Cycle Coaching
What kind of Fertility awareness method do I teach?
I teach the sympto-thermal method! The sympto-thermal method takes a two-part approach in identifying the days in which you are fertile (your fertile window). The first is basal body temperature (BBT), which is recorded daily through taking your temperature in the morning or through a wearable temperature tracking device. The second is identifying the difference between fertile and infertile cervical mucus (CM). STM can be used both to conceive or avoid pregnancy, simply by choosing to partake or not partake in barrier-free, penetrative sex during the fertile window. Additionally, through understanding the hormonal shifts which occur during the menstrual cycle, we can optimize a balance between productivity and self-care through lifestyle cycle-syncing
How can I learn to practice the method?
Through charting BBT and CM we can identify the fertile window, during which ovulation occurs and conception is possible. Charting is the most helpful way to start practicing STM! There are great apps to use for this (the one I use is ReadYourBody) but some people like paper charts as well. Here is one my charts!
How can the sympto-thermal method help me in my journey to conception or be used to avoid pregnancy?
Once you have learned to identify your fertile window, you have the opportunity to try and conceive or avoid pregnancy. Having this information about your body is like having a window into what’s going on inside, everyday. I see this as a form of bio- hacking! Using BBT, you can also identify if you have become pregnant sooner than a pregnancy test.
What is this service offering?
Two 2hr Zoom calls (or in person meetings) to learn the method and discuss your personal goals
Topics covered
Overview of your cycle - ovulation, conception, menstruation
Basal Body Temperature tracking
Understanding different types of cervical mucus and which types indicate fertility
Hormonal shifts throughout the cycle and how one can ‘live cyclically’ (incorporating knowledge of hormonal changes into lifestyle and habits)
How to conceive
How to avoid pregnancy using STM and say goodbye to hormonal birth control for good!
Support with charting and tracking over the course of three months
Unlimited communication and consultation throughout our time together - shoot me an email or text any time!
Option for fees to be applied to birth services
Testimonials
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"Learning about my cycle is a process but staying consistent has proven to be so rewarding and I recommend fertility awareness to everyone!" ~ Taylor Sacks
FAQs
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The short answer: With perfect use, STM is 99% effective (just as effective as hormonal methods of birth control)
The long answer: What separates fertility awareness methods from other methods of birth control is that YOU are the one in the driver’s seat of your own fertility. Therefore, STM is only as effective as the practitioner is at practicing the method. Practicing STM requires incorporating the checking of biomarkers into your everyday routine. The more successful you are at this, the more reliable, and more predictive, your chart will be. The predictive capacity of STM comes into play once you have at least one cycle’s worth of data that can be applied to the next cycle. Once you continue to practice STM, the data becomes more accurate as more data points are involved, and one can predict fertile, infertile and menstruation days based on the data from your previous cycles. (Although, one should not rely completely on predictions because a woman’s cycle can shift at any time, which is why it’s important to continue charting even once you have learned STM and collected data).
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Personally, the most difficult part of learning STM was understanding the different types of cervical mucus for your own body. This can take a couple cycles before you start to notice a pattern. Other than that, the chart does most of the work for you in terms of understanding your cycle. Most coaches suggest practicing the method for three months once you rely on STM for birth control (i.e. has barrier-free, penetrative sex during a time when they are infertile, assuming this person is trying to avoid pregnancy).
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YES! STM is particularly helpful in all of these circumstances since understanding if / when one is ovulating can be key information for a variety of reasons. Some even refer to the menstrual cycle as a woman’s ‘sixth vital sign.’ Practicing STM can pull back the curtain on your cycle, since it may often feel like a mystery.
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YES! For me personally, practicing STM is mostly to do with body awareness and health. I believe the benefits are much broader than simply the ability to have barrier-free, penetrative sex. Understanding one’s own body and its cycles can be a key to empowerment.
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Unfortunately, you cannot practice STM if you are currently using hormonal birth control. The absence of ovulation due to the release of synthetic hormones renders pregnancy impossible with hormonal birth control. Since STM is all about tracking ovulation signs and identifying the fertile window, this would not be possible if one was not ovulating due to hormonal birth control. Although, as soon as you stop using hormonal birth control, you can start charting and see how long it takes before the body begins to ovulate again (usually between three and six months). Although, if one is using the copper IUD, STM can be practiced since the copper IUD does not use synthetic hormones to suppress ovulation to prevent pregnancy.
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As previously mentioned, STM works through collecting data from YOUR previous cycles and using this data to predict fertility. Both the rhythm method and ovulation / period tracking apps (including Natural Cycles), use data from the general population for their predictions. Most people have variations in their cycles, so using your own data is vital in accurately predicting and identifying ovulation.
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YES! What you do during your fertile window is your own decision. You can choose to use condoms, a diaphragm or a sponge. Or, you can have only non-penetrative sex during the fertile window.