My Super Power: The good, the bad and the ugly

I wish I could stroll into my Grade 7 sex education class,  and tell 12 year old me that I'm about to gain an incredible super power. I would take over the class, kick out the teacher and make the lesson exciting, fun and catered to the female experience. The horrendously awkward  experience we all endured called Sex Education did not include anything about super powers. But now that I'm almost through with menstruating, I realize I have always had a few, and I wish I'd been taught how to harness them from an early age.

Some of the super powers I've gained are: 

High motivation
High social ability
Sensitive to moods and behaviours around me
Acutely aware of details
Lots of energy
Hopeful
Creative
High spatial awareness

Some of the other super powers I gained are: 

Tired -knowing I need rest
Bothered by clutter - the need to clean up my surroundings
Insecure
Distrust
Lacking social skills
Wanting to be alone
Personal growth

AND

THE ABILITY TO BURN 3X MORE CALORIES THAN USUAL DURING 10 DAYS OF MY CYCLE. 

Society would have you believe the first list is the good list and the second list is the bad list. Articles on the internet would also have you believe that one is accompanied by bloating and bleeding and one is not. But none of this is true or relevant. 

I think we should all examine the relationship between our moods and our menstrual cycles - separately from our physical periods.

To do this, I suggest referring to your cycle by the day you are on. Day 1 is the 1st day of your period, and depending on the length of your cycle, it can go anywhere from day 25-30 and then reset. In order to do this you can use a period tracking app, or your calendar, or any device that will allow you to quickly note "today is day 10". Often people tell me they can't track this way because they are on birth control pills or an IUD, and they barely ever know when their period is. 

If that's the case, your super powers are being muted by your birth control device, so this may not work for you. To better understand all of it, I suggest you read The Period Repair Manual. These methods of birth control can cause mood disorders  (here) and make you lack motivation (here). I was dramatically affected by my 10 years on birth control pills, and the lack of motivation I feel was quite detrimental to my success in school and work. For this reason, I no longer use or encourage these forms of birth control. 

In the 1930s, a study was done on women's cycles and the researcher discovered that he was able to 
predict with 100% accuracy, where a woman was in her cycle, by behaviour alone. Now that's pretty cool. 

For me, it all started with the luteal phase. I wanted to be a better parent, so I started taking note of when I would lose my cool with my kids. I don't know when or how I linked it to the days of my cycle, but it's a good thing I did. After 6 months I went back to look at my notes, and this is what I saw:

Day 17 – Suddenly bothered by clutter
Quick to anger
Day 19 – Headache
Stressed
Wanna shop
Can’t concentrate on work
Day 20 – Shopping a lot (cause I’m sad??) I don’t know.
Day 21 – I don’t like Marty
Day 23 – Back to normal

Next Month

Day 18 – Tired, a bit on edge
Daty 19 – Tired, unmotivated, can only read
Day 23 – pretty grumpy
Day 25 – finally feel normal

Lather, rinse, repeat. 

This went on for 6 months, and not a single note was written between day 1 and day 17. I was in perfect bliss those days. 

So I took it a step further. I forced myself to write down the positive feelings, and when those were happening. 

I can't imagine the things I would have learned about myself in my lifetime if I'd been tracking this since the age of 16. That's what I suggest you all do, keep a notebook, and learn your power.