Menstrual Cycle Awareness vs. Menstruality: What’s the difference?

Image via Unsplash

Spend enough time in the world of cyclical living, and you’ll hear the terms Menstrual Cycle Awareness and Menstruality. But do you know the difference? Here’s a little 101.

Menstrual Cycle Awareness

MCA is pretty much what it says it is - being aware of your menstrual cycle and the fact that you have one. The basic foundation here is tracking your cycle, and the way you feel as you move through it. Once you know those effects, you can align yourself to it for more energy, less stress, more pleasure and much more besides.

MCA is the starting point and the seasonal framework is applied to help people understand what’s happening in their bodies, minds and hearts (check out my blog series on the seasons here: https://www.nataliekmartin.com/blog/innerwinter) When you see people on social media talking about cycle syncing, they’re usually using MCA as their base.

An MCA practice might include/look like:

• Tracking the menstrual cycle (or lunar cycle)

• Monitoring daily physical, mental and emotional needs and desires

• Tracking different aspects of life like productivity, sociability, energy etc

• Syncing foods, exercise, self-care, work etc

Example: Someone might come to me for MCA coaching because they’re coming off the pill and want to understand their cycle. Or they might have ovulations that feel exhausting, or recurring PMS and want to know where the problem might be coming from, as well as how to fix it.

Menstruality

Menstruality goes a step further. It’s using your menstrual cycle (and what you’ve learned about it/yourself from your MCA practice) as your spiritual and/or self-developmental practice. Menstruality is about going beyond the superficial or mundane day-to-day and getting to the underbelly of who you are. Its the understanding that your cycle holds important wisdom with potential for healing.

A Menstruality practice might include/look like:

• Working with archetypes

• Menarche work (Menarche is your first period - you can read why it’s so important here: https://www.nataliekmartin.com/blog/menarche

• Connecting with cycle wisdom for your life, business, relationship etc

Example: Someone might come to me for coaching because they struggle with connecting to pleasure, and we might work with the Queen archetype (linked to ovulation/inner summer). Or, they might be struggling with their business and want to connect with their inner wisdom to know what to do next.

If you’re interested in working with your cycle, schedule your free 30min call with me to see how coaching can help.

---