This stage happens after ovulation and before the menstrual phase. The egg that is released during the ovulation phase stays in the fallopian tube for 24 hours. During this time the lining of your uterus normally gets thicker to prepare for a possible pregnancy or if sperm does not impregnate the egg within that time, the egg disintegrates and ends with the menstrual phase. If you do not become biologically pregnant at ovulation, you move into the luteal phase. During this phase, you quite naturally retreat from outward activity to a more reflective mode.

In this pre-menstrual phase the ruptured follicle secretes progesterone and maintains the uterine lining for possible implantation. The cervical fluid is drier or stickier preventing more sperm entering the uterus.

This is an evaluative and reflective time, looking back upon what is created and on the negative or difficult aspects of our lives that need to be changed or adjusted. It’s a good time to tie up loose ends around current projects in all aspects of life. Getting organized can be a first step in seeing what needs to fall away. What can be let go of during this time? What’s not working for you? How can you let that fall away? Look for moments of release. If you sense any frustration or sadness arising during this time, how can you sit with it and use it to inform next steps? What is the underlying need that is not being met? It’s prime time to dive a little deeper within. You are most in tune with your inner knowing and with what isn’t working in your life.

Physically, the energy is on the decline. Allow for more time for rest and reflection as you prepare for the next cycle. Shift your embodiment practice to reflect what you need at this time, which can vary for each woman. Watch for the moments when you may be pushing too hard. The tendency in our culture is to live in a perpetual state of full moon energy.

Studies have shown that women’s dreams are more frequent and often more vivid during the premenstrual and menstrual phases of their cycles.  Pre-menstrually, the “veil” between the worlds of the seen and unseen, the conscious and the unconscious, is much thinner. You have access to parts of your unconscious self and that the right hemisphere of the brain—the part associated with intuitive knowing—becomes more active Pre-menstrually, while the left hemisphere becomes less active. The premenstrual phase is therefore a time when you have greater access to your magic—your ability to recognize and transform the more difficult and painful areas of our lives.

Pre-menstrually, you are quite naturally more in tune with what is most meaningful in your life. We’re more apt to cry—but our tears are always related to something that holds meaning for us. Years of personal and clinical experience have taught me that the painful or uncomfortable issues that arise Pre-menstrually are always real and must be addressed.

Moon Cycle: The gift of the waning moon is completion, down regulation and organization.

Moon Cycle Sync: When women live together in natural settings, their ovulations tend to occur at the time of the full moon, with menses and self-reflection at the dark of the moon or new moon. Specifically, the moon and tides interact with the electromagnetic fields of our bodies, subsequently affecting our internal physiological processes. The moon itself has a period when it is covered with darkness, and then slowly, beginning at the time of the new moon, it becomes visible to us again, gradually waxing to fullness.

Women, too, go through a period of darkness each month, when the life-force may seem to disappear for a while (premenstrual and menstrual phases).We need not be afraid or think we are sick if our energies and moods naturally ebb for a few days each month. May the wisdom of our menstrual cycle free us.