Years ago, I went to see a homeopath for the first time. She was kind and motherly and I adored her. She inquired about my menstrual history. “My whole life went to hell when my period started,” I stated. She burst into laughter, muffled an apology, then excitedly wrote down a few notes in my chart. I was confused. Didn’t every woman feel this way? Not exactly, but many have a similar story of this rite of passage, I learned later as I became a health care practitioner myself. Each of us has an experience and interpretation of this major transition, and many of us went through it alone. For me, the transition from being an easy going girl who enjoyed slumber parties and playing softball, mostly unaware of boys, to suddenly becoming a woman ripe with feeling behind an armor of steel and an unquenchable desire to be loved created much turbulence at a tender time.
As a girl matures she will likely experience many conflicting messages around her period. Throughout the ages, a woman’s menstrual blood has been seen as a blessing and a curse, powerful and polluting, divine and something that is tainted in need of purification, cleansing and toxic, both an energetic asset and an unfortunate aspect of a woman’s physiology, something to be controlled or eliminated. I wonder how many women have shouted a “Hallelujah!” to the heavens when a late period finally arrived. Likely, just as many women have shed painful tears as their blood appeared when trying for months, perhaps years to conceive.
The reverence for a woman’s period is captured eloquently in the Chinese word tiangui, commonly translated as menstruation. It describes the menses as a requirement for the reproduction of the human species, connected to an abundance of Kidney Essence and water. It doesn’t include the word “blood” at all, emphasizing the significance the Essence has in the formation of menstrual blood and distinguishing it from the Blood that flows through the rest of the body. “The term tiangui is like ‘heavenly derived Yin type of Water.’ Indeed this is a beautiful way of conceptualizing the monthly occurring menstrual cycle, which so immediately and physically connects female physiology to the cycle of the moon and therefore to Heaven.” (1)
Within a woman’s body, the tiniest of cells are absorbing essential bits of information from the world around her in the form of light, temperature, and vibrations. From her inner environment emotions, diet, stress, and sleep are relaying information back and forth with hormones, neurotransmitters, and more all of which communicate with one another. The larger organ systems use this information to coordinate the formation and movement of Qi (2), Blood (3), and fluids. Around each month if all is happening according to plan, this highly intricate and elegant exchange of information concludes with a menstrual period. Then the whole process begins again. A regular and healthy menstrual cycle can be seen as a cycle of regeneration, where old blood is eliminated and new blood is formed.
Menses is one of the most easily observable and important characteristics of determining the health of a woman’s body during her reproductive years. The color and quantity of the blood (or heavenly water we could say), the frequency in which it flows, symptoms associated with the cycle (migraines, acne, cramps, emotional changes and many more) can point us to therapies that will not only benefit problems of menstruation but also to other underlying disruptions within the body that are not so clearly visible.
Let’s take a closer look at this orchestrated process from an ancient Chinese and modern western perspective to understand how imbalances occur and how they can be corrected for pain-free, regular periods and improved fertility.
Organ Systems involved with the Menstrual Period (4)
TCM Organ Systems of Menstruation
The Kidney System includes the adrenal glands and other endocrine processes and dominates reproduction as it sends Qi and Essence (a substance that underlies all organic life, fluidlike, supportive and nutritive, basis for growth and development) to the Uterus and it is the origin of the meridians which flow through the uterus. If Kidney Qi is deficient, which can come from working long hours, overexercising, and not getting enough rest, then Qi and Blood levels throughout the body will be deficient and menstrual issues and/or infertility may arise. Supporting the Kidney system is essential. Salty foods such as miso and pickled vegetables and seaweed such as nori and wakame nourish the Kidneys. Evening Primrose Oil is high in beneficial gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and is a supplement I often recommend to regulate the menstrual cycle, support Essence, and reduce depression and anxiety.
The Liver System: One of the most important organ systems in respect to the monthly cycle is that of the Liver which stores Blood and provides Blood to the uterus and is responsible for the detoxification of hormones. It also regulates the emotions, preventing them from soaring too high or spiraling down too low. The liver is very affected by stress and overwork and irregular diet and as one would expect, it is quite common for this system to be strained and contribute to painful periods, missed periods, and infertility. Because the Liver system’s main role is the storing of Blood, a deficiency may also manifest elsewhere as poor memory, insomnia, and dry hair and skin. Castor oil packs, root vegetables such as garlic, onions, beets, and the herbs dandelion root and burdock root can assist this system to work more efficiently.
The Spleen System uses digestive fire for distilling food into its essence and forming Blood. For this reason sitting down for warm meals that are real, natural, and include whole foods and limiting fast food, refined sugar, sugar substitutes, and processed foods is essential. If digestion continues to be a problem, addressing the source of the difficulty by taking apple cider vinegar or herbal bitters before meals, taking supplements and herbs that are specific to one’s underlying issues, and having acupuncture can be a great strategy to normalizing the menstrual cycle.
The Heart System manages the circulation of the blood made by the Spleen system and stored by the Liver system and is the home of the spirit. It also nourishes the uterus. As a balanced Heart system ensures a sense of calm, restful sleep, and a focused mind, when this system is out of balance one may experience poor concentration, insomnia, anxiety, and worry. Overwhelming childhood experiences that are still being held within the body often will manifest here and may influence the menstrual cycle later in life. I love Hawthorne to nourish the heart and Passionflower, Hops, and individualized Bach Flower essences and acupuncture to align and support body and spirit.
Phases of the Menstrual Cycle:
The menstrual cycle is like a tide within a woman’s body of Yin (forces that are cooler, darker, moister, contracting) and Yang (forces that are warmer, lighter, dryer, expanding) ebbing and flowing, transforming from one to another; the onset of the period marks the maximum of Yang and the transformation from Yang to Yin while the onset of ovulation marks the maximum of Yin and the transformation of Yin to Yang. (For more in-depth information on Yin and Yang visit here.)
Day 1 to 6 = Day one is the first day of the period. Estrogen and progesterone are very low and the uterus sheds its blood-filled lining. The rapid decrease of Yang that takes place with the onset of the period ensures the growth of Yin and the production of the uterine lining and the follicles. This happens from the end of the period at about day five right through to ovulation.
Day 7 to 13: One of the follicles starts to produce large amounts of estrogen, estrogen levels are high, the uterine lining then grows and the cervix produces fertile mucous. Growth of Yin implies growth of fluids which are manifested by the clear, egg-white-like vaginal secretion that occurs just before ovulation. This phase is an important intersection of Yin and Yang and it influences the whole menstrual cycle. Acupuncture during this time can be useful to bring a healthy transition and improve fertility and decrease PMS symptoms.
Day 14 to 25: Ovulation occurs. If a woman does not become pregnant at ovulation, she moves into the second half of the cycle, the luteal phase—ovulation through the onset of menstruation. Treatment at this time is aimed at regulating the Qi and Blood to encourage the natural movement taking place within a woman. This warming and drying phase of menstruation is the Yang part of the cycle. It is important to support the Yang for a warm uterus to ensure a healthy menstrual cycle and conception.
Day 25-28: Hormone levels drop. Just as we don’t want the womb to be too cool, we also don’t want too much heat. Heat symptoms of PMS often disappear with the onset of the period partly because Yang decreases rapidly as soon as the period starts.
With an understanding of how the menstrual cycle is operating within her body, a woman can sense in a bodily way how she is connected to the cycles occurring in nature; the waxing and waning of the moon, the ebb and flow of the sea, the changes of one season to another. Supporting this cycle through plenty of rest, good nutrition, and the right amount of activity while also giving her body extra attention through herbs and acupuncture when the rhythm begins to get off course will bring balance to her whole being. Regardless of whether she chooses to have children or not have children, taking care of the precious reproductive system can contribute lasting health and vitality for her, families, and generations to come.
- Wilms, Sabine; “Channeling the Moon”, Happy Goat Productions, Whidbey Island, WA, 2019
- The word Qi does not have an equal word in English but “energy” is close. I prefer the way Ted Kaptchuk describes it in his book, “The Web That Has no Weaver” as “matter on the verge of becoming energy or energy on the verge of materializing.”
- Blood, when capitalized in this article, includes what we commonly know as blood and more. From an anthroposophical and Chinese medicine tradition Blood also carries ideas, memories, and what we perceive through the senses. “From a functional Chinese medicine understanding, the qi derived from food and the qi from the breath combine with fluid, then pass through the heart which refines it and imbues it with Shen (spirit). It is the Shen that gives blood consciousness. From this perspective Blood becomes more than the fluid circulating in the blood vessels containing hemoglobin, Iron, and plasma- it is where consciousness resides.” (Freuhauf, Heiner; Heart and Blood Development)
- In Chinese Medicine, the organs refer to the function/process of the organs, not just the form/anatomical structure as is common in western medicine. When referring to the Chinese medicine point of view, I use the term organ system.