Escaping the Cave: The Greatest Secret Never Told
Question: Are you aware of your own Ovulation, and do you care?
If you were born after the premier of Friends, your likely answers are No and Not really. Young people are given zero reason to take interest in pinpointing their own Ovulation, an activity that has long been exclusively associated with getting pregnant. Even many grown women will be unable to respond with confidence, including those who may have already given birth.
Generally, an individual remains ignorant of her own recurring Ovulation and Fertile Periods unless she’s been forced to look into things due to distressing circumstances, and for most of us the journey of procreation begins and goes on without awareness of the particulars.
For the first half of the reproductive years, Ovulation is a vague, irrelevant concept hidden in the back of the mind along with State capitols and the Pythagorean theorem. If it ever comes up (and it doesn’t, except in romcoms), it’s neatly dismissed as inconsequential to the present situation and filed away for a later date far into the future.
This misconception could not be farther from the truth, for pinpointing Ovulation is an extremely effective tool for avoiding pregnancy at any age, which is the most constant and common goal in the lives of women.
If Knowledge is Power, then a gap in knowledge results in a lack of power, or in the case of Womenkind, a lack of agency over our awesome capabilities. Understanding the mechanics and specific set of sensations surrounding Ovulation and the Fertile Period is the key to rapid self-discovery of the most relevant kind and the means to genuine and lasting Empowerment for the individual and the collective.
The Power
Producing new bodies and keeping them alive is the ultimate individual human Power, and the grueling labors involved are solely on people with wombs. Each activated womb holds the capacity to create human life, and this sacred space inside a living person is still the only place life can be created. Women did not ask for the Power, but we possess it nonetheless.
The Whole Cycle of fertility- Ovulation, Menstruation and every day between- allows for the creative magic within a woman’s body. The recurring pain and discomfort are the sacrifice, the Egg is the divine gift. We moan plenty about the miseries of the former, but few of us ever get the chance to revel in the wonders of the latter.
Unlike a man who is fertile 100% of the time that he produces viable sperm, a “fertile” woman technically fluctuates between periods of fertility and infertility. On the whole, women are unaware that there is only a short window for conception during each cycle and have no idea exactly when this potentially life-altering Period occurs.
Ovulation occurs with regularity and in tandem with the menstrual period. There is only one Fertile Period of roughly 5–7 days during each cycle when pregnancy can occur because conception cannot happen without an Egg and sperm can’t live forever. Since most women experience our most significant Period unconsciously, we cannot anticipate or utilize its implications. This massive gap in our comprehension is hurting us, badly.
Much as we’d like to, no one can remain ignorant of her own menstruation- it’s too bloody obtrusive to miss. But Ovulation is subtle AF- it happens undercover with whispers and nudges and you must to seek to find it. It is a secret only half the population is privy to, and not the half who’ve written all the textbooks.
Internalize this today: If you are bleeding periodically then you are Ovulating just as periodically, and Ovulation signifies your creative potential. It is your Superpower, and it is in your best interest to understand everything you can about your ability so you can utilize it only when you are good and ready.
Our bodies have been speaking to us in an ancient code- hidden within the message are the answers we seek and the means to our liberation. The time has come to decipher the sacred patterns so we can finally take the the reigns of our awesome Power.
So… where do we begin?
MGMT
Effective management reduces stress, anxiety and burnout; you cannot properly manage something without first understanding how it works. Your body is no exception.
Despite what you may have been led to believe, The Whole Cycle follows a natural rhythm that can be detected with observation. Physical and emotional changes that seem random are in fact occurring with measurable regularity and purpose. There are no blanket truths for cycle-lenths or ovulation days, but we each have a unique and reliable pattern and identifying yours is the key to understanding yourself at the most basic level- with awareness will come security and peace of mind.
The Control Process
A vital function of management is the Control Process, which acts to ensure that actual performance of a business conforms to its established goals- in other words, an effective manager knows how things should work, checks that they are working correctly, and makes adjustments as needed. The Control Process facilitates organization and planning as well as informed decision making, efficiency and sustainability. It is absolutely necessary for successful operations.
Think of your body as a factory that is equipped to manufacture tiny humans. It is irrelevant whether you want to initiate production right now or at any time in the future- the mechanisms are set up long before a desire to put them to use and can begin assembly without your consent. But I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of that.
Simply applying the 4 steps of the control process to The Whole Cycle will allow a person to gain the insight needed to attempt to align her womb’s performance with her life goals.
Step 1: Set standards- Familiarize yourself with the four phases of the Whole Cycle and exactly how and when conception happens. Learn to recognize the signs and changes associated with the Fertile period and how to track them in yourself to pinpoint your own Ovulation day.
Step 2: Check Actual Performance. Take the 3 Cycle Challenge with the objective of pinpointing your Ovulation day. This involves recording your temperature, some light journalling and a little healthy self-exploration- I promise its way easier and less painful than any fast, cleanse or workout regimen and will result in infinitely more body-love.
Step 3: Compare Performance with Standards and Identify Deviations. Are you able to detect ovulation? Determine the specific set of sensations that accompany your Fertile, Pre-Ovulatory period. Verify that your systems are working as they should or be alerted to specific issues.
Step 4: Make adjustments as necessary. Once you are able to predict future fertile and menstrual periods with great accuracy, it is easier to set yourself up for success. You have a chance to block off some time and space when you know you will need it. If you notice you are not ovulating, early intervention is wise and you will have a baseline of personal data to bring to a specialist.
Performance Diagnostics
If you drive, it is your responsibility to have your car routinely inspected- you do this not only by law, but because you are aware of the direct connection to the safety of yourself, your loved ones and fellow travelers. Indeed, you know that it would be reckless not to do so. And when planning an epic road-trip you don’t wait until the day before departure to make sure that the vehicle is up for the ride. If you have to fix or adjust anything, better to find out and get it taken care of well before you hit the road.
Pregnancy and parenthood are the most ambitious road-trips of a woman’s life, yet so often we have no idea about the functionality of our vehicle until after we’ve embarked on the journey. Give yourself the gift of assurance that your body is up for the big ride if and when the time comes. Even if you never plan on kids, anovulation is often a symptom of unhealthy function and should be identified as early as possible.
Flipping the Script
We’ve been looking at it all wrong. Humanity mistakenly categorizes the entire female reproductive cycle by its byproduct- calling it the menstrual cycle is is akin to calling the digestive system the fecal cycle. Sure, its the most obvious and disgusting part, that which is observable to outside eyes, but it’s not the the whole point.
Our minimal knowledge base comes from disciplines and traditions which can only see us from the outside- when men studied male function, they had the advantage of inside perspective that was unavailable in studies of plants, animals and apparently, women. Doctors and Scientists could only observe and report what was visible while remaining ignorant to what was hidden, and since women were forbidden to participate in thinking, learning or speaking, there is no inside perspective when it comes to human understanding of female function. Their ignorance has become our collective ignorance. One supposes they could have just asked and listened… but, hey.
It is every woman’s right and responsibility to know when she can and cannot become pregnant. The key lies in thorough examination and collective Awareness of our most defining function: Ovulation and the Fertile Period.
The Cave
Babies are born in their own time, despite the strongest female will or intention. This is the belief that keeps us trapped in the cave, slaves to our reproductivity. But what if this isn’t the case?
What if we have been divinely designed to have consious control over our reproductive abilities? Its just that this new discipline must be extablished and validated by women and not men, and they’ve never given us the slimmest chance until now. They have appropriated our Power by possessing our bodies and constructing the laws that silence and confine us still. Collectively, women do not have sole discretion over what happens after pregnancy occurs, our only hope is gaining real agency over Conception in the first place.
There is a treasure trove of truth buried inside every woman, piles of jewels and riches obscured by centuries of dust and neglect. The information we learn will lead us to the next frontier in the evolution of our species. This New World is for females to explore and discover and utilize, and the ancient knowledge we gain will allow us to lead humanity out of the cave of unconscious conception and into its next phase, where the majority of souls are brought into this world with intention.
It is all there for the Knowing, we just have to be brave, reach in and find it.