Time For Some Girl Talk (AKA- 12 Ways I Support My Period Naturally)

“I bought essential oils!” I told my first college roommate one day as we ate soup and sandwiches in an adorable diner.

“Yay!!” She exclaimed. My friend used essential oils the whole time I had lived with her, so I knew she was a good person to ask my questions too.

“I’ve been loving learning how to use each of them. Except, I don’t really know what to use PanAway for…” I trailed off and took a bite of my food.

She thought for a minute. “That one could be good for helping with cramps.”

“No way!?” I exclaimed. Then I grinned. If that was true and PanAway could help with cramps, that would be absolutely amazing!

Since that day in the diner, I have learned about various essential oils I can use to support me while I’m on my period. 

And it’s been amazing. Typically I have very bad cramps on the first (or second) day of my period. After that one day, I don’t feel any sort of cramps. I do not take hormonal birth control to “regulate” my period and I have always wanted to find natural ways to help my cramps go away.

Today, I’m going to share how I support my period naturally.

First though, I need to say that I am not opposed to taking pain meds to help with cramps. In fact, the first thing I do after starting is to take two Tylenol or Midol or whatever I have at the time.

I just don’t want to ONLY rely on pain meds to keep my cramps at bay. I want to use natural remedies as well :)

Before we begin though, I must give a HUGE disclaimer and say I am NOT a doctor. In this post, I am simply sharing what has worked for me personally. If you are experiencing abnormal periods or extreme period pain, please go talk to your doctor.

That being said, let’s discuss how I support my period!

First off is how I support my period using essential oils.

1. PanAway

PanAway is a blend of wintergreen, helichrysum, clove, and peppermint essential oils.

Like my friend mentioned, PanAway is great for supporting sore muscles. I rub this oil on my legs after doing an intensive pilates workout and I rub it on my stomach to support my uterus as well.

This is one I use during my period and while I am actually cramping.

Also- this oil needs to be diluted with a carrier oil (I use fractionated coconut oil from Amazon) so it won’t irritate your skin. At first I didn’t know this and just rubbed it straight on my stomach! Learn from my mistakes- you don’t want to do that.

2. Dragon Time

This is a blend that I diffuse constantly the week leading up to my period. I have noticed that the months I do that my cramps are significantly lessened as opposed to the months where I don’t diffuse it at all or just diffuse it the day before I start.

Dragon Time is a blend of fennel, clary sage, marjoram, lavender, blue yarrow, and jasmine essential oils.

It’s not my favorite smelling oil, so lately I’ve been adding lime or tangerine essential oil when I want to diffuse it.

You can also apply Dragon Time topically, but you also need to use a carrier oil like you do for PanAway.

3. Lady Sclareol

This one is newer for me, as I’ve only had it a few months.

Lady Sclareol is another great blend of essential oils for your period. It contains geranium, coriander, vetiver, orange, clary, bergamot, ylang-ylang, royal Hawaiian sandalwood, Spanish sage, jasmine, Idaho blue spruce, and spearmint essential oils.

You don’t have to dilute this blend, so I’ll just rub it right on my abdomen. Usually I like to apply it the week before I start my period, at least once a day.

4. Endoflex

Endoflex is an oil that supports your endocrine system (AKA- your hormones).

I rub it on my wrists or my thyroid once a day all month long.

Endoflex consists of spearmint, sesame, sage, geranium, myrtle, Matricaria, and nutmeg essential oils.

5. Lavender

Lavender is just a great oil to have on hand for all the things.

If I find myself cramping and I don’t have PanAway or Lady Sclareol on hand, I’ll rub lavender on my stomach to soothe it. This is also a great oil to diffuse for relaxation.

Lately, I’ve found that I struggle with falling asleep the nights leading up to my period. Lavender is a great sleep support oil that helps me combat this.

 

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These next few items aren’t essential oils but are other Young Living products that I use to support my period.

6. Progessence Plus Serum

This is a Young Living product that contains various essential oils such as copaiba, sacred frankincense, cedarwood, bergamot, peppermint, and clove.

It also contains naturally occurring progesterone from wild yam extract.

Some people use this serum all month long. I only use it after ovulation up until the first day of my period since that’s when progesterone naturally occurs in my body anyway.

Progesterone is the hormone that is very important in your cycle. You can learn more about it here, and here

I use Progessence Plus to support my body’s production of progesterone. At night, I’ll apply one to two drops on my inner arms or on my stomach. (You’re supposed to rotate application sites.)

Note: If you are on hormonal birth control, this serum will probably not help you as the synthetic hormones in your birth control suppress progesterone.

7. Deep Relief Roller Bottle

This was the very first Young Living product I used wayyy back in 2015 after my car wreck. This roller bottle contains various essential oils that provide relief and it comes pre-diluted,

I got this roller bottle for the second time for free in my May 2020 essential rewards order. I felt emotional when I unboxed it because of how much it helped me after my car wreck.

When I started my period, I rolled this on my stomach as well as my lower back to provide deep relief to those areas. It really helped me!

The essential oils that come in this roller are peppermint, lemon, Balsam Canada, clove, Balsam copaiba, wintergreen, helichrysum, vetiver, and Dorado Azul.

8. FemiGen Capsules

From the Young Living Website:

“FemiGen™ capsules are formulated with herbs and amino acids that may support female health. FemiGen combines whole-food herbs such as wild yam, damiana, and dong quai, along with synergistic amino acids and select essential oils that may be supportive of the female system.” –Source

These are capsules that I take each month after ovulation. The recommended dosage is four a day. I take one-a-day the week after ovulation and then two-a-day the 2-3 days leading up to my period.

I don’t do the full four capsules a day because honestly I want them to last as long as possible so I don’t have to reorder them every month. That, and I mainly want to give myself an extra boost in my luteal phase as I’m heading into my period.

9. NingXia Red

This is Young Living’s supplement drink and it is AMAZING! Two packets come in your Premium Starter Kit and I finally ordered more this past month. I’ve been drinking the recommended 2 ounces a day and I think the antioxidants in it are helping me with my overall wellness.

From the Young Living website:

Add a daily shot of NingXia Red® to your diet to enjoy the benefits of this powerful, whole-body supplement. This sweet and tangy drink’s formula includes wolfberry, which is touted for its health benefits. Also featuring plum, aronia, cherry, blueberry, and pomegranate juices and extracts, Young Living’s NingXia Red is packed with superfoods to support overall wellness.

In addition to these antioxidant ingredients, NingXia Red’s formula includes pure vanilla extract and Lemon, Orange, Yuzu, and Tangerine essential oils for a great-tasting, healthy treat.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Young Living products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
–Source

These last few ways I support my period have nothing to do with Young Living.

10. Avoid certain foods the week before my period

I try my best to stay away from sugar, cheese/dairy, and red meat as much as possible the week before my period. These foods can cause inflammation and other issues I’d rather avoid when on my period.

I also avoid caffeine. I rarely drink coffee as it is, but I especially avoid it before I start my period.

Oh, and I try to up my water intake too!

I recommend the books Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden and The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack for more information about how you can support your period using nutrition.

Heck, these books are just great for learning more about your menstrual cycle in general!

Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon is another good book I recommend.

11. Use a heating pad

After my car wreck, I got a heating pad to help me. Now that heating pad is one of my best friends during my period LOL! I have one that plugs into the wall and has various heat settings. It also auto-turns off after 2 hours which is awesome.

12. Take it easy the days before I start

Let’s say for example I know I’m going to start my period either Sunday or Monday. I probably won’t want to go on an intense five-mile hike the Saturday before.

During the days before my period starts, I like to read a lot and take naps. As far as exercise goes, I like to do more stretching pilates routines instead of full-on cardio/strength training pilates. (I love how The Balanced Life gives me both options!)

I’m also feeling pretty introverted the days before I start. So I try to honor that and not push myself beyond what I can handle at the time. After ovulation, I count out the number of days until my period will start and just know I probably won’t want to plan anything major with my friends around that time.

Bonus: I chart my cycle

In case you’re wondering about how I time the things I mention in this post- the phrases such as “After ovulation” or “The two days before my period”- this is how I know when exactly my period is going to start.

Did you know that your menstrual cycle actually consists of four phases? Yup, it’s not just your period and the days you’re not on your period.

Quick science lesson:

The four phases are…

• The follicular phase
  • When your body is building the uterine lining and preparing for pregnancy
• The ovulatory phase
  • When your ovaries release the egg
• The luteal phase
  • When your body waits to see if your pregnant and if your not it transitions for menstruation
• The menstrual phase
  • This is your period

When your period is late, it’s actually because your body took longer preparing for ovulation during the follicular phase. The luteal phase lasts the same amount of days each month.

Okay, science lesson over 😉

I chart my menstrual cycle which allows me to know when I’ve ovulated so then I can count the days of my luteal phase and know exactly I’m going to start my period even if my cycle varies in length from month to month.

(Well, typically my prediction is within a two-day window. But that’s better than not knowing at all!).

Charting is so helpful because then I’m able to do the things mentioned above during the week before I start my period. This way I’m able to be proactive and to prevent cramps from being a big deal.

I go more in-depth about why I love charting in this post.

Interested in learning more about charting your cycles? I got started using the book Cycles and Spirituality by Alison Protz. It’s a Christian book for teen girls and not too graphic in its descriptions which I really appreciated :)

Also, if you don’t have essential oils yet and would like to try them out, you can get them here. More info about how to buy them here.

How do you naturally support your period?

Posted by Kara Beth & filed under Essential Oils, Periods. This post has 2 comments.