Maisie Hill

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.