As we come to the end of January 2021, some of us are moving forward in our goals and already seeing great amounts of growth as we take on this New Year and all that it has for us. Some of us are still in deep reflection of 2020 and sorting out where we want to go from here. 

Over the past 4 weeks, I have been teaching more than 70 women in our 30-Day Seed Cycling Challenge about the functions and beauty of the natural hormones of the female menstrual cycles. 

This 30-Day Challenge has been less about Seed Cycling and taking a supplement with promised results of "balance" and life-changing results after "Just 30-Days"; and much more about bringing awareness and reflection to each woman's unique natural cycle. 

This week I reminded the challenge members to STOP and remember not to get overwhelmed in our quest to see a massive change in our menstrual cycles.

Remembering to focus on our mindset:

I have a Good Body, with a UNIQUE natural cycle! 

Don’t label your cycle normal or abnormal, healthy or unhealthy, balanced or unbalanced. It is unique and it is yours. 

We have the choice to Understand it, Embrace it, and Love it! Even though it can at times be challenging. 

Understanding and being aware of where we are in our cycle is the first step in even thinking about "Living in Sync" or Embracing our cycle. 

4 weeks ago most members of our 30-Day Seed Cycling Challenge Group most likely were not open and regularly talking about their natural cycles. But these women (some for the first time) are now shouting out in our Facebook group; #TeamEstrogen and #TeamProgesterone describing the phase of their menstrual cycle they are currently experiencing. 

Each woman is becoming more aware of her natural cycle. Her normal, natural, and unique cycle!

If you have heard of "Cycle Syncing", you may have thought, that sounds like a lot of work! "I’m not cut out for that!" 

Well frankly, I’m not cut out for bad PMS and high anxiety! So I choose to ​lean in and become more aware of what phase of my cycle that I'm in and how the cyclic variation of natural hormones are affecting me. I am then able to maximize my powers in each phase of my cycle instead of working against them and just trying to survive! 

Learning a lot of information and wanting to take all of the massive action all at once will cause exhaustion and burnout. When we choose to make a massive change in our lifestyle we need to pick one or 2 goals at a time and build one more on at a time. This then allows us to know which changes are actually benefiting our system and which changes perhaps are not making a difference at all. 

Step #1
The first step to "Living in Sync" with our natural cycles is to learn how to identify ovulation and tracking it. If you have not yet attended a FREE Ashwood FertilityCare Introductory Session of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System, then we invite you to do so or invite a friend that you know NEEDS this information. (Hint, every woman you know NEEDS this information!)

Next Steps
The next steps for "Living in Sync" are considering what we eat, how we exercise and practicing self-care in each phase of our cycle. This allows us to optimize how we feel and function in each phase!

Want to learn more about what to consider in your nutrition, exercise, and self-care throughout your cycle? 

You can join our 30-Day Seed Cycling Challenge and enjoy all the past 4 weeks of teaching or enjoy this replay video from Week 4 - Living In Sync.

You can even Join in the challenge and complete this week's Action Step

Week 4 - Action Steps - #LivingInSync

​Create a post on any social media account this week and Shout out how you are #LivingInSync with your natural cycle. Please tag @ashwoodfertilitycare in your post.

I'm so excited to see this growing movement of women joining together to normalize ovulation and menstruation! Today we look back and are grateful for the women who fought for women's right to vote. I hope that our daughters will look back and be grateful for how we fought for women's right to live fully in their natural cycles. 

Are you with me!?

No matter how long you have been following my work as a FertilityCare Instructor and Doula, you know that I am passionate about women learning about how their natural bodies work.

In 2012, I was 31 years old, a new mom, and inspired to begin teaching the Creighton Model FertilityCare System. Inspired by my own need to KNOW how my body worked and a natural way to navigate my fertility, I also needed a "part-time" job.

Fast forward, 8 years I wish I had known that this NEED I had in my own heart to KNOW and UNDERSTAND my natural cycles and fertility is in every woman and this knowledge of her true interworking is so very important for her understanding of her identity, her wholeness, and her contribution to our world and the kingdom of God.

I wish I had known that as I began my fertility care work that I was entering into the true "War on Women".

It didn't take long to begin hearing the pleas:

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this sooner?"
"Why didn't anyone tell me the pill had so many damaging effects on my health?" 
"I didn't know there was a reason for my infertility!"

These same questions continued to echo in my ears. 
From 2015-2019 I thought the answer was to create more programs and to promote organizations that promoted a "Pro-Life" agenda. 

Halfway through 2019, I realized that the "War on Woman" was more than fighting for the freedom to ovulate, gestate, and lactate but MORE! The FREEDOM to live in our broken culture as a light in the darkness, fanning my own flame and those around me became my focus. I began offloading roles from my very full plate to prepare for what God was preparing me for. This burning in my heart was a dream that God was cultivating and preparing for me. 
​
As 2020 began and the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread, God met me and blew on my flame. Resources and tools came to keep the fire growing. 

My goal is to focus on WHOLENESS and a Life of FREEDOM to serve the world and our culture out of this Wholeness and not out of burnt-out and depletion of trying to do it all. 

I believe that the solution for our "out of control" world is in the heart of every woman.
As women are the center of life in our world we can fan the flame in each woman in the FREEDOM of growth to WHOLENESS and dignity of her life and the life that can come from her (spiritually or physically). 

I'm excited to share more with you throughout 2021 about my quest for WHOLENESS and equipping you with the resources and tools that have been a fuel to my flame. If you are inspired to explore or begin your journey to WHOLENESS in your womanhood to experience a beautiful life and to inspire this in others I would encourage you to take the WHOLENESS QUIZ. Then let me know how it goes! I would love to hear about your score and what you may have learned about yourself. 

My word for 2021 is THRIVE! I want to THRIVE in every arena of my life and I hope to be an inspiration to you as we travel this journey towards WHOLENESS together.