What does your pre-bleed time look like?
Pre bleed time is usually the hardest time for me, my body gets exhausted and tired, my breasts can get really sore, everyone and everything annoys me.
I feel like everything comes to the surface and I’m so sensitive to every little thing, I notice my emotions and energy so much more, I’m more connected to my emotions because I’m more sensitive, which I actually really like because it reminds me of what a powerful, deeply feeling woman I am. I do my best to slow down a lot and rest more, do less, clean my space and prepare a comfy, safe space for my bleed to come
It’s like I’m a bear getting ready to hibernate for the winter
What rituals do you practice to honour your period?
Some of my fav rituals would be; free bleeding In nature, going to a river specifically is very sacred for me, I feel like the river holds a calm, grounding and warm space where I can fully let go, I will usually pray to the land, Gods, pacha mama and the blessing of the womb and blood of all women who have/will ever be.
Simply being horizontal, laying on the earth or my bed / couch and completely resting, fully allowing my whole body the space and permission to deeply rest.
I feel like this is so underrated but I really believe that the way we honour ourselves during our bleed is the guiding force of how our whole next cycle will play out, if I give myself the space to take guilt free deep rest the first days of my bleed then I feel so much more balanced throughout my cycle.
Journaling, meditation and prayer, I definitely feel most intuitive and connected to a higher power during my bleed, taking time to tap into this and ask questions, pray for guidance/ help/ answers or healing ( for myself and others ) witness what creative ideas are sparked, where my mind wants to go and what I feel most love to, sitting with the feelings.
What are your period essentials?
Cacao always
A comfy bed
Chocolate
Cheese
A heat pack
Hugs
What would you want your younger self to know about your periods and body?
To trust herself and trust her body. Not to feel ashamed of her blood but know it is actually her biggest power, don’t let other people convince you of what you need and remember your body KNOWS
Stay gentle, don’t push yourself, don’t feel guilty for rest, let yourself cry and scream and know it is ok
Find older women to lead you and learn from. Be kind to yourself. Your body is the creator of life, your womb IS the portal, you are so sacred and to be a woman is the most magical thing that exists
What would you like to share with other women about your cycle?
I have had a really tough journey with my cycle, I got my bleed really young and went straight onto the pill because my bleed was very heavy and very painful, so I never fully developed a cycle …
And after I went off the pill 7 years later I was anorexic and didn’t bleed for 5 years! So it was about 12 years from the very beginning of my period starting to have no real cycle. It impacted my health a lot, especially my sexuality and mental health. I had no sex drive my whole life until I began getting a bleed again, and I never really cried until I had a regular cycle.
I think I would like to share mostly that, I love my bleed now, I’m so grateful every time I bleed because I know it means I’m healthy! It’s my body telling me I can be a mum, that I have healthy hormones, that my immune system is good and so much more! I think the gratitude for my bleed has made my cycle so much better because I feel honoured to be a woman. I hope that we as women all can get to this point to feel so empowered by this ever changing rollercoaster of cycles that we have, it shows us our strengths and creative power, our depth of emotional capacity, our sexy goddess seductive energy and our maternal, slow and intuitive powers.
I’m so grateful to be a woman