Fertility Awareness Method
Moderated by Certified Fertility Awareness Educator Melissa Vranjes
Cycle tracking is vital for accurate seed cycling with a natural menstrual cycle so you can be taking nutrients at the time your body actually needs them. If you do not have a menstrual cycle yet - we recommend cycling with the moon. Find out how to here.
What is the fertility awareness method?
The fertility awareness method is a set of practices used by cycling individuals to determine the fertile and infertile phases of a their menstrual cycle. This method can be used to avoid pregnancy, to achieve pregnancy, or as a way to track your cycle for effective cycle syncing and seed cycling. By default using the fertility awareness method can act as a report card for your gynaecological and cycle health.
What is the sympto-thermal method?
There are different types of Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABM) out there. The most effective method we recommend is the Sympto-Thermal Method. This has an effectiveness rate of 99.4-99.6% with perfect use and 98-99% with typical use. That's more effective contraception than condoms! And all you need to buy is one thermometer and chart your cervical mucus.
How do you do it?
You will need:
- A basal body thermometer with 2 decimal points for accurate recording. Buy one here.
- A charting app like Kindara or Read Your Body. Alternatively an ovulation charting booklet with your bio marker recordings.
Directions
- Basal Body Temperature - your basal body temperature is your waking temperature. You take this as soon as you wake up before going to the toilet or moving around.
- Vaginal sensation recording - notice what you’re experiencing at your vaginal opening throughout the day - dry, moist, wet. No touching required.
- Cervical mucus description - what you visually see in your knickers and on the toilet paper throughout the day.
- Record your basal body temperature in the morning and your cervical mucus at the end of the day in your chart.
- Include any other symptoms or moods if your app or chart allows it. But the most important ones are temperature and cervical mucus.
- Ovulation is confirmed by a spike in your temperature that stays high - that means your egg has been released. For true ovulation you must mark a coverline with 6 undisturbed temperatures under it and 3 temperatures above it, the 3rd must be 0.2 degrees above the coverline, if not a 4th temp 0reading must be taken.
- Leading up to ovulation you may find your cervical mucus becomes more abundant, slippery or stretchy and like raw egg white consistency.
- If you would like to go deeper into this method we advise consulting with a Fertility Awareness Educator like Melissa Vranjes. View her site here.
More information on what to look for in your chart here.
Why is the fertility awareness method important for Seed Cycling?
How seed cycling works
Seed cycling works by supporting the two main phases of the ovulatory cycle - the Follicular Phase (Day 1 of bleed until ovulation) and the Luteal Phase (Ovulation until Day 1 of bleeding). Ovulation is a 24 hour window where a matured egg is released from its follicle in the ovary and makes its way into the fallopian tubes and into the uterus for the chance to be fertilized. Ovulation signify's the change from the Follicular Phase into the Luteal Phase. Or in seed cycling terms from FOL blend to LUT blend. And the only way to know we have ovulated is if we have accurately tracked our cycle.
Not all cycles are the same
The reason why the fertility awareness method is so important for seed cycling is that you want to be taking seeds at the time your body actually needs.
You may have seen seed cycling advertised as taking one set of seeds from Day 1-14 of your cycle and then switch to the other set of seeds from Day 15-28 of your cycle. But sometimes people's cycles can be shorter or longer than that. Then how would we seed cycle properly?
Taking your blends based on the above days is perfect for those who have temporarily lost or do not have a menstrual cycle. This is also cycling with the moon phases (a 28 day cycle). But when we are seed cycling with our natural cycle it can be a little different. Ovulation could be on cycle day 12, 16 or even 20 if it's a bit later. For that reason we encourage our seed cyclers to track their cycle with the sympto-thermal method for a more accurate understanding of where their cycle is at and what blends to take to support that phase.