I’m a big advocate of letting yourself slow down leading up to your period and during your period. So much so that if you follow FemmeHead pretty closely you know I really never shut up about it.

And that’s because I have seen the importance of it month after month in my own life, and in my own cycle.

Every month I preach the same message “Just Slow Down”, and after each period I come back with a sigh of relief and say, “Gah, that felt good. I feel refreshed and renewed for the month ahead.”

And I do. If I just take a step back during the few days leading up to, and the first few days of my period, I get a huge burst of energy, motivation and positivity at the end of my period. And this little burst of “I can do anything!” carries on through the rest of my cycle. Right up until the last few days before my next period.

Just thinking about that type of energy gets me excited as I sit here writing this.

And that’s because I wasn’t able to slow down during last month’s period. It was right when we were coming back from Bali, which meant around 30 hours of travel, hurtling myself across 14 time zones, and trying to play catch up in the two days I had at home before getting back on another plane to head to California for a few days.

It was a lot, and that combined with trying to beat jet lag and get back on a normal sleep schedule threw me for a loop and kept me from being able to do my usual slow down, breathe, you’re on your period, routine.

So, what do you do when this happens? Well, I’ll tell you from my current experience.

Now if you’ve never been able to slow down on your period, I bet you have no idea what I’m even talking about. But I promise you, and challenge you to try it out.

If you don’t, or can't take the much needed break during you period you’ll have to take this past month just a smidgen slower and accept that there’s not going to be that usual burst of renewed energy.

Instead of finding time during your period to breath and relax. You’re going to have to find those moments when you can here and there throughout that following cycle.

One example for my own cycle, right before ovulation I had been just absolutely pooped for a few days, but couldn’t slow down.

Then I found myself almost nodding off I was so knackered, and I stepped back and thought, you know what if I just stop for an hour the world will keep spinning.

So I took a nap, a glorious hour long nap at 2 o’ clock in the afternoon.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not a napper. I feel guilty when I take naps. I lay down, close my eyes, and all I can think about is everything I should be doing instead.

But that day I let myself have a nap, and I woke up. And how did I feel?

It felt like coming too after a really delicious Shavasana after a difficult yoga practice. You feel refreshed, renewed and completely zenned out.

It’s one of my favorite feelings in the world.

And that’s what coming off of the end of your period kind of feels like when you let yourself slow down and rest.

So, if you don’t do it already try, just try to find a few minutes here and there during your period to just take a deep breath and just stop moving for awhile.

I know, I know. We think, “I can’t slow down. I don’t even have enough time to keep up with everything as it is.” But I promise you that you can find ten minutes a day, you’ll reap the rewards throughout the rest of your cycle.

As I sit here putting the finishing touches on this I’m currently on day 3 of my cycle, and I don’t know if it’s because we’ve just gotten home (yesterday) from another trip, or because I didn’t get my rest last time ‘round, but I’m feeling completely out of sorts and exhausted today.

But you better believe I learned my lesson last time around, and today my goal is to just finish what I have to get done. And you can find me doing all of that either curled up on the couch or from one of our big red comfy chairs, in a sweater and leggings, sipping on some hot lemon water.

While I’m trying to enjoy this phase, I’m craving the energy I know will come.

[If you want to learn more about your cycle, consider taking my Chart Your Cycle course to learn all the basics of the symptom-thermal method of FAM, and whether it’s a good fit for you — hint: it is.]