All of us have hormonal cycles, and for many of us, this means periods of menstruation.
Young-ins cower in fear of the dreaded “Auntie Flo” paying them a visit; white pants quickly leave the wardrobe rotation; we learn to sleep on our sides, not laugh too hard, and pretend absolutely nothing’s wrong when our uteruses are begging to leap up to our throats and throttle us. For decades pink packages stamped with flowers as fake as the flowery scent in my pants have haunted me. The dreaded crinkling. Black-out worthy cramps. Mood swings which send you careening from the sandy shores of paradise to the blood-soaked fires of hell. Well, no more.
I’m living proof that the menstruation monster can be tamed or, at least, can learn to play nice and even serve as a spiritual cue-card. Here’s how.
1. Get curious about your cycle.
Start tracking it using judgement-free terms. It started. It’s heavy or light. There are cramps or there aren’t (or maybe there are CRAMPS). I feel tired or hungry or irritable. No drama, right? None of this is good or bad. Just notice what is and jot it down.
2. Expand that awareness.
What if we used our cycles as a way to connect with spiritual cycles? Even the Earth has periods of hibernation. Just as Mercury Retrograde tells us to reflect deeper, slow down, and focus on clear communication, our own internal cycles can tell us how to live. In my experience, I feel more receptive or “Yin” before my period starts. I’m gathering creative ideas, taking lots of notes, and thinking. Once it gets going, I’m less physically active, but I’m more creative. I can write for hours! It’s a natural state of flow! Tune in with your own yearnings to find out how your cycles affect you.
3. Stretching and exercise eases cramps.
I saw that, and you can put down your pitchfork!
Listen. I hate exercising, I do. But I’ll tell you what: when I have regular exercise (I’m talking like three yoga sessions a week tops) for a month leading up to a period, I don’t need to take Midol to survive. Everyone says it, I just never believed it until it happened.
4. Ditch toxic products.
Chaffing, crinkling, fakey perfume? Absolutely not. There’s no need for that! For the past five years, I’ve been using re-usable cotton pads and a silicon cup. Not only does it save me about $10/month, it saves the planet and my delicate nether regions! The only downside is that you gotta wash them out by hand BUT I have a simple trick for making the experience enjoyable: Pretend you’re Moses turning the Nile into blood. Seriously, it makes the whole experience much cooler. So grab a couple organic cotton pads (I have 10, one for each day and night of my flow), a menstrual cup if you’re a swimmer, and get to enjoying (or at least not hating) the Time of the Month!
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Carmen is the owner of Cosmic Corner and author of The Audacity humor sci-fi series. They believe everyone can attain inner-peace via any path they choose and are dedicated to studying and sharing the many paths with the spiritual community in Savannah and beyond.