19 Feb 1 crucial warning you should heed in Week 2 of your cycle
When you’re in Week 2 of your monthly cycle–which is the week leading up to and including ovulation–it’s important to be more aware of your surroundings and watch out for danger.
For instance, pay closer attention to traffic so you don’t miss a car veering into your path. Keep your eye on a shady character lurking near you. Or, if you’re like me and live in reptile-riddled Florida, watch out for snakes.
Here’s why:
In the second half of your cycle–Week 3 and Week 4, which spans the day after ovulation to the day before your next period–you’re naturally better at spotting potential dangers.
That’s the word from a bunch of studies (such as this one and this one) that show a rise in progesterone in your Week 3 makes you view people a bit more warily. And, a 2012 study in the journal Scientific Reports shows that plunging estrogen in your premenstrual phase creates changes in the brain that amp up both anxiety and awareness of your environment, helping you detect possible hazards faster.
However, in your la-de-da high-estrogen Week 2 when your mood is soaring, your optimism is spiking and your curiosity about birds and clouds and rainbows and cute hotties and neat shiny things is distracting you, you’re more prone to missing important signs that danger looms.
Personally speaking, when I’m walking my dogs during my Week 2, I notice I’m far more distracted by amazing cloud formations or egrets flying overhead and, as a result, often miss important stuff that’s right in front of me, like someone’s loose dog heading my way or a bump in the sidewalk that I ultimately go tumbling over.
Yet, during the second half of my cycle, my eyes are far more likely to be scanning for those kinds of problems or stuck to the ground looking out for one of those aforementioned Florida snakes. No lie, we have a lot of snakes. It’s beautiful here, the beaches are pristine and the weather can’t be beat. But, those snakes….
Anyway, given my clear dislike of these slithering creatures, you’d think being on the lookout for them would be a major priority of mine all cycle long. But, nope. Once my Week 2 comes ’round, my focus goes right back to those darned fluffy clouds and sing-songy birds again–and I have to keep reminding myself to go back on snake patrol.
I hope this little tip helps you avert danger in your Week 2. Or at least explains why you didn’t see the crack in the sidewalk, missed your exit on the freeway or failed to notice that sneaky snake zig-zagging its way into your path before it was close enough to give you the fright of your life.
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