A regulated cycle, to a disregulated cycle, and back again
How working for 1 month strait totally flipped and drastically effected my regular cycle, and finding my way back to balance
Moon phases, grey-scale; hand drawn by Madeleine Carere
What is known as the menstrual cycle is often viewed as “a thing to deal with”, casting it off as not so important, and more of an experience to get out of the way.
From my own experience of consciously learning, tracking, and living with my cycle for about 10 years, my beliefs are with that it is much much more than that. Our cycle is our baseline, if we chose to connect with it. This is the story of my own cycle.
Going from a very regular and regulated cycle that arrived at the full moon every month, to disregulated, totally different within 1 month due to overworking, and how I brought it back to a new rhythm through self care, rest, and conscious attention!
A regulated cycle
For many years since I began working with my body out of conscious desire and choice, I have been getting my time of the month, or as I prefer to call it, my moon time, exactly on, or right close to, the full moon every month. Each cycle, from the first day of my period, to the next cycles first day of my period, was either, again, exactly 30 days, or right around 30 days long. This is ideal, for my own personal cycle.
This is regulated, a rhythmic cycle. This I can expect to be the same, I can predict it for the next cycle ahead, and use it to schedule my life around. Even the other 3 phases outside of menstruation, are exact, or right close to the same number of days each cycle; menstruation itself, also being the same number of days. In essence, this is amazing! A baseline I can count on, return to, and use as my barometer for if I am on the right track, or if I am out of line, if I have deviated from my own bodies “path”.
Old teeter-totter close to Owl Walk, in Slocan, BC.
Just like this teeter-totter being flat and balanced on both sides, this was my cycle. Not too far on one side, and not too far on the other. A happy medium, where either side was essentially, balanced!
Life goals, dreams, and visions
Spring time 2025, I got clear with myself that a new vehicle was in order.
Id been driving my first vehicle for about 6 years. It was a 1997 Toyota Camry LE. This car had served me so well. It had driven to the Gatineau Hills of Quebec numerous times, into the West Kootenays where my son was born in the mountains of BC, twice, and back to Ontario also twice. Not to mention spontaneous ventures to various places. For a vehicle almost as old as me, I had cared for it very well, and it showed. (Similar to my cycle! ) Come the merry month of May, myself and some close pals planned to head up to Algonquin Park closer to the end of the month, to take our kids on their first ever true back-country canoe camping trip!
1 week before we were to leave, my car began making strange sounds I had never heard. I got it into the mechanic. 2 main parts on the vehicle that had held up for its whole life, finally were worn down. It would still drive, was still safe, yet would be noisier, and a bit bumpier… it would cost me $2000.00 + to fix, getting close to the price I bought it for. This felt like a verification from universe to stay on my path of getting a different vehicle, vs repairing this one.
The goal was to save up for a different vehicle!
I signed myself up for 4 weeks of work in a row in July, and 2 other weeks in August, with a few days with my other job also in August. (both jobs are with outdoor programs). Summer work was available, a great opportunity to make some bank. Yet I knew very well, that working even 1 full week of work, was quite a lot, too much, in fact, for my system. Ever since becoming a mother almost 10 years ago, working full time just wasn’t an option. It was far too depleting. To balance work, with caring for my son, my house, and myself, full time work would literally eat me alive. I knew this. Yet I made the choice to work all of July… and deep down, I knew this would have its own natural consequence, beyond making some bank for a new vehicle…
Disregulation
July came, and I worked week #1 of 4:
It went well, I did it, and, at this point I was feeling pretty good. A lot of that likely had to do that I was around ovulation at that time too! On my chart that I use to track my cycle, I tracked and wrote down that the Friday before week #1, I even kayaked with my son from Eden Mills to Watson road on the Eramosa River. That was about a 2 hour paddle, the first time I ever took Lou down that stretch of river in kayaks. The Monday of the first week, I even biked to work and back home. That ride is a 1 hour long ride one way, on trails, and rugged dirt paths…! Things were feeling pretty good!
Week #2 of 4, Looking back at my notes on my chart, I wrote down: "feeling exhausted, want to rest more” at the start of the week, and “over riding systems needs, exhausted, pushing self too much, take time for rest and self care” by the end of the week… I was slowing down for a lot of reasons…
I knew that my moontime was to arrive around the full moon of July.
Yet the full moon came, happening on Thursday July 10th, within work week #2, and my moontime did not arrive.
This made fine sense to me! Why would it? I had been pushing, pushing, pushing. Showing up for work, while wanting to have fun outside of work too, not getting enough rest, enough downtime, enough calories. My system was stressed out. Normally I make a conscious choice to nap and eat very well before my time of the month. Yet this month, things were different. So the fact that my moontime was “late”, did actually add up for me. Now I was just stressed out about when it would come…,
It would arrive about 1 week later. 5 days after the July full moon. I thought to miss work to prioritize rest and self care, yet I did not. That part of me that “wanted to work” and “wanted to save money”, “made me do it”…. or did I just make me do it? It was me the whole way. I chose it all. I was the adult responsible for my choices, and my womb, my system, was not so into it…
Evergreens in the darkening evening of winter amidst the clouds on the mountain in BC. Perhaps this was the vibe my womb and body were feeling…
Week #3 of 4:
It wasn’t just me feeling it anymore, it was also other staff, and the kids we were working with… summer time vibes were getting a bit hot and wirey… On my chart I wrote down that I had a headache on 2 different days, under ate one day, and was feeling run down.
Week #4 of 4, I showed up and did my job, we pulled it off, yet my inner world was feeling very much like that teeter-totter tipping to one side, and no longer being balanced on both sides… I was having a harder time being on top of making enough food for each meal each day, the house was becoming quite messy, down time felt too short or non existent… mental and emotional stress was heightened.
Putting it all together
My once 30 day regular cycle, was now 36 days long, as well as unpredictable… If my cycle is so much longer, when will I ovulate? When will I bleed next? When will I need to rest? The “ground under my feet” was gone. My baseline, was non existent. There was no rhythm to rely on, to schedule my life around. This alone, created alot of stress. When could I get my consistent cycle back? How long would it take? There were 2 other weeks of work spaced out in August. By the end of July, I told myself that it would take me perhaps about 1 month, to undo what I had done. Perhaps if it took 1 month to change it, If I was really conscious and intentional about it, I could get things back within 1 month… time would only tell.
August was a different pace. I worked 1 full week, and then took care to really slow down. To rest, to buy well sourced quality food (I am a big food oriented person, being part French, and Italian), to eat well, mitigate stress, and create time to be alone, and to be outside in natural areas. These are some of my personal self care tools. The mother in me, knows what I need to care for me, most of the time. It was like a doctors protocol, and I wanted to follow it, I wanted to follow it even more than I would want to follow a doctors directions. This was very real and very serious for me. Within me, I had a lot of fire, and determination, to return to that balanced teeter-totter, and I knew I could do it. I trusted my body, I knew what it had been doing, what it has done, and felt strongly about what It could do. Similar to a plant, if I care for my system properly, providing the correct sunlight, water, nutrients, etc, I could grow a healthy plant. Being a plant lover, working with my body to come back into alignment with myself, felt like a plant that I deeply wanted to care for.
And back again!
By August 19th, I finally got my time the month, 10 days after the August full moon. The new moon of August was on the 22, making my blood arriving now, much more in line with the new moon, VS the full moon. This cycle had been 31 days long!
It felt very odd, different, and new for me to get my moon time with the new moon, after having my cycle aligned with bleeding with the full moon, and ovulating with the new moon for many months and years…
Yet, I really had no complaints! The fact that I was able to get my cycle regulated back to a 30ish day long cycle in about a months time, was a massive achievement for me! It also felt super cool that I was at least in alignment with the moon phases at all! That I now was bleeding with the new moon. I was grateful for that other-wordly, astrologic alignment! Things felt good again!
The waning moon, February 2024, on the mountain in BC.
Its a different world having my cycle do a full on flip with the moon phases. I haven’t lived with this in this way ever, until now. Its a “whole new world” ! I can use the moon and my cycle to organize and schedule my life again! Its now the month of October, Saturday the 11th, as I write this. The October Hunters Full Moon was on Monday the 6th. I expect my moon time to arrive in 1-2 weeks, along with the October New moon, anticipating a cycle that is again, about 30 days long, yet I will have to wait and see! Life is feeling pretty balanced. Stress levels have been low, the darkening of light in the Fall season is supportive to my getting to bed nice and early. This past week I made a point to cook a bunch of seasonal food while I had good energy levels. Bone broth, buffalo meat, carrot ginger soup, and a pumpkin spice cake! You could say the spirit of the season made me do it! We’ve been eating and resting well this week. To the point that I felt energized, and inspired, to finally create this write up about my cycle!
My intention with this write up is for folks to perhaps get a window into the world of what it can be like to work with your body, by working with, following, tracking, your self and your cycle. That it is like a road map to living well. the medical realm has in the last few years finally named the presence of ones time the month, as a 6th vital sign. This life-way is such a huge part of my daily life. This works for me, and so I do it, and I do it, because it works. This is why I am sharing this work, this life-way, because I am doing it in real time, and im not about to stop!
Please feel welcome to leave a comment, or send an email if your interested in weaving the art of working with your cycle into your life!
Or check out the Cyclic Arts page if you’d like to learn more.
Moon phase, hand painted by: Madeleine Carere