Chances are, you're reading this blog because you want to have a better menstrual experience.
Are your periods painful?
Exhausting?
Marked by annoying, confusing, or barely manageable symptoms?
Or simply just a hassle?
Whatever your experience of your periods, I've been there.
My periods have knocked me flat on the floor in pain, made me miss work and school on the worst days and led me to chain-pop painkillers on the best days.
I've had menstrual headaches, sore boobs, heavy bleeding, clots, exhaustion, bloating, irritability, brain fog, dizziness, and more.
I hope your periods have not been so rough, but chances are you've experienced at least some of these symptoms to some degree in your years as a menstruator.
Just look at how many menstruators experienced troublesome menstrual symptoms in this Harvard study:
The vast majority of menstruators will experience challenging side effects with their period.
I was certainly no different.
I don't remember my periods being terribly troublesome in high school, more just an embarrassing inconvenience.
But in college, they worsened significantly, and after missing class consistently for days every month with intense period pain, I went to the health center and was put on hormonal birth control.
I had a rough time on hormonal b.c., too, but that's a story for another day.
Fast forward a few years: I was married and my husband and I were trying for a baby. A year after quitting the pill, I finally conceived, and once my baby was born, my (male) obstetrician pitched the Mirena IUD to me by saying,
"Most women enjoy not having a period for five years."
That sounded great to me at that point, so I got an IUD.
I still had occasional period pain, but was relieved to mostly forget about periods altogether.
However, after 3 years with an IUD I began to feel like I had opted out of an experience that was just part of the season of life I was in.
I had recently discovered the concept of cyclical living and was doing a lot of trauma work, self-discovery, healing, and more after leaving a high-demand religion that had been accompanied with purity culture and a lot of body shame (another story for another day!).
I had read the book Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer after it serendipitously showed up in my life and fell in love with the idea of menstrual cycle awareness.
It was like a missing puzzle piece had landed perfectly in the puzzle of my life--a piece I hadn't even realized I was missing.
So I went back to my OB and removed my IUD and welcomed back my period.
My first period after removing my IUD started like previous periods: with sore boobs, a dull ache in my low back, and the looming threat of more pain coming.
I went to the medicine cabinet and took out the Tylenol.
But I remembered one of the ideas from the book Wild Power, and decided to try it. It was really simple, after all.
I was standing in my bedroom and I closed my eyes and asked my body,
"What do you need?"
The answer was clear and immediate:
"Lay down."
So I did, right there on my bedroom floor.
And I felt a little better.
I breathed, and paid attention to the movements of my breath in my body.
And felt a little bit better.
I continued listening to my body, very intently. No distractions.
I was absolutely shocked to witness my period pain release when I simply asked what my body needed, listened, and delivered rest.
I continued this pattern of slowing down and tuning in to my body's needs, and my period pain lessened significantly. Consistently.
It sounds easy, right?
Well, it's certainly simple, but it's not exactly easy.
It's not easy to rest in a culture that really values productivity.
It's not easy to listen to your body when most of us were raised with the mantra, "Mind over matter."
It's not easy to rest as a female in a misogynistic system.
It's not easy to rest as a cyclical menstruator in a linear hustle culture.
It's not easy to rest when you've been raised to place others' needs ahead of yours.
It's not easy to rest.
This is exactly why I created My Club Red.
Because even though I had experienced huge healing through rest, the world isn't set up to support us that way.
And I knew I wasn't the only one in this situation.
Not even close.
I knew I wanted to help others transform their lives through transforming their periods, so I enrolled in Red School's Menstruality Leadership Program and Lisa de Jong's Menstrual Cycle Coaching & Facilitation Professional Training which starts next month (I cannot wait!).
And I started looking at period care subscription boxes.
But that's a story for next time. =)
Be sure to check the next blog post about the next steps in my journey to deliver this box full of permission to rest right to your doorstep.
In the meantime, I'd love to connect with you even more!
Blogs are great, but social media is a little more interactive.
Yesterday on my Instagram stories, we played "Is This Your Period?" with lots of polls, question stickers, and lots of really fun and insightful info shared in our community.
I'd love to have you join us!
Click here to head to my Instagram account, and be sure to hit "Follow!"
I'm also on Facebook and TikTok @myclubred if those are more your speed. I'd love to connect with you!
Thanks so much for being here, for listening to my story, and for being invested in up-leveling your period experience.
Be sure to join the waitlist at MyClubRed.com for insider perks!