The Processing Mind

Every runner runs a different race, even if the track is all the same.

Every team needs a good power-forward; you know, the offensive push to the basket, our last line of defense when blocking a layup, the box-out, the rebound, I mean, they’re basically the armed guard of the team. The trick is knowing when to make the pass and when to take the shot for yourself, and it’s the same for the menstrual cycle; you need to find the balance between mind-over-matter and when to stop, pick up your dribble, and let someone else take the dub. 

You see, your body makes up a team. You’ve got enough players to fill the starters, the ones on the bench, even those on the cheer squad. Like, you may not realize it yet but you’re your own hype man, wing man, I mean, jeez man, you’re the man— or woman.

Did I lose you? Let’s start over.

Look, during the course of the month, the menstruating body encounters four different phases: menstruation (our bleeding phase: days ~1-5), follicular (our recovery phase: days ~1-14, yes I know they overlap, I will explain all that later), ovulation (our rise phase: day 15), and luteal (our downfall: days 16-28). The menstruation and follicular phase go hand in hand, despite them basically being the Yin yang of each other in terms of how they typically are supposed to make us feel — we associate the menstruation phase with cramps and fatigue while the follicular phase normally has us feeling on top of the world. So, how does that work? How can they occur at the exact same time?

Well, if you remember how I broke down Red — the name I’ve given the menstruation phase — (and if not, you can find it here), you’d know that we primarily see a drop in three separate hormones such as estrogen (our uterine-lining builder), progesterone (our fertilized egg protector), and serotonin (our “feel-good” mood lifter). 

However, the follicular phase works in the background, reproducing those hormones at a slower pace. We just don’t acknowledge it because, more often than not, we’re too busy tending to all the bleeding. They call it the follicular phase because during this time in the ovary department, the FSH hormone (follicle-stimulating hormone) is released which stimulates the development of — you guessed it — follicles. Follicles are like the soil a seed needs to grow; it surrounds the seed, just like they do our egg-cells, or oocytes. Their job is to mature its designated egg to the extent that when it interacts with sperm, it’s ready and healthy enough to create new life! 

It’s like a track race, everyone’s on the line, when the pistol pops — we run, but it’s not a one speed fits all, someone has to finish last; in this case between the two, it just so happens to be the follicular phase, or with a more personal tone, Föllie. Red begins in the uterus, while Föllie takes place in the ovaries, so two different processes are happening in two different places at the exact same time, pretty cool huh? I mean, the body is way more complex than that, but that’s a different rabbit hole to go down another day.

Now, typically only one follicle is ever mature enough to actually be released from the ovary and out into the vast world that is, the fallopian tube. There it awaits its blind date with what it hopes to be its sperm-mate — Get it? Soulmate? Sperm-mate? Anybody…? Nobody…? Okay, moving on.

Of course, that’s not to say two follicles can’t be released, because they can, that’s how we get fraternal twins; I’m just saying it doesn’t happen often, though I digress. The moment this happens, we have now entered into the ovulation phase of the cycle, or as I like to call her, Ova. Now, Ova is a little bit of a celebrity to the demographic that desires children. She pops in once a month, signs a few autographs, and takes her leave accordingly. Because Ova’s appearance window is so small, it can take several months to see preferable results; in some cases, even years — in others, not at all.

There are a lot of factors that play into it, for instance, some months we can experience what is called anovulation (the process in which a menstrual cycle ensues without the release of an egg). This can occur when the body undergoes stress for an extended amount of time, when we’re overweight/underweight, approaching menopause — the reasons vary. But my main purpose in introducing her is to mention that typically when we enter this phase, we unlock what seems to be the ultimate hormone package!

I’m talking peak estrogen, serotonin, progesterone, testosterone — the dream team. Estrogen boosts our confidence, serotonin regulates our mood and removes the fog, progesterone protects our peace, and testosterone brings the thunder; the fire, the risk, the strength, not to mention, the libido. It’s all there for the taking. 

Sure, it’s fleeting, but that’s why we have our power-forward — Föllie. Föllie is our longest feel-good phase of the month, where the ultimate hormone package is replenishing. They’re still there, and they’re as peak as we allow them to be. There might be days when we need to make the pass for someone else to shoot, like during the first week of Red, but by that second week, it’s all Föllie. 

For me, I feel like I’ve gotten the hang of three out of the four phases of the cycle. Despite the bleeding, I hardly notice the difference between Red and Föllie; to me, they’re just Föllie. But there’s one phase in the cycle I can never seem to get along with — Lucile. Lucile always shows up uninvited, overstays her welcome, and messes with everything I had planned.

But here’s the thing, it’s hard to talk bad about someone you don’t like, especially after finding out where they come from and what it is that makes them who they are. It takes a lot of emotional intelligence and the dropping of the ego, but in the end, I know it’s for the best. Lucile is what we recognize as the Luteal phase, or to put it short, PMS. 

If I’m being honest, I still haven’t forgiven Lucile since we spoke last month. She stole my sleep, my energy, and my patience; she kept me from my blog and the gym, not to mention the fact that here I am, still cleaning up the mess she left behind, only for her to be making another visit here in the next few days, for the next two weeks. 

She’s my least favorite of all the phases and yet easily one of the longest, but of course, everything happens for a reason. So, let’s dive into her purpose.

I’ve gotta hand it to her, Lucile is pretty versatile. She’s essentially the aftermath of a bad blind date (the event where the follicle doesn’t meet its sperm-mate, pregnancy doesn’t occur, and they both go their separate ways which in case you didn’t know, means death for the sperm and reabsorption for the egg — pretty feminist if you ask me); however, Lucile also happens to be the honeymoon destination in the event there’s a wedding (in other words, if the egg does get fertilized by its sperm-mate, then the body gets sent into a more prolonged state of PMS — basically the entire first trimester, which is why it’s known as the daunting first stage of pregnancy). 

So, to summarize, no pregnancy, Lucile stays. And if there’s pregnancy, she stays longer. 

Yaaaaaay…

Okay, okay, so Lucile gets a pretty bad rap; people describe her as uncomfortable, experiencing symptoms like cramps, moodiness, fatigue, bloat, restlessness, extreme hunger paired with ceaseless cravings, the list goes on. But in her defense, it’s because she’s the hardest working phase in the cycle. During her stay, she navigates the body through its production of developing large amounts of progesterone in order to thicken the uterine lining that’s going to keep the follicle protected during its “bake in the oven.” At some point, Lucile decides that the lining is no longer necessary since the presence of pregnancy fails to exist, so then her job is to navigate turning off the running faucet of progesterone and bringing it to a stable and more normalized flow. And as I’ve mentioned before, it’s not just progesterone at play; Lucile is also responsible for slowing down the production of estrogen, serotonin, and testosterone. So not only do our peace-keeper hormones drop, leaving us to be more anxiety-driven and restless, but we also experience gradual declines in our confidence, mood, and strength.

Great. The problem is… sometimes it takes us weeks to recover from this phase — weeks to rebuild our stamina, consistency, and endurance, and then right before we can take our first sigh of relief, we hear a key turn, the door open, and a voice that says, Honey, I’m hoooome.

I’m not trying to whine, but damn. Being a girl is tough.

But do you see how versatile she is? I mean, how can I talk trash about her now? The only thing I can fathom to think of when it comes to my love-hate relationship with Lucile, is to make it better.

All of this to say, the menstrual cycle is a tough gig, but so is being on the court. You need to be strategic. You gotta know your players, your opponents, the game, and what your next play’s gonna be. I’ve realized that I need to score most of my points during my encounter with Föllie and Ova, even Red, but when it comes to Lucile, I need to fall back into the key and play straight defense, protecting all that is mine. Pass when necessary, watch out for steals, keep my hands up, and box out.

It’s chess. It’s basketball. It’s track. It’s a lot of things. It’s — 

the menstrual cycle. 

For those of you that found this post relatable, do you notice when you’re in different stages of the menstrual cycle? If so, how do you approach it? Do you change anything or just grin and bear it? What’s your play for when Lucile’s got the ball?

Think about it.

Cheers,
B.