Honoring Our Cycles: A Natural Family Planning Workbook

I was hesitant to purchase this book based on other reviews about how the Taking Charge of Your Fertility book was so stellar. I looked at the Taking Charge book, but I decided to go with this one, and I am very happy that I did. I probably will buy the Taking Charge book eventually, when I get deeper into this practice, but for now I am pretty busy and wanted to just start charting my cycle. I was also hesitant because of other reviews commenting on the manner in which Singer writes "down" to her audience, as if her audience were children. As I broke open the book, I almost thought I had made the wrong choice, because for the first few pages, I could see where the commenters were coming from. However-- I really love this book. Singer distills everything about family planning to the absolute, most concise basics. And I really appreciate that because I want to be absolutely sure and confident I know what I'm doing. Well, within an hour I had read through the book and felt very confident and excited to start charting my cycle the very next day. What's funny is that the book could have even been cut in half from what it is, which is a very thin 100-pages or so, because Singer goes though different theoretical chart examples, and gives you a quiz at the end summarizing the whole book. There are also about a year's worth of blank charts to record your cycle in the back of the book. So you'll have the directions as well as all your charts in one place, very convenient. This is a fantastic book, almost pamphlet. If you are looking to easily chart your cycle to learn about your health, and really get to the bottom of what's up with any inconsistencies in your menstruation cycle (ie., why am I late, am I ovulating, do I have a long or short cycle, when can and can I not get pregnant?), this is the book for you. I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend reading this in conjunction with the book Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life, by Claudia Welch. If you are having inconsistencies with your cycle or hormones, you can easily understand them get a them smoothed out with Welch's book. If you are looking up buying Honoring Our Cycles, also know that you're going to need a thermometer to take your daily temperature when you wake up. I just ordered the BD Digital Thermometer. It has good reviews from women who are also charting their cycles. Good luck!

My husband and I successfully used this book for 6 months to time our unprotected sex during windows that would NOT result in pregnancy -- it worked like a charm... and then we used it for for just ONE very successful month to get pregnant! [The latter wouldn't have worked well if I hadn't have been strict about taking my temp at the same time each morning, even if it was a sleep-in day. The latter also wouldn't have worked as well if I hadn't have monitored my cervix positioning and firm/softness daily.] This is an abbreviated, straight forward, very informative easy read for people of all ages. I will get our daughter her own copy as soon as she starts to flow, to help her understand and embrace her body's cycles the way I wish I had years ago. I found this book gave me all the info and tools I needed to understand my cycle, and it took very little time to read and apply the Fertility Awareness method. After I was pregnant I borrowed a friend's " The Garden of Fertility: A Guide to Charting Your Fertility Signals to Prevent or Achieve Pregnancy--Naturally--and to Gauge Your Reproductive Health " and found that THAT version is much longer and way more detailed about everything. I'm glad I started with the simple version, "Honoring our Cycles", but can definitely see where the more detailed "Garden of Fertility" might be appreciated when issues come up with irregular cycles. This book is SUCH a great resource for ALL women, in all stages of life.... Side note: for other folks seeking to get pregnant, or already pregnant, I have also gotten so much out of " Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating for Two, and Baby's First Foods " and " The Natural Pregnancy Book: Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic Choices " -- lots of tips on fertility enhancement, health pregnancy, and healthy postpartum experiences. All these authors are great. Horray for increasing our understanding of our bodies :-)

This is the second time I have purchased this book, for the fact that it contains NFP charting sheets. They are some of the less complicated ones I have come across and are easy to keep up with. The book is also informative and helpful. This is one of the first books I purchased when I began Natural Family Planning in 2011, along with Taking Charge of Your Fertility, and both of them were very useful for someone who is new at this kind of birth control. They're still helpful and interesting to read even after you've become pretty good at charting. I would definitely recommend this, along with TCOYF, for any lady who is interested in becoming more knowledgeable about her gynecological health, as well as those looking for an alternative, reliable form of birth control and women who are also trying to conceive at some point in life. After two years, I can definitely say that it does work to control reproduction, as I have not fallen pregnant while using the method. Overall, it's a good book, and I would recommend it to other women.

This book is short and sweet and the worksheets at the end have been great. It talks through all sorts of scenarios and ways to know if you are fertile or not without using birth control. So far it’s been great. I have a neighbor who’s been using the system for over 10 years and has never had a pregnancy scare.

It's very easy to undetstand. And it helpful for begginers like myself who are wanting a holistic natural approch instead of taking pharmaceuticals like evey Ob/gyn wants to push on you. It's sad that their are no Ob/gyn that know about charting or care about or want to know about this side of medicine. Also to other women stop looking down at other women who want to use this method as a form of birthcontrol. Not everybody is cathloic and wants to be knocked up with a baby. You cathloic people are so judgie. Only GOD, ALLAH, or whoever you worship has the right to judge you NOT another sinner.

I bought this with three other books on Natural Family Planning/Fertility Awareness Method, and this one was by far the worst. First of all, it explains everything as if I was in the sixth grade and hadn't yet gone through sex ed or known anything about the female anatomy. Frankly, I couldn't get past the childish definitions, so I didn't read that far into it. The other books I bought were: Taking Charge of Your Fertility (Weschler) - very good in-depth information, didn't feel like it was over my head and she gave lots of examples; The New No-Pill No-Risk Birth Control (Aguilar) - this was a good supplement, but not as good as and not needed if getting Taking Charge of Your Fertility; Your Fertility Signals: Using them to Achieve or Avoid Pregnancy (Winstein) - another waste of money compared to the two above.

This is a wonderful book. I wish my mother would have given this to be when I first started my period. Every girl should understand her body. The only thing I didn't agree with was the nutrition/diet section of this book. It advises eating animal protein but there is ample scientific proof that animal proteins feed cancer--even meats organic. (Watch: Forks Over Knives or Eating You Alive.) Once I stopped eating animal products my painful menstrual cramps disappeared! Maybe the author will revise this section one day. Other than that, this book is easier to follow than the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

This book was a very quick and simple read--I think that is one of the book's main strengths, it is written in very clear, basic English (maybe a sixth grade reading level?). However, it also makes it somewhat stilted or somehow "off" to read it though because it IS so simplistically written (makes you feel like you are none-too-bright or something! LOL!). Anyway, to be totally honest, one of the only reasons I wanted this book is because I'm so enraptured by the cover. I just love it. I think it is a beautiful, wonderful book cover. The book is about using fertility awareness to avoid or promote pregnancy The book is clear and easy to follow. It contains some inaccurate breastfeeding information, which I'm very sensitive to--including such odd comments as, "sometimes, when a mother is away from her baby for an afternoon or more, her milk dries up." Huh?! This is where the overly simplistic approach does not succeed, because it is NOT correct (in this case). I'm very interested and excited right now by fertility awareness--how coolly and magically women's bodies indicate where they are in their fertility cycle. I am regretful that I spend so many years hormonally manipulating my cycle rather than just paying attention to my own body (which clearly communicates with me). so, this book reinforced this "magic-ness." I guess I would recommend it to others. There is a certain "spark" missing because it is so basic (I think it is designed for use with low-literacy populations). That gorgeous cover makes up for a lot though! ;-) Part of this review was originally posted to my blog, [...]

This is just what I was looking for to get started monitoring my fertility for the purpose of avoiding pregnancy-although the information would be just as useful for women trying to conceive, or just wanting to be more aware of their cycle. The information is clear, scientifically accurate but very readable and easy to put into practise. If natural family planning is something you are looking to start then this is the perfect guide. The anecdotes are a little bit odd but give the book a simple charm.

I was used to create moon dials (mmon, mood, body...) and this books provides so many information that I was not aware of. So yes, totally recommendable!

I’ve loaned this book out to many people. Explains it so well and is very to the point. I love how small it is so you can quickly find what you need. The testimonies sound super fake though.

Very informative! Every girl should read it, it takes a bit more effort keeping track of your cycle then popping a pill every day, birth control can screw up your hormones so bad! She explains all the signs your body gives and what your body is doing when.

This book is great, its beautifully written in simple English ! I have learned a lot from this book in one day than all my days its stuff like this that should be taught in biology. very useful for woman to know and learn about there bodies, and cycles it says exactly what it say's on the cover.