Menstrual Somatics

Your Menstrual Cycle is a Healing Ally

The menstrual cycle is often viewed through a purely physical lens and is often seen as a limitation to be overcome, while its deeper potential as a powerful healing ally is overlooked. It’s not just about menstruation, but about the intricate rhythm, wisdom, and healing potential woven into each phase of the cycle.

Menstrual somatics is a holistic, body-based approach that supports healing from menstrual and other pelvic pain and trauma by gently guiding you back into relationship with your body and cycle.

It offers a powerful alternative to purely medical or toxic pharmaceutical solutions—especially for those navigating chronic menstrual pain, cycle irregularities, or recovery after gynecological procedures. Unlike conventional treatments that often focus solely on symptom management, this approach acknowledges the whole person behind the diagnosis. Menstrual somatics brings together embodied movement, breathwork, trauma-informed bodywork, and menstrual cycle awareness to support deeper healing.

Instead of viewing the menstrual cycle as a problem to fix, menstrual somatics invites you to read cyclical signals and tap into your body’s innate intelligence.

How It Helps with Menstrual Pain and other Cyclical Challenges

Menstrual pain is often seen as purely physical—but pain can also be influenced by chronic stress, tension, trauma, and disconnect from the body. Menstrual somatics addresses this by:

Rebalancing the Nervous System: Calming the fight--flight—fawn response that can cause cycle disruptions and worsen symptoms.

Releasing Pelvic Tension: Gentle movement and breath techniques help release chronic holding patterns in the pelvic bowl that contribute to menstrual challenges.

Building Body Awareness: Learning to feel subtle cyclical shifts can reduce stress and empower informed lifestyle choices, reducing symptoms.

Reframing Pain Narratives: Through guided practices, education, and enhanced menstrual cycle awareness, clients can shift their relationship to menstrual pain, often reducing perceived intensity and duration.

For those with endometriosis, menstrual somatics provides tools to gently reconnect with your body in ways that feel safe and empowering—even when pain is present.

Support After Medical Procedures

Whether you've had a laparoscopy, hysterectomy, hysteroscopy, fibroid removal, or other gynecological intervention, recovery is not just physical—it's also emotional and energetic. Menstrual somatics can help you:

Reconnect with the Pelvic Bowl: Many people feel numb, disconnected, or unsafe in their body post-procedure. Menstrual somatics gently rebuilds sensation, connection, and trust.

Integrate Trauma and Emotions: Medical procedures can deeply affect the nervous system and also trigger feelings of fear, grief, or loss. This work creates a compassionate space to process medical trauma.

Re-establish Healthy Cycle Patterns: After hormonal interventions or surgical disruptions, menstrual somatics can help your cycle find its rhythm again.

Empower Your Healing: Recovery isn’t linear. With menstrual somatics, you learn to listen to what your body actually needs rather than an arbitrary post-treatment protocol that doesn’t account for your unique constitution and personal history.

Is Menstrual Somatics Right for You?

Whether you’re dealing with endometriosis, painful periods, post-surgical recovery, or other cyclical challenges, menstrual somatics offers a gentle, personalized pathway to healing.

Knowing how to read and honor your cycle and attune your life to your innate rhythm is a primary tool for resolving menstrual challenges and accessing the cycle’s many gifts. Menstrual challenges are rarely purely physical in nature. The cycle is a continuous stress-sensitive feedback loop that reflects not only the health of your body but also your emotional, relational, and even spiritual, well-being.

Evolution and Resilience through the Inner Seasons

The inner rhythms of your menstrual cycle - your “Inner Seasons” mirror the Moon’s 28-day cycle of waxing and waning and the Earth’s seasonal rhythms. Each Inner Season has its own energetic signature and potential, imbuing you with natural strengths and abilities. Each Inner Season also has its shadow which can be consciously met as an invitation into deeper personal evolution and greater wellness.

Every month, the cycle shifts hormones, energy, and emotional states in a way that mirrors the process of neuroplasticity, which is a process of growth and reorganization. When we embrace the full cycle, we can flow with its energy to promote greater physical health, emotional balance, stress resilience, and new personal potential.

1. Spring - Pre-Ovulation (“Follicular Phase”). A Time for New Beginnings: Tenderness, Ideation, Focus, Play and Experimentation (Me)
   During Inner Spring, estrogen rises, bringing clarity, creativity, and an increased ability to focus. This phase offers an opportunity for renewal and personal growth, making it a powerful time for rewiring past nervous system patterns and setting new intentions.

2. Summer - Ovulation. A Time for Authentically Connecting with the World Around You: Expression, Advancing Priorities, Serving and Cultivating Relationships (You)
   During Inner Summer, estrogen peaks and ovulation occurs, which for many women brings vitality and energy for engaging with the world. This phase is about connecting with others, expressing creativity, and amplifying energy. Your nervous system can benefit from the openness and social bonding that comes with this season. Positive interactions and emotional connections can encourage growth and repair, enhancing social resilience and strengthening mental well-being.

3. Autumn - Pre-Menstruation (“Luteal Phase”). A Time for Discernment, Grounding and Reflection: High Creativity, Editing Priorities and Relationships (We)
   In the Inner Autumn, progesterone rises, and it is a time of increasing introspection and emotional depth, and can be highly creative. With proper grounding, it provides an opportunity for nervous system healing by expanding your capacity to simply “be with” the energies of discomfort and disturbance and allow them to transform. This phase fosters emotional intelligence and greater capacity to hold all that life brings your way.

4. Winter - Menstruation. A Time for Rest: Nourishment, Cleansing, Releasing, Insight (Be)

   In the Inner Winter, energy internalizes and the body processes and releases what no longer serves you. You may experience an altered state of consciousness due to changes in body/brain chemistry. By slowing down and allowing yourself to rest and recharge, you rebalance the nervous system and support the body’s innate ability to heal from stress and trauma.