It’s Not ‘Just a Period.

For something that affects half the population every month, we learn surprisingly little about the menstrual cycle.

 

By Melanie Povlitzki

As young women, there is so much we don’t learn about our female biology. An awkward, prepubescent sex-ed course introduces us to the basics of bleeding - and if we’re lucky, at the time of our first period we’re handed a box of pads and told to get on with it. After all, it’s just a period.

It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I began to doubt what I’d been told about the insignificance of having a monthly cycle. I regularly suspected that I had terrible depression - my world was crumbling and I couldn’t cope. A few days later I would get my period, and the stormy thoughts would gently subside. My idea to seek psychological help was put on standby until next month when, once again, I was convinced there was something seriously wrong with me. Repeat. Every. Month.

Eventually I put two and two together and realised that my “seasonal” depression was cyclical and provided an inconvenient warning that blood was about to flow. I could have been spared so much time and worry had I been given proper education on the hormonal underpinnings of my menstrual cycle.

While blood may be the most visible aspect of the menstrual cycle, there is so much more that is happening behind the scenes. Fluctuations in sex hormones impact our mood, sleep patterns, behaviour, energy levels and overall quality of life. Menstruation itself is a comparatively small part of the menstrual cycle; the pause between two cycles is similar to a period at the end of a sentence. Reducing the menstrual cycle to “just a period” is not only rhetorically dismissive, but also a tried-and-true patriarchal tactic that gaslights us into believing that our experiences throughout the menstrual cycle are insignificant and unworthy of attention.

For me, learning about the menstrual cycle has been like peeling back the layers of an onion. The more I learned, the more I needed to know. It felt like I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of secrets about my own body that radically changed my relationship with it. The indignation I felt over the fact that no one had shared this information with me cannot be understated. 

Enter —> my life’s work: changing this for future generations. 

While I wish could describe the menstrual cycle in all its miraculous detail, consider this the outer layer of the onion; the basic outline of what is happening hormonally and why it matters. If you’re new to cycle awareness, I hope this will be an invitation to start exploring and taking note of your own unique rhythm. 

 

The Follicular Phase 

We begin our story on day one - the first day of bleeding. Not the spotty pink kind, but the bright red flow. This is both the end of your previous cycle and the beginning of the next. It’s also the point at which your sex-hormones are at their absolute lowest levels while you shed your uterine lining. Even if you’re still bleeding, estrogen levels begin to rise from day three. Estrogen is a blanket term for different forms of the same hormone- estradiol, estrone and estriol. While estradiol is the predominant form that regulates the menstrual cycle, we’ll use the term estrogen here for simplicity. While an ovarian follicle is maturing and getting ready to release an egg (hence the name: follicular phase), the ovaries simultaneously produce estrogen, which thickens the uterine lining to prepare for eventual implantation. 

So far, pretty textbook. But what you probably didn’t learn in sex-ed class is that estrogen has more than 300 different functions in the female body. It is what gives us our female curves, builds our bone density and maintains our muscle mass. I like to remember it as a building hormone. It also helps maintain high levels of serotonin (the happiness hormone) in the brain, which is why life can feel generally lighter and brighter during this phase. High levels of estrogen are also associated with faster metabolism and increased energy and alertness. In other words, from day three onwards, your energy gradually builds and you likely feel more and more ready to take on the world as you approach ovulation. 

 

Ovulation 

An egg has been released and starts making its way down the oviduct (formerly: the Fallopian tube), where it may or may not be fertilised before it reaches the uterus. In theory, ovulation lasts a single day and coincides with a peak in oestrogen. On average, women tend to ovulate around day twelve or thirteen, but many will feel the effects of heightened oestrogen in the days before and after ovulation.

If it wasn’t clear before, estrogen has somewhat of a ‘superstar’ reputation. Some even refer to it as the “Beyonce hormone”, as it can make you feel like you’re on top of the world. Your skin may be glowing, confidence high and your sex-drive turned on. This is also thanks to a little bump in testosterone (the sex hormone predominant in males, but also produced in small amounts in women), that gives us just the boost in energy we need to turn off Netflix and find someone to reproduce with. This is biologically how we’re wired and will occur regardless of whether we have the desire to get pregnant. 

Luckily, we have a choice in how to put that energy to use every month, and can create not only babies, but host elegant dinner parties, impeccably facilitate meetings or create artistic masterpieces. Because this phase is - biologically speaking - all about finding a sex-partner and continuing the human race, we can often experience this part of our cycle as more socially oriented. We’re likely to seek company and are more willing to set our own needs aside to accommodate those around us. This is the point of the cycle when it can seem like everyone around us is cheering in approval. 

For me, this is when I’m “fun” mom - Supermom even. Great, right? The problem is that society has put this high-achieving, self-sacrificing female archetype on a pedestal. It can feel ever so satisfying to live up to it, but the moment is fleeting and can bring us crashing into the luteal phase, where the hormonal landscape looks drastically different. 

Figure: The menstrual cycle is shaped by changing hormone levels. Estrogen rises during the follicular phase and peaks around ovulation, while progesterone becomes dominant in the luteal phase.

The Luteal Phase

Regardless of whether the egg has been fertilised, your body creates the hormonal conditions that support a pregnancy. 

 

Exit —> Estrogen, Enter —> Progesterone (its name literally means “supporting pregnancy”).

 

It’s no longer about the sperm hunt; It’s about protecting the seed inside your belly. Progesterone is the female sex-hormone that is predominant in the luteal phase (between ovulation and menstruation) and has a much more relaxed character than estrogen. Progesterone invites us to slow down, kick-back and catch up on some well-deserved me-time. While estrogen is a building hormone, progesterone is a holding hormone. It stabilises the uterine lining and enriches it with nutrients to give the fertilised egg the optimal and cosiest conditions for implantation. 

 

Like estrogen, progesterone not only regulates reproduction, but also a wide variety of other bodily functions. It reduces inflammation, improves sleep, regulates the nervous system and enables water retention (hello, bloating). Progesterone helps regulate anxiety, and when it reaches an appropriate peak level, we can feel relaxed, blissed out and completely content staying in and curling up on the couch. Part of this urge to withdraw can also be explained by the effect of progesterone on our sensitivity to sound - the outside world can feel intense and noisy. We may feel less interested in social activity and seek more time for ourselves. 

 

Even without tracking my cycle, I always know when I enter the luteal phase (for me, between days seventeen and nineteen). My beloved family becomes suddenly incredibly irritating. I’m claustrophobic and need S P A C E. I’ve been giving and giving and now all I want is a warm bath and some silence, thank you very much! This is a hormonal pot-hole mid-cycle where it’s easy to stumble over the changing landscape. Estrogen levels have rapidly dropped, and progesterone levels haven’t quite picked up yet to help calm us down (estrogen levels will rise again too, but not as high as before). I get past this point by hitting the breaks, finding a slower pace and adjusting the expectations I put on myself. 

 

While the post-ovulation hormonal dip is like a bump in the road, the premenstrual one is like falling off a cliff. Both progesterone and estrogen plummet to their lowest levels which can leave us sleepless, irritable, depressed or anxious. Most of us have either heard or participated in jokes about PMS (post-menstrual syndrome) but the struggle is real, especially if you suffer from more severe symptoms associated with PMDD (post-menstrual dysphoric disorder) - in which case, please seek help. While I don’t claim to have a silver-bullet tip that can ease the challenges of the premenstrual phase, I do find that practicing radical self-compassion can work wonders.

 

 

Menstruation

The drop in progesterone triggers the shedding of the uterine lining (your period) and marks the beginning of a new cycle. After all the drama and tension of the past few days’ hormonal free-fall, menstruation can feel like a giant exhale. And while hormone levels remain low for a couple of days, so does your energy. As such, this is an optimal time for rest and rejuvenation, something that can feel foreign in today’s fast-paced, modern culture. We’ve somehow managed to rebrand rest as laziness, and most of us can feel guilty for taking the day off or cancelling social plans. After all, we’ve learned early on from our gym class teacher that having your period is the world’s worst excuse for not participating. After all, it is just a period. Or is it? 

 

Maybe the reason our bodies begin to scream with menstrual pain is because we’re simply not listening to them and giving them the rest they so desperately crave during this time. Maybe it’s because we’re creating run-on sentences in the stories of our lives without proper punctuation. Maybe. Though I don’t have any scientific proof to lean on here - just my own experiences and observations.

 

In today’s mechanistic, efficiency-worshipping culture, rest is not laziness - it’s rebellious. Join the rebellion. Even if in small steps and micro-doses at first. A mid-day nap. A long shower. A day where you don’t do anything that can’t be done in sweatpants. Giving in to your body’s urge to rest is not a lack of willpower - it’s honouring the fact that your body has the capability to create life. Every. Single. Cycle. 

 

The future of the human race is dependent on the creative capacity of our wombs. Yes, we deserve a footbath and a piece of chocolate while we bleed if that’s what we desire. With our rest, we honor our beautiful, cyclical bodies that have created humanity as we know it. 

 

 

Final comments

It’s important for me to stress that this is an extremely abbreviated presentation of the menstrual cycle and much nuance has been omitted for the sake of brevity. Our menstrual cycles vary widely in length, and our experiences of the menstrual cycle are as different as we are. Moreover, our cycle patterns will change throughout our reproductive years - from menarche (first period) to menopause (a year since your last period) - varying in length, intensity and regularity. 

 

So, let’s all agree that there’s no such thing as a “perfect” cycle - just cycles. Sometimes messy, sometimes unpredictable, but always trying to tell us something. The menstrual cycle provides us with important clues about our current state of health and serves as a constant feedback system that enables us to recalibrate. 

 

Learning the language of the menstrual cycle requires both education and awareness via cycle tracking. Contrary to what the tech-industry might want you to believe, you do not need a special app or fancy device to do this. If you ask me, a notebook and pen are preferable. Just jot down what day of your cycle you’re on, along with some short notes about how you’re feeling physically, mentally and emotionally, and review your records over time. So go find a notebook and get started learning the language of your amazing, cyclical body.

Our Cyclic Notes – analog cyklustracking notebook is designed exactly for this purpose. It helps you track your cycle in a simple, intuitive way so you can build awareness of your hormonal patterns and daily energy levels.

So grab a notebook and start tracking your cycle and begin learning the language of your amazing, cyclical body.

 

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About the Author

Melanie Povlitzki is a certified cycle educator and women’s health advocate.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in joining one of Melanie’s upcoming women’s circles. The next gathering will take place on Thursday, March 12, 2026.

For more information, you can reach Melanie at
melaniepovlitzki@gmail.com

You can also learn more at:
www.femininefocus.dk

Or connect with Melanie on LinkedIn.

 

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Sources & Further Reading

Sundström Poromaa & Gingnell: Menstrual Cycle Influence on Cognitive Function and Emotion Processing - Frontiers in Neuroscience
https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2014.00380

Stern & Casto: Salivary Testosterone Across the Menstrual Cycle - Hormones and Behaviour
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105608

Souza et al.: Variation in the Hearing Threshold in Women During the Menstrual Cycle - International Archives of Otorhinolaryngology
https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0037-1598601

MGH Center for Women’s Mental Health: PMS and PMDD - When Premenstrual Symptoms Interfere With Functioning & Quality of Life
https://womensmentalhealth.org/specialty-clinics/pms-and-pmdd/

Medical News Today: Everything You Need to Know About Estrogen
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277177

Dr. Jolene Brighten: Perimenopause Anxiety Disorder - Can Unbalanced Hormones Like Progesterone Cause Anxiety?
https://drbrighten.com/perimenopause-anxiety-disorder/

Jen Gunter: Blood - The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation

Maisie Hill: Period Power - Harness Your Hormones and Get Your Cycle Working for You

Christiane Fibæk: Cyklusdagbogen - Track De Vitale Tegn I Din Cyklus

Ayoe Westh: Superkraft

Cyklusformidleruddannelsen: Course Handout - Cyklusformidleruddannelsen 2024/25