Estrogen dominance is a common situation where the body has too much estrogen circulating in the blood, causing symptoms like PMS and heavy bleeding - but also impacting more severe conditions like thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions and cancer.⁠

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In this post, I will explain three of the most common situations that lead to estrogen dominance.⁠

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Low Estrogen Leads to Estrogen Dominance

A common misconception about estrogen dominance is that it would be due to the body producing too much estrogen. This is very rarely the case. In fact, it is often the opposite that is true - people with estrogen dominance often produce too little estrogen.⁠

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Now, where's the logic in that?⁠

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Well, if we produce less estrogen than optimal, we will have difficulty ovulating. Counterintuitively, this will cause MORE estrogen stimulation throughout the cycle - since the pre-ovulatory phase where estrogen is the dominant hormone will become prolonged - and be longer than the luteal phase (the phase between ovulation and menstruation), where the estrogen-balancing hormone progesterone is dominant. In the end, this leads to a situation of estrogen dominance in the body, even if we in fact are producing too little estrogen.⁠

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This situation is common in people with irregular cycles (PCO), PCOS, and amenorrhea.⁠

Low Progesterone Leads to Estrogen Dominance

Estrogen and progesterone have a yin-and-yang kind of relationship - creating opposing effects throughout the body.⁠

For example:⁠

• Estrogen stimulates the immune system, while progesterone inhibits it.⁠

• Estrogen stimulates certain kinds of cell growth (for example in the breasts and endometrium - that's why unbalanced estrogen is a known cancerogenic, especially in these areas of the body), while progesterone inhibits it (progesterone has an anti-cancerogenic effect).⁠

• Estrogen inhibits thyroid hormone production, while progesterone stimulates it.⁠

...and so forth.⁠

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And in fact, a lot of situations of estrogen dominance is due to too low levels of progesterone. That is, estrogen dominance is usually an imbalance in the ratio between estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is dominating progesterone, so to say.⁠

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Possible root causes of low progesterone can be stress (both psychological stress, and substances that act as stressors - for example caffeine) or nutrient deficiencies - but also more complex issues like thyroid issues and inflammatory conditions.⁠

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Very often low progesterone goes hand in hand with low estrogen and problems with ovulation. If estrogen is low before ovulation, progesterone will likely be low after ovulation. That is since the follicle surrounding the egg in the ovary, which produces estrogen, also is the source of progesterone production after ovulation. If the follicle is poorly developed, it will both struggle with producing estrogen leading up to ovulation and producing progesterone after ovulation. The result? Estrogen dominance.⁠

Liver and Gut Issues Leads to Estrogen Dominance

But the production of hormones is not the whole answer to the question of estrogen dominance - there's also the component of our ability to break down estrogen and remove it from the body, known as estrogen metabolism. If we have a problem at this level, estrogen will keep on circulating in the blood even after its role is done, which will lead to symptoms of estrogen dominance.⁠

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When it's time for estrogen to leave the body, the liver picks up the estrogen from the blood and breaks it down. The broken-down hormone compounds (also called metabolites) are then transported to the gallbladder and secreted into the intestines with the bile. There, if things work as they should, they will be integrated with food waste and leave the body with faeces (also known as poop).⁠

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Several things can go wrong in this series of events. The first pitfall can appear in the liver. If the liver is overworked or not functioning properly, it will have a problem with breaking down estrogen. This can happen for example if the liver is occupied with breaking down alcohol, caffeine, or chemicals from smoking, industrial foods, cleaning products or beauty products. There are many ways in which we can support the liver - first of all by reducing the amount of substances and chemicals we situate ourselves to, secondly by supporting it with nutrition, specific herbs and foods.⁠

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The second common pitfall is in the gut. If the gut is not working properly, it will have a problem with removing the estrogen metabolites through the faeces. Instead, the estrogen pieces may be reassembled and reuptaken by the body! To support the detoxification of estrogen in the gut, one wants to look towards optimizing the bacterial flora and reducing inflammation.⁠

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In both these cases of metabolic pitfalls, estrogen will keep circulating in the blood for longer than optimal - creating a situation of estrogen dominance.⁠

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Have you learned something new from this post? Let me know in the comments!

Some days ago I wrote a post about elimination diets, and why they in some cases are a good road to healing.

If we are on such a diet, it is very helpful to have some strategies. Many of these strategies are helpful also for anyone who is trying to eat in a way that feels really good in their bodies, regardless if it's a specific diet or not.

Here are some strategies that I have found very supportive in my periods on healing diets:

• Meal prep! Every time you cook food, try to cook a lot of food. It's quite a minimal difference in the effort to make 5 litres of stew compared to making 1 litre of stew - or to fry 500 g of meat instead of 100 g. The extra food can then be frozen in portions or kept in the fridge - supplying you with easily accessible food at all times. This makes it easier to keep to your healing diet - also when you're short on time or low on energy

• Freeze food This goes together with prepping foods. It is very helpful to always have a few meals ready in the freezer - for those unexpected Monday evenings with an empty fridge and energy on zero.

• Stocking up on food Fill your pantries and freezer with whole foods! Some helpful things to buy a lot of once you buy it are frozen meat and vegetables, bulk items like coconut oil and coconut milk, and dry foods that are included in your diet. This will help you avoid a situation where you have nothing at home that you can eat while sticking to your elimination diet.

• Create strategies before you need them It is good to go through different situations and kinds of days in your head and find strategies for situations that could create a challenge. For example: What kind of food could you order in a restaurant? What food can you easily get in most supermarkets, for a quick lunch on the go? What food can you eat at a party - or maybe you want to have some ideas for dishes you can bring to a party if your diet is very restrictive? If you find it difficult to find answers to these question, working with a health coach can be of great support.

• Always keep a snack with you Always keep some elimination diet approved food in your bag - I like to call it "emergency food". This could be for example nuts or dried meat - depending on what kind of elimination diet you're on.

• The social dilemma The most common issue people face when going on a healing diet is how to approach social situations. This is no wonder - we are social creatures, and sharing food has been an important social pilar for as long as we have been humans. I will not pretend like this is not a hard nut to crack - it is, and we need to acknowledge that. But, as I mentioned in the post, embarking on a healing diet journey should like all other effective healing come from it being an act of love towards oneself. And we all know that taking loving care of ourselves is the cornerstone of any healthy relationships. The people who love and care for us will understand that this is something we need and want to do for our health and wellbeing - and if they don't, we might want to reassess how we engage in those relationships, or whether we should engage in them at all.

• Acknowledge our emotions Last but not least, embarking on a healing diet journey that includes eliminating certain foods (if so only for a period) can awaken an immense amount of grief. Foods we love are not only nutrition - they are comfort, pleasure, and culture. It is important to acknowledge this grief and find ways of processing it. Here, again, is why it's so important to take these kinds of decisions based on love for oneself, not based on purging or control. If the intention to do changes comes out of love and care for ourselves, we can find the comfort and motivation needed to say goodbye to the foods we believe might be causing us harm. In the name of our love for ourselves, we will also find other things that can give us comfort and pleasure - but without distressing our bodies.

Do you have any other strategies that have been helpful to you on a healing diet? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

We are cyclical beings. Every day and every month, there is a myriad of biochemical cycles taking place in our bodies - governing everything from our menstrual cycle, to metabolism and energy, to digestion and detoxification. And all of these cycles are designed to work together - in a rhythmic melodious symphony, or dance. Creating the state of harmony we call health.

If anyone cycle is out of balance, that will affect the harmony of the whole. A major player in this is our sleep/wake cycle - also called our circadian rhythm. Many - if not most - of our other cycles align themselves with this movement of wakefulness and slumber, which is regulated by the rhythmic secretion of the hormone melatonin. That means that if the times we wake up and go to sleep varies greatly from day to day (greatly meaning more than one hour), it will have a big impact on our overall health and wellbeing.

Now, keeping a rhythmic circadian rhythm is far from easy in contemporary society. Things like psychological or emotional stress, shift work, an overloaded schedule, hormonal imbalances, and more tend to throw us off balance again and again. I know this first-hand. On my personal healing journey, my circadian rhythm has been one of the most difficult puzzle pieces to help fall into place. During the years I have found some great strategies that work for me, and I want to share them here with you:

1, Let pleasure lead the way

Let pleasure be your guiding light, rather than a sense of discipline. Find a rhythm that feels really good - not merely one created from an idea of perfection. A part of this is to create a morning routine that feels like a real treat - that you really want to wake up to. This can mean exchanging your regular alarm with a Spotify playlist playing soothing classical music, investing in a wake-up light, going out to watch the sunrise every day, lighting candles or a fire, doing some physical movement that feels really good and nourishing, or putting off time for creative work. It's all about reprogramming our brains and nervous systems into feeling that this routine is connected to pleasure - not a mere "must-do". What will come from this is that we won't need to apply discipline - instead our natural wish for pleasure will lead the way, which is a far better motivation for change.

2, Create a rhythm in your awake day

To go to sleep at the time we have settled on, we also need to adjust the rest of the day into a rhythmic pattern. This means eating at the same times, as well as putting down our work at a set time. Again, we are rhythmic creatures. When we set a rhythm to our waking hours, our sleep rhythm will follow.

3, Consistency, consistency, consistency.

When we have found that rhythm that feels good, we need to keep to it. Also on weekends and vacations. I know, that can really feel like a real downer at first, if you (like me) are a recovering night-owl. But what I've realized is that I can actually find the same sense of relaxation, stillness and creativity in the early morning hours, as I used to relish in the late nights.

Of course, we can have a late-night now and then - but choose those times wisely. Use the same principle as in the first strategy: what late nights activities gives me true pleasure and wellbeing? Do that. And when you've done it, try to get back into a rhythm again the following day.

4, Create an evening routine

Part of this rhythmic day should be a nighttime routine that helps your nervous system slow down and which turns on the production of the sleep hormone - melatonin. This should include turning down the lights - preferably only have low-intensely lights with a reddish/orange tint. Let your brain relax by putting away all screens, and do something that helps you come down: for example some light reading, journaling, a bath, or cuddling. Also, for optimal melatonin production, take measures to make sure your bedroom is pitch dark.

5, Take help from modern technology

I find it really helpful to have some virtual surrogate mothers watching after me. This can mean setting alarms when it's time to eat, stop working, and start preparing for sleep. It can also mean having apps that help you stay off your phone in the evenings - for example, Flipd, AppBlock or Sleep Town. Or using a device like the Oura ring.

6, Be kind to yourself.

Just as when creating any habit, we'll get nowhere by internally shaming

and blaming ourselves. Did you fall off the horse for a week, or for a month for that matter? That's OK. Life happens. Just get back up on the horse when you are ready for it. By practising the strategies in this blog it will become easier and easier to get back up every time.

Treat yourself like you would raise a puppy or a child, that is: with continuity, gentle firmness and loads of love. You wouldn't scream your throat off at a puppy or a child, calling them all kinds of things, every time they did a mistake. First of all, because you love them, second of all because it's simply not good pedagogics. So don't do that to yourself either.

Also, be aware that for periods in life your need for sleep will be much greater. This is especially true in periods of physical and/or psychological healing, and in periods of grief. Acknowledge and accept that, and adjust your rhythm accordingly.

Wishing You all plenty of nourishing sleep, spectacular sunrises, and days full of energy and creativity.

Have you learned something new in this post useful? Leave a comment and to let me know!

Upon request, I'm sharing my recipe for buckwheat sourdough bread!

I've had guests state that it's the best gluten-free bread they've had - and frankly, I can only agree... Also, it is as gut-friendly as a grain-based bread can get, and packed with nutrition!

There are benefits to not eating too much gluten also when you do not have celiac disease. Gluten is irritating to the gut lining, and many people have developed immunological intolerance to the gluten protein. However, most of the standard gluten-free products on the market are not much better, containing ingredients like tapioca, corn and rice flour. These flours are high in starches and low in nutrients, and eating the wrong kind or too much starches can create IBS symptoms, which in turn fuels systemic inflammation, which will most certainly wreak havoc in the menstrual cycle.

Buckwheat is one of the grains that are most easy to digest. In fact, it's not even a grain but a so-called "pseudo-grain", and it's naturally gluten-free. The sourdough fermentation helps to break down the starches, making it even easier to digest. Also, buckwheat is packed with magnesium, zinc, and B-vitamins! Which anyone who has worked with me will know are important nutrients for menstrual cycle health.

Personally, I have a quite sensitive gut, and I experience that I can eat this bread daily without any problem! And my body loves it.

So, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 dl potent buckwheat sourdough starter (don't know how to make and maintain sourdough starter? Just Google it - and exchange the gluten flour for buckwheat flour. If you or your intended guests do not have celiac disease or immunologic gluten intolerance, you can also convert a regular sourdough starter to feed on buckwheat)

• 350 g buckwheat fleur

• 9 g salt

• 60 g raisins

• 5g caraway seeds

• 20g chia seeds

• 325 g water

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl. Put a lid or plate on it and let the dough sit for approximately 8- 10h (I usually let it sit overnight) in a warm place (next to a radiator is perfect).

2. After 8-10 h put the oven en 250°C and let it heat up.

3. Transfer the dough to a loaf pan (the one I use holds 2 liter, but I think 1,5 liter would work for this recipe as well).

4. When the oven is properly heated, put the pan in the middle of the oven.

5. Bake the bread at 250°C for 10 minutes.

6. Lower the heat to 200°C and let bake for 50 more minutes.

7. Go and do your morning yoga.

8. When your timer beeps, remove the bread from the pan and let sit for a while before enjoying your breakfast.

I hope you will enjoy it! Let me know in the comments how it turned out.

A healthy gut is inhabited by about 100 trillion bacteria, of about 500-1000 different species. Your gut bacteria is unique to you and will vary depending on where in the world you live.

These little fellas are - as most of you probably know - crucial to our gut health. What you might not

know, is that they also have a great impact on our hormones, fertility and menstrual cycle.

How does gut bacteria impact the menstrual cycle and fertility?

The gut bacteria is a key player in keeping a healthy gut. When our gut bacteria is out of whack - it creates inflammation in the intestines, which in turn leads to inflammation in the rest of the body. Inflammation has a directly down-regulating effect on the production of healthy amounts of sex hormones. It is also the main contributor to many diseases that in turn will affect our fertility and menstrual cycle health negatively, as well as the most common cause behind menstrual pain. Now, there are many other factors that contribute to inflammation as well - but an unbalanced gut bacteria is certainly one of the most profound.

Our gut bacteria also plays an important role in estrogen metabolism - making sure that excess estrogen gets removed from the body, instead of keeping on circulating in the blood.

Why does gut bacteria get out of whack?

Originally, we have gotten our healthy gut bacteria from the soil - via the food we eat. However, improper land management, as well as the use of pesticides, has heavily reduced and changed the composition of bacteria both in our soils and our guts. Add to that our over-use of antibiotics - both in medicine and factory farming - and you get a sure recipe for disaster.

What can we do to restore a healthy gut microbiome?

First of all, cut out all use of antibiotics that is not absolutely necessary - whenever possible, try to find other options.

Secondly, eat as much local organic food as your situation allows. And when eating local organic vegetables, don't wash them! The small remainders of soil will be of great benefit to your gut bacteria.

Cut out all factory-farmed meat, dairy and eggs - opt for organic produce from health and happy animals.

Thirdly, make sure that you eat the right kind of sugars and starches - giving food to the bacteria, but of the right kind and not in excess. The more refined the carbohydrate is, the more likely it is to do damage to the microbiome. How much carbohydrates your gut can handle, and what kind is optimal for you, depend on a lot of factors and will vary between individuals.

In addition, a great strategy is to add a probiotic supplement to your daily routine. My personal favorite - and by far the cheapest alternative - is what you see on the picture in this blog: homemade fermented vegetables!

What strategies have worked for you to restore your gut health? And have you seen any effect on the menstrual cycle? Let me know in the comments!

The female body has a wondrous organ that rarely gets the credit it deserves: the cervix. The cervix is the part of the uterus that is protruding down into the vagina. That is, the opening between the uterus and the vaginal channel. It can be felt like a small "snout" our doughnut-shaped button at the top of the vaginal channel.

As we will learn in this text, she plays a key role both in female fertility, female sexual pleasure and pregnancy. This blog post is dedicated to lifting her from the shadows and into the lime light - so that she may be honored as the magical part of our bodies which she is.

The Cervix Is a Key Player in Our Fertility

In Fertility Awareness, we fondly call the cervix "Nature's Gate". That's because through her, all human life will pass, and she keeps watch at the entrance. The cervix is only open a few days each cycle - first to let out menstrual blood in the beginning of the cycle, and then to let in sperm during our fertile window (which is on average 5 days long). If the cervix is Nature's Gate, the mucus produced in the cervix is the gatekeeper. Most of the cycle the cervical mucus is thick and unpenetrable - forming a solid plug in the cervical channel, that sperm cannot pass through (it is also keeping out other substances, that could harm the uterus). At this point of the cycle, sperm get stuck in the vaginal channel and dies within minutes after ejaculation in the acidic environment created by our vaginal microbiome. When we enter our fertile window, however, rising estrogen stimulates the production of another kind of mucus - fertile cervical mucus - which is much more fluid. This mucus opens up the cervical channel, so that sperm can pass through. It has the same PH value as sperm (alkaline, that is), creating an environment in which they can survive and await ovulation. It consist of channels which vibrates at the same frequency as the sperm's tails (!) - creating highways that helps them to reach the egg. The fertile mucus also contains enzymes which prepare the sperm for fertilization, and have a function that can block damage sperm from entering the uterus and reaching the egg. In other words - it is a gatekeeper, having an active role in deciding which sperm we want to enter us and potentially reach our egg.

Cervical mucus is the most important sign of fertility we chart in the sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness - it is learning to observe for these changes that allows us to naturally avoid (or achieve) pregnancy.

Protection of a Pregnancy

During pregnancy, the cervix is also a gatekeeper - protecting the pregnancy and keeping it in place. The cervix is has a circular muscle (sphincter), that is tight during the pregnancy - keeping the opening to the vagina closed. The thick mucus plug mentioned earlier also becomes even thicker - protecting the pregnancy from the entry of harmful substances.

During childbirth the cervix relaxes and opens - and becomes the birth channel. During labor she dilates from a very narrow opening - to an opening of 10 centimeters!

A Pleasure Organ

The clitoris and G-spot usually gets most of the lime light when speaking about female sexual pleasure. But in fact, many experience that they also can get a deep kind of orgasm from stimulation of the cervix - either with a partner or by themselves. Many experience this kind of orgasm as profound - and some even liken in to a spiritual experience. It is believed that these orgasms arise from stimulation of the vagus nerve - to which the cervix is connected. The vagus nerve is an important nerve connected to the parasympathetic nervous system - which means that it regulates deep states of relaxation and well-being.

The Cervix Change Through the Menstrual Cycle

The cervix changes its position and texture during the menstrual cycle - affected by the hormonal environment in the body. In the beginning of the cycle, when both sex hormones (estrogen and progesterone) are low, it sits low in the vagina and is hard and tightly closed. As estrogen rises, nearing ovulation, she moves higher up in the vagina, becomes softer and more open. The change in position and texture becomes more pronounced the closer to ovulation we get. After ovulation, with the rise of progesterone, the cervix quickly moves back to its original position and texture - again becoming hard, closed and positioned low in the vagina. Exactly how the change in position feels can vary - depending on the individual position of the uterus. Sometimes it can feel more like the position is changing from vertical to horizontal - or even that it becomes lower during ovulation. A woman learn to recognize how the change feels like in her individual body by doing regular self-examinations. This change in position and texture is a supplementary sign of fertility that a woman can learn to observe and chart when using a sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness. The change of position can also mean that vaginal intercourse feels different during the different phases of the cycle. Some experience that deeper penetration is more pleasurable around ovulation, when the cervix sits higher up in the vagina.

She Needs to Be Cared For

I hope that this article has given you as much awe for this organ as I experience. And maybe, it has put a light on all the reasons to why the cervix is worthy of our care and attention.

The health of the cervix is sensitive, and we need to pay attention to her well-being. Problems that can occur when our cervical health is out of balance is that we become more prone to catching STIs and other cervical infections - as well as developing cervical cell changes, which could potential lead to the development of cervical cancer if not properly cared for. Caring for cervical health means to care for a healthy vaginal flora (vaginal microbiome) - since the good bacteria in the vagina acts as a prolongation of the local immune system. A healthy vaginal flora is dependent on diet and lifestyle factors, and can also be negatively affected by the use of hormonal contraception. Making sure that everything that enters the vagina is clean and chemical-free is also important - as well as avoiding washing the inside of the vagina and avoiding use of soap on the vulva; she is a self-cleaning organ and do not need our additional help.

Cervical health is also dependent on the general function of our immune system, and on nutritional balance. And last but not least: do not engage in sexual practice that causes pain on the cervix. If you experience pain or discomfort during penetration - slow down, and ask your partner to go less deep and/or less hard. To reduce the risk of deep penetration being painful, make sure that your vagina is well prepared before intercourse - that she has gotten her juices going naturally, and is open, relaxed and ready to receive.

The cervix is a guardian of life - let's relearn to guard her with equal dedication. I can assure you that she will reward us manifold.

Stress, overwhelm and uncertainty has a way of getting stuck in our bodies - creating tension, anxiety and emotional numbness. In times of global uncertainty, this is something we all to some degree get a taste of. In this blog, we'll have a look at some of the strategies to relieve pent-up stress, and find back to mental and physiological equilibrium.

Stress, Health and the Menstrual Cycle

Since this, after all, is a reproductive health website - we'll start by looking a bit on how stress affects the menstrual cycle. Simply explained: when we are under a lot of stress, the body doesn't think that it's a great time to potentially achieve a pregnancy. And as a result, it will down-regulate the amount of sex hormones being produced in the ovaries, and the quality of ovulation.

The down-regulation of sex hormones can cause symptoms such as irregular cycles, PMS and/or an unusually heavy menstrual bleeding.

In addition, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that beyond affecting our reproductive hormones, stress also has a huge impact on our immune system and whole-body health.

Strategies for Releasing Stress

Another aspect of stress and overwhelm, is that it has a tendency to block us from seeing the very creative solutions that could potentially help us deal with difficult circumstances (caused by, for example, major societal changes rippling out from a pandemic). This can create a vicious loop, where the stress becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The good news is that our bodies has inbuilt release mechanisms, designed to get us through periods of extreme stress.

The last weeks, in the light of the ongoing pandemic, I’ve felt a growing need to actively engage in strategies that allow my body to access this inbuilt mechanism - preferably several times a day. In order to keep myself afloat. And since we're all in this together, I felt like sharing some of my favorite strategies with you:

1. Grounding Grounding is the practice of bringing oneself back to the present moment - in a very physical and tangible way. Examples of how this can be achieved is by: • firmly touching ones own body. • feeling the pull of gravity, which is constantly embracing the body towards the Earth. • pressing the feet to the ground, and feeling their solid contact with the floor/Earth beneath. • feeling the texture of the materials that you are touching or wearing. • attentively observing things in your nearby environment - how does it look like? What colors can you see? • mindfulness meditation. The intention with grounding is to bring oneself back into the sense of being here and now - truly entering one’s body and the present moment. Because the fact is, that the situation as painted out by our stressed and overwhelmed minds, usually looks far worse than what is actually true in the "here and now". Being grounded is the prerequisite for all other stress relief to be beneficial and effective - and sometimes relief enough in itself. In periods of high stress or overwhelm, it is something we will benefit from doing as often as possible - if so only for a brief moment.

2. Shaking Our bodies are hijacked to release overwhelm and stress through the simple act of shaking! It is how nature does it, as seen in research by for example Peter Levine. Letting the whole body shake/tremble helps to reset the nervous system, and brings us back into a state of presence, goodness and grounding. We can achieve this shaking by just letting it arise naturally (something that often happens while feeling a lot of emotions, or while practicing yoga or other body work), by shaking in the form of intense dancing (put on your favorite music and rock!) or trying out a technique like TRE (Trauma Release Exercises). Remember to preform the grounding exercises above both before and after your preferred method of shaking - since this will ensure that your body feels safe and held while releasing stress.

3. Crying or Laughing Letting our emotions flow and overflow is another of the body’s most effective ways of releasing stress and overwhelm. Most people have probably experienced how a good cry can make us feel renewed. And there seems to be a very physiological explanation to that: emotional tears actually contain a very high concentration of stress hormones - meaning that it’s an actual physiological way for the body to “clean out” excess stress. But emotions doesn't necessarily need to come out as tears, sometimes it also comes out as laughter. And uninhibited laughter also have a tremendous positive effect in lowering our stress hormones. Perhaps you’ve noticed yourself how close those two expressions of emotions actually are, and how they can even float in and out of each other? It seems like the most important thing here is to let the emotions out - to let them flow instead of getting stuck. And by that - leaving more space for life to come in. And, also before and after a good crying session, it can be a good idea to practice the techniques for grounding mentioned above - to make sure you are feeling safe, held and present in the here and now while releasing emotions.

So, as you might have come to see, stress relief is all about letting out pent-up emotions. Cry, laugh, shake or dance - or all at once! Whatever comes most natural to you. And in between, remember to practice grounding - so that your body is constantly reminded of that it is strong, capable, present and safe.

If you want some more self care strategies for stressful times, you can check out my last blog post.

Wishing you all the very best.

Warm greetings,

Siri

We are suddenly faced with strange times - confronted with a whole new range of challenges. It is more important than ever to really care for ourselves - but how does that look in times of quarantine?

Below I present some of my favorite strategies to deal with stress - especially as it relates to social isolation. I also present some thoughts of how maybe, just maybe, there might be some personal and collective growth emerging on the other side of this crisis.

I can add that all of these strategies will also help you boost you immune system, and help keep your hormonal health in check.

Eat nourishing foods

What we eat creates the foundation to our ability to handle stress and difficult emotions. With the right kind of nourishment from food, our ability to cope is multiplied.

I recommend a diet based on whole, unrefined foods - with as high nutrient density as possible.

For most people that will mean as many different kinds of fruits and vegetables as possible, whole grains, grass-fed organic and/or wild meat (including super-foods like liver, offal and bone broth), wild caught fish and plenty of high quality fats (pastured non-homogenized butter, cold-pressed seed oils, coconut oil and fat fish/meat). And, for those of you in the Northern hemisphere - make sure to get some supplementary Vitamin D3!

I also recommend avoiding stimulants like refined sugars, caffeine and alcohol - since they likely will create more stress in an already stressed system.

The same foods will also help boost your immune system - and your hormonal health (which is closely linked both to immune health and psycho-emotional health).

Also - eat what makes you feel good! Allow food to be a pleasure! Finding comfort in food is not a bad thing - if what we find comfort in is also nourishing for our bodies.

Spend time in nature

When our contact with other humans are restricted - finding comfort in the natural world can be a very good substitute. Make a visit to your nearby forest, park, garden, waterside or other area where you can meet trees, plants, water and/or animals.

Find nourishment in the breeze of the fresh wind, the sunlight, the rain, other life forms, soil, water and rocks. Research show that time spent in nature helps us release the neurochemicals serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine - the same kind of neurochemicals that are stimulated by loving interactions with other humans.

Practice a creative hobby

A period of isolation can actually be a great opportunity to pick up on a creative interest that you usually do not have time for - whether it be writing, drawing, painting, knitting, sewing or carpeting. Ask yourself "What is it that I have been longing to do, which I have been struggling to find time for?".

Engaging in a creative activity will help you connect to your body, center in yourself and find psycho-emotional nourishment.

Limit your consumption of social media and other media channels

In periods of social change and crisis, it can feel like we need to check our cellphone for updates every second minute to "keep on top of the situation". However, in reality, we will likely get all the important information even if we limit our media check-in to once or twice a day.

In fact, constant consumption of media outlets will just create more stress in us, and keep us distracted from the activities that will nourish and help us cope. Those nourishing activities that are, in fact, what will truly help us keep "on top of" the situation.

Consume inspiration

Instead of consuming the stream of information on social and other media outlets, consume what you consciously choose based on your area of interests. What makes you tick, and what fuels your inspiration? Dive into books, audio books, podcasts and movies that inspire you.

Call someone

We have gotten quite accustomed to texting instead of actually calling those close to us. This is an optimal opportunity to turn that trend, and start connecting in real voice conversations. Maybe even arrange for a cup of tea over Skype?

Another great alternative to texting is voice messages - that will also help us feel more truly connected to the person we are communicating with, but do not require that we are both available at the same time.

Journal

In periods of life, we can be lacking people close to us to whom we can pick up the phone and give a call.

In these periods, journaling can be a great substitute. It is also a great complement to conversations with other people. It do not have to be fancy, and you do not have to be a good writer to journal - simply sit down with a blank paper or computer document, and let your stream of thoughts become words. In this way, you can have a conversation with yourself, reflecting on your thoughts and emotions in a similar way that conversations with other people can give you.

Engage in practices that create oxytocin

Oxytocin is the famous love hormone - stimulated by touch and intimacy. But did you know that you actually do not need another person to produce oxytocin? Activities like soft tender yoga, self massage/touch, meditation, dancing, cuddling with an animal, and spending time in nature (like mentioned before) also help us produce oxytocin!

In other words: we do not need touch from another to feel good - gentle self nourishment can give us the same effect.

Rest

We live in a society where the norm is to be constantly over-taxed. Can we let this period of imposed stillness become the period of rest, that we likely have been craving? Can we allow ourselves to drop everything (or as much as we're able to) and simply rest?

Times of rest, sabbath and seclusion has been important part of almost every traditional society - but has been lost in the modern age. Perhaps, this can be seen as an invitation to step into a period of deep rest and rejuvenation - an invitation to rediscover the benefits of stillness.

Build community

Especially if we are living alone, and especially if we are in complete quarantine, we are faced with the necessity of asking for help.

We have become accustomed to a society where everyone minds there own business, and where we are perfectly self-sufficient and do not need each-other for our day-to-day life to function. In the present situation, that model is suddenly not functioning for a lot of us. We are faced with the need to ask for help - and we are called to reaching out and offering a hand to those who need it.

There are few things that nourish us so deeply, and on such a basic level, as a growing sense of community. For many women I speak to (including myself and most of my closest friends), that lack of community is a core wound, creating constant distress. Can we see this situation as a possibility to start healing that wound? To reach out, and ask for help? And to offer help where we see it's needed - knowing that it will nourish us as deeply as it does to the one we are giving to.

In many local neighborhoods and cities, Facebook groups are popping up with the purpose of creating a support network for receiving and offering help in the current situation. Join one of them - or create one yourself - and invite your friends and neighbors. And, dare reaching out for help - it's OK to do so, and you are worthy of it.

In times of crisis, we are faced with two possibilities: to shut down, or to grow. What if the current situation can help us grow and become more resilient, both on a personal and collective level? What if it can bring us closer together, instead of further apart? Closer, both to ourselves and each other.

Peoples of all cultures have used isolation and retreat as rites for growth and development. Can we step into this with the same intention? Can we dedicate this period to the growing of something good? I believe we can. I believe both we and our society are ready for that.

And if you feel that you need support in this process, feel free to contact me. I will be happy to be there in whatever way I can.

Sending you all thoughts of strength, health, encouragement and support.

Yours always,

Siri

On June 10th I celebrated the 10 years anniversary of my always growing love story with Fertility Awareness and the menstrual cycle! In honor of this journey, I've written this blog post. It contains some of my charting story, and some of the treasures I've found through getting to know my cycle deeply.

The Love Story Begins

It was in 2009, in a sauna full of chattering women, that I first discovered Fertility Awareness. I had been fantasising about finding a natural method of birth control for quite some time (remember, this was before Google, Facebook or Instagram became the all-knowing oracles that they are today!), and suddenly: there sat this woman right next to me, telling me that she was using observations of her cervical mucus to avoid pregnancy!

I went home and ordered the Billings Method book, which the woman had recommended me. The Billings method is one of the first Fertility Awareness Methods, based only on mucus observations and quite rudimentary. I remember reading the book in a matter of days, and starting to chart my cycle immediately!

Acquiring the right knowledge

At the time my journey begun the Billings Method and it's more rudimentary way of charting worked great for me, since I had a regular cycle with easily recognizable mucus.

However, in 2011 I went through a couple of major life events, that changed my course quite drastically. Even if they were of a positive kind, the stress those changes caused in my body wrecked havoc on my cycles. I could no longer understand what was going on, the Billings Method didn't include any information about how to understand my fertile signs during such circumstances. I got confused and discourage, and became more sloppy in my charting routine.

In 2013 I started my studies at Justisse College - and finally got some proper training in how to truly understand my fertility. Unfortunately, this came after already having had an unwanted pregnancy (ending in abortion)... As a result of this, I know first hand how important it is to get proper training when using FAM for birth control - especially when our cycles are less than regular!

How come nobody has ever told me this before??

Starting charting made me amazed about how much there had been that I hadn't known about my body, and even more amazed that no-one else seemed to know about it either! Before reading hearing about Fertility Awareness, I had no clue about where in my cycle I ovulated (I thought it was right before menstruation) - and the lack of knowledge among people I spoke to was just as big. It was not long before I started holding some small unofficial workshops on Fertility Awareness, at a variety of knowledge-sharing events - which would 3 years later lead me to starting my studies to become a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner through Justisse College International.

Getting to know my cycle

The biggest gift menstrual cycle charting brought me was actually not the natural birth control in itself (however much I am eternally grateful to have acquired that knowledge!), but a completely new relationship to my menstrual body. After some months of charting, I started to realise how much my menstrual cycle was affecting my moods and my general level of energy - which also later would inspire me to make changes in lifestyle and diet in order to take better care of my hormones, and get rid of my premenstrual emotional mayhem.

I also realised how I move in a cyclic movement through life - just like the rest on nature do with the seasons and with their own life cycles. At the time I started charting, I was living in a small cottage on the edge of the forest - so the cycles of nature were close to me and very tangible.

It also made me begin to think about how crazy it is that I am supposed to be as active and "productive" in winter as in summer - and during menstruation as during ovulation. Allowing for cyclic shifts in life has become something I believe deeply in, something I am constantly working on integrating deeper in my own life, and something that continuously is bringing me new levels of well-being. It is also at the core of my work with other women.

Healing thyroid issues

In my early twenties, I suffered a burnout. I was constantly fatigued and my mood was a roller coaster (especially before menstruation, as mentioned above). The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me - and I was simply put on a long-lasting sick-leave. As so many others in that situation, I ended up in a bureaucratic downward-spiral, leading further and further away from health. Finally I had to break that spiral - by moving to a new country and choosing a whole new path for myself.

The new life I was building created more space for me to be happy and healthy. However, I still had to sleep 10-12 hours per night, suffered fatigue and severe premenstrual anxiety, and generally didn't feel like I had the "juice" to live a full life.

When I started charting with the Justisse method, me and my HRHP soon figured out I had a far too low body temperature (often as low as 35,5 before ovulation). With the help of my HRHP and mentor, I was able to identify that I had sub-clinical hypothyroidism (that is: a too low metabolism) that was causing my fatigue and premenstrual anxiety. And by identifying this, I could start walking a path towards healing. This was a long path, that deserve a blog post in itself (one that will come!) - but for now I can tell you, that I am today healthy and full of energy! And I thank my menstrual cycle deeply for being a whistle-blower on my whole body health, which enabled me to heal and retrieve the zest of life.

Living with my cycle

During these 10 years I have charted my way through burnout, chronic health issues and plenty of tumultuous events. And also through profound healing. Through all of this, l've been walking together with my menstrual cycle. She has developed into my ally, my guide and my teacher. The steadfast spokes person of my body.

Looking back at these 10 years of menstrual cycle charting, I realize that I cannot quite imagine where I would have been without Fertility Awareness. It has become such an integral part of who I am; of my daily rhythm - but also of my relationship to the world and myself. I follow my cycle, day by day, month by month - and let her inform my choices. About whether or not to have sex. About whether or not to have that coffee. About whether I simply should take a day off, and stay home with my cat - enjoying the gift of having a female body. My menstrual cycle is telling me about who I am and what is right for me - right now.

I am so grateful for having received that knowledge - and to continuously deepening it. As I have said so many times before: this knowledge is the birth right of anyone born with a menstrual cycle.

This interview was originally published in Hauste Magazine.

Siri Kalla is the first certified Fertility Awareness educator in Norway and founder of Our Fertility, a platform for sharing knowledge about holistic reproductive health and the female body. In this interview she tells us why the method of Fertility Awareness can help you gain profound knowledge about your body and self, and how creating an inner sustainable health directly  relates to sustainability on a macro level. 

What is fertility awareness?

In Fertility Awareness based methods, we learn to observe, interpret and chart the body’s signs of fertility and infertility. I am a certified teacher of the Justisse Method – a sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness that is based on up to date scientific facts about the female body. Every day the female body goes through cyclical physiological changes. By learning to read these changes, we can understand which days of the menstrual cycle are fertile and which days are infertile. In Fertility Awareness, we call this body literacy.

 The menstrual cycle is dynamic and changeable; therefore, all observations are made in real-time on a day-to-day basis, and we never use calculations based on previous cycles to assess fertility. Thus, the sympto-thermal method is much more effective than for example the Rhythm Method and most fertility monitoring apps.

Using a Fertility Awareness Method gives a deep understanding of one’s body. It can be used as a highly effective form of birth control; a method of achieving pregnancy; a tool for monitoring our hormonal milieu and enable us to deal with fertility or menstrual cycle health issues; or to gain a deeper understanding of ourselves through a deep understanding of our bodies. Personally, I regard this knowledge as the birth right of everyone with a menstrual cycle.

What made you embark on this journey? 

My interest for the female body started in my early teens. My first memory of it sparking was in science-ed class, where the teacher was showing a movie with pictures from inside of the female reproductive system. I remember how I thought it looked like something from a magical underwater world. The movie put me in awe – I suddenly had this new knowledge about a beautiful enchanted world that resided inside of me.

In my late teens and early twenties, I was practicing yoga and began trying to live as natural and wholesome as possible. Parallel to this, my interest in women’s issues and feminism was deepening – especially in regard to our relationships to our bodies. Somehow being on hormonal contraception didn’t seem to fit in this picture, so I started to look for a natural alternative. The answer came in 2009 when a friend told me she used observations of her fertile cervical mucus for contraception. I was immediately hooked! I learned the method, started using it – and have kept on ever since. 

I was completely stunned about the fact that something like this existed; and that nobody had told me about it before! It turned out that I was not the only one who didn’t know about it.  I started to hold a couple of informal free of charge workshops to spread my newfound treasure, and the interest was huge. After some years of deepening my knowledge about my body, and deepening my relationship to my menstrual cycle, I realized that I wanted to go all in for this work. It was then that I found Justisse College International, and started the process of becoming a professional Fertility Awareness Educator and menstrual cycle health coach.

I have founded Our Fertility as a platform for this work – a place to meet, develop skills and find information and inspiration about Fertility Awareness and holistic reproductive health.

Who is coming to see you and how do you work with clients?

All kinds of women (and other people with a menstrual cycle)! Many are looking for a natural alternative to hormonal contraception or IUDs, others are struggling with infertility and other imbalances in the menstrual cycle, and some simply want to understand themselves and their bodies in a deeper way.

The first thing I do is to teach them to observe their bodies’ signs and chart their cycle. The menstrual cycle chart is then our tool in all further work – regardless of the client’s intention. (As mentioned, the Justisse method is a highly detailed and standardized way of charting our physiological signs of fertility.)

The menstrual cycle chart gives us a mirror picture of what is going on in the body – when we are fertile, when we are infertile, and how the hormones are shifting. If a client wants to avoid pregnancy, we look at how to use infertile days safely for intercourse (we are only fertile for about 5 days every cycle!). And if she is working on hormonal health, we can use the menstrual cycle chart to understand what is going on in her body – then we can speak about how to use diet, nutrition and lifestyle to heal any imbalances.

How is the menstrual cycle a reflection of what goes on in the rest of the body? And how do you work with holistic health?

The menstrual cycle is actually not meant to be painful or horrible in any way – if it is, that’s a sign that something in our bodies is out of balance. The reason we can use the menstrual cycle chart as a mirror picture of whole-body health is because the menstrual cycle is shaped from what is going on in the rest of the body. I usually speak of the hormonal system as a symphony orchestra – where every hormone represents an instrument. The orchestra is playing a dynamic piece of music – and if one instrument changes their tune or tempo, the rest will have to adjust. Changes in the menstrual cycle should therefore be seen as interconnected with other hormonal changes in the body.

How the orchestra is playing is, in turn, affected by many other factors such as nutrient absorption in the gut, chronic inflammation, how hormone metabolism is working in the liver, how much stress we are exposed to, what nutrients (or lack of nutrients) we get through our food, if there are any viruses or parasites present, etc. In this way, we can learn to connect the menstrual cycle to what is happening in the larger picture and work with holistic whole-body health to improve menstrual cycle health.

When I work with a client, we use the menstrual cycle chart in combination with the client’s health history as our guides to understand this interconnected network of symptoms and causes – and provide guidance in addressing menstrual cycle health challenges through diet, nutrition, lifestyle, and other holistic interventions.

How can knowledge and building an intimate relationship with your own cycle contribute to your general health and wellbeing?

In addition to providing a mirror of our whole-body health, charting our menstrual cycle can also help us to understand ourselves in a deeper way. The menstrual cycle chart becomes a tool for daily communication with our bodies.

During every cycle we are going through an ebb and flow of energy – and by understanding how this affects us as individuals we can learn to live with these changes in a more dynamic way. Many charters start to grow a deep appreciation for their menstrual cycle, and feel that awareness of their monthly rhythm becomes an enrichment to their lives and deepens their relationships to themselves. I have also seen that understanding how our bodies function helps us open up to a very profound respect and awe of our bodies – and to more self–love.

How does female health and women’s relationship to their bodies relate to the health of the earth? 

There are some schools of thought that see a clear connection between the way we treat the Earth and the way we treat the female body. In indigenous traditions, the female body with her cycles of fertility is seen as a manifestation of the cycles of life and death in the natural world. In contrary, modern society’s linear way of thinking t tends to dishonour these cycles – both in nature, and in the female body. This, in turn, creates an “ever-growth cult”, that forgets the need for cyclic regeneration, which is comparative to what we are observing in our society today.

Personally, I believe it is when we as women re-discover our bodies and cyclic nature, we can lead the way for the rest of society to a healthier relationship to the Earth’s cycles, and thereby help change the linear way of thinking that is leading our planet to a burn-out.

There are also the very practical ecological benefits to natural fertility management – for example stopping to pee out synthetical hormones from hormonal contraception into our oceans and lakes, which is contributing to disturbed reproduction among ocean creatures and animals drinking the water.

Why do you think there is such a lack of general knowledge about the female cycle and how does that relate to stigma about the female body? 

The taboo on the menstrual cycle has been very central to how women have been treated in society. This is for example the underlying reason why women are not permitted to be religious leaders in some traditions, and in parts of the world girls are kept away from education. In our western society, we can see the taboo reflected in how science about the menstrual cycle is still hugely under-funded, and that knowledge about the menstrual cycle among healthcare practitioners is far from optimal. There is also this underlying assumption that a painful menstrual cycle is normal – leading to prescription of synthetical hormones to remove symptoms by removal of the menstrual cycle, instead of resolving the underlying whole-body health imbalance.  Fertility Awareness is a powerful tool to help lift this taboo – through knowledge and empowerment.

How does fertility awareness play a role in the development of a healthy society?

By gaining full knowledge about our bodies, we regain the ability to make truly informed reproductive choices – which is giving us back both the power over and respect for our own reproductive bodies. This is incredibly strengthening both for us as individuals, and for women in society as a whole. When we as women return to a respectful way of treating our bodies, the rest of society will have to adjust and follow. 

To get in contact with Siri  or to read more about  Fertility Awareness go to:  www.ourfertility.no  Siri gives lectures, workshops and online consultations in Europe and beyond. She also takes in-person clients in Oslo. 

This is an article from Hauste Magazine.

Words by Mira Beckstrøm Laurantzon and Siri Kalla.

Every day our menstrual cycles are communicating important information about what is going on in our bodies. As discussed in previous blog posts (here and here), this information can be used as a reliable and all-natural method of birth control. But when we truly learn to read our cycles, they can tell us much more than which days we can and can not get pregnant. They can become our allies in finding our way to true health and well-being. The signs we chart in the menstrual cycle (mainly cervical mucus and basal body temperature) gives us a reliable map of what is going on with our whole-body health. This is because the function of the hormonal system (which the menstrual cycle is part of) is intertwined with every other system of the body.

Regardless of our mental and emotional wishes and plans for our lives - a healthy body will want to reproduce. That is kind of the body's thing - to multiply and secure the species and all of that. Whereas if a body is not in optimal health - it recognize that it is not an optimal time for a pregnancy, and will divert energy away from the menstrual cycle and focus on its own healing rather than on creating new life. Thus: a healthy woman means a healthy menstrual cycle - and if the menstrual cycle show signs of imbalance, it is usually a sign of something lacking in the body. In fact, many healthcare practitioners and researchers thinks that the menstrual cycle should be recognized as a vital sign; alongside with pulse, breathing, blood pressure and body temperature. Because just as high blood pressure indicates an underlying health problem, so does a too heavy or too light menstruation. And just as the doctor is concerned if the pulse is irregular - so should we be concerned if the menstrual cycle is irregular. When working with holistic menstrual cycle care, we look at both the pattern and symptoms in the menstrual cycle, and symptoms in the rest of the body. In this way we get the full picture about what is going on in the body, which gives us the possibility to address the root causes of the problems. Each person will have their own symptoms and their own triggers, and charting our cycles helps us figure how our own bodies works. Someone will realize that she always gets menstrual cramps after eating dairy products (because the dairy causes inflammation in her body), another will realize her PMS gets much worse from drinking alcohol (because the liver's ability to metabolism estrogen gets compromised by alcohol), while a third will see that the regularity of her ovulation is really sensitive to her stress level (because stress tells her brain that it is not a good time to get pregnant). In all of these cases, the triggers (alcohol, dairy and stress) are probably causing other problems in the body as well - but it is the menstrual cycle that is "calling out" that there's a need for attention and nurturance. In this way, the menstrual cycle can become our steadfast communication partner on our roads toward taking the best care of our bodies - where we in real-time can see whether changes we are making in our diets, lifestyles and other treatments is having an effect. A client of mine once told me that it felt like having her "own personal doctor", who was giving her daily reports on her health progress. It is important to note that menstrual cycle charting is not about "perfecting" our cycles - but about developing a deep sense of listening to our bodies. It can be really hard to see our cycles behaving strangely and "imperfect" - and it can feel like every day we are getting the fact of that imbalanced shoved in our faces. I suggest to take this as a practice in not blaming ourselves or our bodies - but instead developing a deep sense of listening. What is it truly that your menstrual cycle is trying to tell you? Health has become yet another thing to be good at, to achieve, to post pretty Instagram posts about. And it can makes us cringe at the thought of "having to be healthy". So we rebel, and say "F**k you - I'm not going to align to yet another ideal!". And that is a very understandable (maybe even very sane) reaction. But what if health - true health - is not about achieving at all? Not about making ourselves and our bodies into something different, but the complete opposite: To nourish a love relationship with our bodies, exactly as they are. To take the best care of them, simply because we love them. To explore how good I have the potential to feel in my body. In my own way, on my own premises. To nurture a deep and loving and personal relationship to myself. On my own health journey, menstrual cycle charting has been a loyal ally in learning to listen to myself, and taking loving care of myself - and I meet women every day who have the same experience. It is the true core benefit of Fertility Awareness - what makes it into something that that is deeply valuable knowledge to all women and other menstruators, regardless of whether or not we want to use it as a method of birth control.

Resources:

• Matus, Geraldine, et. al. (c1987-2014) Justisse College International course curriculum.

• The Fifth Vital Sign: A grassroots movement towards menstrual cycle literacy

• "The Fifth Vital Sign" - Lisa Hendrickson-Jack

This text was originally published after taking my Permaculture Design certificate in 2015 - and republished today in honor of Earth Day 2019. When I ask myself what I want in life, and what it means for me to be healthy, I can best express it in my will to Thrive. I want to be like a flower growing in fertile soil, with all the nutrition and water I need, all the microorganisms and beneficial fungus in the soil that help me to be all I have the potential to be. I want to surround myself with other plants that complement me, and insects that pollinate me and protect me. And I want to reach my leaves up towards the sun, bathing in it’s energy and ever-giving life force. An eco system is a complex network consisting of many parts, where each part is beneficial to the whole, like in the case of the flower I just described. In a healthy eco system, the different parts co-exist in balance. Permaculture is the name of an ecological design system that aims to restore balance of an eco-systems - it could be described as the art of observing nature in close detail, and to ask "what would Nature do?". Through observing we gain knowledge on how to be as less invasive as possible in our meeting with the Earth’s eco systems, as well as how to re-create balance in eco systems that have been disturbed by human interaction.

In holistic medicine, we observe all the things that affect our body, mind and spirit – knowing that our “body-mind-spirit complex” is also an eco system, very similar to those found in the nature around us. The chemical environment surrounding our cells determine wether they will be healthy or not. We recognize that sickness commonly is a sign of a larger disturbance of our inner eco system, and focus on regaining this balance through nutrition, lifestyle, psychology and non-invasive treatments – rather than treating symptoms with synthetic or surgical methods, which often disturbs our inner eco system even further. In this way, holistic medicine can be seen as “permaculture for our bodies”, and permaculture can be seen as “holistic medicine for the Earth”.

Sometimes, we might believe something is “wrong” with us when we are not feeling good, that we are somehow flawed in our construction. But just like a flower, we cannot be healthy and grow to our full beauty if we are growing in the wrong place or with a lack of physical or spiritual nutrition. The experience of not “feeling good” is your body’s way of trying to tell you what it needs. In practicing permaculture we trust that nature know what is best for nature. On my own journey, it has been and continuously are a huge lesson to learn how to listen to the signs of my body and my emotions in the same way as the permaculturist observe the nature. To listen, to honor, to follow it’s voice. I trust that my body know what I need and when I need it, and I have many times been surprised by how things seems to work out when I follow the voice of my body – even if my stressed mind usually tells me that I really don’t have time to rest or take it easy or enjoy or whatever else it is I need. I have come to believe that our bodies – and nature – contain far more intelligence than we could ever imagine. Applying permaculture to our health means to understand that we never were designed to live like we do in contemporary society, as little as the Earth was designed to have us living as we do. The amount of stressors we experience daily is overwhelming, as well as the fact that it is quite impossible to avoid chemical contamination in our bodies, or eating only what is good for us. Not to mention the lack of clean air and clean water big parts of humanity are facing. We can never be truly healthy if we live in an environment we are not adjusted to, which means that re-creating balance in nature and re-creating balance in humanity is one and the same process. In going further and deciding the next steps to take in our society and in our lives, I believe it is helpful to look towards this way of thinking to find answers on how to find resilient health; how to recreate an eco system and a fertile soil where we can grow, thrive and be resiliently happy.

Using Fertility Awareness for natural birth control is an amazing and effective option for achieving natural, chemical-free contraception - by learning to read our bodies' signs of fertility and infertility. But to succeed, there are some key rules that we need to follow.

Last month I spoke about why natural birth control actually works. This month, however, we will have a look at some common mistakes that could easily make natural birth control not work.

Let's dive in:

1. Don't rely on calculations - but on real-time observations

Your cycle is dynamic - it is constantly adjusting to your life and health as it looks like in this very moment. That means that the length of the cycle - or on which days we will be fertile - will possibly vary from cycle to cycle.

That is why we in the sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness do not rely on calculations based on previous cycles to determine when we are fertile. This is what makes the sympto-thermal method different from for example the Rhythm Method and most cycle-tracking apps.

The importance of this cannot be stressed enough: only real-time observations of our physiological fertile signs can show us on which days we are fertile.

2. Don't trust your "feeling" - trust your charting!

A common misunderstanding when using natural birth control, is that once we have charted our cycle for a while and gotten to know it, we can stop daily charting and rely more on our "feeling". From my and other Fertility Awareness educator's experience, this is not true!

Now get me right here - I do believe we have an incredible ability to intuitively tune in to our bodies and receive important messages from them; but when it comes to natural birth control, I've seen this strategy fail far too many times! If we lived in perfect harmony with nature and ourselves, this strategy could perhaps work. But let's face it: in our modern society, most of us don't.

So, to achieve maximum efficiency natural birth control with Fertility Awareness: do your observations daily and chart them on your menstrual cycle chart daily - regardless of how experienced you are.

(Personally, I've used Fertility Awareness as my method of birth control for 10 years - and still chart my fertile signs diligently every day.)

3. Don't disregard the "in-doubt rule"

One of the most important rules we have in Fertility Awareness is the "in-doubt rule". It means that: if you have missed observations during a day, or are in the slightest doubt about the character of an observation, or of any other reason do not feel 100% sure about whether you are infertile or not during any given day - then regard yourself as fertile!

Again, this is just as important for new users of Fertility Awareness, as for experienced charters. Remember: the menstrual cycle is dynamic and changes during our life-time, so even if we are very experienced, we might still bump into observations that we've never seen before and do not know how to judge. If this happen, it's recommended that you book an appointment with a trained Fertility Awareness educator, who can help you gain clarity in what has happened - which will lead you to more confidence in your future use of the method.

4. For maximum efficiency - don't rely on withdrawal, condoms or other barrier methods on fertile days

Now, this might feel like a real bummer, but when speaking about the efficiency of natural birth control, it really has to be mentioned: no penetrative sex is completely secure on fertile days.

There are several reasons for this:

• Research has show that a rather big proportion of men has sperm in their pre-ejaculatory fluid (more commonly know as precum: the transparent liquid that appears on the tip of the penis when a man gets excited). This is the reason to why a woman can get pregnant from intercourse even when the man has withdrawn his penis from the vagina a long time before ejaculation.

• Research on condom efficiency has been made throughout the whole cycle - not only on fertile days! Which gives us a good reason to suspect that the stated efficiency of condoms would likely be much lower if the testing had been done on days when the women in the trials actually could get pregnant.

• Fertile mucus (that appears on fertile days) is really luscious and slippery in it's character - creating a greater risk for a barrier method to slip off or be displaced.

If you feel comfortable with taking a bit of a risk - then barrier methods or withdrawal can be used on fertile days. But if neither pregnancy nor abortion is an option for you, or if you experience stress from fearing pregnancy - than I would strongly recommend avoiding all genital-to-genital contact and sticking to other sexual practices during fertile days. See it as an opportunity to explore new and yummy alternatives, that might even enhance your sex life!

Take a deep breath

Now, I know this was a lot of information, and that some of it might awaken some emotions - but the truth is that Fertility Awareness is not rocket science, and it is very efficient for birth control when learned and used correctly! However, it do take some time and dedication to learn and understand how to use it properly. Some people are really good at learning from a book - but many will experience that some guidance from a trained educator will make it much easier to gain full confidence and security.

This also applies for experienced charters: if your cycle suddenly changes - maybe since you've given birth, getting closer to menopause, or experiencing some health challenges - it is recommended to revisit your educator and get some updated guidance for your new situation.

When practiced correctly, Fertility Awareness gives an amazing opportunity not only to manage our birth control naturally - but also as a tool for monitoring our menstrual cycle health, and getting to know ourselves on a deeper level. Explore the blog for much more information on these topics.

Now, let me know in the comments what you thought about this post! Have you experienced making an mistake when using natural birth control, that you believe others might benefit from hearing about? Please feel free to share in the comments - or anonymously by sending me a message.

Much love to you all,

Siri

#BirthControl #NaturalBirthControl #FertillityAwareness #Apps

When speaking about Fertility Awareness, I often meet a few common misconceptions - about how the method works and whether or not it is effective for birth control. I therefore decided to gather these "myths" in one neat blog - and debunk them once and for all!

Let's go:

1. It's the same as the rhythm method or a cycle tracking app

The by far most common myth about Fertility Awareness is that it is the same as the infamous "Rhythm Method" (also know as the "calendar method") - where you calculate your fertility by counting days, or using an algorithm to do so (like you do in most cycle tracking apps, for example).

The sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness DO NOT rely on any kind of calculation! But on real time observations of our bodies actual physical signs of fertility. To be precise, the signs we look for in the sympto-thermal method are: fertile cervical mucus, basal body temperature and cervical position.

This is a really important difference from the rhythm method - since the menstrual cycle is dynamic, and the timing of our fertile days may change from cycle to cycle. With the sympto-thermal method we do not guess our fertility based on previous cycles, but instead we look at our bodies to get a direct reflection of our fertility in this exact moment - every day, all of the cycle.

2. It's unscientific

The sympto-thermal method is based on almost a century of research about how the menstrual cycle and female fertility works. Here is a quick recap:

As estrogen rises - approximately in the middle of a normal length cycle - it stimulates cells in the cervix (the part of the uterus that is protruding into the vagina) to produce a very special substance for a couple of days - called cervical mucus. Sperm are completely dependent on the presence of this substance to be able to enter the uterus and reach the egg. Therefore - the absence or presence of this mucus is the main sign of fertility we look for in the sympto-thermal method.

After ovulation the body's temperature rise as a result of the shifting hormones. This temperature shift is the other sign we look for when using the sympto-thermal method. After we have confirmed that ovulation has happened by seeing the temperature shift, we know that we are infertile until next menstruation. Yiho!

3. It's really complicated and takes a lot of time and effort

Like any new routine and skill, the sympto-thermal method will take some initial dedication and determination to learn and integrate into our lives. But once you have made the skill your own, it will only take a few minutes of your time each day - and you will benefit from it for the rest of your reproductive life. And this routine can actually be perceived as something positive: many charters I meet start to appreciate it as a time of self care - a daily time for communication with one's own body.

If you struggle with integrating new routines - that's what you have me for! A Fertility Awareness educator is like a personal trainer - together we will find a way to make natural birth control work in your life.

4. You can only use it with regular cycles

Since we do not count days - but look at the body's signs of fertility in real-time - it is completely possible to use to use the sympto-thermal method also with irregular cycles! It may take a little extra time to learn (and getting the help of a trained educator is strongly recommended!), but once you have learned the skill it will be an effective method of of birth control - regardless of how your cycle looks like.

In addition to using Fertility Awareness for birth control, the sympto-thermal method will give you a mirror of what is happening hormonally in your body. This gives you a tool to figuring out why your cycle is irregular! Together with a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner you can then create a plan for restoring menstrual cycle health, and make your cycle more regular.

5. It's like calling for a baby

So, after reading all of this, you might still be wondering: is it really effective? Like really, really effective?

When you learn the method together with a trained educator, and use the method correctly, the sympto-thermal method is up to 99,6% effective for avoiding pregnancy! That is pretty much as effective as the contraceptive pill.

Using the method correctly comes down to learning it together with a trained educator, using the method according to the guidelines, and having good communication with your partner/s on how to use juicy alternative to intercourse on fertile days. When you are determined to do this practice in an optimal manner - you will get a highly effective and completely natural method of contraception.

The bonus

As I've mentioned in other blog posts (for example here and here), there are other benefits than birth control to using the sympto-thermal method. By charting our menstrual cycles, we get a neat map of our hormonal shifts. It can help us get to the root problem of hormonal imbalances - and thereby improving whole-body health. Many women also experience a completely new way of relating to their bodies - which can be highly empowering and lead to more self love and self care.

So, time to go out in the world and spread some high quality myth-debunking information! Because everyone has the right to high quality information about how their bodies actually works.

I used to have so heavy cramps that I dreaded my menstruation. My monthly bleed meant two days of being bed-bound, in cold-sweating agony - as long as I did not eat several double doses of ibuprofen. Throughout my youth I heard several versions of the statement "That's just how it's like to be a woman". And haven't we all? Isn't it interesting that it is so imprinted in our culture that something most women will go through monthly would be inherently painful? And that the only way of "getting rid of the problem" would be to take the pill? I never really believed in this statement - it just didn't seem logical for me that a natural part of being a fertile woman would have to be painful. It was my quest to understand these heavy cramps that drove me into really working with my menstrual cycle and study menstrual health, in order to find answers to these questions.

And what did I come to realize? Well, I realized that strong cramps and heavy bleedings were symptoms of something that was out of balance in my body - not at all a natural part of being a woman. Through my work as a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner I am also getting this confirmed time upon time.

Believe it or not: nowadays, I do not suffer any painful cramps. Menstruation has even become a period of the month that I look forward to, since I've made it into a time of deepening my relationship to myself and give myself permission to slow down. So how do we transform our period from horrible to nice?

Here's my recipe:

1. Deal with the underlying causes to menstrual pain

The most common cause of menstrual pain is a situation of chronic inflammation in the body, since inflammation cause an excess production of prostaglandins in the uterus. Simplified, prostaglandins are hormone-like substances which cause muscle contractions. They help the uterine muscle contract, so that it can push out the endometrium (uterine lining) and blood during menstruation. Though when they are produced in excess, it creates painful cramps. Chronic inflammation can appear due to many causes, some example being; exposure to allergens, an inflammatory diet, and unbalanced gut health. Likewise, the solution for healing chronic inflammation will be individual for every women (although, more often than not it will start with adapting an anti-inflammatory diet).

Other causes to menstrual cramps can be magnesium deficiency, stress, muscle tension caused by emotional trauma, uterine fibroids, and/or endometriosis.

All of these situations can usually be resolved by natural strategies, or with conventional medicine in combination with natural strategies. Sometimes it is easy to find the solution and deal with the situation by ourselves. Other times the situation is more complex, and we will benefit from the help of a skilled holistic practitioner (preferably one specialized in women's health).

2. Deal with underlying causes to heavy bleeding

In the same way as menstrual pain is a sign of unbalance, very heavy bleeding (which is defined as more than 80 ml during a menstruation) is also telling us that something is slightly out of hand.

A heavy menstruation is often created when the uterine lining has grown excessively thick (creating more material to "bleed out") - which can happen in a situation of too much unopposed estrogen. This can be caused for example by a thyroid problem, nutritional deficiencies, and/or stress. Additionally, the loss of iron caused by the heavy bleeding can worsen the situation, creating a vicious spiral. Other causes to heavy bleeding could be uterine fibroids, uterine polyps, endometriosis, or problems with blood clotting.

Just as with painful menstrual cramps, heavy bleeding can be resolved by finding the root cause of the problem and treat it with diet, lifestyle, nutrition, and other natural remedies - preferably with the help of a holistic reproductive health practitioner.

3. Make space for your menstruation

In many traditions menstruation has been (and is) regarded as a time when women can open up to an even deeper contact with themselves, and because of that they are regard as sacred. This is quite a difference to the menstrual taboos practiced in many modern religions, where women are regarded as "impure" and kept away from spiritual practice during their bleed.

In cultures who operate with a positive menstrual taboo, women often seek seclusion during their bleeding not because they are regarded "impure", but because they want to make space for this deeper contact with their inner world through seclusion and stillness.

When I have the possibility, I like creating this kind of menstrual ritual for myself. My favorite ways of caring for myself during menstruation includes minimizing my workload, turning off my phone, lighting candles, curling up in the bed with my cat, relaxing herbal teas, raw chocolate, light reading, journaling, yin yoga, and meditating.

4. Chart your menstrual cycle

To be able to plan for these kind of rituals, and in order to be able to time preventive actions to avoid pain during menstruation, it is of course crucial that we know when our menstruation is going to come! Now, this is one of my favorite benefits with charting my cycles with Fertility Awareness. When we learn to correctly chart our cycle using fertile mucus and temperature observations, we will most often know very accurately when our menstruation is going to come. No more surprise visits from auntie flow, in other words!

I usually mark in my calendar the days I expect to bleed, and try to keep the two first days as free from obligations as possible. This creates space for me to really relax and use this period as the sacred pause it has the potential to be.

The first time I had a completely pain-free menstruation, I was so amazed - it truly was possible! For every cycle that pass this new way of experiencing my menstruation becomes more and more of the normal. And if I do experience pain, I can look back at the past month and easily identify the cause of it (so that next month, I can chose to take even better care of my body).

I deeply hope (and chose to believe) that our mainstream medical services and our culture overall will soon adapt this new paradigm of menstruation. A time when women are appreciated and honored in all their natural reproductive functions, and where having pain "just because we are women" is no longer regarded as normal.

Some resources:

• Menorrhagia: A synopsis of management focusing on herbal and nutritional supplements, and chiropractic.

• "Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine" - Tori Hudson

• "Songs of Bleeding" - Spider

• "The Wild Genie" - Alexandra Pope

#FertillityAwareness #Menstruation #SelfCare

When I started charting my menstrual cycles 9 years ago, one of the biggest revelations I got was that the "crazy times" that I regularly experienced was quite consistent with my premenstrual period. Further down the road to becoming a Holistic Reproductive Health practitioner another revelation appeared: that such premenstrual problems are not necessarily a natural part of being a woman - but often connected to imbalances in my diet and my lifestyle. I came to the realization that living in a female body is not necessarily a curse, and that my hormonal system is not inherently flawed - but a delicately balanced system that needs my attentive care to function optimally. Nowadays I usually do not suffer from disturbing premenstrual symptoms - and when I do, I usually know exactly what it is that is causing them.

The menstrual cycle is a mirror of our whole-body health, and how the menstrual cycle unfolds is a reflection of things that are going on elsewhere in the body. In holistic reproductive care we look at the whole woman (or other person with a uterus) - body, mind and emotions - to identify the root causes to menstrual cycle problems.

This is usually a complex and intertwined web of causes and reactions - but to simplify things and give you a taste of how PMS can appear, I will present 5 possible causes as separate possibilities in this blog (even if they in reality are much more intertwined and often occurs together).

#1: Progesterone deficiency

The menstrual cycle is governed by the two hormones estrogen and progesterone. Before ovulation, estrogen is dominant and builds up to it's peak level at ovulation. After ovulation, estrogen is supposed to go down and progesterone is supposed to rise and become the dominant hormone. Progesterone is a magical and often forgotten hormone - which works to stabilize the somewhat intense effects of estrogen, and also acts as a natural antidepressant.

If progesterone production is disturbed - or if estrogen levels are too high in relation to progesterone - it can create symptoms of premenstrual anxiety, nervous tension, and mood swings.

Progesterone deficiency is common if we are suffering from whole body health problems like for example thyroid problems or an unbalanced diet, and is also affected by all the other factors mentioned in this blog.

#2: Nutritional deficiencies

For the body to function properly, it needs to be well-nourished with a wide range of vitamins and minerals. This goes for the menstrual cycle as well. Sometimes nutritional deficiencies can be a direct cause to premenstrual problems. Two nutrients that has been shown to play an especially important role in PMS is vitamin B6 and magnesium. But in the end - any nutritional deficiency that affects the body, will also show up as symptoms in the menstrual cycle.

#3: Chronic inflammation

Many diseases, whole body health problems and menstrual cycle irregularities are associated with a situation of chronic inflammation in the body - and premenstrual problems are no exception. Recent research has shown that heightened levels of inflammation in the body is intimately connected to symptoms of PMS. Chronic inflammation can appear due to many causes, some example being; chronic infections, exposure to allergens, an inflammatory diet, and unbalanced gut health.

#4: Stress

There we have it - the one thing we all struggle with, and the one thing that can seem so hard to do something about. It may not come as a surprise that our stress level strongly affect how we will feel in the premenstrual period, and it can sometimes feel hard to imagine how we can reduce our level of stress. But it is a fact that stress affects us much more strongly in the premenstrual period, than it does in the beginning and middle of the cycles.

Some potential strategies for lowering our levels of stress in the premenstrual period are: using menstrual cycle charting as a tool to plan our life, and free up time for self care in the two weeks after ovulation; look at our life and see whether there are any "shoulds" and "musts" that could actually be down-prioritized; creating a daily/weekly routine of self care and mindfulness practice - and keep to it just as firmly as you would keep to any other appointment; cut back (or possibly even discontinue) coffee - especially in the premenstrual period; consider working with a therapist, in order to deal with emotional stress stemming from unresolved trauma (big or small).

#5: "Premenstrual magnification"

"Heh?" - is maybe your reaction to the above headline. And I don't blame you, this is something rarely heard of. It means that the premenstrual period can function as a magnifying glass, magnifying the symptoms of a present health condition or disease. Common health conditions that can be “magnified” premenstrually is thyroid dysfunction, depression, migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and allergies. In the case of menstrual magnification, symptoms will be present the whole cycle - but worsening premenstrually. Journaling and menstrual cycle charting are great tools to asses whether our symptoms appear only premenstrually - or also in other periods of the cycle.

When speaking about PMS it is important to underline that a slight dip in our mood is natural in the premenstrual period - since estrogen and progesterone has very different effects on our mood. This slight dip may appear for some women as a slightly more inwards mood, or more need for alone-time. There are even theories suggesting that a heightened premenstrual sensitivity to things which feels wrong in our lives, is a natural evolutionary trait present in order to safeguard healthy living conditions for ourselves and our offspring. Using our menstrual cycle chart as our tool, we can plan our life to make space for these different moods - and even use them in a way that enriches our lives. But if we have symptoms that are so strong that they interfere with our ability to function in day-to-day life, it can be a good idea to see a holistic reproductive health practitioner or other functional medicine provider to get guidance in identifying the root causes to those problems.

Last but not least, always remember: the menstrual cycle is not meant to be horrible. The female body is not cursed. Our hormones are healthy and life-giving. And with the right attention and care, our menstrual cycle can become a source of great self-knowledge and empowered attendance to our whole body health.

Resources:

• Matus, Geraldine, et. al. (c1987-2014) Justisse College International course curriculum Unit G.

• Rosenthal, M. S. (2001) Managing PMS Naturally: A Sourcebook of Natural Solutions. Prentice Hall Canada.

• Pope, Alexandra (2001) The Wild Genie: The Healing Power of Menstruation. Sally Milner Publishing Pty Ltd.

#PMS #SelfCare #FertillityAwareness

As a Fertility Awareness Educator I am dedicated to providing women (and other menstruators) with high quality information about the menstrual cycle and reproductive health - so that they can become body literate, and use their knowledge when making whatever reproductive choices they might want to make.

Many women I meet at my clinic are suffering from or have suffered side effects from hormonal contraception – often without even knowing that their symptoms could be connected to their birth control. I have also understood that we tend to get little to none information from regular healthcare about how hormonal contraception really works, and what effects it can give.

Therefore, I will dedicate this blog to outlining 5 lesser known facts about how hormonal contraception interacts with our bodies.

#1: The hormones in hormonal contraception are not the same as our own hormones The two main sex hormones in the female body are estrogens and progesterone, and they are produced in the ovaries. The substances in hormonal contraception are ethinylestradiol and different kinds of progestins - and they are different from our bodies' own hormones both in chemical structure and function. Hormonal contraception works by shutting down the ovaries' production of estrogen and progesterone, and thereby replacing two of the body's main hormones with other substances, which are foreign to our bodies. By doing so, we loose the beneficial effect from our natural sex hormones.

#2: Hormonal contraception affects more than 150 body functions

Estrogen and progesterone are involved in many more body functions than those connected to reproduction. Some of them being mood regulation, blood sugar regulation, energy production and immune system function. When we modulate our reproductive function with hormonal contraception, we also modulate all of the other systems in our bodies which are influenced by estrogen and progesterone. That is why hormonal contraception can cause such a wide range of side effects, including: depression, chronic yeast infections, nutritional deficiencies, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and a shrinking of the clitoris (!) - just to mention a few.

#3: The bleeding we have on the pill is not a true menstruation

In most cases, hormonal contraception works by suppressing ovarian activity and inhibiting ovulation. A true menstruation only follows an ovulation, therefore the kind of bleeding that we have while taking most kinds of hormonal contraception is not a true menstruation - but is what is called a withdrawal bleeding. A withdrawal bleeding happens when the synthetic hormones are withdrawn and the body tries to "restart" the menstrual cycle. The common statement that "hormonal contraception regulates the menstrual cycle" is therefor a misconception. A more correct explanation is that hormonal contraception shuts down our menstrual cycle.

#4: Hormonal contraception does not cure menstrual cycle irregularities

When we suffer from menstrual cycle irregularities like heavy bleeding, menstrual cramps, irregular cycles, endometriosis or PCOS - it is usually a mirror of something that is going on elsewhere in our bodies. The menstrual cycle and reproductive function are affected by how all other systems in our bodies functions, including; our immune function, gut function, liver function, stress level, etc. Therefore, problems in the menstrual cycle can be early warning signs of problems elsewhere in the body.

Using hormonal contraception to manage symptoms often leaves the underlying problems untreated - and they might even be aggravated during the time we are medicated. As a result, if the root cause has not been dealt with, the same problems will often flare up - possibly with even greater strength - when we discontinue use of synthetic hormones.

#5: There are natural and effective alternatives to hormonal contraception

The good news is that there are actually sythetic-hormone-free options for managing both birth control and reproductive health. With the sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness we can learn to read our bodies' signs of fertility and infertility. This information can be used as a 99,6% effective birth control method, when learned together with a certified trainer and practiced correctly. And the only side effect it comes with is greater self knowledge and greater body autonomy. When we learn to monitor our bodies with Fertility Awareness, we also get a mirror of what is going on in our body's hormonal system, which can be used as an effective tool for monitoring reproductive health.

If you are suffering from menstrual cycle irregularities, a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner or Functional Medicine Doctor can help you find the root causes behind the symptoms, and guide you towards resolving the problems using strategies including food, nutrition, lifestyle, body-mind work and other holistic approaches.

I want to end this post with acknowledging that in some situations, hormonal contraception might still be the best option. And every person should have the complete and unquestionable right to make whatever choice they deem right for themselves and their bodies.

Any choice that comes from informed empowerment is a good choice, and we should strive for a society where women and other menstruators have all the information they need in order to be able to make such choices.

Resources:

• "Coming Off the Pill, the Patch, the Shot and other Hormonal Contraceptives" - Geraldine Matus and Megan Lalonde

• "Sweetening the Pill" - Holly Grigg-Spall

• "The Pill Problem" - Ross Pelton

• "Yen & Jaffe's Reproductive Endocrinology" - Samuel S C Yen

#HormonalContraception #BirthControl

For the last couple of weeks the fertility tracking app Natural Cycles has been in the lime light, with claims that many women using the app for contraception has instead ended up pregnant.

Natural Cycles is an application where women every day measure and chart their body temperature. Based on data from previous cycle the app will then calculate the likelihood of the woman becoming pregnant on that specific day.

Upon a first look, this might sound like a Fertility Awareness method. But in fact, it is very different. In this blog I will try to explain why.

It's all about the mucus

The problem with methods based solely on tracking one's temperature, is that body temperature can only confirm that ovulation has happened, after it has already happened. Meanwhile, a healthy woman is fertile for several days before ovulation. That is, she is fertile on days when she secrete cervical mucus. Cervical mucus is a magical substance secreted by the cervix (the opening to the uterus, in the back of the vagina), which is needed for sperm to survive and fertilize an egg. In it, sperm can survive up to 5 days and await ovulation – without it, sperm will die within minutes. Cervical mucus travels down from the cervix to the vaginal opening, where a woman can learn to find and recognize it. Cervical mucus is the main sign of fertility we look for when using the symto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness for birth control (or for any other purpose). We combine cervical mucus observations with taking our temperature – but we are aware that the temperature shift occurring at ovulation only can confirm that ovulation has happened – not predict it.

If you were now talking to the the developers of Natural Cycles, this is when they would tell you that they use a cutting-edge algorithm to calculate the days before ovulation when a woman is fertile – so that mucus observations is obsolete. This is where I take on my nerdiest Fertility Awareness educator glasses and tell them: algorithms will never work. Why? Because the female body is not a machine. It is a dynamic process that changes throughout the woman's life.

The dynamic cycle

You might have been charting your cycles for several years, and always had clockwork regular cycles. In this case, Natural Cycles and other fertility calculations might very well have worked out perfectly for you. But even after all those year, something can happen that makes your cycles suddenly change their rhythm. Maybe you are going through a really rough break-up, doing a long journey, or involving yourself in strenuous exercise before your first marathon. All of these are examples of events that can make the most regular cycle get out of hand for a while, since the menstrual cycle is stress sensitive, constantly adjusting to our present life situations. Other causes to why ovulation might suddenly occur earlier or later in the cycle are entering perimenopause, experiencing health improvements, or going through the natural regulation of the cycle happening in the year/s following use of hormonal contraception.

To put it shortly: even if you have clockwork regular cycles, it is very likely that your rhythm one day will change. And when it does, a calculated algorithm will fail.

Since the sympto-thermal method of Fertility Awareness is based on day-to-day observations of tangible physiological signs, and not on calculations, it will flow with you through all these changes. A Fertility Awareness method using direct observations of fertile signs can be used in all periods of life, regardless of how irregular your cycle might be (although, in the case of irregular cycles, guidance by a certified educator is strongly recommended).

But there are other reasons as well to choosing a Fertility Awareness method instead of a calculation app. Fertility Awareness gives you profound empowerment and knowledge about yourself. Through monitoring our physical signs of fertility as a daily practice, we come closer to ourselves in a unique way. Thus Fertility Awareness doesn't only give us a highly reliable tool for birth control and reproductive health management, but it gives us back the power over our bodies and ourselves.

#FertillityAwareness #Apps #NaturalBirthControl

Welcome, dear reader, to my newly hatched blog.

Here I will share my knowledge and experience on topics of Fertility Awareness, holistic reproductive health, and generally everything related to living with a menstrual cycle (or just in a body!). To start with I am want to tell a little bit of my story.

I have a clear memory of exactly when my interest for the female body started. It was during my early teens in science-ed class, where the teacher was showing a movie about the female reproductive system. I remember a picture of the fimbriae (the fringed ends of the fallopian tubes, that picks up an ovulated egg from the ovary), and how I thought it looked like something from a magical underwater world. The movie put me in awe - I suddenly had this new knowledge about a beautiful enchanted world that resided inside of me. From that day on, I would never regard my reproductive body in the same way as before, and it was the start of a journey that 15 years later would lead me to become a certified reproductive health coach.

In my late teens I started practicing yoga and meditation. It deepened my relationship to my body further. I payed a lot of attention especially to what it meant living in a female body, and in which ways women's bodies and sexuality had been neglected in the spiritual and cultural context of the last couple of thousands of years.

At that time I was using hormonal contraception (which I had started using at age 15), but with my growing awareness about my body - and also about our environment - I felt more and more that hormonal contraception just wasn't in alignment with how I wanted to treat my body or the Earth. I started looking for alternative contraception. The answer came in 2009 (when I was 22 years old), sitting in a sauna together with a group of women. One woman started telling us that she used observations of her fertile cervical mucus for contraception. She gave me a book title, and I went home and ordered it immediately. The book arrived, I devoured it in a matter of days - and was completely stunned over the fact that something like this existed; and that nobody had told me about it before! I started practicing it immediately, and has kept on ever since.

It turned out that I was not the only one who didn't know that something like this existed. I started to hold a couple of informal free of charge workshops to spread my newfound treasure. The interest was huge! And soon people started to regard me as a resource on the subject of fertility and natural contraception.

After some years of deepening my knowledge about my body, and deepening my relation to my menstrual cycle, I realized that I wanted to go all in for this work. It was then that I found Justisse College International, and I instantly knew that I had found the education that would take me to my goal of becoming a professional Fertility Awareness Educator and menstrual cycle health coach.

Justisse College gave me a three years educational ride that was like no other period of my life. Intense, beautiful, empowering, enormously developing, and full to the edge of knowledge about the female body. Post-graduation, I feel thoroughly blessed of having had the chance to make such a journey.

I have founded Our Fertility as a platform for spreading the knowledge I've acquired to as many people as possible. Fertility Awareness has brought me so much, and I truly believe it to be a tool for women's global empowerment and rising - something that our world is in eager need for.

Thank you for being part of this journey, and I look very much forward to see where it might take us.

Yours,

Siri Kalla

#FertillityAwareness