Series Intro: The Female Moon Cycle and Ancestral Wisdom

Raising two daughters, I knew I would eventually be dealing with additional moon cycles. I had no idea how this journey would unfold. Instead of just dealing with these shifts in real-time, I wanted to be proactive and become more educated so that I could lead my daughters through this journey with minimal hormonal swings, acne, and strange weight loss and gain. Instead of dreading their cycle, I wanted my daughters to embrace it and appreciate its wisdom. I had some guidance through my journey but wish I had more.

I began by learning about the phases of the cycle and the best types of foods to nurture the body during each phase, and how important fat and protein are to the female body. I started making a face/body oil that helps keep the skin balanced. I learned about the types of exercises best suited for each phase and that rest is not just a desire but necessary while bleeding.

In addition to this knowledge I was gaining, and still am, I became educated as a doula.

This knowledge furthered my dive into the female body. We are perfectly designed to bring life into this world. However, this current system has brainwashed women into believing that we lack the wisdom and design. We do not. The issue is that this knowledge is not passed down through generations of women as it once was. In a lot of societies, this knowledge and power was unfortunately relinquished to a system designed to control, not empower, and the reason why so many girls and women are confused and uneducated about their bodies from its initiation through the entirety of womanhood. The modern female body faces an unprecedented assault: chronic fight-or-flight stress-disrupting hormones, compounded by a relentless barrage of toxins in our daily environment, making it incredibly difficult to simply exist, much less cultivate the balance required for fertility.

My background includes growing up going to an acupuncturist at the new and full moon. I still go to an acupuncturist to this day, however, not as consistently as I would like. I am in the process of completing Yoga Teacher Training, something I have wanted to do for years. I grew up learning plant medicine and use it every day. We removed a significant amount of toxin from our home growing up, something I continued into adulthood and motherhood. I obtained a Master of Public Health where I learned components of the western medical system. At that time, public health was anti-pharma in a way. Americans are assaulted daily by commercials marketing pharmaceutical drugs. Public health was more about prevention, aiming to limit or eliminate the need for pharmaceutical drugs, very different from today.

The initial purpose of this substack is to extend the knowledge I have gained through my and my daughters’ experience. In addition to giving you our experience, I will be giving the names, websites, etc, to the women from whom I have learned so you may utilize the extraordinary resources they have created. This is in no way designed to give anyone medical advice but to show you there is another way. A way where we take back our bodily sovereignty, and indulge in the wisdom of our ancestors.