How To Make The Best Use Of Your Follicular Phase

Your period is over and you are refreshed and ready to start a whole new cycle with renewed energy and motivation! Yay!

Between your period and ovulation there are about 10 days, give or take, called the Follicular phase.

While ovulation is the pinnacle of energy influenced by a concoction of hormones that are the fireworks of your whole menstrual cycle, the follicular phase that precedes ovulation is a steady rise in estrogen, which comes accompanied by a whole list of "good" feelings: energy, motivation, clear-mindedness, patience, extroversion.

Right at this moment, our bodies know for sure that we are not pregnant, so everything has a green-light.

The follicular phase is the spring of our cycle.

How to approach this phase physically, mentally and emotionally

Just a few weeks ago, during your luteal phase as well as your menstrual phase, I would have said "allow your body to rest", "be gentle with yourself", "don't put too much pressure on yourself".

But now, it's the other side of the coin. This is the moment you've been waiting for, everything you left for later in those previous phases is going to be picked back up right now. You might be bursting with energy and motivation and it's just happening by itself. If you are not yet feeling this burst, you can nudge it a little, give yourself a little push, your body will help you out! Trust it!

But also, listen to your own body, Estrogen might take a few days to begin to rise after menstruation, or you may have other things going on in life that are blocking this energy, so truly listen to yourself.

Is the weather gloomy and cold? Get yourself out there anyway.

Have you been thinking about starting a project?

Writing an essay?

Creating a website?

Doing your taxes?

Going to the gym?

Going out on a date?

This. Is. The. Time.

In most other moments I am all about saying "don't do something you don't feel like doing", but if there are things you must do no matter what, or things that you know you'll be happy you did, do them now.

Most likely, you'll be happy with the results!

(In the luteal phase especially, sometimes it feels like no matter how hard you push, things just don't seem to happen or work out, it's almost as if every luteal phase is a bit of an inner mercury retrograde if you try to go against its energy. During that time, if possible, it's best to just leave these things for later and allow slowness and rest into your life. The follicular phase, however, is the 180 of that, so Get To It!)

What to schedule for this phase

During your follicular phase your hormones give you a little boost in self-confidence, endurance, and pain tolerance, among other things, so scheduling the things I enlist here will just fit smoothly into your inner energy. (The height of these feelings, accompanied by the strongest boost from your hormones is during ovulation, so this list applies to ovulation just as much).

You can obviously still do all of these things in your luteal or menstrual phase, but maybe your patience or tolerance will be slightly lower, or maybe you'll be a little more irritable, which is perfectly fine if you manage your expectations knowing this.

However, if you can control when to schedule these things, the Follicular (and ovulatory) phase are the best for them! This list enlists examples of activities, you can get the idea and add whatever activities you tend to do.

• Presentations or important meetings

• Public speaking

• Marathons or high endurance exercises

• Surgeries, tattoos or piercings

• Parties! Outings! (Do these at any point in your cycle if you are feeling them, but the follicular phase is the most outgoing and extrovertive!)

Now that you know a bit more about what to expect from yourself in this phase or you know that this is the time you can push yourself a little, get out there and do your thing! Time to shine!

If you want to do a deeper dive into your own, unique way of living your menstrual cycle, check out my Womb Cycles Program!

To fully embody this phase of your cycle, listen to my free meditation on Insight Timer, Follicular Phase.

*I am not a medical professional, I am a Transformational Coach interested in knowing and sharing how to connect with our deepest selves and use our menstrual cycles' energies in our daily lives.