Suzanne Mathis McQueen describes it as a 28-day female body clock and remarkable navigational system within each woman.

Her beautifully illustrated and illuminating book 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks (4s4w): Awakening the Power, Wisdom & Beauty in Every Woman’s Nature breaks new (actually, ancient) ground in feminine wisdom, associating the woman’s monthly reproductive cycle with the four seasons, moon phases, sacred geometry, and universal rhythms to create an easy-to-follow blueprint for living in optimal comfort and balance every day.

What makes the 4s4w approach different than other similar takes on the female cycle?

There are numerous distinctions that make 4s4w unique.

1) McQueen stresses the importance and strengths of every weekly phase throughout the entire month, rather than pointing at just the period or ovulation or PMS, as is the current focus. Following the sequence of the hormonal landscape is where the solutions can be found she says, because each week prepares for the next. Suzanne presents her approach as an easy-to-follow blueprint for understanding one’s own rhythmic nature.

2) The female cycle blueprint, she claims, is for cycling and non-cycling women alike, staying with a woman beyond menopause. The observation is that females have these 4 phases from the time they are born until the time they die, but the energies are either more or less developed, or more or less intense. The blueprint surfaces during the reproductive years to show the full manifestation of it.

3) McQueen compares the monthly cycle with the 24-hour circadian rhythm, stating that women have a 28-day body clock, which she has coined the circamena rhythm. She shows each month as containing 4 weeks with 4 distinct energies in the form of a resting phase, a building phase, an expressing phase, and a deconstructing phase.

4) 4 Seasons in 4 Weeks gets rid of the idea of PMS unless a woman is truly suffering. Instead, the week before the period is called, The Fire Walk. This is the important and phenomenal deconstructing and processing phase, which when truly recognized for its purpose, and tools for navigating this Fire Walk are applied mindfully, a woman’s sense of balance and core power skyrockets. Knowing how to master this phase with grace and skill makes this formerly “threatening” week a very good thing, not a bad one.

5) It’s not new or uncommon to compare the female cycle with the seasons. However, 4s4w shows these seasons differently than other systems or teachings. In 4s4w, Fall is considered the resting, bleeding phase, rather than Winter (as is described in these other approaches). You can read about this under the FAQS.

6) This is a system that men totally “get” and are embracing and aligning with. It shows them a way to be successful at supporting the women in their lives, enabling them to co-create the relationships they’ve always desired. For intimate partners, 4s4w takes the mystery and the guesswork out when initiating sex or other forms of communication. It is also effective for helping fathers communicate respectfully with their daughters.