period

The Menstruation Phase Of Your Menstrual Cycle

What is happening when you are on your period?period

The first day of bleeding is considered day one of your menstrual cycle. On this day, the hormone progesterone plunges, which causes the uterine lining to shed, AKA “your period”

Each menstrual cycle starts with menstruation (the period). A period is the normal shedding of blood and endometrium (the lining of the uterus) through the cervix and vagina.

A normal period may last up to 8 days, but on average lasts about 3 to 6.

The first day of your period is the start of your menstrual cycle. The reason you might experience menstrual cramps during the first days of your periods is that the uterus lining breaks down and sheds. In order to do this, the muscles of the uterus contract (to help push the blood and tissue down) which can cause cramping.

You begin menstruation- old blood and tissue from inside the uterus is shed through the vagina

Why energy is lower on your period

During your first week, estrogen starts out at its lowest point and begins a steady climb. For the first day or so of this cycle week, the low level of this hormone combined with period-related aches and fatigue may make you a bit quiet and have you preferring to stay close to home.

This is why it is important to rest while you are bleeding. This can be counterintuitive to how society and your schedule is structured. While it may seem less productive for those few days while bleeding, if you allow your body space to rest during this time, your overall productivity will be greater.

What exercise to do when you are on your period

This is a great time to keep your to- do list short, and your calendar clear.

By honouring your body and its rhythms, unwanted symptoms tend to be less.

Simple and gentle movement like yoga, deep stretching, or a walk out in nature are great things to schedule during this time. Strenuous activity should be kept for the other few weeks of your cycle.

 

 

 

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Herbal Medicine During Cold & Flu Season

herbal tea for cold season

Back to school season has arrived, and likely along with it, the influx of cold and flu germs

Herbal medicine is an extremely effective way to help boost your body’s immune system and also help rid the body of pathogenic illness, if and when it does arrive.

Most of us are familiar with the concept of boosting or building up our immune systems.

Have you ever fallen ill and then been advised to load up on Vitamin C, Echinacea, ginseng etc.?

You can understand that those herbs, in theory, would be helping to build up the immune system, so that you get better faster and start to feel better… right?

Let me explain the theory from a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) perspective:

Your body’s immune system is on and in action 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

That’s its purpose, to protect you from bacteria and viruses, otherwise known as external invasions. If, for whatever reason, your immune system is compromised or weak, cold or flu viruses are able to invade into the body and cause illness.

The first step to getting better, would be to rid the body of that outside factor.

Imagine for a moment, a small village, swarmed by villains suddenly. Would you want to get those villains out of the village as soon as possible, or would you want to build up a surrounding wall to lock in the villains with the village people?

This is essentially what is happening when you take immune boosting herbs when you are sick with the cold and flu. You may, in fact, building up and tonifying the illness instead of your immune system, causing you to be sick for potentially worse and longer than you would have been otherwise.

What we want to do, is, first, get the illness out of the body and then, work on restoring our health.

For that same reason, it is always better to be supporting your health and your immune system pre-emptively and pro-actively so that your defense systems in place can the best job they can to protect you.

Herbal medicine offers effective, safe, and side effect free treatment of common ailments like cold, flu, strep throat, sinus infection, cough, and more.

One of my favorite herbal formulas coming into cold and flu season is Immune Defense by Dao Labs. This offers 2 immune boosting herbs, paired with a single herb that helps dispel any pathogens that do try and invade your body’s immune system.

*Herbs to be taken during illness should always be prescribed by a licensed herbalist.