A natural rhythm
A natural bodily rhythm, our axle continues whether we're conscious of it or not. Sometimes the premenstrum nudges into our awareness through bloating, irritability or lethargy. Often we're only aware of the bleeding, and any cramping or pain that accompanies it — our period has arrived. Yet, like the seasons, night and day, the circling planets and galaxies, or simply breathing in and out, the cycle continues.
For all women, and for at least half of their lives, menstruation is the most obvious sign of the ongoing hormonal cycle with emotional and psychic changes manifesting in complex and powerful ways. Each menstrual cycle has similarities, while at the same time each one is different — the variables are infinite.
We are always in flux, constant in our changes, steady in our pulsing rhythms. At all stages of the cycle, many subtle (and some not so subtle) changes are taking place within our bodies and psyche. Even without deliberately setting out to track her cycle, by the nature of its rhythms, a woman will be aware of changes, even though many are subliminal. This tunes her in to her body and herself. Women's experience of this is varied, but like the joy a gardener has in the seasons of his garden, or a yogini in the rhythms of her breath, a woman can derive great joy in the rhythm of her cycling body. And many do.
Although individual women's experiences vary, research has shown that women are, on average, significantly more aware of their bodies than men and relate more flexibly to their bodies. The menstrual cycle is probably what gives them this advantage. A woman experiences the rhythmic and profound changes in her body (as well as the even more profound changes of pregnancy, birth and lactation for those who become mothers), as her menstrual cycle waxes and wanes. For men there is no comparable experience. Most men are probably happy enough with this, although some cultures have bloodletting menstrual rituals for men, including a number of Australian aboriginal tribes, the Caraja and Javahe tribes of the Amazon River and the Wogeo from an island off the coast of New Guinea. Blood sports and war have often been attributed to 'menstrual envy'.
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