20. How To Honour Your Cyclical Nature In A World That Doesn't

How are we meant to honor our cyclical nature in a world that values consistency and productivity above all else? 

In this episode, we're exploring the tension between practicing menstrual cycle awareness (MCA) and the reality of living in a linear, patriarchal, capitalist society.

Whether you're completely new to MCA or you've been practicing for a while, this episode offers a grounded, compassionate look at how to live in deeper alignment with your cycle—even when life doesn't make it easy.

I’m sharing two powerful mindset shifts that can help you:

• Ease the pressure to “do it perfectly”
• Work with your cycle in small, meaningful ways—even when circumstances are out of your control

We also talk about:

• Letting go of all-or-nothing thinking
• Navigating societal expectations
• How to honor your bleed in subtle but impactful ways
• Why speaking openly about your cycle matters

This one’s for anyone who feels the pull to live more cyclically but struggles with the practicality of it in real life. There’s no perfect way to do this—just starting is enough.

*Get the FREE Premenstrual Survival Pack Here*
*Book a Premenstrual Processing Session Here*

Join me on Substack

Website: www.letmebleedinpeace.com

Email: claire@letmebleedinpeace.com

Instagram: @letmebleedinpeace

Transcript

 Okay, so today's question that I am pondering and exploring with you is,

how the fuck are we meant to live cyclically and in alignment with our menstrual cycle in a world that does not recognize our cyclical nature? And this, I guess, is all about really just acknowledging that like in an ideal world, we'd all learn menstrual cycle awareness and we'd practice MCA menstrual cycle awareness and be able to live fully in sync with our menstrual cycle.

But most of our realities isn't that. And that's through no fault of our own. That is because ultimately we do live in a linear society. We live in a society that expects the same productivity every single day. It doesn't allow for that ebb and flow of energy, of mood, of all the different, I guess, facets of who we are within the context of our cycle.

, this is a conversation that I have had with a lot of people when they're first introduced to the concept of financial cycle awareness. And, you know, we talk a lot about the different tasks in each season of the cycle. You know, like resting when you're in your winter and speaking your truth in autumn and socializing in.

In summer and the ovulation and all of that kinda thing. But the, the biggest resistance is usually around menstruation because I think in our society, our society kind of allows for that inner spring and inner summer, but not so it isn't so accommodating for that inner autumn and inner winter aspect.

So. A lot of people when they're first introduced to this idea of the kind of tasks of each phase, particularly winter and autumn, but especially winter, they say, well, that's just not realistic for me. Like, I can't, I can't just drop everything. I can't, you know, I can't rest on my, on my bleed. And so I guess this conversation and this episode, this, this post is all about kind of exploring that and what can we do, because I think it's really important to.

Acknowledge the reality of most of our lives and that, you know, we can't just walk off into the woods and free bleed for five days every month. Like that is not the reality.

and I think it's also really important to acknowledge that as much as we might try, even if we have the capacity to align our cycle with. You know, I'm in a very fortunate position where I have, you know, I'm in a position where often I can take quite a lot of rest on my bleed, but that doesn't mean that life doesn't get in the way.

You know, we can't control everything. Our life, sometimes our period is late 'cause we've ovulated late because of stress. So then that throws our plans off even though we've planned to have this big bleed and this rest during our winter. You know, work schedules are often outside of our control and like life emergencies get in the way.

And so

even if we can. Live in alignment with our menstrual cycle and we do have that freedom. And if you are one of those people that has the freedom to do that, I think you'll find this, this episode really valuable anyway because it just, these principles can apply and I'm gonna give you two practical principles to apply in a situation where you can't quite live fully cyclically as you might want to.

And I think that this is really helpful even for those people who. Can live relatively cyclically because you know, there are gonna be times where, um, things don't quite go as planned. And yeah, I really wanna recognize that kind of patriarchal capitalism kind of thing where it's all about consistent productivity and that it is not always, you know, like at work saying, yeah, sorry, I have to rest for.

Three to five days of my bleed every month. Like that's not always gonna be met with, um, a positive understanding. Like, oh my gosh, yes, of course your, your bleed is so sacred. It's just not the reality that most of us, um, live in. And I think there's a tension to address between that real desire to want to live cyclically.

Because I think most, most people when they, when they discover this practice, they're like, oh my God, yes. This is, this is what I need. And then also almost processing the grief, I guess, of the societal expectations that are around us. And this is what my work is all about, right? Is like actually not just seeing it in.

Like your individual context, but seeing your experience in this wider context of like, there's a lot of grief around the societal expectations placed on women and people who menstruate to kind of go against their nature, and also women in general, just for a whole bunch of other reasons. So yeah, I'm hoping that.

From with these two tips that I'm gonna go over or these two kind of mindset shifts or whatever you wanna call them, that it can kind of, I dunno, ease that tension between that desire to want to live cyclically and then the reality of our everyday lives. Um, and. Yeah. And hopefully give you something practical to do.

You know, even if you do live totally cyclically, but then in those moments where life gets in the way and you end up having, you know, a work meeting when you're on your bleed, you know, I speak to so many people who do their first big bleed, which is where you really give yourself, you know, you take time off work.

Like really give yourself the space to experience your in a winter. And they'll, they'll schedule all this time off and stuff and it is so beautiful. And then the period's like. You know, they, they ovulate late and then that means that their period's delayed. And so it's kind of like, yeah, I guess. Um, these are really beautiful practices for, in those moments, but things just don't quite go to plan.

So the first one is 1% shift. So often when. People start this practice of menstrual cycle awareness, myself included. There can be this kind of pressure to do it right and like change everything overnight and go from. Not really even having an awareness of your menstrual cycle, or in my case, being on the pill to being able to have this like magical experience of your bleed and like hyper energy and ovulation and just like if your experience isn't matching up to that, you're like, oh God, like I must be doing something wrong.

And I definitely had this with. Well, to be honest, like my whole cycle, when I first came off the pill, I was, there was a lot of shoulds and a lot of this is how it should look like. And I need to, in order to be able to experience the wisdom and magic that everybody keeps talking about of my cycle, I need to 100% rest on my bleed.

And I need to like, it's like I, I had it in my head that I had to earn it, that it was a privilege that I had to earn and. The danger of this, like all or nothing mentality, is just that you,

it becomes like another source of pressure and another way that we can just tell ourselves that we are not doing good enough, that we are not doing it right, that we aren't enough, that, you know we're failing. It's just like another way that we can beat ourselves up. So I think this 1% shifts rule. Which I will explain fully what it is in a second, but it's really, really important for like removing that all or nothing thinking and that perfectionism, because if there's one thing that I have really learned through my menstrual cycle awareness practice is that your menstrual cycle does not demand perfection.

Your menstrual cycle does not demand perfection at all. Your menstrual cycle isn't keeping tabs on, like, have you rested enough on your bleed? Have you just achieved the, just the right amount, and are you honoring your spring in just the right way? Like your menstrual cycle doesn't really give a shit about that.

What is really important is the intention to connect in with where you are at. And your experience of the cycle. And it's, it's about the intention in that. It's not about doing the right kind of ritual, doing the right kind of meditation for the right day of your cycle, eating the right seeds for your cycle, eating, you know, exercising, right?

And like all of this stuff right there can just be ways for us to beat ourselves up more. It's not about that at all. And so the 1% shifts. Can really help take us out of this like self-imposed pressure of having to radically change our life overnight, but also. Addresses that tension of like that desire, 'cause that desire might be there.

It's like, yeah, oh my God, I wanna overhaul my entire lifestyle completely live cyclically. And if you run a business or you are freelance or whatever, you know, oh, I wanna like cycle sync all of my content. So for example, for me, like I, I have done this in my business in the past where I'm like, I have to make all of my Instagram comment and all of my podcasts and dah, dah, dah in that one week when I'm ovulating.

And it's so stressful and it's not realistic. Um, and if you can, if that that works for you, then that's great. That's awesome. Keep doing it. This is all about finding what works for you, but it can become that stressful thing. And I think that this 1% shift and making these small shifts can address that tension between one, what you desire to do versus what is realistic for you to do.

So essentially the 1% shift is thinking about what you would really love to give yourself. Like what it would be if you could just wave a magic wand, like what would you just love to do on that day of your cycle or for that in a season or whatever. And then find a way to give yourself 1% of that. Just 1%.

So I always use this. This is. I use the example of in a winter, 'cause I think it, it just so beautifully demonstrates it. So like you might really wish you could just like, take the time off work, leave the kids. I don't have kids, just to put a disclaimer there, but I imagine, you know, I know from a lot of my friends who practice motorcycle awareness and clients, that as a huge factor, right?

You know, you might want to just ditch everything and just be left to bleed in peace and, um. Of course, of course. And that's so valid. And that might not be a reality. So how can you give yourself 1% of that? Is it five minutes just sat and just breathing? Is it, you know, I don't even know. It could even be.

You know, two minutes whilst you go to the toilet, leave your phone and just like check in. Just go, Ugh. Take a deep breath. You know, that kind of thing. And over time, these 1% changes. Create your new normal. So how I spend my bleed now compared to what? Like how I, how I spend my bleed now felt so unrealistic when I first started practicing menstrual cycle awareness because of the external stuff, but also like within myself, like my own guilt around resting.

That was probably a topic for a whole other episode. But yeah, all these like internal constraints that I put on myself and so it felt really unsafe to fully drop into the rest that I now drop into, um, around my bleed. And that happened through these small shifts. Each bleed, you know, each cycle and go, okay, how can I honor this just 1% more?

How can I give myself, how can I honor myself 1% more? And oh my God, that is like such a radical. So many people don't even do that, right? So many people, especially if you've been socialized as a woman, we are. Socialize so much to be over givers and people pleasers and just give and give and give and prioritize everybody else to, to just even 1% take a 1% shift, one little baby step in the direction of putting you as number one is so powerful and I really don't want you to underestimate.

The power of these really small shifts that might seem insignificant. They're really, really not, they're really not like this is, this is huge work. Not just on, you know, an individual level, but on this like wider level of undoing all of that, like conditioning and misogyny and all of that. And then also those 1% shifts if you check in 1% more every single day, or if even if you just go, right, I'm gonna check in.

I'm gonna, I'm just gonna lean into my cycle 1% more every day for the next month. That adds up over the cycle. So this is all about building a relationship with your menstrual cycle so that there's that, you know, that free flowing kind of communication. And it's this, it's this. Tool to really understanding yourself and what you need and going on this kind of self-development journey, I guess, and that.

Strengthening comes from that consistent practice. It doesn't come from like, you know, one big gesture, I guess. Like look at it in relationships, right? Like one big gesture is beautiful, great, lovely, but actually what builds a strong, steady relationship is lots of little moments of connection over time.

And so thinking about your menstrual cycle in that way is really, really powerful. Now, of course there are times where even 1% can feel impossible. And this is where I wanna introduce you to the idea that if you cannot change what you are doing, change how you are doing it. So sometimes, you know, life responsibilities don't always align with our cycle.

Sometimes, you know, spanner gets thrown in the works and you know, sometimes we can't avoid having to work or having to attend events and you know, that kind of thing. When we're in a phase where we would rather not, and

when this happens, how we do things is just as important as. What we're doing. So approaching tasks again, so I'll use the example of in a winter, 'cause this is generally the phase that society kind of doesn't allow for as much when we're in that phase. Like approaching it with the energy of menstruation, right?

Like bringing a different kind of a slower, more gentle, more intentional present energy to what you're doing. Can make a huge difference. So a really great example of this is if you have to go to work or have a social event. So for me, I've had to go to social events when I've been menstruating and I, you know, have gone and said to myself, no, it's okay.

I'm like, I'm bleeding right now. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna be intentional about how I show up and I'm gonna allow myself to maybe not show up as the bubbly, sparkly Claire that everybody sees when I'm ovulating, to not have to meet those standards that generally are like also quite self-imposed. Or certainly from my case, like I think I have this idea that if I don't show up.

As this like a hundred percent that people will be really disappointed or what will they think of me? And this is a huge part of what stops us doing this, right? And that's why this is another way that you really can honor your menstrual cycle, is showing up in the energy that you are in. You're showing up in that inner winter energy, showing up in that inner spring energy.

However you wanna show up and whatever is feeling genuine to you from that menstrual cycle check-in that you do in the morning. Showing up that way is just as much of a powerful way to honor your menstrual cycle than kind of shuffling things around or changing your life or shifting things out. And like another good example is like, okay, you're normally, you rush out the door like you're drinking your coffee, trying to get to work, trying to find your shoes, and where the fuck did you put your car keys?

And it's all super hectic, but maybe when you're on your bleed, you intentionally choose to go, no, I'm actually. I'm gonna choose to move a little bit slower. I'm gonna just maybe not physically move slower, but like energetically, if that makes sense. Like you can still be doing the things, but just, Ugh, taking a breath.

Like doing it from that like leaning back kind of state rather than leaning forward and going, oh, I need to sort this out.

And then the other thing I also. Would recommend, and it feels really edgy for a lot of people, but I think it's so fucking needed, is being open about the fact that you are on your period. Like if people go, oh, you okay today? Like, you seem kind of tired. I'm like, yeah, I'm on my bleed. So I'm just taking things, you know, a little bit slower and I'm just, I'm feeling okay.

I'm just, yeah. Or if you're not feeling okay, tell saying that like, like, no, I'm on my period. I'm in quite a lot of pain. I don't really wanna be here right now. You know, obviously within reason you can't, maybe can't tell like. You know, I dunno if you have a business meeting with clients, like you can't exactly go, yeah, I don't really wanna be here right now, but you know what I mean.

Like you can, you can find that middle ground. And I think this feels so edgy for so many of us and has felt so edgy for me for such a long time. And in circum certain circumstances, it still feels edgy for me because we know that people might not get that. You know, the majority of people because of the way we are viewing the menstrual cycle in society, and it's like this hush, hush, hidden, like, don't, you can't speak about that.

Can't speak about that. We. Feel like, I mean, we're going against that societal norm by speaking out about it and saying, yeah, I'm, I'm bleeding. And you know, and then there's all this shit about it being like being dirty and dah, dah, dah. And we can feel like, oh, we mustn't let anybody know that we're bleeding because then they'll like judge me and think I'm gross or whatever.

You know, like there's all this, all this stuff that is part of undoing that patriarchal conditioning around it. But it is so, so needed. It's so needed and it's so powerful and. Like nine times outta 10. I don't actually think I've ever had a negative experience so far when I have told someone that, yeah, actually I'm on my period.

Like sometimes people are a bit like taken aback. Like I don't if you've seen that video where Katie Perry, uh, says like, yeah, I just did all that on the first day of my period. And Taylor Swift's like. Oh, okay. Like, and she makes a bit of a face about it and like that's probably the worst that people have, like, haven't even been that bad, but like just being a bit surprised or a bit uncomfortable.

But also like that is their discomfort to hold. Like you do not have to make people comfortable when you are simply sharing where you are at and what is happening, and a simple biological process that is happening in your body right now. It's bullshit that we have to hide that. So that's the, those are the kind of the two, um, ways that we can honor our cycle whilst living in a linear, patriarchal, capitalistic society that does not honor our menstrual cycle at all.

So those are two ways that they're really beautiful places to start and. I guess I also wanna say like menstrual cycle awareness is a practice, it's called menstrual cycle, like practicing menstrual cycle awareness because it isn't about perfection, it's about figuring out what works for you and your life.

And again, like I said, like honoring that tension between like you might desire something but not actually in reality, be able to do it and honoring the grief that is there and the frustration that is there. And. Trusting that there's, you know, there's, there's something in that as well to be gleaned

and you really don't need to be living this perfect cycle, focus cycle, totally cycle aligned life for. MCA menstrual cycle awareness to like work its magic. You really, really don't, you really don't have to be 100% like giving that 100% with it, for it to really work and it, it works. It's, it's like so magical and powerful for all kinds of people, whether you are like this single mom that is just like totally overwhelmed and just like, this is so chaotic.

Or you are living like a more simple life where you do have more spaciousness to live in sync, in sync with your cycle. And I think it's really important that this practice is accessible for everyone. So that we can start as a wider group and as a society to shift those narratives so that it then does become easier to have a menstrual cycle and honor that in those more like physical, practical ways.

And the last thing I wanna leave you with is an invitation. To push the edges of what feels comfortable when asking for that 1%. Often when we ask for that 1%, we. I feel like, oh, I can't, I can't ask that. Or we have to do it alone and, and not being vocal about it. And again, there's so much conditioning behind that is not that you are broken or wrong or anything like that, but actually asking for that time off, asking for help from your partner or your friends or your support system.

It's okay to prioritize that and be vocal about it, even if it feels. A bit uncomfortable for you. Like there's a narrative that you're telling yourself that it's uncomfortable and that it is unfair. And even if other people might see it that way, it's okay to prioritize yourself. And I really think that by demanding more for yourself, you really do contribute to changing how society sees the menstrual cycle.

And also women's bodies and just women and people who menstruate in general and just, you know, it has to start. It has to start with us. There has to be, you know, tend your own garden. That's the saying, right? Um, and that can be just as powerful as going out and doing all this advocacy work and that kind of thing.

Okay. Thank you so much for your time and listening to this. I massively appreciate it and I would love to hear how this lands for you. If you've had any aha moments, if there's anything that feels super uncomfortable, um, you can reach out to me on Instagram or by email or on Substack as well.