Accessing Greater Self-Energy Through Menstrual Cycle Awareness (MCA)

The menstrual cycle, for those of us who live with it, is not as we have been taught; an inconvenience, something to be tolerated. It is a monthly invitation into embodiment, our emotions, our power, trauma healing, agency and Self-leadership. Yet so many of us have been socialised, implicitly and explicitly, to deny, override, or medicalise these rhythms.

It still surprises me when I think about how I used to relate to my own menstrual cycle. Having spent years in therapy, having a regular yoga practice and believing fully in somatic healing and the wisdom in the body… and yet I barely paid any attention to my cycle. I hear this so often too from the women I work with; we’re all conditioned to regard it with disinterest, disdain, or even shame.

Menstrual Cycle Awareness (MCA) and learning to live in alignment with our natural patterns gives us a doorway into deeper Self energy.

To see the menstrual cycle as simply a biological process is to miss its relational, psychological, and somatic intelligence. If we track our moods, energy, cravings, relational needs, self-criticism, edginess or expansiveness patterns emerge. These patterns are not random and not a result of “just hormones”. They are signs and insights from the inner wisdom with us, that many of us have missed out on due to societal conditioning to be consistent and always on, always productive.

Particularly for neurodivergent people with periods, we are more at risk of burnout, with more sensitive nervous systems and often heightened sensitivity to hormonal changes so it’s all the more reason why MCA is vital.

Hormone shifts across the cycle

Across the cycle, from menstruation to follicular renewal, through ovulation and into luteal contraction hormones shift, but so does our inner system of parts. Energy rises and falls. Boundaries loosen and tighten. Memories and emotions that we have neatly compartmentalised can resurface with visceral clarity. Some phases invite expansion, others retreat; some days invite relational openness, others inward reflection.

Not incidentally, there is also growing psychological research showing that the menstrual cycle affects emotional processing and memory. For example, the mid-luteal phase, the “doorway into deeper feeling” for many, has been linked with more intense emotional memories and psychological symptoms among women with trauma histories. Or in IFS language, our 'exiles' resurface and become more accessible.

For some of us, who carry trauma in our nervous system - exiled parts with old wounds, attachment ruptures, abandonment fears, shame, or unresolved grief - the cycle can have extra vulnerability but with it comes opportunities and invitations to heal if we can tune in and witness what needs to be seen and at the right time.

IFS, Parts, and the Cycle

In Internal Family Systems (IFS), we recognise that we are not one mono-mind, but instead our mind is made up of many parts. There are protectors (managers and firefighters) whose job is to keep us safe, and there are exiles (vulnerable parts holding pain) we’ve learned to avoid or keep at bay in order to crack on. And underlying it all, there is ‘Self energy’: curious, compassionate, clear, calm, creative, courageous, confident and connected (the “8 C’s of Self”).

From an IFS perspective, the menstrual cycle is like a predictable rhythm which brings parts to the fore at different times and, importantly, brings greater access to Self at different times.

When we are in our follicular phase, energy may feel expansive. Managers are often highly active, but in a way that feels comfortable, and productivity feels light. Around ovulation, there may be confidence and connection, yet also critic parts that say, “If I don’t perform, I’ll be rejected.” We may be more socially invested, and more socially available (within our own individual capacity). In luteal phases we feel more deeply. Sometimes with insight and strength, sometimes with crabbiness or exhaustion. And in menstruation itself, many parts that have been in the background for weeks come up for attention, or (if we don’t have space or enough safety) they go into hiding with the help of our protectors.

This is where MCA becomes not just a tool of awareness, but a practice of therapeutic embodiment to support trauma healing.

MCA teaches us to track what is happening in our body - energy, mood, sensitivity, cravings, relational needs - but it also teaches us to attend to our inner responses without judgment. This is nothing new for those of you familiar with IFS and parts tracking: the difference is the rhythm.

When we are attuned to our cycle, we begin to see that:

• Certain parts have seasonality. They show up with reliable timing.

• Some protector parts become louder at particular phases, especially when resources are low, or the nervous system is mobilised.

• Exiles may surface when protectors are fatigued - often in the luteal or menstruation phase and especially when needs are unmet.

Instead of reacting with frustration or shame we can witness and observe. We can befriend and build compassionate connection with these parts of us. When our exiles show up more readily, we can appreciate the opportunity to bring healing to these parts. Keep an eye out for my next post (when capacity allows); practising Self-led menstrual cycle awareness.