The Missing Peace

Your Cycle, Your Superpower: What Every Woman (and Man) Should Know — Part 1

• Season 1 • Episode 5

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0:00 | 36:42

In their first-ever guest episode, Brooke Benevento and Danielle Griffiths welcome Julie Perry — functional medicine nurse practitioner and close friend of the show — to break down the four phases of the menstrual cycle and what's really happening in a woman's body each month.

Julie walks through the hormonal shifts behind each phase — from the restorative menstrual phase, to the energizing follicular phase, to the brief but powerful ovulation window, to the often-misunderstood luteal phase. Along the way, the hosts share personal stories about tracking their cycles, coaching volleyball teams that synced up, and the moments they wished someone had explained all of this sooner.

This episode isn't just for women — it's a guide for husbands, partners, sons, and friends who want to better understand and support the women in their lives. Plus, Julie reveals why men's testosterone follows a daily rhythm and what that means for your relationship.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • The four phases of the menstrual cycle and what happens hormonally in each one
  • How estrogen and progesterone shifts affect mood, energy, and decision-making
  • Why the ovulation window is shorter than most people think
  • Nutrition tips for each phase — from comfort foods to cruciferous vegetables
  • How women's cycles sync up when they spend time together
  • What men's daily testosterone rhythm looks like — and why he's on the couch at 5 PM
  • Practical ways partners can show up during each phase of the cycle

Resources mentioned:

  • Cycle-syncing nutrition books
  • LH predictor strips for tracking ovulation
  • Cycle tracking apps

Connect with us:

Have a topic you want us to cover? Want to be a guest? Reach out — we'd love to hear from you!

Part 2 drops next week — covering perimenopause and menopause. Subscribe so you don't miss it!

SPEAKER_02

For the men in our lives. Julie, would you agree that a man could possibly get lucky during this time?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Yes. She's gonna be that to him.

SPEAKER_02

We have a lot to cover on this topic. So depending on how long this conversation goes, be prepared. There may be a part one and a part two. And to help us better understand all of this, we have invited our very first guest, Julie Perry, to help us understand all of this a little bit more. Julie is a close friend of mine and is also my functional medicine nurse practitioner. She has helped me tremendously. So I promise you all are in good hands. So, Julie, Danielle, and I, we uh want to thank you for being here. Uh, we're super excited for today. And I know that a lot of our listeners are excited too. Yes.

SPEAKER_03

Welcome, Julie.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

I'm very glad to be here.

SPEAKER_02

All right, let's dive in. So, first, I want us to lay down a little bit of the foundation on how the woman's body works and hopefully shine some light for men who want to learn more about what their partner is also experiencing and to help them better understand the rhythm that most women go through every single month. So if you have a husband, I suggest that you probably get them to listen to this because it may just help you guys as yourself and your relationship too. So, Julie, let's start with the four phases of a woman's cycle. So just we're just laying the foundation here. Um, so let's start with phase, I guess one would you say is the follicle phase?

SPEAKER_00

Follicular, yes.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00

See that starts with the period. That starts when the period is over. When you when you number the days of the cycle, it actually starts with the first day of the period. But when you're talking about the cycles, you start with the follicular phase. So that's when the period is over. You go into the follicular phase.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so so technically we would actually be starting in the if you were to say it, we were starting in the menstrual phase, which is phase one then?

SPEAKER_00

When the period starts, yes.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, okay, perfect. So during this stage, what would a woman, what does a woman experience during this stage?

SPEAKER_00

During the menstrual cycle, you mean?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00

So uh there's a lot of hormone changes that that occur for your period to start. And um I want everyone that's listening to understand how amazing a woman's body is. There's just there's so many, any, many processes that come together to make things happen for us every month. And it's it's truly amazing. And the more I learn about it as I go on, I'm I'm an eternal student, the the more in the design of women amazes me. So I hope that everyone um understands how amazing they are that that's listening. Husbands understand how amazing your woman is, but when the menstrual period starts, there's been a dramatic shift in hormones. And if you start your period, it means that an egg that you released did not fertilize, and so pregnancy did not occur. So that's when the menses starts and you're shedding your uterine lining. And for most people, that lasts about five days, some shorter, some longer, and there's often a lot of hormonal fluctuations during this time. So you can get a lot of nude changes. Of course, there's uh things like breast tenderness and bloating. If there's heavy bleeding, then that may indicate that there's some hormonal imbalance.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so I know, like for me, a lot of low energy, um, something that uh I think that I really want to get across to for the men that are listening. If you if your husband's listening to this, I want you to really understand and help you understand what a woman is really going through. So, kind of what Julia is saying is there's a lot of low energy. So your wife or your partner may need rest, right? This might be a time for reflection for her. Um, she's gonna have physical symptoms, right, Julie, like cramps and fatigue and things like that. Um, I think the best way, and I don't, yeah, and I think the best way for just in this phase, we're gonna go through all the phases, but just in this phase, I think for every man to understand, and maybe even our friends and our colleagues that we work with, anyone that is around a woman that is menstruating, okay? Um, the during this time, I feel like they need a lot of support and we need patience. And and for men, I think this would be a time to step up the responsibilities in the house. So that is my feedback for what maybe a man could do during this time when a woman is menstruating. It could be to help them around the house. Um, and let your woman sleep, let her get a lot of sleep. Would you, Julie and Danielle, would you agree with that? That let us sleep is a good, is a good form of action for a man to take. I'll defer to Julie first and then I'll I'll I'll jump in later.

SPEAKER_00

I completely agree. And this during the phase of the menstrual cycle, you need things that are restorative and comforting. So not just rest, but you might need certain foods. So think about warm foods that nourish you, comfort foods, um, soups and broth and and so forth, things to just feel you make you feel cozy. It's it's pretty common for people to have food cravings during the period. So just kind of know what what they are that it happens with PMS in the period, but when you're losing menstrual blood, you're gonna lose some iron. So you might need more iron-rich foods during that time. Uh, magnesium is also something that's involved in a a lot of our hormonal processes, and it it often needs augmentation during the during PMS in the period. So nuts are rich sources of magnesium. So just knowing that about your body and changing the way you eat, there's actually some good books written about how to cycle what you eat according to your menstrual period to support the hormonal processes that are going on. So it's definitely worth a worth a look to think about those those types of things.

SPEAKER_03

And I think that's fascinating that we can identify that. And I I know some women, I'm not there yet, but some women track it so they know exactly. I know there's apps that that can be used, but I think that one of the reasons I've been so excited about this particular episode is I think a lot of men and boys want to help their mom, sister, girlfriend, wife, friend, but they it's just not something that you talk about. And so I think as the 21st century and AI, and we're just we're learning so much about so many things, having the courage to say, hey, I'm not okay. I'm gonna be okay, but here's something that might help not only help you help me, but also help the the peace that we're all trying to find, especially in in the household. So I like that, yes, this is for women, but it's also for men who genuinely want to help their the women in their lives um get through a tough time with a little bit more ease. So I appreciate uh that you're breaking this down for us very much.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I I'm a I'm a house full of boys. And it's funny, I was just talking to my 23-year-old, and he was like, Mom, you didn't teach us about any of this. And I said, I know, I just I kept it away from you. I I tried to act like nothing was wrong with me and I tried to push it down or I didn't want you to feel like I was sick or something. But I think that they did notice that something was sometimes off with mom. And I him and I have had a lot of conversations about this now, which is, you know, I think a big reason why we're doing this episode too, is so that young men can start to understand, you know, even in a dating process when you're dating your girlfriend, like, hey, I hate I I really hate to say this, but you all should really know the cycle of your woman. It will really help your relationship. So whether you're you're you're 16 or you're you're you're 45 or 50 and you're married or whatever, dating, start learning about your about your about your uh partner's cycle. And also we'll get into perimenopause and menopause, but I think this is really important. So yeah, thanks, Danielle, for sharing that. I I definitely think it's important. All right, tell us uh what the next uh phase is that the woman's gonna go into after she has menstruated.

SPEAKER_00

So it starts the follicular phase, which will last until ovulation, and during this time, estrogen is is steadily increasing. So it allows the lining of the uterus to thicken up. So during mencies, you lose the lining of the uterus, and during the follicular phase, it gradually builds up and it prepares us for ovulation. And there are some signals from the brain to the ovaries to get an egg ready, and this that connection between the brain and the ovaries is very important, and then during this time, when we were focusing on more comfort foods and healing and warmth during the period, during this time we need to think about fresh and light, so keeping your diet light and focusing more on your vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, they help you uh detoxify your estrogen. So it's a you can do a little bit of a shift in your diet, and it might help the way you feel. But our brains love estrogen, so this is why we might feel more energetic and want to do things more, have more of a desire to start things.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, perfect. So to recap, so energy is rising after your period. So some so a woman may feel more motivational, have more clarity about themselves, uh probably want to feel like they want to start something, they probably feel fresher, kind of like um the season of spring. Would it would it be something like that?

SPEAKER_00

That's a good way to put it. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, yeah. So the season more more energy. Yeah, more energy, good for planning, goal setting, starting projects, things like that. So um for our partners, what can we tell our partners that this is a good time, something good to do? Something that um that I was I was thinking about this is probably a good time for your partner to want to have this is probably the best time to have conversations, maybe some vision planning, some being some teamwork, uh, maybe going on a date night. What do you guys think? What is the what's a good something good that that uh we can tell our partners that hey when this is when the period's over and she's moving, she's moving. What is you guys would you guys agree with that?

SPEAKER_00

I do. This is a good time to support her if she has something professionally she wants to augment or start, or if there's something that you two want to do around the house, this is a good time to go to Lowe's and look at stuff. Not later in the cycle. So that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03

Because I know I was just gonna say when I was uh a small business owner, I worked with a a life coach, um, amazing woman, and she would say something uh very much like that that there are certain times of the cycle that are good for those out-of-the-box thinking and goal planning, and then other times where you might not want to be making big decisions or starting something just because of the level of hormones. So this is connecting some dots for me. This is helping a lot.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. So, okay, Julie, I have a question about this phase. So, what it what's actually happening hormonally in this in this phase of the cycle? What hormones are higher, lower, like what where are we at during this phase?

SPEAKER_00

Estrogen is rising, progesterone takes a smaller role, the brain is sending FSH, which is follicle follicle stimulating hormone to the ovaries to get eggs ready. So that's that's typically what the pattern is.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, estrogen is gonna peak in the next phase.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay. All right, so let's move to the next phase. What is the next phase?

SPEAKER_00

The next phase is ovulation, and it's a short window. So anyone who's had fertility issues knows what a short window that is. And this is where estrogen is at its peak, and a couple of days before actual ovulation is when the stimulating hormone LH or lutinizing hormone will surge. So if anybody, if you've ever done those LH predictor strips, you're looking for that surge, and then ovulation happens about 24 to 36 hours afterwards. So estrogen is really high. So during this phase, a woman might feel her best. It's a short window, unfortunately, when you feel so um energetic, but there's obviously some social things that may happen there and some changes in the relationship, but that's what's happened hormonally.

SPEAKER_03

When you say short, oh sorry. When you say short phase, do you mean like a few hours or a few days? Like how how long is that that period?

SPEAKER_00

It's more like a a day and a half or so forth. Okay. When that's your fertile, like your fertile window. Okay.

SPEAKER_02

So for the men in our lives, Julie, would you agree that a man could possibly get lucky during this time?

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Yes. She's gonna be nuzzling up to him.

SPEAKER_02

All right, so this is our cuddle time, this is our lovey time. Um unfortunately, it's about a day and a half, which is um yeah, didn't know that. I thought it was about three days, but yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_00

Well, remember, you get that LH surge first. So I'm talking about the window for pregnancy. So you get the LH surge and then then comes ovulation. So yeah, it probably is more like three days for that whole phase, but for fertility, if you have a shorter window.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, that makes sense. So, men, put it on your calendar. I don't know. Maybe that's the best way, maybe that's the best way to put it. So, so okay, so again, why is this why what's happening? Is our estrogen surging more, or is it is it giving, is it giving is estrogen even giving more power to the body now? Is this why this this the wanting to well the egg is releasing? And so I would have to assume that this is how reproduction happens. I mean, we have to want to have babies, right? It's just like in nature, you know, we're our bodies are telling us, hey, time to produce, time to produce. So it's giving us more of that urge to want to have relations with our partner.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, those those primitive things that are built into us. But estrogen is at its peak in this time. So, and remember the brain loves estrogen. It's estrogen also stimulates serotonin production. I'm not sure a lot of people know that, but serotonin is our happy hormone. And when you have good amounts of estrogen, if it's balanced with progesterone, then it can stimulate serotonin production. So it can also explain why you may feel more emotionally stable and stronger during this period.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And I think for me, that that is one of the biggest questions I had as a preteen, as a teenager, as a young mom, is all of a sudden I felt like my emotional response would just shift. And I didn't know why. And it was very scary. And I, you know, this was pre-internet when I was a teenager, so I couldn't just go Google it. But um, I mean, there's definitely times where I'll tell my husband, I'm feeling a little crazy. I'm sorry, I don't know why. If I snap at you, I don't mean to. And he seems to appreciate that because when someone's acting out of character without any reason, I can understand why guys would be like, whoa, what is up with with uh this chick? But the more we know, the more we can have conversations like this without the fear of judgment or the fear of I don't, I don't even know what, but just being able to to learn and communicate with the people around us. Look, I I'm just feeling a little off. Nothing's wrong. I just need you to support me in in this way. So this is this is fantastic. I love this.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I and I think I think the more, and we're always talking about this on the show is awareness, like having awareness, not only for the woman to have awareness about her body, but also the partner in her life to have awareness and maybe her friends. I mean, we're gonna go into the next phase here in a second, but I think something too that's really interesting with the female body is that when you hang around the females often, you all start to cycle together. Julie, do you know what that's about?

SPEAKER_00

It's your brain signals just start to line up. Remember the connection between the brain and your ovaries. So um, and I I think it's related a lot to circanian rhythm and and so forth. Mothers and daughters do that. I've heard I've had patients in perimenopause say that when their college-age daughters are home, they their cycles change and they sync up. Yeah, which is really interesting that that that happens. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's yeah, that absolutely. And then I I used to coach uh volleyball. And so you imagine having 10 to 13 girls plus two female coaches, we would all sync up. And man, when it was time, it was like at least you got it all over it.

SPEAKER_00

At least you all got it over with.

SPEAKER_03

But the games that week were tough because we were all just you guys probably won, probably won some. We probably did, yeah. Yeah, had some successful years, but I just remember, you know, everyone would be, oh yeah, you're on it, you're on it. And it just all of a sudden that realization of wow, we are all pretty much on the same uh part of our cycle. And it didn't take that long. I remember it being a month or two months into the season, it would all line up like that, and it was bizarre.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. It's it's like like Julie said, the woman's body is fascinating. It's absolutely fascinating how how we can even do that. I mean, it's just so it's so amazing, really. It is okay. Let's move on to, I think we're on the last phase, right?

SPEAKER_00

We're moving into the gluteal phase. So after the follicular phase, if pregnancy does not occur, so if an or if an egg is not fertilized, then there's a sudden drop in estrogen. And progesterone is supposed to dominate in the luteal phase. And there's reasons why that mismatch happens, but it's not so much about what the estrogen falls to as much as it's about the sudden drop. That's what causes PMS symptoms and the hard week that you may have leading up to your period. So it's more about that sudden hormonal change. And this is when the body is again getting ready to menstruate since a pregnancy did not occur.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, so we're gonna start feeling so we start slowing down a little bit. Uh, we become our our sensitivity is increasing. Uh, I think we're starting to notice something's off. Other people around us are like, she's starting to like not be as happy anymore. Um, and I think something for I think as we go into you know partners, right? Like partner awareness. Like, what can what can I do in this time to help her through this time? And something I wanna, I really want to pause right here before we go into that, Julie, and talk about now normally, okay, because we can also talk about PMDD. Is that is that correct what I'm calling it?

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Premenstrual disorder disorder.

SPEAKER_02

Dis yes. So normally if you don't have that disorder, how many days does this sort of last right before your period? How many days would this how many days is this usually before we actually start? Around three to five. Okay, so we're gonna have symptoms for about three to five days normally.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. That's what we're what I'm referring to is if you have PNS, it's usually about three to five days. Um this is remember, estrogen drops, and so that drops the serotonin production as well. So like you said, we slow down, we might be moody, you might not want to go out and socialize, you might not want to do some other things. So this is time to give yourself a little bit of grace, but also to make sure you it's it's really easy to let your nutrition slide during this phase. Like people may just crave chocolate and junk, but it's really important to give yourself nice clean food to balance your protein with every meal so you don't get blood sugar fluctuations that exacerbate the PMS symptoms and also assist your your hormone production during this phase. You want progesterone to go up, so this is a good time to have some some sweet potatoes and and foods like that that help help uh build up our progesterone during this phase.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I know during this phase all I want to do is eat Oreos and um chips. That's usually a good cue.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know if it's just me, but I'm I'm finally understanding a lot of those Instagram reels where they have like the different weeks. Um do you do you ladies mind if I show you a couple? They're just fun and silly, but um it's making sense to me now. Yeah, not at all. Yeah, okay. So they're just really quick little uh two little clips, but I know you know with the algorithm, how it works is you start watching something, you like it, you share it, send it to mom, sister, friends, whoever, and then more of them come up. So um the first one I'm gonna show you is just this really quick, you know, week one kind of shows the energy, week two, and it goes from excitement to feeling, you know, kind of frisky to feeling angry, to feeling like you wanna eat and drink, you know, all that comfort food. So check it out.

SPEAKER_05

Uh pretty cute, right?

SPEAKER_02

That's great. I love it. Yeah, I I think that those those reels are so uh relatable. You see them and you're like, oh wait, I'm in that one. I'm in that phase, right there, right there. And they're like, oh, I've got to go to the next phase.

SPEAKER_03

But yeah, or in hindsight, you could be like, I remember this one time. I was definitely, yeah, for sure. For sure. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, exactly. So when we are in this um luteal phase, uh, what kind of feedback can we give um our spouses, our husbands, our partners? What do you guys think? What should what should they be doing during this time?

SPEAKER_00

They need to respect boundaries. Like if you say you need to be alone, if you need certain foods, if you need certain things to comfort yourself, if you need to put some decisions off till later, like we discussed earlier, it's okay to say, how about we look at that in the next week or two instead of now? The menstrual phase puts more physiologic demands on us. So we even believe that during during the period that we need extra calories, it's not a whole lot, maybe like 300 a day, but we need that just for those body processes to occur. So this is this is an important time to rest for your partner and your family to be patient with you and ex and respect the boundaries that you set for yourself.

SPEAKER_03

This makes a lot of sense to me. And I I I know this isn't really the topic, but I've heard that men have cycles too, but they're more like 24 hours. Is is that have you heard anything like that for men?

SPEAKER_00

It's referring to how men's testosterone rhythms usually go, and they they usually have have a higher testosterone first thing in the morning, and then lower is like when they get when they get home from work, like five o'clock. That's when their testosterone dips. So your man coming home and plopping on the couch and grabbing the remote may not be indifference to you. It may be that his testosterone has dropped and he needs he needs a good dinner or some rest or some conversation or something, and let that build back up naturally.

SPEAKER_03

That that makes so much sense because I I mean, obviously, looking at what my husband does when he comes home, it's almost like he the first thing he does is changes his clothes. He takes off his work clothes, puts on his comfies. But I know even without learning about this, that's not the time to start peppering him with questions because it's almost like he is taking off his armor after going to war all day. And so that makes so much sense. And why he's uh more peppy in the morning. Um oh, I love this. I love this episode. I feel like this is gonna help help Samaritan when he says Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And this is probably why our husbands might be more frisky in the mornings than they are in, you know, later in the as the day goes on. Their testosterone is dropping, Julie. And so that's what's happening every day. This is happening.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it is. Wow.

SPEAKER_02

Oh wow, okay. I did not know this. I I didn't know that it was a daily thing and how it worked really. I just thought they were all just kind of even all the time.

SPEAKER_00

Interesting.

SPEAKER_02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

No, and certainly there's there's circumstances that that change it day by day, like a very stressful day, or they didn't have good nutrition that day, something off, they they're sick. But for the most part, that's how their testosterone production goes.

SPEAKER_03

Wow. Yeah. It's good to know for sons and friends, and yeah, I mean, just in general. That we just I think we learn the basics in freshman health, uh, but it's it's very surface level. We don't really get into things like this. Maybe it's because we don't really understand them, but now that that we're older, um, I think this is so vital to just a healthy healthy communication.

SPEAKER_00

I agree.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. And I think something too that as mothers with daughters, uh I don't have I don't have any daughters. Okay, so I'm gonna rely on you two because you two do have daughters. Um we we teach our our daughters how to use a tampon, how to use a pad and things like this. But I don't know that we actually go really deep into this sort of psychological uh uh way of teaching them what's really going on with them. And I think that this would be really is going to be really helpful, I think, for also for daughters and mothers to also sit down and say, hey, let's let me explain to you what's going on with you right now. You're you're not only going to be menstruating, but you're also gonna have some highs and lows that are gonna come. And and that's okay. And something that has really helped me during my cycles is tracking. Tracking, tracking, tracking has helped me so much. Not only for when I go on vacation, do I know if I can wear a bathing suit or not, or where I'm gonna be, but real reality. I mean, we don't even talk about that kind of stuff. Uh, but but just reality of like, okay, where am I in my cycle? Because if there's a day where I'm like, I feel kind of off, I'll be like, oh, where am I? I'll go to my tracker and I'll say, okay, I'm starting to go into the phase of eh, blah kind of feeling, right? And so I'm you becoming more and more aware of where we are in our cycle and really teaching our daughters to be super aware of their bodies too, so that they know when something's off. Um, and then teaching them how to express that, I think is really important. Now, you guys are you guys have daughters, so do you guys think that would be useful for for moms to to do that? And have you guys have you guys ever talked to your daughters about that kind of stuff? Well, you know I have, so yeah, well, it's yeah, okay, Julie's profession. She's probably been talking to her about this since she was eight years old.

SPEAKER_00

It's what I do all the time. Now, she didn't want to talk to me about it when she was young, and I did what every other mother did with a daughter was buy her a book and give her some space, and then and then when we had to answer more questions, we we did it on the fly. But um, yes, I'm very I'm very open with my daughter about what's going on with her body, and and she knows she can ask me anything as well.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, good. I would say I definitely don't have Julie's expertise, but I try to be as as open, and I think that's been a huge generational shift in parenting. Uh, I remember my both my parents saying there were just certain things you didn't talk about. Um, it was considered inappropriate, or maybe they just didn't know. But now I think we we have a more open, I mean, there's so much information on the internet and so much disinformation that isn't isn't quite true. So learning about things like this, I've never tracked. Uh I had a uterine ablation several years ago. So I I no longer have a cycle, like an official cycle, but I still notice the mood shifts a little bit. And I know we're gonna get to paramenopause in just a little bit, but I'm starting to understand the whole hormone replacement hormone. I I I must have gotten on some algorithm the other day because I kept seeing ads for like the home test kits. And I remember thinking, okay, why would I need to test that? Like, what does that tell me? But everything you're you're sharing with us, Julie, is really starting to make make sense for me and why it's important to track that just for all the reasons that have already been shared. So we know when it's our time to shine, when we need to give ourselves some more grace, maybe some better, better food, and when we need to give a a warning to uh our loved ones that um we need a little bit more grace.

SPEAKER_00

And you you made it a good point about the uterine ablation and still having PMS symptoms. That can absolutely happen. The ablation doesn't shut down all of the chemical reactions that happen, it just prevents shedding of the uterine lining. So you can absolutely still have PMS when you would have had a period.

SPEAKER_03

Yay! Absolutely. No, I I I there's something very empowering about womanhood that I just think is is just phenomenal to experience. And now that I'm a little bit older and I'm starting to go through, you know, my eyesight's getting worse and stuff like that. It makes me want to learn more, not only so we can share it with with other people, but really looking at our day-to-day and week to week and being more intentional in in, like we said, tracking and then using that information to hopefully make our lives a little bit more um relaxing and and find some more peace that we're always trying to find.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_00

I agree. So for some reason that makes me think about the my generation was like the Judy Bloom and the Are You There Got It's May Margaret phase? And those were books that talked about things that nobody ever talked about before. And I I agree with you given it give it's empowering to us. So I remember waiting for my period to start because I felt like I was gonna become a woman in some respects when it started, and my my good friends started before me, so I was a little bit later, but I I had some positive views about it because of because of all that generationally. So I I certainly agree with Brooke that we need to keep it a positive thing and stress to younger younger women, our daughters, that how about how amazing our body is and why the the different cycles are are necessary and what the purpose of a woman's body is ultimately.

SPEAKER_02

So yeah, I love that. Yeah, I definitely think that even I think everybody can really take from that. Um anyone in society society can take from that and really understand that what we're what we are doing is, you know, our bodies are very magical and they're they're really here to produce humans. I mean, let's be honest. That's what we're you know, a lot of a lot of why we're here, and it's such the power that we have in that is is so amazing.

SPEAKER_03

We want to thank you for joining us on the Missing Peace podcast on behalf of my co hosts Brooke Benevento and Julie that joined us today. We have more coming next week. So stay tuned. We'll drop the second part of this very important podcast uh in one week. Talk to you soon.