Category: Periods

My Period, Pain, Depression & Endometriosis: Supported by Esoteric Breast Massage

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by Rowena Stewart, Somerset, UK

The initial elation at beginning my menstruation at 13 soon evaporated as month after month brought increasing pain. To begin with I could just about tolerate it. As I grew older I started to take paracetamol to control the pain, but as this was only a management strategy things got steadily worse. Eventually I would prepare for each period with paranoid dread, always making sure I had a huge stock of painkillers to see me through, often taking time off school and in later years, days off work, in order to cope with the pain. Looking back on it now, it seems odd that no-one in my family considered this to be abnormal or sought any professional advice. It was just considered to be bad luck and to me, an unavoidable curse that was destined to continue month in, month out, year after year for the rest of my fertile life. Continue reading “My Period, Pain, Depression & Endometriosis: Supported by Esoteric Breast Massage” →

Our Cycles – Period and Full Moon Diary

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by Sara Harris BHSc, Cert. NFE, Melbourne, Australia

To meet with women is a very beautiful thing – there is something very ancient about gathering and being together to support one another.

Recently, this February, we had a gathering such as this in Melbourne. It was a presentation for women titled: “Nurturing the Woman Within: Reclaiming Your Natural Rhythm within our Modern Times” presented to us by Natalie Benhayon.

This presentation was also the launch of a new ‘tool’ that is now available as an App from iTunes called ‘Our Cycles – Period and Full Moon Diary’. The creation of this app and what we can use it for is nothing less than revolutionary. We now have the opportunity to record our period, menopause and full moon cycles in great depth, all at the convenience of our finger-tips! Continue reading “Our Cycles – Period and Full Moon Diary” →

Going With The Flow

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by Sarah C, London UK

While I was showering this morning, I was gently washing myself and started to feel myself from the inside out – a concept I find extremely challenging because for so long I have always felt myself from the outside, in.

I remembered that in March 2012, after hearing and reading the concept that pads (sanitary napkins) allowed the natural flow of a woman’s period, and my being a tampon user since teenage years, I found this concept weird, to say the least. But I thought, hey, why not try napkins and see what happens?

Reflecting on this today, the change has been profound and I really only fully appreciated that in my bathroom this morning. I have had eleven periods since that time and can honestly say that I have truly felt my flow and the joy of that cleanse. I love having my period now and actually look forward to it each month. What a turnaround! Well, there’s a first time for everything, even as a 44-year-old woman. Continue reading “Going With The Flow” →

New Period and Full Moon Diary App And So Much More

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by AP, Sydney, Australia

I was really looking forward to hearing Natalie Benhayon talk about the new ‘Period and Full Moon Diary’ App she was launching. This is not just for women who are still menstruating, but is also just as applicable for menopausal women, like me, or even young women who haven’t started their periods yet. This new App will be a perfect way to record how I’m feeling from day to day so I can see when there’s a pattern emerging. Was I frustrated for just a few days, or was it actually a lot more than that?… and if so, I can then think about what caused that frustration. Did something happen at work, or with a friend? With this honesty and awareness, I have the opportunity to make different choices moving forward. Maybe I speak up more when I’m with my friends and say how I really feel about something, rather than just going along with the group. Or at home, I could explain to my teenage sons that I’m really tired and would love some help with dinner, rather than feeling frustrated and then snapping at everyone because I’m annoyed that I’m doing everything myself! As we can make notes on a daily basis with the period diary, I can see how the changes I make affect me, not just on a daily basis, but also with regard to my cycle. I know how I am feeling each day, but I can honestly say that I can’t remember, with clarity, how I felt yesterday, let alone the days before. I’m really looking forward to using the App, specifically as I’d like to look back over the days and weeks to see what I can learn from it. Continue reading “New Period and Full Moon Diary App And So Much More” →

Putting Down the Bat

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by Natalie Hawthorne, General Manager, Hospitality, London, UK

I am just finishing the most amazing period I have ever had in my life! I know, how cool is that?… and I thought that the ones before that recently had been pretty good. Lately my ‘normal’ would consist of: tender breasts, with swelling coming up sometimes before the period was due, along with feeling tired. And on its arrival, most times I would feel a little foggy or dazed – not clear headed – and my lower back would have an ache, nothing major, but it was there. By day 3, when I am in full flow, I would sometimes get an ache in the ovaries and, depending on the month, it could be sometimes worse than others, but never crippling.

What had I done this month differently to others, for me to feel amazing in this period? Continue reading “Putting Down the Bat” →

Walking back: Re-connecting to the True Woman I already am

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by Anonymous

When I was about 11 years old, I became obsessed with getting my period. Now, at that point I hadn’t yet, but I had heard about it from my family and friends and in my 11-year old mind thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard. Every month I get to be special! I thought…

After that, I listened intently to my body, and with any pain in my tummy I would get a little excited and hope I was finally getting my period. A year later, I started to really notice that I was alone in my feelings towards this special event. My friends thought it was gross and would tell horror stories about their sisters bleeding on their uniforms, or about how much it hurt. I started to feel embarrassed that I was looking forward to it and so I would pretend I felt the same way, but kept my little secret. Continue reading “Walking back: Re-connecting to the True Woman I already am” →

Celebrate, the Woman Within

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by Cherise Holt, Nurse, Australia

At a recent Women’s Presentation in Brisbane, a group of women shared how truly beautiful it is when we re-connect to ourselves as women: a connection that we override when we invest in fulfilling the roles we have adopted, or live under the pressures from ourselves and from a society that constantly tells us how and who we should be.

As women, it is important to reconnect to our bodies… what are we really feeling? In any moment, when we begin to ask ourselves this question we realise that our bodies never lie to us. If we are feeling stressed, tired, unwell or out of sorts, tense or exhausted – our bodies can feel it: or if there is something we don’t want to do, perhaps something doesn’t feel right. In addition, we may find ourselves doing too much in our day, or doing for others ahead of ourselves; or even when we are simply being hard on ourselves – we know about it. But when we make the time to stop and feel, we get to see that there is another way to be; a way that is honouring and cherishes the woman we already are. Continue reading “Celebrate, the Woman Within” →

My Periods & Me

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by Angela Perin, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

My first real introduction to education about periods came when I was about 12, and my mother called me into the lounge for a private talk (I thought it was about a school report card, so I was a little nervous, but not at all prepared for what was to come). She pulled out a large brown paper bag and began with, “Did your cousin Debbie tell you she got her period…?” (or something to that effect). Embarrassment and anxiousness overwhelmed me, and at that point I could only regret that the talk had not been about my report card.

It wasn’t a long conversation (I’m guessing that Mum may not have been that comfortable either) and the rest of what she said was just a blur. I can’t even remember if the bag was opened to show me what was inside, but whatever it was, I’m really sure I didn’t want to know about it! And as soon as she had finished and I was allowed to escape, I took the brown paper bag and shoved it to the back of my underwear drawer – hoping no-one would ever see it (including my two younger sisters with whom I shared a bedroom), and that Mum (or anyone else) would never bring up the conversation again! Continue reading “My Periods & Me” →

Re-claiming my Relationship with my Period

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In this article Vanessa McHardy reveals how the simple act of checking in with herself, via daily notes, has had a big affect on the quality of her monthly cycle.

Four months ago during my period the pain in my left hip was so painful that I was taking nurofen with no relief gained (I take painkillers once in a blue moon). My periods were so heavy on the first and second day it required me to change my pad every hour. They lasted four days max and I had PMT for a week before the period began. My last period I had slight pain for a few hours, it was only heavy for a few hours and lasted 7 days.

So what happened in those three months? I have taken no drugs, had no medical intervention, so what was it – how could there be such a significant change? Continue reading “Re-claiming my Relationship with my Period” →

Reflections on Women’s Health

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Sara Williams’ seminal text on the state of Women’s Health.

In this article practitioner Sara Williams explores the state of Women’s Health through personal experience interwoven with historical references. Her reflections reveal the limited ways in which we have previously viewed this important aspect of our lives and documents an Esoteric perspective which may just herald a turning of the tide, the beginning of a new chapter in Women’s Health internationally.

by Sara Williams – International Co-ordinator for the Esoteric Breast Massage – Healing Modality / UK

‘ADVANCEMENTS’ IN WOMEN’S HEALTH

Few would argue we have come a long way since the first female doctor of the modern era graduated from a medical school in 1849 (US). The concept of women’s health has come a long way in the last 50 years alone, as we witness more books published, more female voices on women’s health heard, more research conducted – with an expanded awareness in the field of Gynaecology and diseases such as breast and cervical cancers, less medicalisation, more humanising of women’s experience of medical care and more female medical professionals, including the first female dean of a major medical school in the US (albeit only in 2007). Continue reading “Reflections on Women’s Health” →