Inner Spring and the art of Play ;)

And we have arrived at week 2 in our menstrual cycle! Last week we talked about Inner Winter and the art of Surrender, this week we are taking a deep dive into week 2, Inner Spring and the art of Play <3 

What happens in week 2?

Week 2 of our menstrual cycle is when our Estrogen and our testosterone rise until they peak, so this week in our cycle is essentially when your body really wants to get you pregnant. This part of your cycle typically ends with ovulation, it’s a time when you might find that you are more tolerant of EVERYTHING you also might feel that you think a bit clearer and that you are able to be more vocal, as well as all of this you might also find that you have a higher pain threshold- the reason for all of this? The sweet queen that is Estrogen! She triggers a LOT of endorphins (happy hormones) which help with the old tolerance levels. The other amazing thing that estrogen does for us is she actually makes you, objectively, more physically attractive. Yup, you read that right, Estrogen triggers really subtle soft tissue changes which actually change the shape of your face- making you more symmetrical, mama nature pulls out all the cards to get you in the mood for baby making! 

If that isn’t enough another really cool thing about week 2 is that testosterone starts to rise which typically makes it a good time to strength train, you might even find yourself more competitive and definitely sassier! 

One thing to be super aware of at the start of week 2 is that after two weeks of your outer lights dimming you might suddenly feel the urge to jump on all of this new energy and go, go, go! If that’s you - I feel you, before I started practicing MCA it was me too and This is when I love the analogy of the inner seasons, week two is known as Inner Spring and when I feel that urge to go go go I remind myself to be like mama nature and emerge slowly from winter, poking my head out like the bud of a new flower and being mindful not to expel all of my new found energy before my body has had time to recover. 

Who is the maiden?

The archetype of Inner Spring is thought of as “The Maiden” young, playful, fun, naive and inquisitive and I love to try and incorporate these feelings into my social calendar. In week 2, this is typically when I’ll plan to try new things, have fun dates with my friends and indulge in lots of play. You might find yourself feeling really impulsive in week 2 which means it can be a great time to step out of your comfort zone. 

Not feeling very springy?

I want to recognise here that for some people “Inner spring” can feel pretty uncertain, particularly if you have negative associations with the early spring/teenage years of your life. Not everyone feels ok about accessing that playful archetype and that is totally ok. If you can relate to feeling a bit cautious as you emerge from your Inner Winter then don’t beat yourself up, sometimes that rush of estrogen and Testosterone can be overwhelming and it’s totally ok to go slow and work through those feelings. 

Whatever your experience of week 2 I’d love to share with you some tips that work for me on how to harness the power of it: 

Embrace the art of play 

One of the things we don’t do enough as adults is to play, adulthood is so serious and it’s easy to get bogged down by the day to day or pent up by stressors, play can be such a tonic and your sense of play doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s whether it’s putting on your fave tunes and dancing around, booking yourself in to something you’ve always wanted to try or even exploring some new play in the bedroom with your partner or yourself, do something that is fun and brings you joy and you’ll reap all the lovely benefits of this phase of your cycle. 

Go for some gains

I’ll typically be feeling way more confident and capable in my inner spring and so I slowly start to increase my strength sessions. Remember that the fitness industry was built by men, for the male experience and doesn’t take a 28(ish) day hormone cycle into consideration. Yup that’s right, that narrative of “consistency for the win” is pretty hard to maintain when your experience changes week to week based on what your hormones are up to. You don’t in fact need to train x amounts of times per week everyweek in order to work toward your goals, in fact you’ll be much more successful adn have a way better relationship with exercise if you learn to train in tune with your cycle. Inner Spring can be a great time to up the amount of sessions you do and go for those gains! 

Get out in nature 

As I mentioned before sometimes all the change of spring can feel a bit overwhelming, particularly if you haven’t managed the rest you needed in your Inner Winter. For some people they might feel a nit out of sorts or on edge around this energy and boost of hormones, if that’s you something that can really help is to get out and ground yourself in nature, whether that’s a cold water dip, walking barefoot on the grass or going for a hike - whatever feels good and grounding for you can be particularly supportive if you find this transition to ovulation challenging. 

So there we have it- week 2 in nutshell. I’d love to know if you can relate to or have learned anything and how you plan to put your new knowledge into action! As always leave a comment or send me a DM, I’d love to hear your thoughts, 

Join me next week as we dive into week 3, ovulation and the art of pleasure ;)