Somatic Practices for Each Phase of Your Cycle

Introduction

Your body doesn't need the same thing every day.

If you've ever forced yourself through an intense workout when you were exhausted, or tried to meditate when your body was buzzing with restless energy, you know how that feels. Like pushing against a current. Like your body and your plans are speaking different languages.

Here's what I've learned — both in my own healing and in working with women: the most powerful somatic practices are the ones that meet you where you are.

And where you are changes across your cycle.

Your menstrual cycle isn't just about fertility. It's a whole-body experience. Your hormones influence your nervous system, your energy, your emotional landscape, and what kind of support your body is craving.¹ The practice that feels nourishing in your follicular phase might feel forced or even depleting during your period.

Cycle-aware somatic practice means tuning in — asking your body what it needs today, and having a toolkit that shifts with you.

This isn't about perfection or rigid rules. It's about relationship. Learning to speak your body's language, phase by phase.

A Quick Refresher: The Four Phases

Before we dive into practices, here's a brief reminder of your cycle's four phases:

Menstrual Phase (Days 1-5ish): Your period. Hormones are low. Energy is often low. The body is releasing.
Follicular Phase (Days 6-14ish): Post-period until ovulation. Oestrogen rises. Energy builds. Fresh, creative, ready for new things.
Ovulatory Phase (Days 15-17ish): Ovulation window. Hormones peak. Energy is often highest. Confident, expressive, outward.
Luteal Phase (Days 18-28ish): Post-ovulation until your next period. Progesterone dominates. Energy gradually decreases. Inward, completion-focused, slowing down.

Your exact timing may vary — these are guidelines, not rules. The key is tracking your own patterns and noticing what's true for your body.²

Menstrual Phase: Practices for Rest and Release

Your period is your body's natural pause button. Hormonally, you're at your lowest point — which isn't a problem to fix, but a rhythm to honour.³

This phase is about letting go — physically, energetically, emotionally. Your body is already doing the work of release; your practices can support that.

Restorative Yoga

Supported poses that require zero effort. Think: supported child's pose, reclined butterfly with bolsters, legs up the wall. Let gravity do the work. Let your body be held.

Body Scan Meditation

Lie down and slowly move your attention through your body, noticing without trying to change anything. This practice rebuilds interoceptive awareness and teaches your nervous system that it's safe to be present.⁴

Gentle Hip and Lower Back Release

Your uterus is working — and the surrounding muscles often hold tension. Gentle hip circles, supine twists, and supported hip openers can bring relief. Nothing deep or intense; just soft, allowing movement.

Warmth

Heat is deeply soothing during menstruation. Hot water bottles on your belly or lower back, warm baths, warming foods. Heat increases blood flow and signals safety to your nervous system.

Journaling and Reflection

The menstrual phase is often when intuition is clearest and the veil between conscious and subconscious is thinnest.⁵ This is a powerful time for journaling, pulling oracle cards, or simply asking yourself: What am I ready to release?

The vibe: Slow. Soft. Surrendered. This is not the time to push. This is the time to listen.

Follicular Phase: Practices for Activation and Exploration

As your period ends and oestrogen begins to rise, you'll likely notice a shift. Energy returns. Optimism bubbles up. You feel ready to do things again.

This phase supports new beginnings — physically, mentally, creatively. Your body is preparing for ovulation, and that forward momentum is palpable.

Dynamic Movement

Your body is ready for more now. Vinyasa yoga, dance, hiking, strength training — movement that builds and energises. This is a great time to try something new or return to activities that felt too much during menstruation.

Breathwork for Energy

Activating breath practices like kapalabhati (skull-shining breath) or breath of fire can feel amazing here. These practices increase prana, clear stagnation, and match your rising energy.⁶

Somatic Shaking

Shaking practices help discharge stored tension and wake up the body. Put on music and let your body shake — arms, legs, whole body. This isn't choreographed; it's instinctual, primal, freeing.

Creative Expression

Your brain is primed for novelty and learning right now.⁷ Channel that into creative projects — art, writing, brainstorming, visioning. Let the rising energy move through you into something tangible.

Core Connection

Your core — physically and energetically — is your centre of power. Gentle core work (not punishing ab routines) can help you feel grounded in your own strength as your energy expands.

The vibe: Fresh. Curious. Building. Lean into the momentum, but don't burn out before the peak.

Ovulatory Phase: Practices for Expression and Connection

Ovulation is your energetic peak. Oestrogen and testosterone are highest, and many women feel their most confident, social, and expressive during this brief window.⁸

This phase supports outward expression — being seen, speaking up, connecting with others.

Heart-Opening Practices

Backbends, chest-opening stretches, and practices that expand the front body can feel incredible now. Think: camel pose, supported fish, or simply lying over a bolster with your arms wide.

Vocal Expression

Your voice is connected to your throat, your heart, and your nervous system. Singing, humming, chanting, toning — all of these activate the vagus nerve and support emotional expression.⁹ This is a great phase to use your voice freely.

Dance and Free Movement

Put on music that makes you feel alive and move however your body wants to move. No rules, no choreography. Let the movement be an expression of how you feel. This phase often brings natural fluidity and confidence in the body.

Connection Practices

Somatic work isn't only solo. This is a great time for practices that involve others — partner yoga, eye gazing, or simply being present with people you love. Your nervous system is primed for co-regulation.¹⁰

Pleasure Practices

With libido often higher during ovulation, practices that cultivate pleasure and sensuality can be particularly powerful. Sensual self-massage, mindful touch, or simply noticing what feels good in your body.

The vibe: Radiant. Expressed. Connected. Let yourself be seen. Let yourself take up space.

Luteal Phase: Practices for Grounding and Completion

After ovulation, progesterone rises and your energy begins to shift inward. The first half of the luteal phase often still feels productive — good for finishing projects and tying up loose ends. But as you approach your period, energy typically decreases, and the body asks for more rest.

This phase supports completion and integration — harvesting what you've created, preparing for release.

Grounding Practices

As energy decreases, grounding becomes essential. Practices that connect you to the earth — standing barefoot on grass, seated forward folds, body-based meditations focused on the lower body — help stabilise your system as things wind down.

Slow, Restorative Movement

The intensity that felt good during ovulation may feel depleting now. Shift toward yin yoga, gentle stretching, slow walks in nature. Let your movement match your energy rather than fighting against it.

Emotional Processing

The luteal phase — especially the premenstrual window — is when emotions often surface. Rather than suppressing or judging this, you can work with it somatically. When emotion rises, notice where you feel it in your body. Breathe into that area. Let it move without needing to fix or analyse it.¹¹

Nervous System Soothing

Your nervous system may be more sensitive in this phase. Practices that activate the parasympathetic response are especially helpful: long exhales, gentle self-massage, humming, warm baths, weighted blankets.

Preparation Rituals

Use the late luteal phase to prepare for menstruation. Clear your schedule where you can. Stock up on nourishing foods. Create a cosy space. Treat the coming bleed as something to welcome, not dread.

The vibe: Inward. Completing. Softening. Honour the descent. Don't fight the slowing.

The Deeper Invitation

Cycle-aware somatic practice isn't just about optimising your month. It's about healing your relationship with your body's natural rhythms.

So many of us have been at war with our cycles — frustrated by the energy dips, annoyed by the emotional waves, wishing we could just be consistent.

But what if the inconsistency is the point?

What if your body's shifting needs are actually teaching you something — about rest, about expression, about the necessity of seasons?

When you learn to practice with your cycle rather than against it, something profound happens. You stop fighting yourself. You start trusting your body's wisdom. You realise that you were never broken — just rhythmic.

A Note on Cycle Irregularity

If your cycle is irregular or absent, you can still use these practices — just not tied to a predictable calendar.

Instead, tune into your body's signals. When do you feel more energised versus depleted? When do emotions surface more intensely? When does your body crave rest versus movement?

Your body still moves through rhythms, even if they don't follow a neat 28-day pattern. The practices above can be adapted to how you feel rather than what day it is.

What You Can Do Next

Ready to bring somatic practice into your cycle? Start here:

Track your cycle and your energy. Note not just your period dates, but how you feel physically and emotionally throughout the month.
Pick one phase to focus on. Don't try to overhaul everything at once. Maybe start by honouring your menstrual phase with more rest, or leaning into movement during your follicular phase.
Create a simple toolkit. For each phase, identify 2-3 practices that feel supportive. Write them down. Refer back to them.
Listen more than you plan. The practices above are suggestions. Your body is the ultimate authority on what it needs.

Ready to Embody Your Cycle?

At Somatic Body, I guide women into deeper relationship with their cyclical nature through my SomaCycle™️ Method — a feminine approach to healing that works with your body's rhythms, not against them.

Through somatic practice, nervous system support, and cyclical wisdom, you can learn to move through your month with more ease, more energy, and more trust in your body's innate intelligence.

Your cycle isn't a limitation. It's a roadmap.

Learn more about working with me → Book An Embodiment Session

Written by Shannon Harrison — Somatic & Energetic Integration Specialist, foundress of Somatic Body™️

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