Connecting our menstrual & creative cycles

Lately, I have been playing with and exploring my unique, inner creativity. Reconnecting with my love of writing fiction and world building in the form of my first novel. Dancing in the kitchen while I cook my morning oatmeal. Listening to the music of my teenage years.

Allowing myself to paint with watercolours without being good at it, spend an evening doing a puzzle with my husband, or go for a walk through nature while listening to a podcast that just makes me laugh.

Finding space in my daily life for joy, pleasure, and messiness.

This creative freedom isn’t something that comes naturally to me. In fact, I feel a lot of resistance to it. I feel my inner critic peering over my shoulder, wondering if I’m spending my time frivolously.

But the more I dive into this place, the more I find comfort in the uncomfortable, the more I begin to notice the shifts in my mental landscape throughout my menstrual cycle. How my mind, my body, and my spirit react to these creative endeavours differently week by week.

My experience with cyclical living

Before I move any further, I need to preface my words. My experience is mine.

This may sound obvious, but in the cyclical living world there’s a new fad of cycle syncing everything. The problem is some folks are offering blanket approaches to your individual cycle. Do this during this week, do that during that week.

Our bodies are unique. Our cyclical experiences are unique. Yes, I can highlight how the average human may feel during each week of their menstrual cycle, but that may not be how you feel. And you’re what’s important in this equation.

If you haven’t experienced putting yourself and your body first when it comes to menstrual cycle awareness, then here’s your invitation to do so. Download my free cycle charts and then use them to chart whatever symptoms come up each day and, in this case, how you’re feeling creatively. If you need more instructions, check out my blog post on how to chart your menstrual cycle!

Creative writing, cyclically

For me, I have noticed so many new and interesting things in relation to my writing process.

Naturally, I rest in my inner winter or when I’m bleeding. I sleep more, walk more, think more. It’s a nice time to reflect on what I have created so far and perhaps process some bumps in my story. Light and breezy, and very sleepy.

In my spring or pre-ovulatory week, brainstorming is my superpower. I can spend hours at a coffee shop writing with pen to paper about the world I’m creating. The kinds of magic the people will use, the hierarchy of the society, the otherworldly landscapes. My mind races and I try my best to keep up with the fountain of words.

In my summer or ovulatory week, I seem to love writing spice. My pages become quite dialogue heavy, my characters have lots to say, and the romance and power comes forth. This season is also paired with a strong desire to connect with people outside of my books, so getting my word count up can feel a tad challenging at times.

In my autumn or premenstruum week, my brain seems to love writing nitty gritty scenes. There’s a heavy hand in detail-oriented content, plenty of descriptions of people and places. I imagine this will also be the time when I’m inclined towards editing work (but I’m not quite at that process yet!)

These are just my initial observations, things I’ve noticed in myself as I’m writing week over week. As I said above, you may have a completely different experience and that’s valid, too!

I encourage you to explore your own cycle through charting and begin to notice how your hormonal shifts truly affect each area of your life. It’s really, really cool when you start seeing patterns emerge.

If you do notice changes or trends and feel enticed to share, please comment below or send me a message! I love hearing other people’s observations, it’s so fascinating.

xx Lauren