Your cycle is talking to you — are you listening?
Hey friend,
welcome to my Newsletter, for women, by a woman!
Let’s start at the beginning , quite literally. Before we dive into symptom tracking, food, sleep, or any of the topics we’ll cover this month, I want to talk about something so many of us were never taught to actually pay attention to: our cycle.
If you’re in your late 30s, 40s, or even early 50s and your periods have started doing strange new things , showing up early, running late, getting heavier, getting lighter, or just feeling different.
I want you to know something important: this isn’t random, and it isn’t “just stress.” It’s data. Your body is giving you information.
Here’s what’s actually happening
During perimenopause, ovarian function doesn’t decline in a neat, predictable line, it’s much messier than that… no wonder we call it "The Zone of Chaos”. Perimenopause is the period of physiologic change marking progression toward your final menstrual period, beginning with menstrual irregularities and typically lasting around four years, though the timeline varies a lot from woman to woman. (Source PubMed Central)
What drives those irregular cycles? Early on, FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) levels can fluctuate markedly, and that fluctuation becomes more pronounced as cycles space out. Meanwhile, research tracking women’s menstrual calendars has found that as cycles become irregular, bleeding duration becomes more variable too , with more spotting, longer bleeds, and changes in flow. Cycle length itself shifts over time: short cycles and short bleeding episodes tend to show up more in early perimenopause, while cycles of 90 days or longer tend to appear later in the transition, and generally, increasingly longer cycles signal you’re getting closer to your final period. (Source PubMed + 3)
In plain terms: your ovaries are running out of follicles, the hormonal feedback loop that used to run like clockwork is getting glitchy, and your cycle is simply reflecting that. You are not broken. You are not “too sensitive.” Your body is doing exactly what bodies do during this transition, just not always in the order the textbooks suggest.
Why tracking matters (and it’s not about control)
I know “track your cycle” can sound like one more task on an already overflowing plate. But here’s the reframe: tracking isn’t about controlling your hormones, it’s about understanding your own personal pattern, so you stop second-guessing yourself and start noticing what’s yours. Maybe your cycle shortens before a long one. Maybe spotting shows up two days before bleeding starts. Maybe certain weeks bring more brain fog or more irritability. None of that is something to fix immediately, it’s simply information that helps you (and your provider, if needed) make sense of what’s going on.
This is also genuinely empowering when you go to your doctor. Instead of saying “my periods have been weird,” you can say “my cycles have ranged from 24 to 41 days over the last four months, with two episodes of spotting.” That’s a conversation starter, not a vague complaint to brush off.
A gentle note on the both/and
Whether you eventually explore hormone therapy, herbal support, nutrition shifts, or simply want to understand your body better before deciding anything, tracking your cycle is the foundation either way. There’s no single “right” approach here, conventional or natural. The goal is just to know your own baseline. And if you’re on any medications or hormone therapy already, definitely loop your provider in on any pattern changes you notice.
This week’s gentle action step: Start jotting down your cycle start date, length, and flow, even just in your phone’s notes app. We’ll build on this next week with a full symptom diary, so this is your foundation.
You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to start paying attention.
With you in this,
Chantal
🌸 Feeling like you need more personalized support?
I offer 1:1 sessions where we dig into your specific symptoms, history, and what your body actually needs.
🔒 Want the full protocol?
Paid subscribers get this week’s step-by-step cycle tracking protocol — including exactly what to track, when, and how to use your data to have better conversations with your doctor. Plus the printable cycle tracker worksheet, and access to this month’s live Q&A.
👉 Upgrade your subscription to unlock the full how-to below.
Understanding Your Cycle
Welcome to the paid section, friend. This is where we go from knowing the “what” to actually doing the “how.” Let’s get specific.
1. The Protocol: Your Cycle Awareness Starter Plan
The goal this week is simple: build a clear, consistent picture of where you are in your cycle and what it’s doing. Here’s exactly how to do it.
Step 1 — Choose your tracking tool (today)
Pick one and commit to it for at least 30 days. Options:
A dedicated app (Clue, Moody Month, or even a basic period tracker)
The printable worksheet below
A notes app on your phone
A small journal kept by your bed
There is no “best” option — the best one is whichever you’ll actually open every day.
Step 2 — Record these five things daily (takes two minutes)
Cycle day (Day 1 = first day of proper bleeding, not spotting)
Flow: none / spotting / light / medium / heavy
Dominant physical symptom of the day (one word is enough — “bloating,” “headache,” “tender”)
Mood: calm / irritable / anxious / low / good
Energy: 1–5
Step 3 — Note cycle length at the end of each cycle (if you are bleeding)
When your next period starts, count back. Write down the number. Clinically, perimenopause is identified when cycle length begins varying by more than seven days from your usual pattern — so knowing your baseline is genuinely useful data, not just self-monitoring for its own sake. nih
Step 4 — Add herbal support if relevant
If your cycles have become irregular, notably shorter, or you’re experiencing significant PMS-like symptoms (breast tenderness, mood shifts, bloating in the lead-up to your period), this is where Vitex agnus-castus (chasteberry) may be worth discussing with your provider.
Vitex is believed to work by modulating hormone levels involved in the menstrual cycle — particularly by acting on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in a way that supports progesterone production, while also influencing serotonin and dopamine pathways that affect mood. A real-world cohort study of 1,700 women found that three months of Vitex treatment substantially reduced the percentage of women with irregular cycles — dropping from 9.1% to just 0.1% — and significantly reduced breast tenderness and pain. RuthieharperAmissa
Dosage guidance (always check with your healthcare provider first):
Typical studied dose: 4mg of standardised VAC extract (as in Cyclodynon or Mastodynon) or 20–40mg of dried berry extract daily
Timing: mornings, on an empty stomach
Allow 3 full cycles to assess effectiveness — this is not a quick fix
Not suitable if you are on hormonal contraception, dopamine-related medications, or HRT — always check with your provider
Also consider vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) alongside cycle tracking if mood shifts are prominent. B6 supports serotonin and dopamine production and has been shown in clinical evaluation to help reduce irritability, mood swings, and anxiety associated with hormonal cycle shifts. Typical studied dose: 50–100mg daily with food — again, check with your provider, especially if you’re on any medications. Ruthieharper
What to expect: Within the first two to four weeks of tracking, most women start seeing a pattern they hadn’t consciously noticed before. That alone is calming.
What if you stopped bleeding? Hormones don’t just go away; we are still impacted by their shifts and lowering amounts, so tracking at least other aspects of your “cycle” outside the bleed, can help you see a pattern between Estrogen and Progesterone.
2. This Week’s Action Step
Tonight, before you go to sleep, open whatever tool you’ve chosen and log today as Day One of your tracking — even if it’s the middle of your cycle. Write down today’s date, a rough cycle day estimate if you know it, and one word for your mood. That’s it. You’ve started.
3. Science Spotlight
Researchers have worked hard to map exactly when perimenopause begins and what defines its stages. The Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW) — a landmark multidisciplinary project — developed a detailed map of the hormonal and clinical changes that precede and follow the final menstrual period, dividing the menopausal transition into early and late stages based on cycle patterns and hormone shifts. What this means practically: perimenopause is defined as beginning when cycle length starts persistently varying by more than seven days, and no laboratory tests are needed to confirm it in women over 40 — your menstrual pattern itself is the most reliable diagnostic tool available. CareClinicAalto
Takeaway: Your cycle data isn’t just personal journaling — it’s the same clinical information your doctor uses to determine where you are in the transition.
4. My Client Insight
One of my clients came to me completely convinced something was “seriously wrong” — her cycles had gone from a reliable 28 days to anywhere between 19 and 38 days over six months, and she’d been to her GP twice with no clear answers. We started simply: just tracking cycle length, flow, and one mood note per day. Within three cycles, she had a clear, documented pattern — her shorter cycles were consistently followed by a longer one, and her worst anxiety days clustered in the week before her period every single time. At her next GP appointment, she brought her tracking data. For the first time, she left with a referral rather than gaslighting . Within four months of targeted support, including Vitex and B6, her cycle variability had narrowed and her pre-period anxiety had dropped noticeably. She told me: “I stopped feeling like I was imagining it.” That’s the power of a piece of paper and two minutes a day.
BONUS POST : Tracking with the Moon When You No Longer Have a Cycle
Menopause and Post Menopause women, did you really think I forgot about you?
A paid subscriber exclusive — for every woman in this community, whether she’s still bleeding, bleeding irregularly, or has left her cycle behind entirely.
First — a note to my postmenopausal readers
If you’ve already crossed into postmenopause, you might have read this week’s moon tracking content and thought: “That’s lovely, Chantal, but I don’t have a cycle anymore. What does this have to do with me?”
Everything, actually. Just not in the way you might expect.
Because here’s what the research shows: the loss of your menstrual cycle doesn’t mean the loss of your rhythmic nature. It means your primary external rhythm, your cycle , is gone, and something else needs to anchor you in its place. And that’s precisely where the moon becomes most useful.
What happens to your body’s rhythms after menopause
Your body has always run on multiple overlapping clocks, your 24-hour circadian rhythm, your monthly hormonal cycle, and subtler seasonal rhythms. When menopause arrives, the monthly hormonal rhythm disappears. But the other clocks don’t, they just become more vulnerable.
Research confirms this clearly. Postmenopausal women show meaningfully reduced circadian robustness and increased rhythm fragmentation, with phase advances of approximately one hour, lower rhythm amplitude, and greater circadian instability compared with premenopausal women. In practical terms: your internal clock becomes less stable, less predictable, and more easily disrupted. Amissa
Melatonin secretion also declines after menopause, postmenopausal women have lower nocturnal melatonin concentrations and shorter secretion durations than perimenopausal women, which further impairs circadian regulation and sleep quality. And circadian rhythms of core body temperature, melatonin, and cortisol all show phase advances in older women compared to younger adults, consistent with the earlier morning awakenings and earlier sleep schedules so many postmenopausal women notice. Amissa Dr. Anna Cabeca
This is the real story of postmenopausal fatigue, disrupted sleep, and that “out of sync” feeling so many women describe. It’s not weakness. It’s a circadian system that has lost one of its key anchors, ovarian hormones, and needs new ones.
Why the moon matters more, not less, after menopause
Without a menstrual cycle to track, the moon offers something genuinely valuable: a consistent external rhythm to orient your body to. Not as a replacement for your hormones, nothing replaces those , but as a reliable environmental cue that your nervous system can use to re-establish some predictability.
Think of it this way. Your circadian rhythm is set primarily by light, specifically, the rising and setting of the sun. Light signals modulate your master pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, through core clock genes that regulate sleep, hormone secretion, metabolism and behaviour across the 24-hour cycle. The moon, as a consistent and predictable light source that changes in a monthly rhythm, is simply the next layer of that same system — a slower, softer version of the light signal your body already uses every day. Nirva Health
Research has found that melatonin levels are measurably lower around the full moon — even in people without a menstrual cycle. The moon is still influencing your biology whether you’re bleeding or not. The question is simply whether you’re conscious of it and working with it. nih
How to use the moon cycle as your new monthly rhythm
For postmenopausal women, I think of moon tracking less as “syncing your cycle” and more as creating a conscious monthly container — a gentle rhythm to organise your energy, rest, and self-care around. Given that your circadian system is more fragile and more easily disrupted post-menopause, having any reliable monthly rhythm to lean into is genuinely supportive.
Here’s how to work with each phase:
🌑 New Moon — Rest, Reset, and Reflect
Your body’s circadian system now craves more rest than it used to. Research shows postmenopausal women have dampened circadian rhythms in sleep — less deep delta sleep, more fragmented nights — compared to younger women. The new moon is your monthly permission slip to go inward deliberately. Schedule lighter days. Prioritise early nights. Use this as your monthly check-in: How is my body? What do I need this month? nih
Support: Magnesium glycinate 300–400mg in the evening supports both sleep quality and nervous system regulation — always check with your provider, especially if you’re on medications.
🌒 Waxing Moon — Build and Begin
As the moon grows, lean into rising energy for planning, starting new projects, social connection, and movement. Your cortisol naturally peaks in the morning — cortisol, which peaks shortly after awakening, is a key biochemical marker of your circadian phase — so this is the phase to work with your morning energy rather than fighting it. Schedule demanding tasks and exercise here. Nirva Health
Support: Protein-rich breakfasts help stabilise the cortisol awakening response and support sustained energy through the day.
🌕 Full Moon — Peak Energy and Heightened Sensitivity
Many postmenopausal women notice heightened emotional sensitivity, lighter sleep, or more vivid dreams around the full moon — and there’s a biological reason for this. Melatonin is measurably lower at full moon, which affects both sleep quality and emotional regulation. Rather than fighting this window, use it consciously: schedule important conversations, creative work, or social engagements here — and protect your sleep environment more carefully during this phase. nih
Support: Reduce screen light after 8pm during the full moon window. Consider a sleep mask. This is when your sleep is most vulnerable to disruption, so protecting it matters most.
🌘 Waning Moon — Release, Restore, and Integrate
As the moon retreats, mirror it. This is your monthly window for letting go — decluttering, completing unfinished things, reducing your schedule, and doing restorative rather than vigorous movement. Postmenopausal nervous systems genuinely benefit from deliberate downregulation, and this phase offers a natural rhythm to do it within.
Support: Adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha (300–600mg of root extract, standardised to withanolides) have good evidence for supporting cortisol regulation and stress resilience in this population — but always discuss with your healthcare provider before starting, particularly if you have thyroid conditions or are on medications.
Your postmenopause moon tracking practice
Instead of tracking cycle day and flow, here’s what to track alongside the moon phase each day:
Energy — 1 to 5
Sleep quality — 1 to 5
Mood — one word
One physical note — anything notable (joint stiffness, bloating, headache, calm)
Do this for one full lunar month — 29 days. At the end, look back. Most women are surprised to find a pattern they hadn’t noticed before — even without a menstrual cycle, the body still pulses.
This week’s action step
Look up tonight’s moon phase and write it down alongside how you feel today — energy, mood, one physical note. That’s Day One of your new monthly rhythm. You don’t need a cycle to be cyclical.
Science Spotlight
One of the most important findings in postmenopausal research is how much circadian stability matters for quality of life. Studies using polysomnography, wrist temperature, cortisol profiles, and rest-activity cycles confirm that postmenopausal women experience measurably greater circadian instability than premenopausal women — and this instability underlies many of the symptoms that feel most disruptive: poor sleep, afternoon energy crashes, mood fragility, and early waking. The good news is that circadian rhythms are responsive to environmental cues — light, routine, and rhythm. Working consciously with the moon’s monthly cycle is a low-cost, zero-risk way to give your body an additional external rhythm to anchor to. Amissa
Takeaway: You don’t need a period to be a cyclical being. Your body is still listening for rhythm — give it one.
Cycling women: DOWNLOAD YOUR WORK SHEET HERE
Meno and Post Menopause: DOWNLOAD YOUR TRACKER HERE
Monthly Extras Reminder
📅 This month’s live Q&A and video are coming in Week Four — mark your diary!
Between now and then, start sending me over your questions as they come up!
The more specific they are, the more useful the Q&A will be for everyone
Want to go even deeper with personalised support? I work with a small number of 1:1 clients each month to build a plan tailored specifically to your hormones, history, and lifestyle.
Book a discovery session →