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About the episode
“It’s very accessible to understand what’s happening in the body by looking at the self and how one feels. You just have to learn that language.”
So much of cycle tracking is built around prediction. Apps guesstimate ovulation days, wearables collect temperature and sleep data, and algorithms try to tell women about their individual cycles based on averages and patterns. But our bodies don’t work based on averages. They shift in response to stress, illness, travel, sleep, inflammation, recovery, and the realities of everyday life. And for many women, relying on cycle tracking technology ends up creating more disconnection from their body instead of more understanding.
The conversation around cycle tracking needs to focus on the specific person living the cycle. We need to move beyond collecting data and actually learn how to interpret symptoms, emotional shifts, pain patterns, cervical fluid changes, energy fluctuations, and nervous system responses in context. That kind of awareness can completely change the way practitioners approach conditions like endometriosis, PMDD, chronic pelvic pain, infertility, PCOS, perimenopause, and even mental health care because patients are empowered and patterns start becoming more visible in a clinically useful way.
In this episode, I’m joined by Laura Federico and Morgan Miller, midwife and co-creators of The Cycle Book, a thoughtful pen-and-paper tracking and education tool designed to help people better understand their hormonal and physical patterns over time. We discuss the limitations of cycle-tracking apps, data privacy concerns, why algorithms often misidentify ovulation and cycle phases, how tracking physical and emotional biomarkers can support earlier recognition of many conditions, the relationship between cycle tracking and mental health care, collaborative treatment planning, and more.
Enjoy the episode, and let’s innovate and integrate together!
Highlights
- Why Laura and Morgan recommend pen-and-paper cycle tracking over apps for privacy and body awareness
- Why predictive algorithms struggle to account for the daily variability of real menstrual cycles
- The disconnect created by app-based cycle tracking
- How Laura and Morgan’s clinical work shaped their tracking approach
- The hormonal patterns clinicians can identify through tracking
- The benefits of combining physical tracking with hormone testing
- How personalized tracking helps and why patients are the real experts on their own bodies
- Revealing hormonal patterns behind mental health conditions
- How symptom tracking can help people manage chronic illness more proactively
- How Laura and Morgan use tracking in their own lives to navigate perimenopause and endometriosis
Learn more about Laura Federico & Morgan Miller
- Laura Federico & Morgan Miller’s Book | The Cycle Book: An Interactive Step-by-Step Guide to Tracking Hormones and Knowing Your Body
- Laura Federico & Morgan Miller’s Website | itslauraandmorgan.com
- Laura Federico & Morgan Miller | @thecyclebook
Mentioned in the episode
About Laura Federico & Morgan Miller
Laura Federico, LCSW, CST is a psychotherapist, AASECT-certified sex therapist, writer, and consultant. Specializing in sex and relationships, Laura focuses on bodily autonomy, sex positivity, and support for those who have felt in the dark or dismissed when navigating their emotional and physical well-being. Laura’s work has brought her to collaborations across fields, including midwifery. Laura works with individuals and couples in her therapy practice using a non-judgmental, sex-positive, anti-oppressive, mindful, integrative, and interactive process, focusing on strengths. Located in Canada, she has worked most recently in New York, Iowa, Istanbul, and Switzerland. After moving regularly as a result of her partner’s work in the humanitarian sector, she personally understands the importance of accessible support and treatment, no matter where we may be.
About Morgan Miller
Morgan MIller, CPM, LM, IBCLC is a birth center founder, a practicing midwife, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, an activist and co-founder of Perinatal Transitions Program. Passionate about pregnancy and reproductive care, Morgan has over 10 years of experience caring for people throughout their reproductive cycles. She was a full-time midwife at the Bend Birth Center in Oregon for over 5 years before relocating to Maine to establish Soft Corner. Morgan has a fierce enthusiasm for what she does and supports the vision of essential reproductive rights and highest-quality reproductive care being available to everyone. She is a practicing midwife and lactation consultant in Maine and California. Dedicated, kind, and considerate, Morgan doesn’t think twice about running that extra mile for her clients.
Learn more about The Integrative Women’s Health Institute’s Programs
- Perimenopause and Menopause Certificate Program
- The Integrative Women’s Health Membership
- Endometriosis Certificate Program
Ready to revolutionize your career and grow your practice?
- Integrative Women’s Health Institute on Instagram | @integrativewomenshealth
- Integrative Women’s Health Institute on YouTube
Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
Join Dr. Jessica Drummond to learn proven strategies to confidently address perimenopause, menopause, and chronic conditions while growing a profitable and impactful practice.
Discover proven strategies to attract high-value clients, deliver transformational results, and position yourself as a sought-after expert in this rapidly growing field.
Dr. Jessica Drummond
Founder & CEO
The Integrative Women’s Health Institute
At the Integrative Women’s Health Institute, we’ve dedicated 17 years to crafting evidence-driven, cutting-edge programs that empower practitioners like you to address the complexities of women’s health.
Dr. Jessica Drummond’s unique approach focuses on functional nutrition, lifestyle medicine, movement therapies, nervous system dysregulation, trauma, and mindset – essential elements often overlooked in traditional health education.
In addition, your training will be fully evidence based, personalized, and nuanced (this is not a cookie cutter approach) in functional nutrition, exercise, recovery, cellular health, and all other lifestyle medicine tools.
You’ll learn to support your clients with cutting edge tools safely and effectively.
