Last night, I went out for dinner with my high school bestie for our quarterly check-in. 💖
I really love to drink champagne with her - the bubbles, the giggles, the flow of conversation... it's our vibe!
But.
I'm on Day 23 of my Moon Cycle.
The Luteal Phase.
Third-Quarter Moon. 🌗
The Nurture Phase.
The time of the month when my body needs to rest and detox the most.
She needs me to avoid alcohol during the days between ovulation + menstruation to avoid overloading my liver with toxins, to not flood my system with glucose, allowing her to detox estrogen properly.
Detox? 🤔
This idea of detoxing during the last week of my cycle is a relatively new idea for me... but recent research has come out about the chemicals + heavy metals found in our menstrual blood, which affirms for me why it is so important for us to bleed to detox and detox to bleed. (ooh - just came up with that. love it.)
"Detoxing" + "low tox" is a HUGE can of worms to open (one I love talking about - don't be shy to start the convo with me 😉), so today's thoughts are going to stay focused on alcohol + progesterone + our luteal phase.
Okay, quick hormone review: days 1-15 - our body increases the level of all three hormones (estrogen, testosterone, + progesterone) until they all hit their peak when we ovulate, at which point our body begins to detox the estrogen + testosterone it no longer needs to allow progesterone to shine from days 20-bleed.
When we experience "PMS symptoms" like anxiety, bloating, mood swings, cramping, clotting, fatigue, heavy bleeding days, it's our beautiful body's way of physically telling us that we didn't mind the nurture phase well enough.
She didn't get the chance to fully detox the estrogen.
We didn't mind progesterone. 😢
Those physical reactions in our body is the chemical communication happening inside of us, and we GET TO choose to listen to her when she speaks!
This is the mind-body connection + I believe it's so powerful to have this control over the way we feel - physically AND emotionally!
By choosing to abstain from alcohol last night, I sacrificed feeling the buzz with my friend because I put my body first, I put my "self" first, in order to have a more enjoyable menstruation phase.
Fortunately, bars are now listing fabulously fun mocktails so I don't feel left out. My drink last night was beautiful and I know that my liver is happier today than it would have been if I had enjoyed some bubbles last night.
Next quarter, I have to be sure to schedule my bestie date during my Power Phase so I can drink a glass with her!!
(That's how you sync your life to your cycle 😉)
Wanna read more about detoxing? Check out these posts on Dr. Mindy's website.
Blog post - Detox: Everything You Need To Know About Toxins
Blog post - Here’s how you know it’s time to DETOX
-- Ashley ✌🏻
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