Rebecca Rankin (00:01):
Stories teachings and guidance. Welcome to the Women's Moon Wisdom Podcast with your host, Rebecca Rankin.
Rebecca Rankin (00:18):
Welcome back to the Women's Moon Wisdom podcast with me, your host, Rebecca Rankin. Have you ever gone back and looked at your school pictures from, uh, those early teen years. Your pre-pubescent years? Oh my. I did the other day. I just want to hug my 13 year old self and say this too will change. Oh my gosh. I was such an awkward teen. Oh, I, I feel for her. Oh, I do. And not only my awkward teenage years were in the early nineties, which at the time of this recording, I think some of that fashion is back in fashion, but I can assure you that my prepubescent self felt anything other than fashionable. I just remember feeling so uncomfortable in my skin. I remember just being easily irritable and moody and it also didn't help that I was a late bloomer.
Rebecca Rankin (01:29):
I didn't even start my period until my sophomore year of high school. I recall being so embarrassed by that. I remember I would lie and pretend that I had my period just like my friends and complain about it just like they did even though I had no idea what it even felt like just to feel like I was just like them. Oh, those years were so rough. And I mean, as you look back, you remember those physical changes as well as the emotional and mental changes too. And the thing about reaching puberty is that you are, at least were somewhat educated on what to expect. And although I do feel that we can do a way better job in this area, for the most part, girls are educated on what to expect with their period, how to prepare for it and how to kind of manage symptoms to an extent.
Rebecca Rankin (02:30):
Well, I do feel that there could be way more done to celebrate and honor, or even just do a better job to inform girls of seeing their whole cycle and the mindset shifts that occurs, the hormones ebb and flow. All in all, girls know that one day they're gonna start to bleed on a monthly basis. And somewhere along the way, you learn that eventually you will no longer have a period. And that is called menopause. But not many of us have been educated on what actually happens between those two big milestones in a woman's life. We aren't really educated on what's happening in those years, many, many moons that happen between the two. Think of it this way, just as your body slowly transitions towards puberty to menarche. In those awkward teen years, your body slowly transitions towards menopause. And let's just hope, oh, I hope that this transition is at least less awkward and more graceful.
Rebecca Rankin (03:39):
Oh, please let it be Before I go any further, let's just define a few vocabulary words. If you will. I greatly appreciated having a little bit more clarity around the term menopause. So menopause is actually a very specific timeframe. So it occurs when you don't have a period for 12 consecutive months. So 12 consecutive months without a period that is menopause. So let's say if you don't have your period for three months, and then it comes back, no, you are not in menopause. So menopause is once again, when you haven't had a period in 12 consecutive months. Now perimenopause is a woman's body maturing towards menopause. So perimenopause is the years leading, transitioning your body towards menopause. You can think of it. It's like the equivalent to the years and the transition in a girl's life leading up to puberty into having a cycle, a period. In the same way as the years leading up to menopause is called perimenopause.
Rebecca Rankin (04:50):
So, once again, there are some missing pieces that we just aren't really told, we aren't really educated on. I think it is fascinating. Wow, this is great knowledge to know. So perimenopause can begin as early as your mid thirties. And it's actually just when first your progesterone and then estrogen that is produced by your ovaries starts to decrease. So as your levels of progesterone and estrogen start to fluctuate, as they start to shift and fluctuate and become a little bit more inconsistent, you can only imagine that how you feel mentally, emotionally, and physically are also going to be affected too. So for me, there's kind of like a, a light bulb moment of these years and the thirties, and in your forties that when you start to feel like, "why am I feeling a little bit out of whack, A little bit off? "
Rebecca Rankin (05:54):
Oh, it's because your body is going through this transition. And just as each girl had shared experiences with others in transitioning into her period, they certainly weren't the same as every other girl. Right? Like your experience when you first had a period, although it was probably similar to your friends, it probably wasn't exactly the same. And we didn't expect it to be. We need to also remember that as we enter into perimenopause, we each are going to experience it at different rates, but also know that we, we all go through this natural transition. And the best thing that we can do for ourselves is acknowledge and understand that this transition to perimenopause is happening over the course of years and to take the pressure off of ourselves for feeling a little bit off. All right. So you may be asking, "so what's an action step to make this transition less awkward and uncomfortable, and maybe a bit more graceful" That is charting and tracking your cycle.
Rebecca Rankin (07:04):
So if you're not doing this already, lean into it. Now you can do this in several different ways. There are plenty of apps that you can get on your mobile device that will help you track your cycle. Some of them are more interactive than others. Some of them will let you edit the details about how you slept, how you feel, your exercise and some are, are mostly just going to show you where you are in your cycle. So you can have that type of feedback. Now, if you're a journaler, why is that ? Is that a word journaler? If you're a journaler like myself, or how about this? If you are one who likes to and enjoys writing in a journal, I highly recommend creating a cycle journal where you track each day of your cycle and then jot down different variables like moods, sleep patterns, movement, water intake, et cetera.
Rebecca Rankin (07:58):
And it can be done in just a few words. You don't have to feel like you have to write a long expression of your day. This way, over the course of many moons - You like that? Many moons? Ha! You can actually begin to recognize the cyclical patterns. For example, let's say you see that around day 25 of your cycle, so that's your inner waning moon or your luteal phase, you start to see this pattern that you notice that you're always feeling a bit exhausted or irritable. You can then start to stay ahead of the game and make sure that you block time out to take some extra steps for self care, like making sure that you have time for a bath or making room in your schedule for a relaxing yoga practice. The habit tracker routine has been so valuable for me.
Rebecca Rankin (08:50):
When I can recognize the cyclical patterns and my energy levels and my mood above all, I give myself some grace. And yeah, maybe perimenopause is still going to be a little bit of an awkward transition for me. Or maybe I'm just a bit awkward in general and riding this transition with grace. Well, that's all I have for you today. Just something to think about. Give yourself grace. This next transition, this transition of perimenopause towards menopause,when we reach it in our mid thirties and it takes us to menopause, think of it as just another transition that's natural in life. And with anything, as our body shifts and changes give yourself some grace. Recognize the cyclical patterns in your habits and your moods and your energy. Mostly though, give yourself some grace. All right. Thank you so much for tuning in and I will talk to you next time.
New Speaker (09:51):
cyclical living and cycle syncing
