In these days of global warming, climate change, endangered species, and other demonstrations of how human life can impact the natural environment, it's more important than ever to remember that human beings co-exist in a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. Just as our actions can affect the rhythms of nature, those same rhythms and cycles can affect us, too. One of the ways we see this in the body is the way in which our hormonal cycles are affected by the cycles of the moon.
Let's begin by reviewing some of your high school health classes. Every month when a woman's menstrual cycle starts, her estrogen levels rise for the first two weeks or so, then begin to decrease around day 12 or 13. Then ovulation occurs, and her progesterone level begins to rise and peaks about day 21. If the woman becomes pregnant, her progesterone continues to climb throughout the pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs after about three to five days, then progesterone levels begin to decrease, and the next menses begins around day 28 or so. This cycle goes on--with estrogen being dominant the first two weeks of the cycle and progesterone dominant the second two weeks--for three to four decades of a woman's life.
When the perimenopause shift occurs, the pituitary gland begins to say, "Enough of this!" and slowly starts to turn down the volume of these hormones. It can happen in any number of ways, all perfectly natural, until the hormonal levels drop to the point that the cycle no longer produces menstruation. The cycle is still happening; the hormone levels are just not high enough to create a lining of the uterus that needs to be shed each month.
In the same natural, mysterious way that the tides of the ocean align with the cycles of the moon, our bodies tend to do best when menstruation occurs with the new moon phase and ovulation occurs with the full moon phase. (Men, you have a hormonal cycle that corresponds with the lunar cycle too, but it shows up differently. I'll be writing about that in a later newsletter.) When we get out of sync with the lunar cycle, issues arise: irritability, mood swings, cramping, and menopausal issues like hot flashes, etc. When the body cycles with the moon phases, the symptoms seem to lessen or disappear completely.
I was working with a group of women years ago who were all within a ten-year age range and approaching menopause. The workplace had been chaotic, with many disagreements and personality conflicts, and I had been asked to work with them as a group to see if I could help them transition through menopause more easily. It seemed obvious to me that something was going on with the group dynamics, and after taking a complete medical history of each person (there were eight women in all), I discovered they were all menstruating at the same time.This is a common phenomenon with women who work closely together or who live together, and most often the women's cycles will either follow the lunar cycle or that of the most dominant female. If the dominant female is out of sync with the lunar cycle, no one seems to get along; if their cycles line up with the moon, peace abounds.
So, we set to work to bring this group of inharmonious individuals back into alignment with the moon and with each other. After six months, almost all of their individual symptoms had resolved and, much to my surprise, they all reported getting along with each other most of the time--no one had a personality change, they all just seemed to no longer get on each other's nerves. One woman stated that her boss used to say the same thing to her every morning and it would set her off--she would work the whole rest of the day with an attitude. Now, her boss could come in and say the same phrase, but it no long affected her in that negative way.
Magic? Not really, although for these co-workers it probably seemed like it. It's just hormonal physiology: When your body is saying "I'm making progesterone now" but the external physiological 'pull' is telling your body it's time to make estrogen, there's a conflict and nothing feels right.
So how do we give the body the appropriate messages at the right time? By using the precursors of the hormones. This very gently provides the body the building blocks it takes to make what it needs. For example, flax seed oil is very close in chemical structure to estrogen. By taking a couple of tablespoons of flax oil a day during the estrogen phase, the body can produce these hormones much more easily than trying to build them out of, say, chicken fat. If there is a concern about estrogen dominance, use the freshly ground flax seed (two tablespoons a day). This still provides you with the precursors for building good estrogen and helps the liver to detoxify toxic estrogens via the colon.Evening primrose oil is close in molecular structure to progesterone. By taking 1200-1800 mg a day during the progesterone phase, the body can easily convert these precursors to needed progesterone.
These substances do not force the body to produce more hormones, they simply provide the body with an extremely simple way to do what it already knows to do. There are herbs that help give the body these messages also; however I rarely need to use them as they tend to act more like medicine rather than as gentle reminders.
In order to gradually bring the body into alignment with the lunar cycle, I like to allow it to follow its current rhythm in the beginning. If you are not currently menstruating to the lunar cycle, follow you body's cycle first. Start by taking two tablespoons of flax seed oil or freshly ground flax seed every day, beginning the first day of your period through day 14. Then, on day 15, switch to evening primrose oil (EPO), 1200-1800 mg a day until your next cycle starts.
Often this simple addition will solve any menstrual issues you may be having. I have even seen hormones begin to shift and begin to line up with the lunar cycle after a few months on this program. If this doesn't happen, simply continue taking each oil for two additional days: take flax day 1-16, then continue EPO for two days past when the next period starts. Usually, after six to nine months you are lined up with the lunar cycle.
If you have stopped having obvious menstrual cycles, then simply start with the timing of the lunar cycle: Take flax oil/seeds from new to full moon, and EPO from full to new moon. If you have any questions, see the lunar chart on our website.
Blessings, and happy cycling!!
