Cycle Syncing Strategies: The Magic is in the Pause.

[00:00:00] I had to take a break from the podcast last week because as you can hear, my voice is a little funky. It's still a little funky.  

[00:00:08] So today I'm gonna take advantage. 

[00:00:11] A really wonderful conversation I recorded  

[00:00:15] with my friend Briana.  Briana is a cycle sinking coach. So this time we're really looking at how to. Use our hormonal cycles to help us make the most of our time. 

[00:00:33] It's a really interesting conversation. I think you're gonna love it.  

[00:00:37] So a little more. About Briana. 

[00:00:39] we are in a coaching mastermind together. , it's been wonderful to get to know her. She's super smart and just a lovely human. 

[00:00:51] She's a cycle sinking coach who was diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder,  

[00:00:57] also called P M D D, and when that happened, she applied her previous academic research training to find really actionable solutions for her problem. After experiencing the transformation of cycle living, she has committed to helping other women to learn how to harness their menstrual cycle so they can create the life they feel good living. 

[00:01:26] She is truly on a mission to bring the conversation around periods out of the menstrual health space and into the day to day, because when you align your life with your cycle, she says everything gets easier. I really loved this conversation with her. 

[00:01:43] I immediately started talking about it with some of my clients who are trying to schedule some big conversations in their lives, and it's been interesting to just begin to have greater awareness about how our hormones affect our social functioning, our cognitive functioning, and our emotional wellbeing. 

[00:02:07] Super, super interesting. Before I begin the conversation though, I also wanna tell you that in December I will be offering five mini sessions. So those sessions will be 45 minutes long. I'll be offering five of them. You can email me or DM me on Instagram to sign up for one. They're free and I really want them to help you, manage something that's coming up, whether that's, , dealing with stress around holiday functioning, , having a big speech to give for work, or if you're preparing a TED Talk or anything where you really want to show. 

[00:02:53] As your fullest self and you have a project or an event or a situation that you'd like to do a little work around, I'm really excited to take a few Fridays to do that. I look forward to meeting with you if that's something that you wanna do. And if not, spread the word, let somebody know. I, I'd really love to be able to offer this in December as a gift to, to this community. 

[00:03:21] So now that my voice is truly giving way, here is a conversation back when I had a little more vocal power with Brianna Viega. 

[00:03:33] Bree: Do people just call you Bree? Are we just a double Bree? Yeah. . Yeah, .  

[00:03:37] Briana: I usually introduce myself as Brianna, but yeah, all my close family and friends call me Bree. 

[00:03:42] Bree: Me too. although my name really it is just Bree. I always wanted it to be Brianna when I was growing up because nobody had the name Bree. And in, Gaelic, it means like,broth Or something and I thought Brianna just seemed so much nicer. So you have my dream name. .  

[00:04:04] I think Brie probably comes with less spelling questions. 

[00:04:08] Briana: Oh, I don't know.  

[00:04:09] Bree: I Maybe B i B R i E. B r E? Yeah. Okay. So no  

[00:04:16] Briana: people always get tripped. Tripped up on the. For me. Yeah. And the IE thing happens as well.  

[00:04:22] Bree: But yeah, , I'm sure. Well, I am so happy to have you here today to talk about cycle syncing and our schedules. Yeah. I'm so glad to be here. 

[00:04:33] So can you just tell us first, you are a cycle syncing coach. Can you tell us what that is.  

[00:04:39] Briana: Yeah. So what I do is I help women to understand the different phases of their menstrual cycle and how to use that for their benefit. so often we have been fed this message, that, it's a hindrance, it's something that holds us back or something that we just have to deal with and push through. 

[00:04:59] But in fact, it is such a core part of who we are. Physically, it's connected to so many other of our biological systems, but it's also affects the way that we show up in the world and the way that we communicate, the way that, we work, our focus, motivation, energy levels, all of that is tied to our hormones. 

[00:05:21] And so understanding that pattern and how to work with it is just such a game changer for women and menstruators  

[00:05:29] Bree: it's so cool that people have figured that out finally. , Because yes, I would imagine that this was not always an issue for women, for people with ovaries, I'll just say for people with ovaries. 

[00:05:47] that there were certain different cultural standards, different, Ways of working historically that maybe naturally worked with women's schedules. But our sch, our current work week schedule doesn't seem designed for. Or people with over, or people with cycles .  

[00:06:07] Brianna: Yeah, exactly. 

[00:06:08] It's not. but I would say that it is designed for people with cycles just not a female cycle. It is designed with the male cycle in mind. And that is not necessarily something that was like super intentional of if we design it this way, it's exclusive to women. but if you go back, 18 hundreds if you think. 

[00:06:27] Wealthy, white property owners who are deciding how they run their day and how they go about their business. They're doing what they wanna do when they wanna do it. And so it would make sense that those patterns align with their ebb and flow of energy. So if we bring that into the modern workday, if you think about the expectations of how we work, where the idea is that your first few hours in the office are gonna be your most productive and 

[00:06:55] maybe up through lunch, and then after lunch you wanna have your meetings, you want happy hours, networking events. And then, you come home at night and you chill and, get ready to reset for the next day. That perfectly aligns with how male hormones work, where their,testosterone is highest first thing in the morning. 

[00:07:14] So they're primed for performance. They're primed, to do their best in the gym. They're libidos high, they're most productive. But as they start entering into that lunchtime hour and, late afternoon, that testosterone level is dipping and they're more sensitive to their estrogen, meaning that they are leaning more into that sort of social aspect. 

[00:07:35] And wanting to network and wanting to be, more, more social. And so that gives rise to happy hour. and then, think about that sort of typical pattern that we see where men go home and they wanna grab a beer and watch the game. Maybe they want to play video games or maybe it's yard work and they just wanna do some solitary thing where they get to disengage for a little while and decompress because in those evening hours, their hormones are at their very lowest. 

[00:08:01] Granted in the modern work week that isn't always honored either. And that's where we see burnout, for men and women alike, because they're also pushing, their level of productivity or trying to work longer hours more consistently. And so that's also detrimental to them. But the disparity, between men and women in terms of how burnt the rates of burnout, I think a big contributor to that is that 

[00:08:28] men are still on this 24 hour reset in their hormones, whereas women have this 28 ish, day, hormone pattern. So  

[00:08:38] Bree: men are working on a 24 or people who do not have ovaries. Yeah. are  

[00:08:44] Briana: working on a, the male, we can say like the male hormone pattern, the XY  

[00:08:48] Bree: hormone pattern. Hormone pattern is a 24 hour cycle. 

[00:08:52] Is that pretty consistently a 24 hour cycle. But the XX hormone pattern is a 28 day  

[00:09:02] Briana: cycle. Yeah. Approximately 28 days. That again, is that average, menstrual cycle length from one period to the next. obviously there's some variation across people and, there's still a range of normal in that from like 26 to 36 days, like anywhere within that falls into normal. 

[00:09:20] but through that process, Our hormones, ebb and flow from our lowest hormones when we're in our menstrual phase, when we're on our period. And that makes sense, right? That's when we're like, okay, I want less people. I want less demands on me and my time. you're most intuitive during that window, and so you're most clear on what my needs are. 

[00:09:43] Briana: and the boundaries I have set or need to set, and maybe how everyone around you is crossing them, which is where we can get into some of those, the stereotypes that often come with, being on your period or PMSing where there's just this, like the edge isn't softened by our other hormones, which can make it really powerful. 

[00:10:03] One to get that clarity on what we. In our life, what's working for us and what isn't working for us. but also it can be really powerful to use that extra, life force and extra I don't know, energy and just weightiness to how we communicate things in specific situations. 

[00:10:21] Like if there's, you know, a job that you need to quit, you've known for a long time that you need to get out, but you keep, okay, maybe next month kind of pattern. Sometimes leaning into that extra, gumption that you have during your period can be really helpful for you to actually make a clean break and be like, No, this is what I need and I'm done. 

[00:10:40] Briana: So it can be really useful to us, but if we're in this mentality that this phase is oh, we're just hormonal and so we're supposed to dismiss everything that comes up for us as irrational, hormonal, dramatic. We miss out on this really, these really clear messages that our intuition and our inner self is sending us. 

[00:11:02] And the reason that it's like that is because the two hemispheres of our brain are, have the strongest connection point during our period when our hormones are at their lowest, so that subconscious and conscious sides of us are communicating most clearly. And so it's just a really cool, time and just such a cool reframe on something that I think we've been so trained to dismiss. 

[00:11:25] Bree: So it sounds first of all, this is so fascinating. I love, like I'm already getting,I already have written down quit your next job on your period . Yeah. but it just strikes me that if that is the. When we are most intuitive. Love that. I love knowing that. But it also sounds like it's a time when we can be a little bit reactive. 

[00:11:48] Would you use that term?  

[00:11:50] Briana: Yeah, and it def definitely if you experience PMs as well, like that reactivity, because again, it's like I know exactly what I need and I'm not gonna sugarcoat it either. There also comes with that of being so clear on what you need. There can come like a sense of urgency where I think that reactivity comes from because we know that this needs to happen, but something that needs to happen right now, okay, it's been months and months and I need to quit my job, versus like,I asked you to put the dishes away and you didn't do it. 

[00:12:21] those might feel equally problematic for us at that time. and the dishes might be, a surface to something deeper of like, I've been asking for help for months and months and months, and so now I'm gonna go off on, this one thing. But that's where it's such a powerful time to journal as well and get clear for yourself on is this a right now urgency or is this something that I can identify as something to address and then can use the next phases of my cycle where 

[00:12:52] Briana: the hormones come in to help me be less reactive and more collaborative to actually address that, issue in a relationship or with a boss or coworker, whatever that situation is.  

[00:13:03] So it sounds like this is a really great time to set boundaries to end something to like that. You've already been thinking about that. 

[00:13:12] You have some extra ooph to do that, but maybe it's not the best time to negotiate around.  

[00:13:18] Yeah, definitely. And I think too that identifying what the boundary is and then having that, second piece of is now the time to enforce it, is now the time to follow through, or is that something that needs to be negotiated, like you're saying, in which case there may be better times to negotiate that. 

[00:13:35] Bree: Super helpful. . let's keep moving through the stages then. . 

[00:13:38] Briana: Yeah, so then after your period ends and really in the last few days. So some people, you can be bleeding anywhere from three to seven days. So if it is a full week, it's not necessarily that you're gonna be in this restful intuitive state for an entire week. 

[00:13:52] cuz it just depends on how sensitive you are to that uptick in estrogen, which will start, anywhere from day three of your period, through the end of it. but as that estrogen starts to rise, you also get a boost in serotonin. And I kind oflike to describe this phase as you almost get this hormonal like amnesia where everything that happened on your period is like forgotten. 

[00:14:12] Briana: Or you can see it in a different light. And so that's why doing that journaling is so valuable so that when you come into this higher energy more optimistic view on things. You know how to put that energy towards those boundaries and towards those things you identified in a really productive way, and to start having that negotiation process when you're in a place where you're less reactive and more open to feedback. 

[00:14:39] So that's  

[00:14:40] Bree: from day three of your period.  

[00:14:43] Briana: So that I don't like to get too specific on the exact day. mostly because everyone's cycle is slightly different and also people's sensitivity to those hormones is different. So the idea is as your period's ending, you're gonna start to feel this shift. 

[00:14:57] And what it most often feels likeis that desire to get back to work. Where if on your period maybe you felt a little bit lower motivation, lower energy. When that sort of mental energy where you start to notice like, Ooh, I wanna work on this project, or I want to start doing this thing. and then your physical energy will follow that of, cuz you actually have like more physical energy at that time, lower appetite. 

[00:15:19] So that's like those prime times to be doing like the more high intensity workouts. So when that starts to feel good, that's when you know you've entered that follicular So that's called  

[00:15:29] Bree: the follicular phase. What is the first, Yes, what is the first  

[00:15:32] Brianna: phase when you're on The first phase is called menstrual phase. 

[00:15:35] Oh, that makes  

[00:15:36] Bree: sense. Yeah. And then you have the follicular phase when you can really get things done. .  

[00:15:43] Briana: Yes. And that's a very productive time, but it's also like a big picture focus. So it's a great time for planning, brainstorming, vision, casting, anything that, is not so much nitty gritty, that stuff's gonna feel more annoying at that time. 

[00:16:00] Bree: Do you, hearing that, hearing about vision casting and brainstorming and planning, it also makes me think about the moon cycles. do you feel that, they're related or is there any, ev I know that you are a scientist to that you  

[00:16:15] Are great at collecting and analyzing data. Have you seen any correlation between moon cycles and menstrual cycles? Yeah, so the  

[00:16:27] Briana: research that I've looked at there is, a correlation. The research has been mixed on, how strong that relationship is. But what I found to be the most compelling, that there is something there is that they do find more consistent aligning with moon phases and our cycle where, I think the most common is to bleed. 

[00:16:50] The, New Moon and to ovulate during the Full Moon is that pattern that they're trying to see if that matches, is that it's most often seen to be consistent in more rural areas. So when people are more, connected with nature, more grounded, more, their sleep cycle is following more this natural pattern, they spend more time in the moonlight that those tend to sync. 

[00:17:12] But in our sort of modern culture where, we're exposed to lots of blue light, we're on, high levels of stress and different things like that, they don't see that happen as consistently. So I don't think it's something that needs to happen necessarily to be a healthy cycle, but at times it can be reflective 

[00:17:30] of not having a healthy cycle. Like if your cycle has shortened, if it's become irregular, obviously it's not gonna align with the moon in those cases either. and there's research with animals as well that like marine mammals, their cycle is synced with the moon. So there's definitely something there. 

[00:17:46] but there's also various factors that can get you out of sync as well.  

[00:17:51] Bree: I live in a rural area and until. Recently when my menstrual cycle has become a little more chaotic mm-hmm. , , as I approach 50, I have had a pretty well by the moon rather than by the clock. 

[00:18:07] I've had a by the moon menstrual cycle exactly as you described with, with menstruation beginning around the new moon and ovulation happening around the full moon. And and I. relatively little comparatively, light pollution in my area. and also have a house full of windows with no curtains. 

[00:18:29] Bree: So there's a lot of moonlight that comes in. I'm exposed to it all night long. Yeah. and similar  

[00:18:34] I'm  
 

[00:18:34] Briana: sure with the sun, with the more regular, your circadian rhythm is as well, is also going to help, with those, your sleep patterns, making sure you're getting enough sleep and all of that is also beneficial. 

[00:18:45] Bree: I think it's, I, how do I wanna say this? In coaching circles and in just sort of women's circles, there's a lot of woo talk around moon and what to do in about the moon and what to do in different phases of the moon. And so it's really interesting to see where it can tie to. 

[00:19:08] To more evidence based approach to what to do in different parts of our cycles. So really nice of our hormone cycles.  

[00:19:16] Briana: And that's actually something that's commonly recommended if someone is not having their cycle anymore. So like they, they're in their reproductive years, so they would expect to be, but their cycle is at MIA or really irregular to sink with the moon phases to. just give you that framework and start to get your body back in that pattern of honoring those phases and things like that. 

[00:19:39] So that's definitely something that people do use to help on their journey to get their cycle back and to get it healthy and regular as well. They use the moon. Yeah, so setting up, their phases based on moon phases instead of if they can't rely on their own hormonal pattern because their cycles really irregular or they're not having one at all. 

[00:20:03] Bree: Fascinating. So we've gotten through the follicular stage now what's next?  

[00:20:10] Briana: Yeah, so what's next is ovulatory phase, and this is a shorter one, like three to four days cuz the actual ovulatory event happens. it's a 24 hour process, but the hormones peaking is happening over three to four days, and that's when estrogen's at its highest and also testosterone is at its highest. 

[00:20:29] And so what that means is that we are outwardly focused. and we're also the most confident, the most self-assured. We get that boost in libido. our skin is glowing, so we get that ovulatory glow happening, and it's a really great time for communication, collaboration, and creative problem solving. 

[00:20:50] And it's kind of that like golden window of like, if you're gonna do your hardest thing, whether that's a conversation. Or a project, if there's one thing that's needs to happen that month, Ovulatory window is the best time to put your hardest thing and  

[00:21:04] Bree: your most social thing, it sounds like too. 

[00:21:07] Yes. . So that's the time to, make those presentations that you  

[00:21:11] Briana: need to make. Yes. Presentations, Ask for a raise. Those kind of big conversations where you wanna be at your best.  

[00:21:17] Bree: Batch record all of your social media videos, .  

[00:21:20] Briana: Exactly. Yeah. Go live. all of those things are great to do in that window. 

[00:21:25] And then I think on a personal side, if you think back to, menstrual phase, having identified a lot of boundaries or certain boundaries that you want to start to set and enforce, Ovulatory window can be a really great time to negotiate and get because you'll also be able to communicate more clearly at that time. 

[00:21:45] So it's a great time to communicate what your needs are and how other people can actually step in to support you so that when in the next two weeks when you actually need that support more, you're not having that tension of like, Why is no one here supporting me? Why don't I have this? You can start to get that buy in before it's an immediate need. 

[00:22:07] Really  

[00:22:08] Bree: useful. , so what's next after that? af Yeah,  

[00:22:12] Briana: so after ovulatory, the next phase is called Luteal phase, and that's the 10 to 14 days before your next period. And this is when we typically see the most symptoms come up for women are for, uh, menstrual. I don't know. 

[00:22:28] This is, I, I find a hard time with terms in this specific case because it is that like biological level. So it's not a statement on gender, it's really a statement on, XX hormones that are naturally produced by your body. yeah. as a caveat, , but in that window beco. Yeah. So symptoms often pop up the most in this window because of. 

[00:22:51] Our stress response, our cortisol response to triggers is usually heightened. Our caloric needs increase, but usually our food intake doesn't, or when it does, it's through salty, sugary cravings that aren't actually fueling our body well, and so lack of understanding of how to support ourselves. 

[00:23:10] Leading up to and through this phase can lead to that reactivity, and PMs symptoms and bloating that are unpleasant. But what this phase can look like is another window of like high productivity, but more focused on execution, implementation, wrapping up projects, because our focus becomes much more, detail oriented where we start to notice. 

[00:23:34] And we see the gap. So from, follicular phase where we were more, in this like vision and planning mode and optimistic where it's this is gonna be great, this is how we're gonna do everything. When we get to Ludial, we can say Okay, but to get that done, all these little tasks need to happen. 

[00:23:51] those are things like going over budgets and financials or if you've outlined a talk that you wanna give, it's actually going in and scripting things out. Or maybe it's creating. The slide deck and doing the formatting, that detail work, that actually gets it to a complete project.  

[00:24:08] Bree: Thank you for reframing the LAL phase as something that has some positive elements, because I feel like so often we pathologize different stages of our hormonal journey,  

[00:24:23] Briana: yeah, I'm happy to do it. And I'llsay that that's something that's been the, probably the hardest part of the journey for me, considering my own experience with just hormone sensitivity and things where my entire lal phase was just awful. 

[00:24:39] and so I had gotten into a pattern of talking about my good weeks and my bad weeks. and so that's been such a journey. Not only to do that mental reframe, but actually just change my relationship with that part of my cycle as well. And I know that's a struggle for so many others as  

[00:24:54] Bree: well. 
 

[00:24:54] So I am thinking of a couple of things. Number one is I'm reflecting on how detail oriented I get in the days before my cycle, and that sometimes that's how I can tell that. period is coming because I start making lists about everything. it's my list making time, but that also makes me think as I'm really exploring this issue of time, so often when we are scheduling, we do it on a monthly basis, meaning like it's October 1st or November 1st, and so we are looking at the month ahead, the month of October, the month of November. 

[00:25:36] But for people who have cycles, it might be helpful to do some of the reflecting and planning that we typically do at the end of a calendar month around the time of our hormonal hormo. What do we what? What do we call this?  

[00:25:54] Briana: Yeah, during that menstrual phrase, During the period when. 

[00:25:57] Are at their lowest. And that's really like the end of that reproductive process, if you can think about it that way as well, that throughout the month your body's trying to ovulate in preparation for pregnancy and then that either results in a pregnancy or a period. So that is that sort of end of that process before it resets. 

[00:26:16] Bree: Super cool. Super cool. I love that. so helpful. What are some strategies? You've given us a lot of really great information about each cycle and you've told us like what our strengths are in each si in each phase of the cycle too. What are some strategies that we can implement this month , to use our cycles more effectively? 

[00:26:42] Briana: Yeah, so I think the first thing to do is to start tracking cycle your cycle. From this bigger perspective, so not just when your period's coming and not just symptoms of like pain, bloating, mood swings, but have this like bigger picture of what your patterns could be in terms of your energy levels, your motivation, what you want to do. 

[00:27:06] So you know, do you want to do that planning task versus making the list and getting really detailed. It's really recognizing that pattern for yourself. But I think the first thing that you can do and where everyone can start is with the menstrual phase, because that's the one that's gonna be the most easy to identify. 

[00:27:24] And like I said, if you don't have a period right now, and you want to set that up based on the moon phase, so you wanna do that at the new moon, that's one option. and taking that time to journal and identify like.Do you want this next month to look like? And that really is that starting point to help you then kick off. 

[00:27:42] Like how do you set yourself up to, set that boundary or to take on that task that's not working for you? And then who do you need to have conversations with so that. That could be done successfully, right? And that would be around that ob ovulatory time or like end of follicular to have those conversations. 

[00:28:00] And then, the execution that comes in luteal, where then it just naturally leads into this reflection again of, okay, how did that go last month? What do I wanna change or continue moving forward? And I think another, helpful strategy, that I think is really helpful in careers is, again, link. 

[00:28:18] menstrual phase and ovulatory phase are really beneficial. So if you know that in menstrual phase you've asked yourself these big questions about, how are things going in my job? Where am I lacking clarity in my role? What do I wanna learn this quarter? What do I need to know, from my manager or my boss? 

[00:28:35] Briana: And then the next time that your sort of monthly review or whatever comes up with your boss, reschedule one so that it's landing in that ovulatory. So that you're at that place where you can be the most clear in your communication, most confident and least, reactive to feedback. And if you reschedule that one meeting like that will just keep resetting. 

[00:28:57] so that each month you're having that important conversation at that optimal time to do it so that you can continue to move forward and have productive conversations in your career as well.  

[00:29:07] Bree: Do you have any strategies? The meetings that we can't move the ones that are in the wrong time. Like what happens if I'm in the, menstrual phase, we'll say, and I have to give a huge presentation and it's day one of my period. 

[00:29:26] Yeah, no, that's  

[00:29:27] Briana: such a good question and such an important one cuz there is so much of our life that we aren't the boss of . and so when that happens, if it's something that you can't. It has to happen and it, it's gonna require more energy than, you would like it to on that day. What I would recommend doing is, again, looking at your day, looking at your week more broadly and saying, I know this is gonna require more from me, so how do I support myself leading up to, how do I support myself after. 

[00:29:58] And maybe, that weekend, what are you setting yourself up to kind of restore that energy that is gonna be depleted in that. and so even if you can't move that one meeting, there may be other things on your calendar that day that you can either move, delegate, ask for help around those other things. 

[00:30:16] And then there's gonna be days that it's okay, it's just gonna be a full on day. Like I just have to go all out all day. Even finding. Five minute windows in between meetings or in between tasks to do some deep breathing and to pause to, bring your nervous system back into check and to make sure that you are packing snacks, , honestly, what can you eat and fuel yourself  

[00:30:43] Bree: throughout that period? 

[00:30:44] I love it. It all comes down to snacks. You are, a woman after my own heart. We we speak the same language. Snacks. Yeah. You gotta keep that blood  

[00:30:53] Briana: sugar  

[00:30:54] Bree: stable. I have an apple right here that I have been like chomping on. Not during our conversation, but right before I was like, Oh, I need a quick bite 

[00:31:04] totally get it. How, Here's another question for you, because there's still so much, even now, like you just went through all the phases of the menstrual cycle and I didn't know the names of all the phases I took that health class in. Junior high, but I didn't know all the phases and I suspect that part of that is because there's still such sort of cultural shame around talking about the menstrual cycle. 

[00:31:36] Bree: Do you have any strategies for helping people feel more comfortable getting to know their menstrual cycle, talking about it with other people? Having it be a more integrated part of their life.  

[00:31:52] Briana: Yeah, that's a great, that's a great question and it really is a big part of the work I do, cuz like on the surface it's let's make your calendar work for you. 

[00:32:01] But when you actually get to that point of pushing a meeting, Because it's not optimal for you that day or asking for a PTO day because you know that it's gonna be the worst day of cramps and you're just not gonna be effective. When it actually gets down to having those conversations and doing that with other people, that's where that resistance comes up for sure. 

[00:32:24] And so much of it is starting with yourself because you can't change this in society and you can't make other people see it positive. You can't see it positively. And the beauty of that is that's something that you can control. You can do that work to change the relationship with your body. And once you do talking about it, it just changes. 

[00:32:48] It's oh, Iof course I would mention this and it no longer feels weird to be like, for example, I got a text from my sister-in-law last month to go climbing, rock climbing with her and a couple. And I looked at my calendar and I was like, that sounds super fun. I want to come next time, but it's gonna be day two of my period and that's my worst kind of cramp day. 

[00:33:10] So I'm like, I'm gonna, I can't come that day. But I told her that was why. And just like getting into that practice of calling it out and normalizing it because this often happens cuz there's so much stigma that often women don't really talk to each other that explicitly about it. . And when they do, it's usually in this like menstrual phase. 

[00:33:30] oh, we have permission to be bitchy right now. And there's a freedom in that because it's like the one time you don't feel like you're trying to control your image and how you're presenting, but it is trying to work on how you talk about it, how you feel about it, so that even in those conversations with girlfriends, you can start to shift that narrative that it's not all negative, that there aren't these good. 

[00:33:55] Briana: And bad weeks that each of these weeks brings something to the table. Because if you're in high energy, follicular mode all month long, not only is that not sustainable, energetically, but you can also get into a pattern where you're putting all of this energy towards something that's not going anywhere, that's not serving you. 

[00:34:15] So I think about in our career so often we try to stay in that high energy. Or we're gonna just keep pushing for the next promotion, the next thing. And then, you wake up in your mid thirties, your forties, and you're like, I don't like my job. But if we build in this practice of pausing and asking those questions monthly of Is this still the job that I want? 

[00:34:36] Do I have the support I need to be successful here? Those little shifts to either asking for more support, asking for learning opportunities, or making a career transition feel so, More subtle and less like disruptive like you did just wake up one day and change your whole life. And it also allows you to bring people into the process so that it isn't just blowing up your life and others. 

[00:34:59] But it really is this collaborative, and community and it's a collaborative process and one that's done in community as well. 

[00:35:07] Bree: It's so powerful to think of taking the time to pause and reflect. the name of this podcast is Pause to Go. Mm-hmm. , , right? yes, of course you're like getting me right in my heart's face there, but I often think about how there are times when we need to ask ourselves questions. 

[00:35:32] Where we are in life, the quality of our relationships, of our interactions, of our work. Not for, not necessarily for how we are going to act on it, but just to reflect. . So I love that you're using journaling in this and that you're not saying quick take action immediately on whatever you're feeling. 

[00:35:54] In fact, you're saying no , give it some time. and I love that and appreciate it. Are there times though, when we can trust, Because there are times when we have intuitive hits that we need to act on where we need to take action more quickly. Are there certain times in our cycle when we can act on those impulses with a little more confidence? 

[00:36:22] Briana: I think that really comes down to giving yourself permission to trust yourself because at any point in your cycle, you can have an intuitive moment that this relationship is not okay. The situation is not okay, like there's something that I need to remove myself from, or I need to talk to that person, or I need to like, some more proactive, positive version of that as well. 

[00:36:45] Giving ourselves permission to trust it and not being so attached to the outcome either. Cuz if you remove yourself from a situation and it turned out that nothing bad actually happened and you maybe could have stayed, what? Who cares? like just building that practice of trusting yourself. And as you do that, you'll start to be know when you can have that greater confidence that like this. 

[00:37:10] Briana: I need to act on this right now. And so even when it's not like this full pause of like, I'm gonna take a day or two, or I'm gonna take a month to sit on this, you can always pause a minute. you can remove yourself to the bathroom and just take a minute to separate yourself to do some breathing. 

[00:37:27] Again, bring yourself back into your body and answer those questions for yourself. But I think again, like all of these narratives around like something that's so inherent to being female. and having this cycle is just so intertwined and we're told to dismiss that so often, that it often leads to us dismissing ourselves. 

[00:37:46] And so we don't, we just don't have confidence unless we can show on a spreadsheet how we got to that decision. But our intuition is really such a strength, and so learning to trust that you can follow that intuition and explain  

[00:38:00] Bree: it later. . Yeah. Really great. very helpful. How can people get in touch with you? 

[00:38:05] How can they work with you? ?  

[00:38:07] Briana: Yeah, , you can find me on Instagram at Briana Villegas coaching. I'd love for you to DM me. Let me know that you listen to the episode. I'd love to connect. And then anyone who's like,I wanna go deeper. I have more personalized questions. I do offer a free consult for, potential clients. 

[00:38:22] And even if it's just like I need some advice in some direction cuz I'm also happy to direct people to other better resources. Cuz when you get into this hormone conversation, it could go a lot of different ways in terms of what support is needed in that moment. So I'm also helping, I'm also happy to guide people in their journey. 

[00:38:39] Fantastic.  

[00:38:40] Bree: Thank you for all of the wealth of information that you've given us today. I think you also have a free, offering too for people who are interested in doing a little bit more.  

[00:38:52] Brianna: Yes, absolutely. Yes. So I've shared the link, with Bree and what that is as a menstrual cycle tracking guide, and it's gonna help you kind of that 1 0 1 of how to figure. 

[00:39:02] What the four phases are for you based on your cycle length, how to figure out, how long each window is so that you can start planning for it. And I also have included in there, a mood tracker. So if you don't wanna print that out, you definitely don't have to. But I think it's still really helpful to see types of things that you can be looking for patterns in that. 

[00:39:23] Symptoms that aren't pathological, but like how does your energy shift? How does your appetite shift, those other factors. And just to realize how this pattern is showing up, for you already. Because I like to tell people like, You're already living cyclically, it's already happening. and this is just about helping you make that shift so that it's working for you as well. 

[00:39:45] Bree: Fantastic. People can print it out and then track things on paper. Yes. And I think that's really important. Thank you for offering something that people can print out on paper. I know that the young menstrual in my life have been really concerned about all of their tracking devices being online and, worried about privacy issues. 

[00:40:05] Great to have something that they can print up. It's theirs. They can keep it in a private place. They can burn it if they want. They can do whatever they wanna do. Exactly. But, but really helpful. So thank you for that. Briana, thank you for bringing this knowledge to this community. I definitely, I took a lot of notes and I'm definitely going to plan my next cycle. 

[00:40:28] interactions and activity with some of these things in mind, so thank you. Oh, so good. I'm  

[00:40:34] Briana: so glad, and I'd love to hear  

[00:40:36] Bree: how it goes, . Okay, I'll let you know.  

[00:40:39] Here are my key takeaways. Ways from this conversation With Briana Villegas. While the male hormone pattern and the standard workday is based on a 24 hour cycle people who menstruate have hormonal shifts over a 28 ish day cycle and can make lifestyle changes to support our And the menstrual follicular ovulatory and luteal stages. The menstrual phase is not great for negotiating but can be an opportune time for taking action on something that you've been considering for a while. Like making A clean break from a relationship or a job The follicular phase is a productive time That is great for big picture planning The ovulatory phase is a time of outward focus it's optimal for communication collaboration and creative problem solving and the luteal phase is perfect for more detail oriented work like all those little tasks you've been putting off If you find yourself thinking of your weeks as good weeks and bad weeks It may be helpful To keep in mind the strengths Lengths of each phase of our cycles Let's. Let's work together Pathologizing or minimizing the impact of our hormone cycles on our lives