Have a Happy Period

By Tracee Sioux

I love my menstrual cycle. LOVE it. I love being on my period.

Women are cyclic in nature. We’re made that way. We cycle with the moon and the seasons, we ebb and flow. We’re up and down and sometimes we’re even twirly.

Bombarded by a million tampon, maxi-pad, Premerin and douche commercials we’ve been brainwashed into believing that our periods are a ginormous pain in the … well, the pussy.

It wasn’t always this way. Way before the commercialization of the period, back beyond the secret “dirty” rep of the the menstrual flow, there was a time when her Red Moon was the most sacred and holy power held by women. Women sequestered themselves in The Red Tent, where they were relieved from their daily duties to tribe and family. They rested and drank herbal teas, they meditated and had visions. They listened deeply to their Inner Wise Woman. They cycled with the sisterhood and shared the joys and pain of their lives. They menstruated, birthed children, breastfed babies and experienced peri-menopause in these holy, sacred tents. Once their lifetime menstrual cycles were complete they were honored and revered as Wise Women.

Women danced under the full moon, by which they tracked their cycles. They celebrated a girl’s first Red Moon as a rite of passage into the Feminine Divine.

I, personally, enjoy this version of my menstrual cycle better than the media’s tampon frenzy with women asserting that they can even play tennis in white shorts.

Sometime in my 30s I realized that during two weeks a month if I tried to get 237 things done during my PMS week or my menstrual week then things were only more miserable. I often felt, during these times, like I was stretched tight like a rubber band about to snap. I took bio-identical hormones to relieve the symptoms. I hated it. Still, when my OB/GYN informed me that I was in peri-menopause and that my period was going to abandon me within the next five to ten years something odd happened. I got sad. It wasn’t the loss of youth, it was the loss of my cyclic nature which I grieved.

Having read books like Understanding Your Mind, Mood and Hormone Cycle co-written by my friend and colleague Leslie Carol Botha and The Optimized Woman: If You Want to Get Ahead, Get a Cycle by Miranda Grey, I learned to work with my period.

I got in flow with my own cyclic nature. It was the resistance to my own flow that was causing the stress, physical discomfort and disturbance in my psychic energy. If we fight against our inherent nature it will make us miserable. We’ll struggle with physical ailments and fight the constant and unwinnable battle with time. But, if we get in flow, our lives flow with it. Because the cycle occurs every month you know what to expect, emotionally, physically and psychically in phases.

Briefly, there are three or four phases of your cycle, depending on which health educator you talk to.

1. Rest and Reflection: This is Phase 1, which starts on the first day of your period. You’ve had it with PMS and you’re ready to take a nap. The pressure of PMS is relieved during this period because you’re just too damn tired to care anymore. Sink into this. If you indulge in the hot bath, the nap and schedule the massage you’ll be greatly rewarded. This is when you have the most psychic creativity and intuition and a closer connection to Spirit. Enjoy this. Lean into it.
2. Kick Ass: During this phase you’re going to be highly productive. You’ve dropped some water weight and you’re feeling good. You’re eating right, you’re knocking shit off your to-do list like Super Woman. You feel so good you’re letting stuff slide. It’s all good. You have energy, you feel great, you’re amazing, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish!
3. I love you! This phase is about creating relationship bonds. You’re loving everyone. Networking and social commitments comes easily during this period. You still have the energy and good vibes of the Kick Ass phase, and you’re focused on the joy of the people in your life.
4. That’s Not Going to Work for Me: This phase is commonly known as PMS (premenstrual syndrome). This is the most dreaded of the phases. Tired, achy, bitchy, moany, whiny and uncomfortable is how many women (and their mates and children) describe this phase. However, this phases is crucial for women. During the other phases you’re letting your boundaries get all soft and slippery. During Phase 1 you’re too tired to keep the kids on their toes, the husband on his best behavior. During Phase 2 you’re too busy to care what anyone else is doing. During Phase 3 you’re just appreciating the people in your life and still Kicking Ass. But, now you realize you’ve let everyone in your life get away with waaaaay too much shit. You have to put your foot down. You have to let them know you’re serious. If you don’t, your house will be a permanent cyclone, your coworkers, clients and bosses will think they can walk all over you, your children will ignore everything you say and the husband will begin to believe that he is entitled to skip family dinner in favor of playing pong on his computer in front of a football game while drinking beer and eating chicken wings in his boxers every night. Oh hell no, you say to everyone who has been tip toeing over the line throughout the month. And that’s fucking healthy, ya’ll. It’s crucial. Essential.

As you’re going through your cycle—running your business, running your family, engaging in a social life—understanding your own natural cycle and sinking into it will ease PMS and menstruation. You’ll learn to accept the gifts that each phase has for you and that in and of itself will relieve the pressure you typically feel about it.

Join myself and Leslie Carol Botha for a screening of The Red Tent Movie this Sunday, July 21 @ 6 pm at Whole Life Center for Spiritual Living, 2020 S. College St, Fort Collins, $15 admission. Stay tuned for our upcoming Have a Happy and Productive Period workshop in September. 

Tracee Sioux is a Law of Attraction Coach at Authentic Power Living, helping entrepreneurs manifest magic and attract miracles so they can Live on Purpose. Sign up for her newsletter at www.authenticpowerliving.com to receive a free ebook, 5 Steps to Creating a Dream Board that Really Works, contact her at traceesioux@gmail.com.