Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (24 page)

Even in modern society, where we are cut off from the rhythms of nature, the cycle of ovulation is influenced by the moon. Studies have shown that peak rates of conception and probably ovulation appear to occur at the full moon or the day before. During the new moon, ovulation and conception rates are decreased overall, and an increased number of women start their menstrual bleeding. Scientific research has documented that the moon rules the flow of fluids (ocean tides as well as individual body fluids) and affects the unconscious mind and dreams.
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The timing of the menstrual cycle, the fertility cycle, and labor also follows the moon-dominated tides of the ocean. Environmental cues such as light, the moon, and the tides play a documented role in regulating women’s menstrual cycles and fertility. In one study of nearly two thousand women with irregular menstrual cycles, more than half of the subjects achieved regular menstrual cycles of twenty-nine days’ length by sleeping with a light on near their beds during the three days around ovulation.
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The menstrual cycle governs the flow not only of fluids but of information and creativity. Astrologer Sioux Rose refers to this as our moon dance—our initiation into the feminine dimensions of time. We receive and process information differently at different times in our cycles. I like to describe menstrual cycle wisdom this way: From the onset of menstruation until ovulation, we’re ripening an egg and—symbolically, at least—preparing to give birth to someone (or something) else, a role that society honors. Many women find that they are at their peak of expression in the outer world from the onset of their menstrual cycle until ovulation. Their energy is out going and upbeat. They are filled with enthusiasm and new ideas as well as being quite willing to fold the towels and fulfill their perceived role of helping others. At midcycle, we are naturally more receptive to others and to new ideas—more “fertile.” Sexual desire also peaks for many women at midcycle, and our bodies secrete into the air pheromones that increase our sexual attractiveness to others.
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(Our male-dominated society values this very highly, and we internalize it as a “good” stage of our cycle.) One woman, a waitress who works in a diner where many truckers stop to eat, has reported to me that her tips are highest at midcycle, around ovulation. Another man described his wife as “very vital and electric” during this time of her cycle.

The Follicular and Luteal Phases

The menstrual cycle itself mirrors how consciousness becomes matter and how thought creates reality. On the strictly physical level, during the time between menses and ovulation (known as the follicular phase) an egg grows and develops, while deep within the wall of the uterus circular collections of immune system cells, known as lymphoid aggregates, also begin to develop.
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On the expanded level of ideas and creativity, this first half of the cycle is a very good time to initiate new projects. A researcher friend of mine tells me that she has the most energy to act on ideas for new experiments during this part of her cycle. Ovulation, which occurs at midcycle, is accompanied by an abrupt rise in the neuropeptides FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone). The rise in estrogen levels that accompanies this has been associated with a rise in left-hemisphere activity (verbal flu ency) and a decline in right-hemisphere activity (visual-spatial ability, such as the ability to draw a cube or read a map).
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But this may be offset by the simultaneous peak in testosterone production, which en hances visual-spatial ability while also increasing libido. Ovulation represents mental and emotional creativity at its peak; the FSH-LH surge and the subsequent rise in hormone production that accompanies ovulation may be the biological basis for this. The weeks following ovulation lead up to the menses; this is evaluative and reflective time, looking back upon what has been created and on the negative or difficult aspects of our lives that need to be changed or adjusted. My researcher friend notes that during this part of her cycle, she prefers to do routine tasks that do not require much input from others or expansive thought on her part.

Our creative biological and psychological cycle parallels the phases of the moon; recent research has found that the immune system of the reproductive tract is cyclic as well, reaching its peak at ovulation and then beginning to wane. From ancient times, some cultures have referred to women having their menstrual periods as being “on their moon.” When women live together in natural settings, their ovulations tend to occur at the time of the full moon, with menses and self-reflection at the dark of the moon. Scientific evidence suggests that bi ological cycles as well as dreams and emotional rhythms are keyed into the moon and tides as well as the planets. Specifically, the moon and tides interact with the electromagnetic fields of our bodies, subsequently affecting our internal physiological processes. The moon itself has a period when it is covered with darkness, and then slowly, beginning at the time of the new moon, it becomes visible to us again, grad ually waxing to fullness. Women, too, go through a period of darkness each month, when the life force may seem to disappear for a while (premenstrual and menstrual phases).
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We need not be afraid or think we are sick if our energies and moods naturally ebb for a few days each month. In many parts of India, it’s perfectly acceptable for women to slow down during their periods and rest more. I have come to see that all kinds of stress-related disease, ranging from PMS to osteoporosis, could be lessened a great deal if we simply followed our body’s wisdom once per month. Demetra George writes that it is here, at the dark of the moon, that “life cleanses, revitalizes, and transforms itself in its evolutionary development, spiraling toward attunement with its essen tial nature.”
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Studies have shown that most women begin their men strual periods during the dark of the moon (new moon) and begin bleeding between four and six a.m.—the darkest part of the day.
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Many women have noticed that on the first day or two of their periods, they feel an urge to organize their homes or work spaces, cleaning out their closets—and their lives. Our natural biological cleansing is accompanied by a psychological cleansing as well. Before I went through menopause, I experienced this regularly myself.

FIGURE 3: MENSTRUAL CYCLE (DAYS)

If we do not become biologically pregnant at ovulation, we move into the second half of the cycle, the luteal phase—ovulation through the onset of menstruation. During this phase, we quite naturally retreat from outward activity to a more reflective mode. During the luteal phase we turn more inward,
preparing to develop or give birth to something that comes from deep
within ourselves.
Society is not nearly as keen on this as it is on the follicular phase. Thus we judge our premenstrual energy, emotions, and inward mood as “bad” and “unproduc tive.” (see
figure 4
, page 107.)

Since our culture generally appreciates only what we can under stand rationally, many women tend to block at every opportunity the flow of unconscious “lunar” information that comes to them premenstrually or during their menstrual cycle. Lunar information is reflective and intuitive. It comes to us in our dreams, our emotions, and our hungers. It comes under cover of darkness. When we routinely block the information that is coming to us in the second half of our menstrual cycles, it has no choice but to come back as PMS or menopausal madness, in the same way that our other feelings and bodily symptoms, if ignored, often result in illness.
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The luteal phase, from ovulation until the onset of menstruation, is when women are
most in tune with their inner knowing and with what isn’t working
in their lives
. Studies have shown that women’s dreams are more frequent and often more vivid during the premenstrual and menstrual phases of their cycles.
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Premenstrually, the veil between the worlds of the seen and unseen, the conscious and the unconscious, is much thinner. We have access to parts of our often unconscious selves that are less available to us at all other times of the month. In fact, it has been shown experimentally that the right hemisphere of the brain—the part associated with intuitive knowing—becomes more active premenstrually, while the left hemisphere becomes less active. Interestingly enough, communication between the two hemispheres may be increased as well.
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The premenstrual phase is therefore a time when we have greater access to our magic—our ability to recognize and transform the more difficult and painful areas of our lives. This is one of the reasons why dreams of overflowing toilets, muddy bottoms of ponds, or trapdoors in basements leading to unexplored rooms are so common at this time. Premenstrually, we are quite naturally more in tune with what is most meaningful in our lives. We’re more apt to cry—but our tears are always related to something that holds meaning for us. The many studies of Dr. Katerina Dalton have documented that women are more emotional premenstrually, more apt to act out their anger, and more prone to headaches and fatigue, and they may even experience exacer bations of ongoing illnesses such as arthritis. To the extent that we are out of touch with the hidden parts of ourselves, we will suffer premenstrually. Years of personal and clinical experience have taught me that the painful or uncomfortable issues that arise premenstrually are always real and must be addressed.

Women need to believe in the importance of the issues that come up pre-menstrually. Even though our bodies and minds may not express these needs and concerns as they would in the first part of our cycle—on our so-called good days—our inner wisdom is clearly asking for our attention. One woman told me, for example, that whenever she be comes premenstrual, she worries that the house, car, and investments are in her husband’s name only. When she mentions this to her husband, he replies, “What’s wrong? Don’t you trust me?” I’d call that a premenstrual reality check that needs attention! One husband reported that in the follicular phase of his wife’s cycle, she was great—she was always cheery, kept the house in order, and did the cooking. But after ovulation she “let herself go” and talked about wanting to go back to college and get out of the house more. I told him that these issues which arise premenstrually should be treated seriously, and I asked him to consider that his wife’s needs were for her full personal development. I pointed out that her difficult behavior premenstrually was her way of expressing those needs. She, of course, also needs to learn how to articulate her needs directly.

There is an intimate relationship between a woman’s psyche and her ovarian function throughout the menstrual cycle. Before we ovulate we are outgoing and upbeat, while ovulating we are very receptive to others, and after ovulation (premenstrually) we are more inward and reflective. An astounding study done in the 1930s supports my ob servations. The psychoanalyst Therese Benedek, M.D., studied the psy chotherapy records of a group of patients, while her colleague Boris Rubenstein, M.D., studied the ovarian hormonal cycles of the same women. By looking at a woman’s emotional content, Dr. Benedek was able to predict where she was in her menstrual cycle with incredible accuracy. The authors wrote, “We were pleased and surprised to find an exact correspondence of the ovulative dates as independently determined by the two methods”—that is, psychoanalytic material compared with physiological findings. They found that before ovulation, when estrogen levels were at their highest, women’s emotions and be havior were directed toward the outer world. During ovulation, however, women were more relaxed and content and quite receptive to being cared for and loved by others. During the postovulatory and premenstrual phase, when progesterone is at its highest, women were more likely to be focused on themselves and more involved in inward-directed activity. Interestingly, in women who had periods but did not ovulate, the authors saw similar cycles of emotions and behavior, except that around the time when ovulation should have occurred, these women missed not only ovulation but the accompanying emotions; that is, they were not relaxed, content, or receptive to being cared for by others.
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