Rebecca Rankin (00:01):
Stories teachings and guidance. Welcome to the women's moon wisdom podcast with your host, Rebecca Rankin.
Rebecca Rankin (00:18):
Welcome back to the women's moon wisdom podcast. Today. We're going to dive deeper into our inner waxing moon phase. Now let's talk about our inner waxing moon phase or our follicular phase. Now, my guess is that not every one of us listening to this podcast is very familiar with all the phases of our monthly cycle by name, but we definitely can begin to recognize how we feel. And I'm willing to bet that those who have a cycle, like the day after your period ends, I'm willing to bet that you start to feel a bit more energized and even a bit more motivated to get things done. And you can thank the lovely hormone estrogen coming back online and increasing for this. With a boost in hormones and a fresh outlook, you may find yourself saying "yes" to all the things. Just to be clear. Technically the follicular phase of our monthly cycle is from the first day of our period and leads all the way to ovulation.
Rebecca Rankin (01:29):
Then the luteal phase goes from ovulation, right until the next period. And then within the follicular phase and the luteal phases, there are additional kind of phases. Menstruation and ovulation. But all that being said, for our time together, and honestly, for more cyclical living applications, we can kind of break our cycle down into four phases, right. And we use those four phases to just best understand the cyclical shifts that are occurring. All right. So let's back up and look to nature. Let's look to nature for some cues and guidance within the lunar cycle. So the waxing moon phase in the lunar cycle, it's the phase after the darkness of the new moon. It's when we begin to experience more moonlight and we see more of the moon each evening after the new moon. And in a way, the illumination of the night by the moon has this kind outward pull on us.
Rebecca Rankin (02:31):
You can think of it as pulling us out of our shells to see what this next cycle brings. All right. So let's get back to our bodies. So, all right, what is actually happening within the bodies during our follicular or inner waxing moon phase? So our pituitary glands produces FSH, follicle stimulating hormone. And if you listen to the previous episode, you know, that FSH is really hard for me to say . So our pituitary gland produces F S H, which then tells the ovaries to start preparing an egg to be released for ovulation. The follicle that contains the largest and most mature egg then becomes the dominant follicle. And this dominant follicle, which once again is what houses the egg, produces estrogen. And it produces this estrogen to help continue the development of the follicles.
Rebecca Rankin (03:32):
And this is all taking place in the ovaries. So while the follicles are producing estrogen within the ovaries, the uterus is actually then responding to the estrogen by rebuilding the uterine lining that was just shed during the period. So the uterus is then thickening the uterine lining or the endometrium, so that potentially a fertilized egg can implant and grow. And right before ovulation, we actually see a surge in testosterone and estrogen reaches its peak just before ovulation as well, which we'll go more into ovulation and the full moon phase in our next podcast. And to be clear, yes, both men and women produce both estrogen and testosterone just in differing amounts within the body, just to be clear. Okay. So this orchestrated affair is all happening while we just go about our days. And thank goodness, we don't have to think about it. But so what does this all mean as far as our experience?
Rebecca Rankin (04:42):
Right. Well, what does this mean? As far as our experience as a person with female biochemistry? Good question. because after all these episodes that I'm putting out there are to help give you insight into how to navigate life with a bit more grace. So the estrogen rising during our waxing moon phase or our follicular phase, it actually helps boost our brain's ability to plan, to strategize, to solve problems. And with the increased estrogen, it can promote just a more calm and in a way, a little bit more optimistic head space. And the surge of testosterone that we get right before we peak, right before we hit ovulation, it can actually help us enhance our energy, our motivation, and honestly, even our confidence. So with this, the hormonal levels can spark feelings of creativity and make it a great time to start something new or try something new. Estrogen can also help boost our memory, sharpen our focus and, and even just the decision making. Just as an example, if you're anything like me, you might hoard away recipes
Rebecca Rankin (06:01):
for you to try later on, right? This is what I do. I find a recipe or some post on social, and I'll save it. I'll be like, "oh, I'm gonna try this one day." Well, this is the time within your cycle to try those new recipes. You'll just be more open to new experiences, new flavors, because you're just more, you're receptive to new experiences, new things. Or maybe you have that friend that keeps begging you to come with her to a new workout class, right. This would be the time in your cycle to try it out. This is also the time, not only to try something new, but also it's a time to be a bit more social. Now, let's segue and go a bit deeper with movement. I admittedly, I love to have a daily movement practice.
Rebecca Rankin (06:55):
And as far as I've been a movement based teacher for over 15 years, it's just the fabric of my life. It just works well for me. It's how I process my emotions. And honestly, as funny as it sounds, it helps me find stillness in my meditation practice for longer periods. And just in general, honestly just helps me get my work done and feel a little bit more productive. I also recognize that not everyone has the same outlook or even ability to make such a commitment as a daily movement practice. So I honor that, and I know that. Honestly, up until I started living in sync with my cycle through cyclical living, I pretty much pushed myself hard and worked out daily, or even kind of did the same thing daily and expecting to feel the same way, but not. I'd often wonder why one week I was crushing goals. And then the next, I just felt like I was dragging myself through them.
Rebecca Rankin (07:59):
Well, after learning about what is actually happening each week of our cycle, and in the hormones that are at play, and just the brain chemistry that's at play, after learning about these fluctuations within our cycle, I learned how it's necessary then to shift our workouts to align with our cycle to not promote just extra stress in the body and honestly, just to utilize our hormones to our own advantage. Well, after learning that, all that I can honestly say that I do less and get more out of my movement practices now that I align them with my cycle. And, and I'll dive deep into kind of the nuances of aligning your workouts with your cycle in an upcoming episode. But for now, let's just talk about what working out within your waxing moon or follicular phase looks like, kind of at a zoomed out lens.
Rebecca Rankin (08:55):
So with the increase of estrogen, and even the testosterone towards the end of the waxing moon phase, you might feel that energy boost. And so you might feel more inclined to try new workouts and take on even more challenging activities. And workouts that might feel really good are maybe more challenging yoga asana styles, like a challenging vinyasa flow or a hot flow class, or even just a good sweaty HIIT session, a high intensity interval training session. And this honestly would be a great time to do some heart pumping cardio. If you're a runner, this is a great time to do your long runs or even work on your timing and work on doing sprints. And during your follicular phase, give into that friend of yours that just wants you to join her for the dance workout class. Give in to her. Trying something new will feel good, being social will feel good, and it will probably improve your friendship and relationship with each other as well.
Rebecca Rankin (10:03):
Who knows. And I do want to note that how you feel is a huge factor in how you navigate your day to day activities. And a mindset shift that you may notice, or one that you may want to lean into during your inner waxing moon phase is one of think big. Think big. See the big picture during your waxing moon phase. Your brain chemistry in this phase is optimal for just big picture stuff, right? Start new projects. This may be a great time to brainstorm ideas or even work with your colleagues or coworkers on collaborations. And with the boost of estrogen priming us for being a bit more focused, you may feel that you can problem solve with a bit more ease, and even just take a little bit more on during this time. This can be a great time to plan for the coming weeks. You can see the bigger picture with a bit more clarity during this phase and with a bit more energy enthusiasm behind it, you can just start to dream a bit bigger. See the zoomed out picture and dream big into that picture. And I'd love for you, as we wrap this episode up, like within your inner waxing moon phase, like a mindset shift that you can play with is asking yourself, during this phase, "what would it feel amazing to say yes to? "
Rebecca Rankin (11:47):
"What would it feel amazing to say yes to?" So during your follicular phase or your inner waxing moon phase, you're going be more likely to say yes to things. So what are the things that you want to say yes to? So think of it this way in your inner new moon phase, you cleared out, you made room for the new, you got rid of old habits and old thought processes. You cleared things out so that you could have more room for whatever it is. So what is it that you want to say yes to during this phase? What are the big picture things that you want more of in your life? What would it feel amazing to say yes to? And that can be, maybe you're saying yes to more self-care. It means maybe you're saying yes to less. Maybe you're saying yes to a vacation. Right. But whatever it is, you know, as you go through your inner waxing moon phase, and you're more apt to saying, yes, what is it that you actually wanna say yes to? There you have it. This, your inner waxing moon, your follicular phase. Thank you so much for listening. And always share this with your other friends who have female biochemistry. Helping each other out and dispelling the shame, the inconvenience of just being a cyclical being. It feels empowering. So share this with your friends and I'll talk to you in the next episode.
