How To Flow With Nature for More Inspired Writing and Editing
For the first 20 years of menstruating, I’d mostly ignored the entire process except once a month when I had my period. Thankfully, they’ve always been a breeze (I think my focus on nutrition pays off here).
Shortly after starting The Intuitive Writing school community, a member shared that she was learning about how her cycle would drive how she’d do business.
A heads up — if this is new to you, know that paying attention to rhythms — the seasons, the moon, and the menstrual cycle to align with your work and the rest of your life, simply read it and let it sink in.
When I heard this, the only thing I did was jot down some notes about the moon phase and my cycle. That’s IT. I didn’t dive in and change everything overnight.
Writing with nature’s rhythms makes everything easier.
In this article, I’ll show you how to track your menstrual cycle (if you have one) and the moon (which affects us all) on a Google calendar and schedule your work accordingly throughout the year.
Since applying these lessons to my writing practice, I:
Write and publish blogs, emails, and social posts in less time
I’m calmer, more confident, magnetic, productive, and creative than ever.
I published my last book, Intuitive Writing, following this advice — there were many times in the process when I thought, “Wow! This is so easy!” Having written and published Unfussy Life without following this guidance, the contrast was palpable
A big part of writing intuitively about the moon and/or your menstrual cycle to align your intentions to your actions.
If you don’t have a menstrual cycle, focus on the moon — which is consistent and reliable.
If you have a menstrual cycle, look at your energy first, then the moon.
Before we look at intuitive writing with the moon, let’s first get acquainted with the sun:
Has a predictable 24 cycle
Is the masculine — carrying comparable energetic qualities as men, who have a fairly consistent 24-hour hormone cycle
Up until a few years ago, I’d found success (especially in the corporate world) and gotten a lot done by mainly using masculine energy. This isn’t a bad thing. We all have a dominant energy. For most of my life, that energy has been masculine. When I discovered this information, I started to notice where I was suffocating my feminine energy and began letting it shine.
Now, let’s look at the moon (these tidbits blew my mind when I first heard them):
Has a predictable cycle lasting about 29.5 days
Has 4 distinct energetic phases
These phases and energies have the same quality as the 4 phases of the menstrual cycle and the 4 seasons
So, if you have a menstrual cycle, here are the phases and approximate lengths:
Menstrual phase (From day 1 to 5)
Follicular phase (From day 6 to 10)
Ovulation phase (From day 11 to 16)
Luteal phase (From day 17 to 28)
Now, let’s put the feminine energy together with the seasons (Mother nature) and the menstrual cycle:
New moon / winter / menstrual phase
Waxing moon / spring / follicular phase
Full moon / summer / ovulation
Waning moon / fall / luteal phase
Both masculine and feminine qualities find threads in each writing phrase. Writing is surrendering, letting go (feminine), and taking action (masculine). Editing is also letting go (feminine) and action-taking (masculine) — doing the work to distill and carve out the work.
Let’s further explore the qualities of each cycle and how you can align your writing with these phases.
New moon / winter / menstrual phase
The new moon is a time to go within. It’s a time to plant seeds in the dark soil that you’ll later reap. Here are some ways to flow with this phase:
Blocking your calendar, making sure there’s time for journaling, intuitive downloads, and feeling into what you want to create in the next moon cycle
Rest, extra comforting and grounding foods like potatoes, gluten-free pasta, and beets, lots of stretching, yoga, and walking
Journaling, writing morning pages, reflecting without forcing action
Meditating, making time to dream, taking a bath, and walking in nature
Future-state journaling and writing about how you see your finished writing project serving your readers
Staying open to discover connections — connect those dots
Making key decisions in your business or writing project — what do you want to create in this next cycle?
Writing intentions for your writing project. Some samples:
“May God show me . . .”
“I intend . . .”
Waxing moon / spring / follicular phase
The energy of spring has a fresh green sprouting quality to it. Those seeds you planted in the dark are beginning to germinate and sprout. They may be starting to emerge now. Here are some ways to make the most of this phase:
Planning, brainstorming, scheduling meetings, gathering ideas, taking action, launching a new book or program
More movement, additional gym sessions, lots of spring-like foods such as asparagus, delicate lettuces, and spinach
Set a timer and let your ideas run wild during a big brainstorming session — write them all down (no editing or overthinking)
If all these ideas feel overwhelming, know you don’t need to act on them yet. You’ve done your job by capturing them and will come back to one when the time is right.
Make plans for those intentions you planted at the new moon, adding important dates to your calendar
Revisit or create your content calendar for the coming cycle or quarter
Plan your next launch
Outline a new service, workshop, or product offer
Plan when you’ll take action on your new writing projects
Keep a document or journal nearby to capture all the ideas that will come to you. Trust that any ideas you don’t take action on right away will be there for you when you’re ready; there’s no need to shift your focus to a shiny new project.
Write SFDs (that’s shitty first drafts) of book chapters, website copy, or blog posts. Write fast! No editing, and no revising as you go — simply start writing and then put the drafts away for a day or revisit them during the waning moon.
Full moon / summer / ovulation phase
Consider this time the climax, culmination, and full spotlight — the plants are bursting with beauty and radiating in their full vibrance. Make the most of this energetically charged time with these ideas:
Get visible! Doing podcast interviews, recording course materials, scheduling the height of a launch, delivering talks and workshops, pitching.
Moving your body by lifting heavy weights, taking lots of inspired action, visibility, and risk-taking. Enjoying bright foods like dragon fruit and berries.
Maybe this is when you’ll share your work with the world and announce your new business, website, blog, or service
Plan your book release party, website, blog, or business announcement around this date. If you run an online business where you launch a few times a year, this can be a great time to close your shopping carts.
The extra light in the sky is a free jumbo spotlight shining a light on whatever you need to pay attention to — so that you can let something go
Use the extra energy for a batch writing writing session or create your own writing retreat
Share your work with trusted readers, entrepreneurs, or even the world because you’re most magnetic during this phase
Let go of what no longer serves you, your business, and your writing. Edit fast with crystal clarity.
Say goodbye to old ideas that feel stale. Let what wants to go fall away so that you can make space for what wants to come
Write down all the old beliefs you have about writing that are no longer serving you and burn them in a bonfire
Waning moon / fall / luteal phase
Think pumpkin spice, changing leaves, and harvest. All those seeds you planted in the dark are ready to reap. Take advantage of this energy with these clever ideas:
Editing and refining blog posts, book chapters, and website copy
Revisiting and refreshing old blog posts; finalizing, completing, and reviewing all the tiny details like chapter references in a book
Moving a little slower, more yoga, less intensity at the gym
Eating foods that feel like fall — sweet potatoes, squash, chickpeas, and cabbage
Think about a squirrel running around getting ready for winter — picking, gathering, and nesting, finish, focus, and complete
If it’s cold where you live in the fall, you might naturally be indoors more — using that time to do the writing work you love
Editing — because it’s a time when we’re naturally paying more attention to detail — you might catch a bunch of minor typos and errors that you missed so many times before!
Business logistics like bookkeeping, banking, invoicing, back-end systems setup, reviewing your website copy for little tweaks, and KPI tracking
We might have less energy as we’re winding down and getting ready to go inward again at the new moon. Having a flexible schedule during this phase will be a gift.
Important notes as you align your business and writing tasks to the moon and your menstrual cycle:
Hold any judgment. You know those days when the words flow, you feel bright, brilliant, and magnetic? And then, a few days later, you’re sitting at your desk, ready to burn your entire business to the ground, throw out all your writing, and maybe even divorce your partner. You’ve changed! Everything is different — your hormones and the planets have moved — give yourself the grace to work with nature’s rhythms, not against them.
Hold the blame. The moon (and your menstrual cycle) aren’t to blame for why you’re not writing or your writing isn’t coming together as quickly as you’d like.
Start slow. If this is the first time you’ve read about writing with the moon or your menstrual cycle, I suggest that the only action you take for a few months is notice what’s going on. Keep a daily journal noting the moon phase, day of your cycle (if you have one), and a few notes about what you did and how you felt. Once you’ve done that for 1-3 months, try planning ONE business writing project, keeping your energy and the moon in mind. Then experiment and see what happens!
Add the moon calendar to your Google calendar: Visit Google Calendar and click “Other calendars,” click “Subscribe to calendar,” click “Browse calendars of interest,” scroll to the bottom, and select “Phases of the Moon.”
Take your intuitive writing practice deeper with these journal prompts that are taken directly from my book, Intuitive Writing: The Remedy for Wrtier’s Block and the Secret to Authentic Communication.
JOURNAL PROMPTS
Note what’s going on in your cycle if you have one, what’s going on with the moon and the weather outside today. Notice how you’re feeling and what you’ve been writing. How does it feel?
At the beginning of each season or moon cycle, consider what you want to do this season — what’s calling to you to create?
Reading back over the seasons and moon phases, what phase(s) feel best for you to brainstorm, write, edit? Can you think of specific projects where you intuitively worked within a supportive, energetic container?
As you write morning pages each day, consider exploring what’s going on in nature.
Keep a daily log in a dedicated notebook to capture what’s going on with you, the moon, and the weather outside.
Order the Intuitive Writing book today and start your creative journey toward finding more flow in all your work.
