How to feel better on your period: the ultimate holistic guide

With these super simple holistic strategies, you can feel your best on your period. Keep reading for a simple guide with what to eat, how to move, and what types of mindfulness and rest practices can help you feel better on your period.

First, let’s start with a quick overview of your menstrual cycle.

Your menstrual cycle starts with day one of your period, which typically lasts 3-7 days. This is when your hormones are at your lowest as your body sheds the lining it had built up in preparation for pregnancy. 

The next phase of your cycle is your follicular phase. In this phase, your body is preparing eggs to be released for ovulation. This phase is the most variable length of all the phases and typically lasts 5-10 days.

Next, your body is at its most fertile for the 3-4 days around when an egg is released (you ovulate). Here, your estrogen levels are at their peak.

After ovulation, your estrogen levels decrease while your progesterone levels increase. This is your luteal phase. Luteal phase should last a consistent 12-14 days leading up to your period.

Your body is physically working hard during your period and requires plenty of rest and nourishment.

The days are gone of the tampon ads showing women running and being extremely physically active during their period. Yes, women are strong and powerful and can do literally anything they set their minds to; and at the same time, let’s give permission to all the ladies to take a break from the outward doing and instead more inward for deep rest and nourishment.

When it comes to nourishment during your period, we want to focus on…

Warm, easy to digest foods
Think wintery foods like soups and stews.

Anti-inflammatory foods
Think colorful produce, herbs & spices, and healthy omega-3 fats.

And foods that provide quality, sustained energy.
Think quality protein and fats like grass-fed beef and pastured eggs.

You can easily Google a list of foods to eat during menstrual phase and find all sorts of charts and recipes, but I like to keep it simple, which is usually more sustainable.

Here’s a quick list of foods I like to make sure I incorporate into my diet during my period:

Seed Cycling: pumpkin & flax seed

Produce: Beets, mushrooms, slow-cooked kale.

Dinner: Eat your greens beef stroganoff

Treat: Golden milk collagen latte

I keep a cheat sheet like this one on my fridge as a handy reference when I’m meal planning and making my grocery list for the week.

BTW – if you have a copy of my Holistic Cycle Tracker, head over to the Reference tab and there’s a little cheat sheet in there! If you don’t have a copy, grab your instant download for FREE right here.

As I mentioned above, we do have more inflammation in our bodies during our period, and that’s why rest and a nourishing anti-inflammatory diet are really helpful during this time. It is not normal to be doubled over in cramps. It’s possible to love your period and feel great on it. 

Sure, you probably want to feel a little bit more cozy and go inward and do less and have more alone time and more quiet time, but this can be enjoyable. It doesn’t need to suck.

In addition to choosing nourishing food to help you feel better on your period, you can also pay attention to movement, mindfulness, and rest practices that make you feel good.

Movement

First of all, I am not an exercise gal. Instead, I like thinking of it as movement that is intentional and supportive. 

Second of all, pay attention to YOUR body. This is why I’m such a big fan of using a holistic cycle tracker – this helps you to pay attention and listen to your body. Notice when things feel good and when things don’t feel so great, notice any patterns, and notice what your body is trying to tell you.

{If you’re looking for guidance on HOW to listention to your body and uncover what feels good, when and how to honor that – check out Deepen the private podcast course.}

Whatever movement you are doing during your menstrual phase, notice how you feel afterwards. Do you feel really good, energized, relaxed, strong? Or do you feel dizzy, tired, or depleted?

Most likely during this time movement that is a little bit slower and more flowy will feel really good. Focusing on stretching and releasing tension in areas like your hips and low back will probably feel really great right now.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness or meditation might feel really hard for you during this time because in menstrual phase your brain power is turned ON. Your left and right hemispheres are more connected at this time. Your brain might be flooded with ideas and thoughts which could be hard to turn off, so don’t! Maybe mindfulness won’t look like clearing your mind and meditating, maybe it looks like journaling, brain duping lists or brainstorming ideas. If you do enjoy meditating, a guided meditation might feel better than sitting in silence.

At the same time, whether it feels good to sit in quiet during this time or not, be sure to set aside lots of white space to allow those brainstorms and downloads and amazing ideas to come through. Just remember to stop there. Now is not the best time to take action on these ideas (that will come later 😉)

Or maybe mindfulness feels really easy and good for you during your period. Again, the first step is to notice where you’re at and what feels good (using your holistic cycle tracker, of course!)

Rest

Everyone has different requirements for rest. I know I require daily rest, but it looks difference depending on the phase of my cycle. When I’m on my period, I usually set myself up with a meditation which turns into a napitation (ie. I meditate until I fall asleep!). On the other hand, during the more high energy phases of my cycle, I know I’ll feel better with a more active rest time (like a meditation while sitting up and alert) vs. if I were to take a nap.

Bottom line, even if you don’t need as much rest as I do, respect and understand that your body does need more rest at this time so you don’t feel like you need to push through.

Grab your holistic cycle tracker here to start tracking what works for you and take a listen to Season 2, Episode 6 of the Living In-Sync podcast for more details on all of these topics and more, including sexuality and work/home life during your menstrual phase.