by Aphra Heron, Product Development, Cosmetics Industry, Melbourne, Australia
A few weeks ago I attended an Esoteric Women’s Group presented by Natalie Benhayon, open to women of all ages. The theme of the event was “Nurturing the Woman Within” and it was to launch a new Period App called ‘Our Cycles’.
This App is designed for women to be able to track in detail their monthly, natural body cycles. It has a range of different functions making it appeal to a broader audience, even stretching to men, and also other than women who maybe are just trying to get pregnant.
What was really interesting on the day was, as the crowd of women began to share their experiences with tracking their own natural cycles (whether having periods or not i.e. menopausal), I could feel a bigger ‘theme’ coming to light – by tracking my own cycle the period app becomes a tool to be able to connect all the different parts of my life together, giving me a much clearer sense of my life as a whole, and in addition a cycle of its own.
By making notes of each day in our lives we can bring awareness to what foods we eat, how our sleeping rhythm changes, how we feel, what emotions are present, how we do or don’t honour our bodies and much more…
Since downloading the Our Cycles App for myself and having tracked my period for some time now (using another and different period tracking app), I have found that with this App I’ve established a much greater commitment to myself and all the different things that occur for me each day.
This is all definitely a work-in-progress. Firstly, in the daily and ongoing commitment towards taking time for me and allowing enough space in each day to be able to write comments in the Our Cycles App Calendar. Here I note how my day has been… my feelings, emotions, and also the symptoms in my body and how it may be communicating to me, such as tiredness, tightness, a heaviness or a lightness / freeness for example. Allowing for this ‘me time’ at the end of each day helps me to focus – it’s my gift to me! I note how my self-reflection differs each day and how it can also aid in clarity or insight about a situation which may have occurred, whether that’s in the office, with the kids, or simply at home.
Secondly, I’ve felt myself becoming more responsible with all this new awareness and realisation that has led to the making of some necessary changes in my life, allowing for both a personal and professional growth. I’m really getting to know myself now on a whole new and honest level… and the beautiful thing I find today is that my own sense of self in the world is expanding and growing as I learn more and more about who I am…
It’s all happening!… and it’s actually really enjoyable being able to have a look at where I really am at in relation to other times, i.e. how committed I have been that day to myself, and also to my body. I can look at things as simple as the way I moisturise my skin (gently or rushed), to the way I behave as a career woman (do I give myself enough time or credit, and how I might balance work and children etc.). It’s really cool because each day can bring something new or a new version of something old, but with new feelings and new awareness to keep adding to my own life. Some days things may feel one way and then change another day, and it’s so great to be able to record them in my own personal diary to go back and reflect on. I am also starting to see real patterns and links to the way I feel and act during my monthly cycle – like the way I feel when I am ovulating (sometimes amazing, sometimes painful) or at my period time, or just prior…
The most fun part about all this and the Our Cycles App is that it feels great to be able to link all the different parts of my life (behaviours, food, mood, activities) to my own cycle in my life and to finally take responsibility for who I am and where I fit in the world today, and as a woman. It’s an amazing commitment to my self.
For more info or to download: www.ourcyclesapp.com