What Is Mindful Menstruation? Embrace Your Period, Ease Your Symptoms, & Get In Tune With Your Body
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What would life be like if you didn’t dread your period? If you embraced your menstrual cycle and learned to live with your natural flow? More and more, women are embracing the concept of mindful menstruation and learning to live in alignment with their bodies. Here’s how to get started.
The Basics of Menstruation
Contrary to popular belief, “menstruation” doesn’t just mean your period. It’s actually part of a longer, 28-day cycle of hormone and physical changes within your body. That means, if you’re someone who menstruates, you live in your menstrual cycle constantly until you reach menopause. Like, every day. So why aren’t we talking about it?!
The History of Menstruation
Throughout history, different cultures usually placed menstruation in one of two camps: something to celebrate or something to scorn. Since the rise of colonization, mankind has leaned towards the latter.
Even today, some cultures expect women to remove themselves from their home during their periods, and they are considered “untouchable” until they stop bleeding. It wasn’t until fairly recently in history that the western world accepted menstruation as a natural biological process instead of punishment for the “original sin” (seriously).
Modern Menstruation
In more recent years, women around the world have started embracing and thinking more intentionally about their periods. We opt for natural products, research different birth control methods, and talk about menstruation openly (something our ancestors couldn’t even dream of). And with the rise of the modern wellness movement has come a rise in mindful menstruation.
What Is Mindful Menstruation?
When I had my very first period, my mom whisked me away to the bathroom, handed me a box of pads, and told me to read the directions on the package. Unfortunately, most women today have similar experiences. We aren’t taught how to nurture our bodies during our periods, manage our changing hormones, or take control of our bodies.
