Menstrual Essentials

Yogawoman expert Linda Sparrowe is the former managing editor of Yoga Journal and has authored many books and articles on women and yoga.

As teenagers, few of us had mothers or grandmothers who taught us to celebrate our monthly cycles, to embrace the power we receive from our menstrual blood, or to use our cycles as a means of gauging our physical and emotional health.

As I got older, I tried to look at my monthly cycles in a more positive light. I eventually came to see my body as a microcosm of the universe. Just as the moon waxes and wanes, the tides ebb and flow, the sun rises and sets, so too does my body move through the stages of a cycle—from ovulation to menstruation, from lightness of being to a dark, moody time, from creativity to reflection. I noticed that I am much more outgoing and energized mid cycle, around ovulation time, and often need to go inward—even push people away—just before my period starts. This seems especially true at those times when my cycle corresponds to the phases of the moon; that is, I bleed during the darkness of the new moon and ovulate as the moon comes into its fullness. For me, the cycle of menstruation has become a symbol of my connection to the natural rhythms of the universe rather than something to dread each month.

By Linda Sparrowe

Reposted: http://www.yogajournal.com/health/130