I know, I know most of us hate them. But when approached differently your monthly menstruation doesn’t have to be such a curse, in fact it can be a gift!
Did you Know:
Your period is the most basic, natural and earthly cycle you have. And whilst many of us hate our monthly bleed, thousands of years ago it was actually considered sacred! Woman were regarded as extremely powerful when they were menstruating and their menstrual blood was often used to fertilise crops and even believed to have magical healing properties.
And while a lot of that wonderful honouring of a woman”s cycle has been lost, I think it”s so important we still reconize the incredible wisdom that comes with our menstruation. Because here’s the thing, we beautiful women are at our most intuitive when we take our monthly bleed, we”re even a little more physic! Around this time as we become more reflective and more connected inwards, we can also have amazing insights and break throughs (even if we don”t action it till after our period).
So let”s restore a little love towards our monthly curse gift and honour it for what it is: A time to step back, slow down, reflect and recharge.
To help you have a more blissful period here are a few things you should try:
1 – Stress-less
Stress is a periods worst nightmare. It will wreak havoc on your body”s natural rhythms and send it into overdrive. Which is exactly what you don’t want around this time! It”s super important to be really conscious of reducing the chances of extra emotional strain or triggers when you”re feeling a little fragile and/or sensitive. So clear away anything that can wait a week. Cancel unnecessary appointments and anything that you don”t want/need to do. Clear your plate for a little restful ME time!
2 – Watch your alcohol intake
Alcohol causes inflammation. Inflammation causes pain. It also decreases our natural online casino serotonin levels, those happy feel good chemicals in our brain. Focus on cutting back particularly before and during your period.
3 – Amp up that self – care
In an ideal world, we women would retreat from our daily grind into a deeeelightful sanctuary of cushions, herbal tea and hair braiding as we gently went about our bleed. But alas, it’s just not the case in 2015. But just because we don’t get the love and nurture that would would from a good ole communal bleed, we can still offer that same attention and care, to ourselves.
Now I get that for a lot of us, retreating from the world is near impossible, however, an hour a day of loving kindness towards yourself is not!
So commit to doing one calming, nurturing thing each day of your bleed. Perhaps that’s a long, warm bath filled with bubbles and lavender oil. Maybe it”s curling up on the couch with a choccy bar. Anything that brings your peace and relaxation. Your body is craving loving care right now, so dish it out by the bucketful. You will instantly notice the reward!
4 – Educate yourself!
Did you know an average woman will use over 12,000 tampons in her lifetime! Craziness!
What”s really crazy however, is that many of us blindly pick any random box of tampons without a second thought to what those little things are actually made of! Which is scary as cotton crops are sprayed with an insane amount of insecticides, pesticides and a whole range of things that should not be going anywhere near these parts of our bodies.
So get smart and go CERTIFIED organic all the way!
Note: Any product claiming they are made from “Natural” cotton isn’t good enough. In Australia, there are no regulations/restrictions when claiming a product as ‘natural’. In fact, the ‘natural’ cotton crops are the most highly sprayed! For peace of mind always go with Certified Organic.
The range of TOM organic feminine products is the bees knees. They’re 100% certified organic, breathable and comfortable. They”re also a women owned and run Aussie company and employ only sustainable farming methods! Winning all round I’d say!
5 – Warm it up
Warmth expands blood vessels, improve circulation and alleviates pain, think heat packs, hot showers etc. Also include loads of warming food and drinks. I love curling up on the couch with big mug of hot ginger tea. Try and steer clear of really cold refrigerated things like smoothies and ice cream which disrupts blood flow causing pain. Sad face.
And finally
6 – Rest
If you do only one of the above please promise me it is this…SLOW DOWN!
Your “time of the month” is really your time to take a step back from all the doing, rushing and pushing that”s been going on and to put REST on the top of your to-do list. I cannot stress enough how important rest and downtime is during the time of your bleed. Your body needs to surrender to what”s happening inside and to relax into it. It needs time to renew itself. Never feel guilty for some serious couch time or for wanting to shut the door on the world for a few days. It”s self care not selfishness!
To celebrate you committing to a more happier and healthier menstrual cycle, TaraO and TOM organic, are giving away the ultimate Happy Flow prize pack. Filled with loads of healthy Tom”s products to see you through PLUS get the ultimate tool around for promoting happy reproductive organs aTaraO Jade egg!
To enter: Head to the TaraO Facebook page Here click LIKE and be sure you have signed up to my email list found right here on this website so I can notify you if you’re the lucky winner!
Competition closes April 25th 2015!
Good luck!