luteal phase, like, are there any key bits of advice you'd give for those two phases?
Speaker B:Yeah, follicular is a great time to try new things.
Speaker B:So if there's like a group class at the gym that you've been a little hesitant, sign up for it in follicular.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like if you've not you.
Speaker B:I kind of want to do that Zumba, but I just haven't.
Speaker B:You know, this is a good time to do it.
Speaker B:You're less self conscious, you can have more fun.
Speaker B:It's easier to do things.
Speaker B:So it's a great time to try something new.
Speaker B:So try something new in follicular or go out, you know, make that, do that first live on Instagram or you know, make that big bold move in follicular is a good time to do it.
Speaker B:I love doing Instagram lives with friends.
Speaker B:In my follicular phase, I'll often be like, hey, you want to jump on an IG live this week.
Speaker B:So do something fun, do something a little bold, try something new.
Speaker B:Definitely get outside.
Speaker B:It's your spring phase.
Speaker B:So menstruals, winter follicular would be spring.
Speaker B:So you know, what's growth?
Speaker B:What, what would feel like growing a little bit for you?
Speaker B:You know, if there's a class or an activity or something, you want to do that.
Speaker B:Just some personal development, personal growth.
Speaker B:That's also a really good time for that kind of thing.
Speaker B:Ovulation would be summer.
Speaker B:Luteal would be your late summer into autumn, and then you're back to winter for menstrual.
Speaker B:So when you're going through that luteal phase, you also want to kind of think like, well, late summer is you're gathering the harvest, you're canning, you're jarring, you're making the preserves.
Speaker B:So what are those?
Speaker B:Kind of homesteady.
Speaker B:Funny enough, there was a study done.
Speaker B:We spend more on Those last minute impulse buys, like throw pillows in luteal, candles in luteal.
Speaker B:So, you know, that's.
Speaker B:We clearly have that kind of nesting desire in that phase, so why not embrace it?
Speaker B:Don't like knock down the cabinets because you're gonna remodel the kitchen.
Speaker B:Because that impulse will come up in luteal for sure.
Speaker B:But you're not going to actually want to do the work in luteal.
Speaker B:Maybe make the plans though, maybe go, oh, you know what?
Speaker B:I do want to remodel the kitchen and this has been bothering me.
Speaker B:So let's actually put a plan on how to do it and then wait until you're out the other end before you actually start taking action.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:But, you know, what are those things that you can tie up the loose ends with?
Speaker B:My business clients, I'm always like, in this first half of the luteal phase, finish things, finish the video series, get things tidied and wrapped up so that you have that, that week, week and a half of deep luteal and menstrual to just really relax.
Speaker B:All you have to do is be present, answer some emails, maybe hop on social media and answer some comments.
Speaker B:But you really don't have to do any heavy lifting if you're working with your flow.
Speaker B:So for, you know, household stuff, for work stuff, you can really tie up loose ends, get things ready, neat, tidy batch, cook, that kind of thing so that you're really prepared to, as you get into that deep luteal, really just deeply take care of yourself, relax, kick back.
Speaker B:It's autumn, you know, you just want to cozy up with a blanket and a hot cup of cocoa and that is really what you should be doing.
Speaker B:And then menstrual, same kind of feeling where it's just winter and, you know, so you can really just read a good book, put the puzzle together, binge, watch the shows, whatever it is.
Speaker B:But you kind of want to think of luteal.
Speaker B:That early phase is like, okay, let's wrap stuff up.
Speaker B:What can I finish off?
Speaker B:What projects can I finish and put in a done pile so that you can enjoy and relax?
Speaker A:Perfect.
Speaker A:And very lastly, what is the one line or sentence or one thing that you would like all women to know and maybe that you think all women should pass on to their daughters when they think about their periods and their cycle?
Speaker B:Chart your whole cycle.
Speaker B:If I could go into every single house and give everyone a chart and teach them how to use it, I created a mandala.
Speaker B:It is free to use forever.
Speaker B:Like that's how Much I believe in this.
Speaker B:You can never give me a single dime and use this for your whole life.
Speaker B:And I would be thrilled, frankly.
Speaker B:But it tracks mood, energy, cervical mucus, menstrual blood, digestion, moon cycles, basal body temperature, the whole nine yards.
Speaker B:But when you do that, you see on one sheet of paper your whole cycle, you see your energy ebb and flow.
Speaker B:You see your mood shifts.
Speaker B:You see how what you ate the day before affects your mood and energy the next day.
Speaker B:You see how your digestion shifts.
Speaker B:You see how those couple of days before your period may be worse or better, depending on what you were eating, right?
Speaker B:So you see how everything interacts in your body.
Speaker B:Then you can make an educated choice.
Speaker B:Oh, I would love to have a glass of wine.
Speaker B:Let's schedule that for next week when I'm in follicular, and it won't affect me, and I'll have a great next day.
Speaker B:Oh, gosh, that party's gonna be three days before my period.
Speaker B:You know what I'm gonna say?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I'm gonna just relax.
Speaker B:I'm just gonna RSVP no right out of the gate.
Speaker B:Like, you can make your life so much easier by just knowing how you feel and re.
Speaker B:And how things interact for you.
Speaker B:So if I could just one thing.
Speaker B:Chart, please.
Speaker B:Chart.
Speaker A:And that chart is on your website.
Speaker A:Is it Stasha?
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:It's on the periodcoach.com website.
Speaker A:And all of Stasher's links and socials and all of that are in the show notes.
Speaker A:So for anyone who would like to check her out, find out more about it, get in touch, and track their period with a.
Speaker A:Was it a mandala, you said?
Speaker B:Yeah, it's a little color, so you can just color it in.
Speaker B:And, you know, you get to pick the colors that you like and work for you.
Speaker B:And I have a lot of moms who do it with their daughters.
Speaker B:And so, like, for example, there's a heart on it.
Speaker B:That's to track your libido, or if you're trying to conceive or not to conceive.
Speaker B:You know, if you're using a barrier method or not, those kinds of things.
Speaker B:But, like, for the kids, the moms were just having them do, like, an act of kindness in that space.
Speaker B:So their hearts just meant whether they did an act of kindness that day or not.
Speaker B:So you can change what it means so that it works for you.
Speaker B:Like, I don't track my cervix.
Speaker B:I'm not worried about getting pregnant, but I track my meditation in there instead so you can adjust it to make it yours, you can adjust it to use for your kids.
Speaker B:And the moms have all said that their girls knew their periods, their first periods were coming because they started seeing their energy ebb and flow with each month and they knew about a year out that they were going to be getting their periods soon.
Speaker B:And they could see it get more and more and increase and they were fully prepared, they'd have the talks, they knew it was coming, it was obvious.
Speaker B:So, I mean, who doesn't want a heads up on that with their kids too, right?
Speaker B:So anyway, I've just seen things I didn't even realize would come out of it.
Speaker B:Come out of it.
Speaker B:So it is really one of the most functional things you can do to make your family unit easier and work together better.
Speaker B:You can say, hey, look, Hub, I've got a week before my period.
Speaker B:I need you to get all this together, right?
Speaker B:Like, you can really make it life so much easier for yourself when you know what's going on.
Speaker B:And then use it with the family.
Speaker B:Even better.
Speaker A:Yeah, I.
Speaker A:Using it with the family, I think is really key.
Speaker A:I have two children, I have a son and a daughter.
Speaker A:And my son probably knows more about my daughter's cycle than my daughter.
Speaker A:So he is really good.
Speaker A:He said, I think you're due on your period soon, aren't you?
Speaker A:He's really, I mean, for a sort of like, for a young boy, he's like really on it.
Speaker A:And I think that is also really important is.
Speaker A:Is kind of educating our men as well about our cycles.
Speaker A:Anyway, that's a whole different podcast, that one.
Speaker A:So, Stasha, thank you so much.
Speaker A:It's been really lovely having you on the podcast.
Speaker A:I am off to download my tracker and yeah, it was a really wonderful make.
Speaker A:I feel like I've made friends with my period just as I'm losing her.
Speaker A:But that's okay.
Speaker A:We'll let her go with love.
Speaker B:That's all right.
Speaker B:You can still honor her with the moon cycles.
Speaker A:I shall.
Speaker A:I shall go and do that.
Speaker A:I shall howl at the moon, as Taylor Swift said.
Speaker A:Thank you so much, Stash.
Speaker A:It was lovely having you on the podcast.
Speaker A:I love all the bloody stuff that you have in all your products.
Speaker B:I mean, why not?
Speaker A:Whoa, whoa.
