Green Tree

Time off can feel impossible and is a luxury that many cannot afford. But can you find ten minutes to give yourself and start from there? Can you gift yourself thirty minutes of quiet time, to turn away from the world and tune into yourself to see what happens, without scrolling on your phone?

If your period takes a while to get going, you might be confused as to what counts as day 1. The first day of your cycle is one where you experience your period in full flow. Spotting a light amount of blood before your period starts is the tail end of a cycle, even if it continues for several days before your blood flow increases and your period actually begins.

We don’t sync up with each other. Research conducted by the menstrual app Clue found that rather than menstrual synchronicity occurring among menstruators who live together, their periods were more likely to diverge over time. If there are periods of time when you menstruate at the same time as someone you live with, it’s likely because cycles vary in length for some individuals as well as varying between different individuals, so it makes sense that there will be periods of overlap when you’re bleeding together.

I am a huge believer in the health benefits of having a menstrual cycle as well as how it can benefit your life

But anything that you choose to do for your mental or physical health, or situation in life, is up to you. It’s your body, and your life, and I encourage you to tune in to your own wisdom.

Yes, we are hormonal, and that’s a very good thing

What does your inner bitch require of you? Does she want you to get better at saying no, to spend some time on your own, to stop letting others step all over you, to stop being so attached to your inbox when you’re not meant to be working (and not getting paid to), to spend less time on social media and save your sleep and thyroid in the process (more on this in Section

Eat breakfast within an hour of waking and don’t you dare skip it – you can’t expect to balance your hormones if you do.

Three satisfying square meals a day and no snacks does work well for most people, but if you’re prone to low blood sugar or have hypothalamic amenorrhoea (see here), then you probably need to eat more frequently than that

Taste the Rainbow
Eat 8–10 servings of vegetables and – to a lesser extent – fruit per day, making sure that you consume a variety of colours.