It was painful periods that first led me to become aware of my womb. What I discovered through the process of healing has been nothing short of incredible.
I’ve journeyed from debilitating menstrual pain to calm and even enjoyable periods.
No drugs. No contraceptives. No biohacks. Just a heart willing to listen to my body’s primal wisdom.
It all began in 2020. The pandemic gave me the rare opportunity to live this exploration deeply. With yoga studios closed, I had no work to attend to, minimal responsibilities, and nowhere I needed to be. I allowed myself to live wholly by my cycle.
This cyclical way of living taught me a few profound truths—primarily that when we choose to honour and respect our inner rhythms, they, in turn, nourish us on every level. I followed the four main phases of my cycle with loving awareness. The journey from excruciating pain to feeling calm and powerful was slow, sometimes deeply challenging, and always deeply rewarding.
Here’s exactly what I did to transform my period pain into a source of power:
The Inner Winter (Menstruation)
During menstruation, I gave myself full permission to rest. I prioritized high-quality rest—which meant reducing external stimuli (giving my senses, and therefore my mind, a chance to settle) and limiting physical movement (spending time in bed, on the floor, doing nothing).
In the beginning, I still experienced uncomfortable and painful symptoms. But I began to realize that my body was yelling at me to pause and simply be. It was craving deep, uninterrupted rest.
I spent entire days in bed—chanting mantra, dozing, dreaming, and doodling. I released the need to do, achieve, or accomplish. This required clear communication with my roommates at the time (my parents), asking for what I needed and preparing ahead of time. It was absolutely worth it.
The Inner Spring (Follicular Phase)
After the stillness of inner winter, this phase felt like a reawakening. I moved my body—dancing spontaneously and exploring movement that challenged my strength.
Mentally, I dove into new challenges and allowed myself to explore ideas and plans inspired by the insights of my inner winter.
This phase was a paradox: it held both vulnerability and resilience. Some days, I needed to hold myself gently. Other days, I followed sparks of curiosity. Occasionally, I teetered on the edge of burnout and had to pause and re-ground. My nervous system often needed extra care, and I leaned into herbal support—lemon balm tea was a favourite.
In this phase, new ideas would often take root and begin to blossom through the rest of the cycle.
The Inner Summer (Ovulation)
I often felt bright and bold during ovulation. My body, mind, and spirit longed for connection.
The menstrual cycle is intimately linked to our emotional health, relationships, and intimacy.
This phase taught me that there’s a naturally encoded time in the cycle to dive into the outer world—into relationships, projects, creations, and connection. Each month, ovulation became a heart-opening experience that helped me explore the balance between self-love and other-love.
Following the natural rhythm of my body’s juices awakened a newfound appreciation for my unique expression of fertility and s*xual power (both in union with myself and my partner).
This was also the phase where I was most likely to forget my cycle awareness. Everything flowed so well externally—it was tempting to stay “out there” and not look inward. I learned (and am always learning) to balance socializing with healthy energetic boundaries.
The Inner Autumn (Luteal Phase)
Ah, my natural home.
The inner autumn felt like a welcome release from the outward energy of the previous phases. My energy would slowly begin to wane, and I would take extra care to meditate, journal, and nourish my body in preparation for my bleed.
Historically, I experienced PMS, but these symptoms began to fade—some months disappearing entirely—as I deepened into menstrual cycle awareness.
It’s been my experience that PMS often arises when we suppress our inner needs, desires, or emotions.
In this phase, my body craved yin yoga, womb yoga, yoga nidra, and pure meditation—simply sitting and being. My inner world would light up again, full of insight and emotion.
Any PMS I did experience was usually the result of overstimulation from the outer world or a neglect of my needs in earlier phases.
Practicing Womb Yoga & Yoga Nidra
Living in full alignment with my cycle revealed a deep yearning for union between body, mind, and energy.
When given the space to just be, the body naturally begins to heal.
The womb itself has an innate intelligence—it knows how to heal, and what’s needed. Surrendering to the wisdom of my body-mind-energy field, I witnessed incredible spontaneous healing.
After a period of practicing Womb Yoga—a form of yoga developed by Dr. Uma Dinsmore-Tuli that blends menstrual awareness with Tantric Yoga— and regular Yoga Nidra meditation, I had a profound experience.
On the first day of my bleed, I entered a dreamlike state. I closed my eyes and turned inward. I could feel the pain in my womb rising upward in a steady stream toward my heart. My heart received the pain and transmuted it.
My body was healing itself.
From that moment forward, I’ve never experienced pain as intensely as I once did. My body knew what to do. The wisdom was already within me.
There were no drugs. No biohacks. Just the healing power of love—made possible, I believe, through the consistent loving attention I gave myself and my cycle.
Turning to Herbal Healers
I came to trust that the Earth provides everything we need.
I opened myself to her blessings and sought the wisdom of herbalists and plant teachers.
Judith Berger, author of Herbal Rituals, first introduced me to raspberry leaf. A native and resilient plant in North America, raspberry grows abundantly and offers its healing freely.
I began steeping raspberry leaf tea nightly. Just water and leaves.
Raspberry is known as a womb tonic, and I have no doubt it played a role in my healing.
This ritual taught me the values of consistency, reverence, and the importance of rekindling our relationship with the plant world, for the sake of our personal and planetary well-being.
Final Reflections
It’s been five years of consistent menstrual cycle awareness.
I now experience my period as a source of power.
I’m no longer bedridden by pain. I no longer plunge into emotional chaos with every bleed—because I’ve been to those depths. I met myself there with an open mind and open heart. And I stayed.
I developed a relationship with myself—my true inner nature—and that relationship is what healed me.
Does my womb still experience mild discomfort sometimes? Yes.
Do I live in a culture that fully supports menstrual awareness? No.
But I’ve learned to create sacred space for my cycle—and that has made all the difference.
Our modern North American culture doesn’t make cyclical living easy.
If every menstruating person were to live fully in sync with her cycle, we’d need a complete overhaul of how we structure work, productivity, and rest.
And yet—we do have individual agency.
Our sovereignty begins within.
Even amidst work, parenting, relationships, and daily stressors, we can choose to witness and honour our inner cycles.
Menstrual cycle awareness doesn’t have to be loud or dramatic. It can be as simple as a whisper:
“Take an extra breath today.”
The level of self-understanding this awareness brings is unmatched.
It’s subtle. It’s life-altering. It’s healing.
Presence itself is a medicine. It allows the parts of us we’ve silenced to return. It invites our womb to be seen, heard, and trusted.
We underestimate just how much—and how deeply—our menstrual cycle touches our lives.
It influences every layer of our being: our body, mind, emotions, energy, and spirit. It is the inner drumbeat of our creative lives. The dance of yin and yang, sun and moon, dark and light.
And yes—some womben are on contraceptives that interrupt their natural cycles. Every person must choose what’s right for them.
My hope is simply to inspire curiosity—to spark deeper questions about what it means to live in cycle, and who we become when we do.
This journey—from pain to power—has become the foundation of my 1:1 work with women.
Through my private mentorship program, Wisdom of the Cycle, I guide women through the same practices and inner awareness that transformed my own life. Together, we explore cyclical living, intuitive movement, menstrual medicine, energetic clearing, and womb-centered embodiment.
It’s tender, powerful work. And it’s rooted in the belief that your body already knows the way.
If this post stirred something in you—curiosity, emotion, longing—you are warmly invited to reach out. Whether you’re navigating painful periods, feeling disconnected from your womb, or simply ready to come home to yourself in a deeper way, this space is for you.
Learn more about the Wisdom of the Cycle Mentorship Program.
Or connect with me directly via this booking link.
Your womb is wise.
Your body remembers.
And healing is possible.
All of it begins with presence.
All of it begins with love.
All of it begins with you.
With Love & Power,
Jaylyn