Know Ya Flow
Women in flow, share what they know. Hear women's stories of how they've grown, what they know, and how they are living in flow.
Know Ya Flow
5 Ways to Reduce PMS!! Start Embracing Your Period Instead of Dreading it! w/Lauren Barton
My Guide to Help Reduce PMS Symptoms so that you can find more flow in your cycle! Listen as I read my guide (I promise it's theatrical and not boring) while offering some commentary about how to manage some of your PMS symptoms. Unlock the secrets of your luteal phase so that you can start embracing every phase of your cycle :)
DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE HERE
https://laurenbarton.myflodesk.com/tq7xooeu59
Welcome to Know, your Flow podcast, where women in flow share what they know. I'm your host, lauren Barton. Join me as we talk to women and hear their stories on what they know, how they've grown and living in flow. Hello, my love, welcome. This is your guide to reduce PMS. I know for me, I love to be able to listen to something, so I wanted to record this audio to go with your guide that you've just downloaded. So, whether you are more of a visual person or more of an audio person, we have it all here for you. So let me go ahead and I will read to you a guide to reduce PMS. I want to go ahead and start by saying that just because something is common does not mean that is normal, and that applies to a lot of the symptoms and signs that we get in our menstrual cycles, especially in our luteal phase right before our period. That's the phase that we're going to be talking about throughout this whole guide. So this is a guide to reduce PMS, so I'll start by reading the introduction.
Speaker 1:Oftentimes we grow up being told all about PMS premenstrual syndrome. We think that it's a normal part of the whole period situation. It adds to the dread, confusion and the rejection of our bodies. What if I told you that there are things that you can do to lessen a lot of your PMS symptoms? I know that for so many menstruators, not having PMS would be so helpful. Some common signs of PMS are mood swings, feeling upset, anxious or emotional. Bloating, breast tenderness, headaches, tiredness and trouble sleeping are physical signs of PMS. Just because PMS is common doesn't mean that it's normal, necessary or inevitable. So here are five ways to help combat your PMS symptoms so that you can start embracing your period instead of dreading it every single month. So, number one make space for yourself. I'm intentionally putting this one first, because it is the most important thing to do during your luteal phase. I'm not kidding or being cute by saying that it really is so important that you are soft and gentle and loving to yourself during this time. Making the space for yourself, carve out time and space, whatever that looks like for you and your life during this time.
Speaker 1:A lot of times our society confuses needing time to ourself with being crazy and emotional. This is the biggest need of our luteal phase, the phase before a period, the phase which we experience. Pms, is the need to go inward, so just to kind of riff off of that a little bit. What I'm saying here is that a lot of times, our irritability or frustration or anger or annoyance is because we don't live in a society that allows us to have more space during this time. We've also not been told as women that we need more time, more inward time, to ourselves during this period. We are taught that we are the same all the time. We are in a society that doesn't accommodate the needs of women. It accommodates the needs of men. Sorry, but it's true. So a lot of times we have this need to be alone or we have this need to have more space or to slow things down, and we don't have the accommodations that are needed for that.
Speaker 1:So how do you make this a priority for yourself every cycle? If you don't, I guarantee that you are feeling the effects from this, because our estrogen is lower during this time. It can make us feel less compassionate or patient for others. We have less energy to give. This is why the need for alone time is necessary. We have the need for space because our time to create is over, and so the question is how do we make this a priority for ourselves?
Speaker 1:Well, side note, with cycle tracking, we're able to. When we cycle track, we're able to look at our cycle ahead and say, okay, during this phase, during this week, I know for a fact that I am going to be a little bit more irritable, that I'm going to want to be more inward, that I'm going to need a little bit more time to myself, and so we adjust our schedule and we adjust our lives to accommodate that, since the society around us isn't going to, the emotions that we feel before our bleed, while some may be over-exaggerated, can also be truths that can be hard to see, recognize or let go of. During this time, our bleed gives us an opportunity to release and make room for the new. So if every single cycle we're seeing, oh my gosh, this same thing bothers me, we have a choice and we can start to make changes. We can start to see that for what it is instead of calling ourselves crazy, instead of seeing oh, this bothers me every time I'm about to start my period, or this makes me upset, or this conversation needs to be had, or that doesn't sit right with me.
Speaker 1:Normally, what happens if we're not aware of this is these things will happen. Then we say, okay, well, I'm about to start my period, so then, therefore, it's not going to bother me anymore. Oh well, something can really be bothering us and we see it for what it is when we're about to bleed. But we've been taught oh well, you're just crazy before your period. So then our period comes, we bleed, then we get in a better mood and we think, oh well, it all worked itself out. I was just being crazy, gaslighting ourselves and then guess what? It comes back again in the next cycle, in the next cycle, in the next cycle. So we have a choice to be able to see the emotions that we feel for what they are and make changes within our lives, whether that's that we need more space because we need to make more space for ourselves, or whether we actually need to make changes in our lives. That's just a little side tangent. But if we're able to make space for ourselves, then we're able to fully evaluate and feel through the things that we need to feel and be with the things we need to be in, because our bleed gives us an opportunity to release and make room for new.
Speaker 1:So be extra selective about what you let into your life at this time and how you spend your time. It's easy to get congested emotionally and spiritually because of our thoughts and our shit habits whether that's TV, whether that's going to drink at the local bars, gossip, negative self-talk all that can pile up and makes us feel stuck. Simple things like talking less, going to sleep earlier, saying no to plans this is your permission slip to cancel and instead of automatically going off about something that is annoying, you maybe try to breathe, to walk, to dance, to scream and do something to get rid of that. Simple things like this can help us conserve our energy more and be less frustrated and experience some of these PMS symptoms that we feel emotionally. So next we have eat more food.
Speaker 1:As menstruators, your appetite increases during your luteal phase. Make an extra effort to eat more food during this phase. Eating more protein can help with carb and sugar cravings that come up. Remember to eat your breakfast. If you are getting hangry and irritable during this phase, which a lot of us are. This can make PMS so much worse. It's kind of like at the beginning of your cycle we're able to get away with, you know, more like leaf, like salad type stuff or dried foods or fruit, or just kind of get by on that and then your luteal phase hits and it's like whoa, I need warm foods, I need dense foods, and that's totally normal and natural and we should be honoring that. So our luteal phase is a phase to slow down and be more intentional in all aspects, especially when it comes to making sure we're eating enough. Increase your calorie intake during your luteal phase and remember that your luteal phase is your inner fall, so the inner season is your fall. So warm, slow cooked foods such as pot roast, stir fries, soups and dolls can be supportive during this time. To help you feel extra nourished. If you're looking for something sweet, dark chocolate is where it's at. Feel free to indulge in that during this time and after that.
Speaker 1:We have a castor oil pack. I know a lot of people recommend these for liver detox and different detoxing things. So castor oil packs on your womb are awesome for the days leading up to your bleed. Not only are you taking time for yourself and caring for yourself by taking the time to do a castor oil pack, but you're also helping the body's detoxification process. A castor oil pack on your womb can help the process going, especially if you're experiencing stagnation. So if you are, let's say that your bleed is normally on day 30, and it's day 31, 32, and you're like, oh my gosh, can this please come? I am ready for a new cycle to begin. Sometimes a castor oil pack can be so, so, so helpful to get that really going. And so a castor oil pack if you don't know, you can get it on Amazon.
Speaker 1:First off, you have the castor oil, which is really really messy, so you want to be careful with that. Take the castor oil and there's a pack I don't know how else to explain it, but other than like a pack, but it's like a cloth type thing that wraps around your stomach. So you put the oil on and then the cloth lays on top of it and you sit with that for I don't know like 20 minutes or more, however long you want, and that can really help to get things moving within you. It can feel very supportive. You don't want to do this while you're bleeding. Though this is only a PMS thing. You do it while you are bleeding. It's not good. Do not do that, because you're already detoxing. You don't need that extra bit of that. It isn't too much. So that's a castor oil pack.
Speaker 1:Next is receive support. I love this one, because I just love. I love receiving support. This is a perfect time to make appointments for any support that allows you to release any stagnation or things that are weighing you down emotionally or energetically. This also is a perfect time if you want to be around people, to be around that friend that makes you feel supported, to be around that person who's a really good listener to help you get out some of this stuff. Really carve that intentional time to love and be loved during this time. Really carve that intentional time to love and be loved during this time.
Speaker 1:Acupuncture, reiki, mental cycle coaching, breathwork sessions to release any stagnation in the body. It's a really great time for all of those things. So it was like I was saying earlier with the make space for yourself. This is how you would do. This is with cycle tracking and starting to track your cycle. I would say for about three cycles or more, you're gonna start to get the rhythm and the patterns within your cycle and you can see all right. So these are the two weeks where I'm really gonna need support, especially the second week, and so this would be the time to book the appointment. You know again acupuncture, reiki, massage, facial, a walk with a supportive friend that makes you feel good, a hair appointment, any of those things that make you feel loved and cared for this would be a perfect time to indulge in that. It can be really hard sometimes to add things in that are supportive, so it's great to be able to go to someone else who can take care of your body physically and energetic. So what I mean by that is a lot of times we are so overwhelmed by our mind taking over that we're not able to fully take care of ourselves in the way that we need. So sometimes we kind of need somebody else a practitioner, a facilitator to come in, a friend to be able to support us in the ways that would feel good.
Speaker 1:Next on the list is make a conscious effort to not scroll. This one is so hard. I don't know what people were doing before. Maybe they were just watching an excess amount of television, or I'm not really sure. But I know that scrolling during your luteal phase is really easy to get into, so make a conscious effort to try not to scroll.
Speaker 1:During this time. I found that we like to engage in the habits of distraction and so maybe it's not scrolling for you. Whatever, it is for you that you use to self-soothe. That isn't necessarily the best, you know. Maybe that's alcohol, maybe that's too much weed, maybe that's food, maybe that's talking too much. Maybe that's food, maybe that's talking too much, maybe that is excessive exercise, maybe that's sugar, maybe it's fast food, maybe it's caffeine. Whatever it is. That's sort of that you use to self-soothe or distract. A lot of people I know for me is scrolling is mine. So try to make a conscious effort not to do that during this time, because it ends up making us feel worse. It's not good for us. We want to do things that feel mindless, so we end up scrolling away on our phones, which, in turn, can make us feel worse. There could be feelings of wanting to do nothing and escape during this PMS time because our energy is a little bit lower. We don't have that same, want to do new things, want to see new people, good feelings coming through. We're feeling a little bit lower, so we just want to do something. Quote, unquote mindless and like.
Speaker 1:This can be a popular example of a thought pattern that you can have before you bleed Nothing sounds fun, a walk seems like too much effort. Who feels like reading? I can't focus Too much anxiety to focus on reading. Maybe I need a nap more than stimulation or exercise. What stops us from a yoga nidra video or meditation for 20 minutes instead of scrolling? I want to relax, but maybe sometimes I don't want to face some real truths in my life I think that's a really big one too is you want to be able to relax, but our minds are going crazy so we just want to escape, you know, but all of these things feel like too much. Thoughts of I don't have the space, I don't have the energy, sometimes even the awareness that I need to be feeling something deeper. All these thoughts I feel like can come up, and how do we move past them? We have to be able to, little by little, making the right choices that stop us from scrolling or from self-soothing or maybe sitting in the discomfort, knowing that maybe there's some things that I need to look at and take action towards or reflect on or sit with.
Speaker 1:So these are some journal prompts that you can use during this time. If you're a journal girly and you can use them every cycle, you can write them in your cycle tracker, you can kind of look back on them during every luteal phase, every phase that you feel very PMS-y, and see if the answer is the same or if the answer is different. Because, again, a huge part of all of this is noticing patterns and changing the things that are coming up, looking at the patterns, seeing them for what they are, without judgment. We're not judging ourselves, we're not hating ourselves, we're not shaming ourselves and we're not guilting ourselves, but we are able to use a journal prompt and look at the things that are going on and see what's happening.
Speaker 1:So what is it that it's annoying me right now? Does it always bother me or just right now? Does it bother me every cycle? Or is this just situational? What is coming to the surface for me right now? Are there things hanging on in my life that aren't really in alignment? What is coming to the surface for me right now? Are there things hanging on in my life that aren't really in alignment? What do I love about myself? How do I take care of myself? What do I want to let go of this cycle? What is something that I want to call in for the cycle ahead?
Speaker 1:So all of these things can be used as reflective journal prompts. They could be used during your luteal phase, right before your period. They could be used around the full moon or the dark moon, whatever you know you're kind of feeling into at that time and, just taking stock, are there things that are hanging out that are really not in alignment right now? Because during this phase your bullshit tolerance is a lot lower. So during our follicular phase, or ovulation, or our inner spring and summer, a lot of times we can be like, no, I'm good, yeah, that's not really annoying me, that doesn't really bother me, I'm good right now, I'm like whatever, I don't care. And then during our luteal phase, when we really look at it, it's like no, I think every time that I sort of get to this point in my cycle, this thing really does bother me or I really don't like this habit that I have, or this emotion keeps coming up for me.
Speaker 1:And it's worth sometimes even if it's multiple, multiple, multiple cycles maybe looking at and seeing what's going on, because sometimes our cycle can allow us to see things that we're avoiding, things that we've maybe been told forever it's just us being crazy, could actually be real truths in our lives, and that's for you to decide and for you to navigate. But this is just a way to sort of see what's going on. So I hope this is helpful. If you need any additional support, I am here. You can book a connection, call and see if you wanna dive a little bit deeper and I can help you navigate and listen through some of this stuff through coaching. I'd be happy to support you, but hopefully this is a really good starting place to have some tips, some holistic, autonomous tips that you can use to navigate some simple things, some simple little changes that you can use to help navigate PMS a little bit better. Thanks for watching.