Use these dials to track your monthly tendencies. Print them off and start noting which day of the cycle you are today.
What to track?
You can make a note of things like:
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mood
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energy levels
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sleep
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physical symptoms such as menstrual cramping, heavy period, migraine, hot flushes or skin (e.g. dry or spotty)
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mental capacity
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feelings and emotions
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cravings
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sexual energy
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creativity
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dreams
It can be really insightful to choose one or two of these and follow them for a couple of menstrual or lunar cycles and see how they present. You can then look back and see if you notice any patterns.
Tuning into cyclical rhythms helps us make sense of the incongruencies in our experience of the world. The Sun might be shining outside and the Earth is waking up, but you may want to retreat to bed and hide from life; or it may be a full Moon and you are Day One of your bleed, so have more energy than usual. If we connect with the bigger picture, we can make sense of how we are feeling. We can plan for times when we may need more rest or will have more energy. Sharing with partners, observing children and educating work colleagues can be incredibly helpful.
Cyclical living is the ultimate gift of self-care. It ensures you put yourself first, so that you can sustain your energy and tend to your needs through each phase of each cycle.
The Menstrual Cycle - You may prefer to use the lunar dial in menopause transition
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Start by noting what day you are (day one of your menstrual cycle is your bleed).
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Each day mark how you are feeling in the space next to that number
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You can do this as you go along, or go back through your journal and add the notes in retrospectively.
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Look back through your journal and see what patterns you can spot, to build a picture of your cyclical nature.
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Mark in the places where you feel you switch from one inner season to the next - cross over days can be really interesting to track.
The Lunar Cycle
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Check in your Wild Wisdom Journal what phase of the Moon you are in.
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Each week or every few days, mark how you have been feeling in the space next to each phase.
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You can do this as you go along, or go back through your journal and add the notes in retrospectively.
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Look back through your journal and see what patterns you can spot, to build a picture of your cyclical nature.
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Mark in the places where you feel you switch from one inner season to the next - cross over days can be really interesting to track.
The Seasonal Cycle
This will give you an overview of your year and is a bit different to the lunar and menstrual dials.
We suggest you fill in your dial on a 6 weekly basis and note your tendencies for that season - mark this next to the date inside the wheel as you progress through the year.
Ideas of what to fill in
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A space to write what your overall tendency is for that season
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Your aims or dreams for the next few weeks
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Gratitudes for the season
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What is inspiring you
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What you are seeing all around you - first snowdrops, hawthorn blossoms, swallows arriving or leaving, frogspawn, first frosts, strawberries ready for picking, autumn leaves, snow!... This is a fun exercise to compare year on year and can really help you connect with nature all around us.
