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 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.

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.

The knowledge of the menstrual cycle and fertility/contraception methods are fairly sound - however there is language that jars with a contemporary ear...eg, referring to the menstruating persons partner as 'husband'. If you can look past this, there is wisdom to be found on natural cycle.

Great read, but very difficult to learn, as need to know a lot about cervix positioning. Fell pregnant when was trying to not have a baby

Excellent!