This is the first of a series of blog posts focused on cycle tracking. I am so grateful you’ve made your way to this page!
In this article, I will cover the very basics of what cycle tracking is and how it can be used to reclaim your health, power, and freedom! I will also share the problems with the mainstream reproductive freedom movement, and how you can rewrite the storyline to benefit yourself and others. Let’s get into it!
Cycle tracking is one of many terms used to describe the act of tracking the monthly female cycle. Some refer to this as natural family planning (NFP) or the fertility awareness method (FAM), but they all revolve around the same concept of tracking ovulation and menstruation.
Before continuing on, I want to encourage you to step outside of the mindset that cycle tracking, NFP, or FAM revolve solely around the outcome of getting pregnant. As you’ll soon learn, these methods are arguably the best thing any female can do for her health, and can even be a great resource for men to understand the female cycle to achieve ultimate reproductive independence within their partnership.
I’m going to start by addressing the elephant in the room surrounding women’s health—reproductive freedom! For some, what I have to say may challenge you. In fact, I hope it does. I WANT you to start asking questions about what we’ve been told is the truth versus what is actually the truth.
(For the sake of clarity, this post is not intended to address the circumstances where women have had to rely on pharmaceuticals due to horrific acts perpetrated against them.)
When you think of reproductive freedom, what image comes to mind? In our society, we are taught from a young age that reproductive freedom means going on hormonal birth control, having access to Plan B, and being able to get an abortion for any unwanted pregnancy. When we think “reproductive freedom” more often than not we have images of women’s marches and political protests and angry banners saying “bans off our bodies!” and "My body, my choice!" running through our minds.
Does any of this sound like freedom to you? True, real, authentic, sovereign, empowered freedom? Really think about this.
Freedom, by definition, means independence, liberation, and self-governance. Freedom is having the power to be as one wants without hindrance. Freedom is the absence of subjection to a controlling entity.
So, I ask again, does being at the whim of government policy and the pharmaceutical industry sound like freedom? Because it is not. Being disconnected from your divine beautiful cyclical body is not freedom. The world we live in preaches that we cannot be free unless we have access to Group 1 carcinogens aka hormonal birth control. This “freedom” is pushed on us at a young age. This “freedom” puts us at risk for severe illness and even death. This “freedom” removes us from our sovereignty. It disempowers us by taking away our connection to our bodies and our cycles. It disempowers us by reducing our personal responsibility in our decisions and actions. And when we are disempowered, we are not free.
Quite simply, what the reproductive freedom movement boils down to is choice.
My body my choice.
Choice is a human right.
These catchy phrases are, in fact, absolute truth. You can and should always have the power to choose what goes on with your body. In terms of reproductive health, cycle tracking gives you optimal choice. When you have the knowledge of your ovulatory cycle, you have full power to choose. Choose when or if to have penetrative sex. Choose when or if you are ready for pregnancy. Choose personal responsibility for your sexual acts. With great power comes great responsibility. With choice comes responsibility. You see, personal responsibility is quite the act of freedom!
All of that, and more, is why cycle tracking is so vitally important. What I’ll be sharing is really intended to provide you with the knowledge, resources, and power to free yourself from the whims of the government, big pharma, and the allopathic healthcare system in general, especially when it comes to your reproductive health. When you make the commitment to fully understand your menstrual cycle, you are making a commitment to claiming your personal power.
With the undoing of Roe v. Wade, we have entered a time where we have been given this amazing opportunity to really tap into our bodies, our innate wisdom, and our natural cycles. We are being gifted this opportunity to take FULL control over our bodies—if we want to get pregnant, when we want to get pregnant, what to do to not get pregnant, how to regulate our cycles and reduce PMS naturally, etc.—all without the hands of literally anyone else. This is an opportunity to reclaim our reproductive health as sovereign beings.
The most important, and possibly most impactful, thing about freedom and sovereignty is that in choosing to be free and sovereign, you are choosing to take full responsibility for your health and your life. No one else is responsible for it but you. This is a beautifully empowering decision! You hold the power to know that YOU are in charge of your life. No one else can control it or take away from it unless you allow them to. And when you choose to be sovereign and free, you are removing any power that was being held over you by another and you are releasing any thoughts or beliefs of victimhood or dependency. You are the creator of your life. You are the director, producer, and leading actor. No one else. That is pure freedom.
"...in choosing to be free and sovereign, you are choosing to take full responsibility for your health and your life."
We have experienced government-issued changes to our health freedoms on so many different occasions during our lifetime, and especially during the past three years. When you choose to be free and sovereign and to denounce any power one may hold over you, you begin to notice that you cannot easily be bothered by the ever-changing policies of our country. You begin to live in less fear. And with fear removed, you can begin to tap into your innate truth and medicine. In starting this process, the truth becomes clear: no government decision can hold any effect over you because you are a sovereign being. You know that no matter what happens, you are at peace within yourself.
Cycle tracking puts you on this path to sovereignty and self-empowerment. It gives you all the tools you need to know your body, to know your cycle, and to make informed and responsible decisions for your sexual and reproductive choices.
There are many reasons why you may want to learn cycle tracking—body sovereignty is just one of those reasons.
If you are afraid of losing access to forms of contraception you have relied on, this information is for you.
If you want to come off hormonal contraception, this information is for you.
If you want to avoid unwanted pregnancy, this information is for you.
If you want to get pregnant, this information is for you.
If you simply want to understand your monthly cycle, this information is for you.
If you experience PMS or other hormonal symptoms and want to resolve them, this information is for you.
If you are a male who wants to better understand the females in your life, this information is for you.
If you are sexually active, this information is for you.
If you want to become sexually active, this information is for you.
If you have a daughter, this information is for you.
This information is something that can easily be shared with your family, friends, and community to help them take the power into their own hands just like you are!
The female menstrual cycle is often considered the “fifth vital sign”—in fact, there’s a great book titled just that, The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, and you should definitely read it (you can purchase it here)!
Perhaps the biggest misconception around cycle tracking is that it revolves around menstruation. Your menstruation is only a piece of the puzzle. The real star in cycle tracking is your ovulation! Knowing your ovulatory cycle gives you the information to make responsible and knowledgeable decisions in your sex life. And no, a period tracking app cannot tell you when you are ovulating. But your body can! (Don't worry, I will cover three ways you can track your ovulation in a separate post.)
Your ovulatory cycle not only tells you when your fertile window is each month, but it also provides a window into health issues or symptoms you may be experiencing. As you begin to understand your cycle and the hormone changes that come with it, you can begin to link together certain symptoms with certain phases of your cycle. Acne, bloating, pain, headaches, migraines, digestive issues, mood changes, energy changes, respiratory issues, insomnia, and anything else, can all be related to your cycle. Knowing your cycle gives you clues as to what may be off-balance within your body or tell you what areas of your life you may need to change. There is an abundance of information that can be gathered about your health from the simple task of tracking your cycle. And as the saying goes, “knowledge is power”. This is a big step toward freedom and sovereignty!
Now let’s take a quick look at the dark side of the modern reproductive freedom movement, the one I described at the beginning of this post with women’s marches and the dependence on government policies and pharmaceutical industries being touted as "freedom". What's most important to know is that there are a lot of people, entities, and institutions out there who do not want you to know this information I am sharing now.
Why? Follow the money. Meaning, if it does not bring in money, they want nothing to do with it. Big Pharma, politicians, and allopathic healthcare institutes prefer for you to be reliant on them because it brings them a continuous and growing profit. Even popular clinics claiming to support reproductive freedom and access to reproductive healthcare (I won’t name names, but we all know the Margaret Sanger organization I’m referring to) do not want you to know this information. In fact, they actively reject cycle tracking, FAM, and NFP as an effective forms of birth control. I know this because I used to volunteer for this organization and went through their training.
In actuality, when cycle tracking is done correctly and consistently, it is 98-99% effective at preventing pregnancy. This is more effective than most birth control options on the market! Why would organizations and people who claim to be proud to support reproductive freedom not want to teach their patients this incredibly useful tool? The simple answer: because it is free. And not only is it free, is has zero side effects! Once you take your reproductive health into your own hands, you no longer need these institutions. And when you become self-empowered, they lose a paying customer*. This is the unfortunate reality we live in, but remember, we are always presented with the opportunity and choice to change this! Hence, cycle tracking ;)
Now that you have this understanding of cycle tracking and reproductive freedom, how are you feeling? Are you amped up? Ready to take full control over your health? Ready to embrace the divine free being that you are?
I hope so!
*To be clear, I do not believe that doctors are corrupt or in it for selfish financial gains. This is an institutional issue, not an individual issue. So, when I speak against our current medical system, know that it is not a direct attack on the individuals who work in it.
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