Walking Sensation
Written by Leslie Rewis, Certified NFPTA Instructor and BOMA Trainee
While some fertility awareness based methods use wiping sensation, a large majority of sympto-thermal methods (as well as mucus-only methods such as the Billings Ovulation Method) use some variation of walking sensation. Walking sensation is the feeling someone experiences at the vulva while going about their day to day activities. A good way to think about it is what it feels like to feel menstruation begin. Most people understand that this causes a wet feeling at the vulva without even needing to look to see the blood. Likewise, walking sensation can be felt at the vulva without needing to look for visible mucus.
This feeling might feel like something is falling out of your vagina. It could feel moist, wet, sticky, lubricative, slippery, or similar terms. This sensation opens the fertile window even if no visible mucus is seen. In fact, it is common to have walking sensation open the fertile window before any mucus is seen. It is also common for slippery / lubricative / wet sensation to be set as peak day (depending on your method rules!). Again, this would count as a fertile day even without visible mucus being seen.
Walking sensation is a practice in mindfulness. It involves tuning into the nerves at the vulva as you go about your day. Notice how it feels when you walk around, exercise, or otherwise move throughout the day. Wearing tight pants or synthetic fabric underwears can make it harder to feel. If you are having trouble tracking walking sensation, consider wearing a skirt or dress for a full cycle. This can be helpful if you are having trouble tracking it. Another common suggestion to help learn it is to “chart blind” for one full cycle (obviously you will need to refrain from unprotected sex if changing up your method!). Charting blind means charting your sensation without looking at your visible mucus. This forces you to rely on the feeling at the vulva. Note that the Billings Ovulation Method which relies on walking sensation as the primary sign has done small studies with blind women who were able to chart their patterns with it while never being able to see visible mucus.
If you are interested in learning more, reach out to an instructor. If you want to use it as a part of a mucus-only method, the Billings Ovulation Method focuses more on it than any other existing method.