What is the Fertility Awareness MEthod?
The Fertility Awareness Method is a way of using knowledge, including one or more biomarkers such as basal body temperature (a measure of your body’s resting metabolism), cervical (relating to the cervix) mucus observations, and cervical position, to determine the fertile and non-fertile times of your cycle so that you may support your goals. Fertility Awareness involves recognizing your body’s reproductive signs and utilizing knowledge of your menstrual cycle so that you may support your reproductive goals. These goals are different for each person and can include body literacy, personal empowerment, hormone and side effect free birth control, healthy menstrual cycles, and pregnancy among many others.
Using Fertility Awareness also has the benefit of providing us with information about our reproductive and overall health. We can view our menstrual cycle as a vital sign and indicator of how our body is functioning. With this information, we can then make more informed choices about our health, and make changes and adopt practices which can help us to improve our reproductive and overall wellness. How cool is it that your body is giving you clues every day that can tell you about your health?
Learning Fertility Awareness takes time and practice but it is not difficult. There is a progression that we work through to provide you with a confident and thorough understanding on your unique schedule. When I work with clients to teach them Fertility Awareness they are usually quite surprised at how much of the information was never taught to them at any point in their life. It is a real travesty that most of us were never taught how our cycles and reproductive system work, or how to observe the signs that our bodies give us to let us know when we are and are not fertile, or to clue us in as to how we might better care for ourselves. We were not taught that we can observe and use these signs to find better reproductive and overall health. It’s a shame, right? Well, we can remedy this and very readily learn all about our cycles, fertility, reproductive health and so much more when learning Fertility Awareness. It’s right at our fingertips, and it’s fun and eye opening to learn.
People sometimes believe they cannot use Fertility Awareness if their cycle is irregular or does not fit the “28 day” mold. Most people’s cycles do not fit this mold. Cycles are variable from person to person and even for one person can vary from one cycle to another with factors such as travel, illness, medications, and stress. Using Fertility Awareness does not require you to have a “perfect” cycle. It only requires that you are willing to make and record observations so that you have the information to make decisions that are important to you.
Using the information you gain from learning fertility awareness you can:
Make supportive changes to reduce menstrual pain, irregularity and PMS
Know when the ideal window is for you to conceive, even when your cycle varies from one time to another
Avoid pregnancy effectively without hormones or side effects, and according to your individual cycle
Know what is normal for your body and be able to determine when you might be experiencing a change in your health
Have a thorough understanding of your reproductive hormones and the effect they have on your cycle and body
Identify where you are in your cycle each day and what that means for your goals
Lots of other good things, just ask me!
If you want to know more about Fertility Awareness or if it would be a good fit for you and your goals, feel free to reach out with questions or to schedule a free consultation.
Blessings,
Rebecca