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Womanly Ways
A General Look at Female Bodily Rhythms and How to Balance Them

WARNING: This is not to be considered medical advice. Please do your own research, especially when it comes to matters of your own body.


On average, The Menstrual Cycle usually lasts ~28 days, but can vary anywhere from 20 to 35 days. It is comprised of two smaller cycles that overlap with one another:

1. The Ovarian Cycle, which takes place inside of the ovaries and has three phases...

Stage of Cycle Length Description
Phase 1:
The Follicular Phase
 approx. 7-10 days long The ovaries contain follicular cells. Each follicular cell contains an immature egg or oocyte. The follicular cells grow and mature during this phase.
Phase 2:
The Ovulation Phase
 usually lasts 3-5 days, the "fertile window" This is when a single follicular cell ruptures and releases a mature egg, a secondary oocyte, that is capable of being fertilized. If two are released simultaneously, then twins are possible.
Phase 3:
The Luteal Phase
 approx. 14 days long If the secondary oocyte is not fertilized, it is transformed into a corpus luteum cell. It will degenerate over time within the fallopian tube that connects the ovaries to the uterus.

2. The Uterine Cycle, which takes place inside of the uterus and also has three phases...

Stage of Cycle Length Description
Phase 1:
Menstruation, or Menses
 approx. 3-7 days long This is the phase that everyone is familiar with. It is when the endometrium, or uterine lining, starts to shed. It begins the first day of full bleeding. On average, about 25-80 milliliters of blood is lost. For reference, a fully soaked regular tampon/pad holds ~5 milliliters.
Phase 2:
The Proliferative Phase
 During this phase, a new layer of the endometrium grows.
Phase 3:
The Secretive Phase
 This corresponds with The Luteal Phase of The Ovarian Cycle above. The endometrium takes on a form that makes it more receptive for a fertilized egg to become implanted within it.

Here is a visual summary:

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Hormones naturally fluctuate during different phases of The Menstrual Cycle, triggering one phase after another, controlling the length and quality of them. Here is another visual summary of their overall pattern:

Photo Credit: Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy (8th Edition)

Likewise, the texture, color, and quantity of one's menstrual blood helps give an idea of their hormonal balance. To give a brief summary:

Texture and Color of Menstrual Blood
Possible Meaning
(with examples of risk factors in parentheses)
mashed up blueberries
 excess estrogen, related to symptoms of PMS
prune juice
 low progesterone, related to symptoms of Perimenopause (perhaps trouble with infertility)
thinned out strawberry jam
 low estrogen, related to symptoms of Menopause (perhaps fatigue, a risk for bone fracture)
cranberry juice
 relatively balanced hormones

Diet has a significant impact on whether or not one's hormones start going out of wack. For example, one can eat different types of foods to replenish what is lost throughout each of these phases to help them stay balanced and minimize the negative effects described in the above table. Knowing when to have each type of food requires an understanding of one's personal state. There are some signals that can give a hint. For example, there might be an increase in vaginal discharge and a change in its consistency as The Ovulation Phase approaches. It is likely that the phases of The Menstrual Cycle as a whole will become more distinct, balancing out over time as habits are changed.

Diet includes not only what we choose to ingest, but also what we choose to remove and/or replace:

• Highly-processed foods, refined sugar (stereotypical "junk food")
• Meat from animals that are treated with hormones or heavily grain-fed
• Alcohol and caffeine (including soda and coffee)

Another thing to watch out for are endocrine disruptors (also sometimes known as "Xenoestrogens"). These are less of a dietary issue and have more to do with avoiding plastic food containers and cutlery. They often contain chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol S (BPS), and Phthalates that mess with hormone production. The same is true for many cosmetics, toiletries, and household cleaners. Environmental Working Group (EWG) has lists of examples. In general, society seems to be awash in various industrial chemicals that we need to clean up.

There is a connection between hormone levels and sleep, particularly in women. Let's explore it...

The Sleep/Wake Cycle is how long we are asleep and awake within a 24-hour period. It is regulated by two different, but overlapping, processes:

1. Process S (The Homeostatic Sleep Drive)

The longer that we are awake, the more that our bodies need sleep. This is due to the accumulation of a chemical within the cells called Adenosine.

Caffeine actually messes with Adenosine levels. This is part of the reason why it is better to avoid it all together, or at least lessen its use later in the day (a minimum of six hours before we plan to sleep).

Likewise, we should not do strenuous physical activity or have large/heavy meals within three hours before attempting to sleep.

2. Process C (The Circadian Rhythm)

Light exposure delays the onset of sleep, while darkness promotes the release of Melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that is produced by the Pineal gland in response to our environment. Its purpose is not to induce sleep, but to help determine when our sleep takes place in relation to daylight and nightfall.

If using an external source of Melatonin, we should only take a small dose (~0.3 - 5 mg) three to four hours before we want to start getting drowsy. It actually has a negative impact on sleep quality in doses higher than 5 mg and when used frequently.

Ideally, in order to balance out Process C, we would get:

• Cool light first thing in the morning for at least 30 minutes (e.g.: sunlight or full spectrum lighting)
• Warm, low-intensity light in the evening hours leading up to bedtime (e.g.: dim incandescent bulbs and red phone filters)
• Sleeping in complete darkness (e.g.: blackout curtains), with slightly cooler temperatures (~68 degrees Fahrenheit) and as much silence as possible.

In combination with a healthy diet, this will help bring Process S into alignment as well. Notice how they can reinforce one another. Consistently good sleep habits allow for better sleep in the future.

One might wonder how The Menstrual Cycle and The Sleep/Wake Cycle interact with one another more directly, if at all. I think it is possible that the prevalence of light pollution in modern society, among other factors, has decoupled these cycles from one another to the point where the link between them is no longer apparent. To quote an interesting conversation on pg. 344 of Dr. Wright's Book of Nutritional Therapy (1979):
"In your particular case, I want to tell you about a discovery attributed to Dr. John Rock, one of the developers of the birth-control pill. Dr. Rock had worked at a fertility clinic, for women who couldn't get pregnant. He had many patients who had very irregular menstrual cycles. Through observation, thinking about the problem, and trial and error, he came to the conclusion that for some women, proper exposure to light would regularize their cycles, with nothing else needed."

"What do you mean, proper exposure?"

"It seems that some civilized lighting patterns are different enough from the natural state that our ancestors were exposed to for millions of years, that it makes a crucial difference for some women. I want to emphasize some; like many other influences on health, people have wide degrees of sensitivity.

But to get back to particulars: Before you try mineral supplementation, I'd like you to get the smallest light bulb you can find -- 15- or 25-watt is fine -- and turn it on in your bedroom overnight on the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth nights after the first day of your next menstrual period, whenever that is. It needn't be right next to wherever you are sleeping -- just somewhere in the room. It doesn't have to shine right in your eyes, either. Do that every month for the next three or four."

"That'll work when I'm asleep, eyes closed?"

"It doesn't work for everyone, but I've asked many women to try it, when no other physical abnormality can be found. It works for 40 to 50 percent, at least in those I've been able to keep track of. It certainly can't hurt."
Whatever the case may be, there is no question that the quality of our sleep affects the quality of our life. Sleep itself can generally be broken down into four stages:

Stage of Cycle Approximate Duration
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (N1)
1-7 minutes
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (N2)
10-25 minutes
Non-Rapid Eye Movement (N3)
20-40 minutes
Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
10-60 minutes

On average, a full pass through these stages takes about 90 minutes, and a person will make four to six of them within a single night. The sleep, and the corresponding rejuvenating qualities of it, tend to increase in the later stages (i.e.: N3 and REM).

Photo Credit: How to Get More Deep Sleep by Drs. Elizabeth Rausch-Phung and Abhinav Singh

This is why naps between 30-60 minutes tend to lead to grogginess. Ideally, they would be either short enough to avoid entering N3 (~20 minutes) or long enough to complete a full cycle (~90 minutes).

While it might seem like cannabis, alcohol, and various "sleep aids" make people drowsy, many of them actually inhibit our ability to reach the deeper stages of sleep. Deep sleep is important for memory consolidation, healing, emotional resilience, and literally lowers the risk of disease and death.

Another thing to consider in relation to hormone levels is the human stress response. It is probably obvious how stress can lead to things like insomnia or depression. There are many techniques for de-stressing, some of them that can be done rapidly within a moment of stress (e.g.: Quick Coherence), while others may take some time to implement as a daily habit (e.g.: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction). Some are related to sleep specifically, like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBT-i).

Now, how are all of these aspects tied together biologically?

There are two organ systems by which all other organ systems are directed, The Nervous System and The Endocrine System. The former sends electrical signals through the nerves, while the latter sends hormones from the glands into the bloodstream.

They converge within the Hypothalamic-Pituitary Complex. In turn, this Hypothalamic-Pituitary Complex interfaces with various other glands that control the different cycles that we've talked about:

• The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis - regulates menstrual cycle
• The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Thyroid (HPT) axis - regulates metabolism and energy
• The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis - regulates stress response

We will visualize these four interlocking aspects in the following way:


Can you think of how all of these things overlap within your own life?