In today’s busy culture, our monthly bleed is something many of us women are very disconnected with. It’s normal to stuff a tampon in and move on with life like it never skipped a beat and for many of us, we are on hormonal birth controls that can alter and even diminish our periods all together.
It’s this part of ourselves that we feel we need to hide, cover it up and move on with life. Many of us are raised to believe that it is gross and dreadful. In fact this is all we seem to hear about our cycles or we simply don’t talk about it at all, yet alone connect to it deeper.
But this paradym is shifting. If you’ve found yourself on this page than you are part of this paradym… so what does it mean to connect with your moon cycle and how can you do so intimately. Here are 10 tips that I recommend to do so.
1. Get off hormonal birth control
We no longer live in a world without options, we do have non hormonal birth controls coming to rise, including very effecient fertility tracking such as Natural Cycles. There are also plenty other non hormonal birth controls out there such as Phexxi and ParaGuard. Although, I cannot recommend these products having not tried them myself, I highly recommend a fertility tracker which can provide up to 98% effectiveness with perfect use.
Did you know many smart watches can also track your cycle?
Why hormone free? The hormones in these birth controls have a great effect on our behavior and our bodies. From my personal experience, over time with another form of IUD, my period disappeared all together and I had no relationship to it whatsoever. For some, they would consider this a blessing, but that’s not why you navigated to this page today. I wanted to connect with my cycle and what it meant for my body.
Only after removing my birth control and returning to my period that was much heavier and more painful than I remembered at 17, was when I could actually begin to understand my body better and honor my period.
2. Go back to pads OR period underwear
I recently switched back to pads this past year, as my period was heavier, it just didn’t feel right to stuff a tampon up there and ignore it. Not allowing my blood to flow out of my body as it should simply didn’t feel right to me anymore and the more women I spoke to actually agreed with me. Unless I need to do something very active, I’m using pads. You can actually use pads that have essential oils and other ingredients that can soothe your period pains.
Another method I’m recently falling in love with is period underwear. We have advanced technology nowadays that allows us to combine pads and underwear in ways that are comfortable, effecient and cute! There are many brands you can choose from but I am currently experimenting with Thinx. This option is also more eco-friendly and you can save $10 by clicking that link.
3. Honor your PMS
All the things that come with our bleed seems to have a miserable common theme, but this is all a stigma that we’ve heard and told ourselves so many times that we now believe it as truth. But how can we change this? Let’s learn to honor our PMS symptoms.
If you have cravings, honor that. Your body craves the things it needs, feel free to spoil yourself a little bit during this time. I love to get myself some Lindor chocolate and not feel guilty indulging. When it comes to period pains, I got a heating pad, and I honor extra rest and much less movement. I honor comfy clothing, skipping the gym the first couple of days or whatever my body calls for.
I’ve learned to really know my body and my emotions, I’ll go out less, be less talkative and less energetic. But instead of feeling bad about it, I know it’s a part of my moon and instead I fall into it fully.
4. Slow the f***k down!
One of the many things we can do to connect with our bleed is to slow down! I purposefully look at my schedule and have an idea when my period will be each month and plan around it. Trying to leave my schedule as open as possible and also to be aware of my emotional state during the time.
Take this time to maybe skip the gym for a few days and instead do some slow yoga, breathwork or meditation. Understand that your body is a miracle and how beautiful it is that it naturally detoxifies itself each month. Maybe try a meditation or journaling session about what you are releasing this month.
You may ask, how can I do this in a modern world where I have a 9-5 job? Well, this is a good question that I think comes to priorities. I believe we can live in a world where women can take at least 1-2 days off a month for their periods. Why do I belive this? You could relate this to feeling ill or being in pain if we allowed ourselves to. I have told my boss in the past that I had, had a painful night because of my period and I wont be making it in and to my surprise, he was very understanding. So if you come across this… give it a try.
5. Create a sensory experience + treat yourself
Make your monthly a whole vibe. A time of the month purely dedicated to coziness, honoring your craving, lots of naps, lots of delicious tea and saying no to things that you simply don’t want to do. I recommend using essential oils in your pads or period underwear to create that sensory experience of pampering your yoni.
6. Drink your raspberry tea
Not only is raspberry tea delicious, but it really does help regulate your period cramps. There are many teas with a variety of herbs with the best combination of delicious tea that can not only elleviate period pains, but also regulate mood, hormonal acne and bloating. These are brands such as OvaMoon. You can use code Shawntelle20 for 20% off your first order with OvaMoon.
7. Talk about your period with your partner
Within the last few months, as my period has become more prominent the last year, I’ve been opening up to having casual conversation about my period with my boyfriend. It’s funny that we keep this to ourselves, even with our partners. Such a simple act has created such understanding around this time of the month between my boyfriend and I. Through doing so, he better understands why I behave the way that I do and also what I need from him during this time.
8. Try a yoni steam
A yoni steam is another way to pamper your yoni. It is actually an ancient practice with endless benefits that go far beyond just your current state of affairs when your doing it. A yoni steam is a combination of herbs in whot water that you sit on and steam your vagina. These herbs are used to elleviate period pains, regulate your cycle, reduce bloating, detoxify the womb, reduce odor and is great for after birth nourishment.
There are a selection of yoni steaming options out there, but I love Soul Vibrance (and they also carry steam seats). they also give you guided meditation and rituals to elevate your steam experience, which I highly recommend.
9. Give your blood back to the Earth
Giving your moon blood back to Mother Earth is another ancient practice as a way to honor life itself as it runs through you and recognizing that as a blessing to give thanks for. There is no wrong or right way to do this, you can use blood from a diva cup or gather just a small amount that you can mix in with water to create a ritual for giving your blood bath to Mother Earth.
You can also sit out in the grass or somewhere out in nature with no panties and allow your blood to flow into nature as a medititative experience.
Did you know period blood is actually very nourishing for nature? Win, win.
10. Connect to your womb space
Just like our nervous system, because our womb is full of them… we can store trauma in our womb space. So take some time during your moon to honor your womb and all it’s magic. It’s from this space that all life is birthed and we as women are so magical for supplying it.
Many of us long for healing in our womb space, but there is not 3 step process for it. It simply begins with your intention and attention to this area of your gorgeous body. It begins with honoring other women and ourselves.
Connecting with power of our yoni’s allows us to connect deeper with the power of Universal life. You would be very surprised how centered these practices can allow you to feel. You’ll begin to honor your period for what it is and honor the ways it makes you feel, sending love to every craving and every cramp that proves our body is doing miracles.
I recommend trying some of the products above and really making a treat out of your next cycle. A treat for the mind, body and the Soul.
