Cycle
The menstrual cycle is a major driving force for women’s health and well-being throughout their reproductive years and well beyond. Even so, researchers have only recently started to take periods into account when designing studies; and in every-day life we are only now beginning to distance ourselves from the stigma associated with menstruation. To reclaim periods as a normal and even empowering experience, new approaches to how we view the menstrual cycle are emerging. For example, likening the phases of the menstrual cycle to the seasons of the year.
Cycle
Reproductive-age women experience a menstrual cycle roughly every month. This cyclical process is connected to all the other systems that keep our bodies running and support our capacity for reproduction. The menstrual cycle is sensitive to the other changes that occur in our lives—environmental, emotional, or other.
Cycle
Headaches. Sore breasts. Mood swings. Irritability. Cramps. Fatigue. Trouble sleeping. Bloating. Food cravings. Acne. PMS is not kind.