Monthly Archives: April 2014

Concealed Carry or Confident Carry?

The recent suspension of a 17 year old girl for carrying a purple clutch containing feminine hygiene supplies caught my attention.  It reminded me of the “all clear” rule enacted last year by the NFL.  However, this goes a step farther and bans everything that would allow students to conceal anything.

That anything includes feminine hygiene products.  Apparently the Principal’s position is that teenage girls should feel confident enough to place their feminine hygiene needs in a clear bag for all the world to see and carry it with them to class throughout the days they are menstruating, or expect to become menstrual.

And, perhaps that’s what these girls should do until this rule is struck down. Perhaps the girls should band together and bring feminine hygiene products in a clear confident carry bag every day whether they are menstruating or not.

I wish all girls and women were so confident in themselves and with menstruation that they were comfortable doing just that.  It would go a long way in ending the embarrassment that so often (and unnecessarily) accompanies things period wise.

And, it would also put an end to the idiotic assumption that menstruation requires a doctor’s permission slip because it’s a medical issue.

A medical issue?  Um…the last time I checked the definition of “medical” it said the word related to the treatment of illness and/or injury.

Menstruation is NEITHER.

It’s a normal function of the female body.  Treating it as anything otherwise is ignorant and sexist.  It’s demeaning, degrading, indefensible, and, it smacks of sex-based discrimination.

I call for a day of confident carry on May 9 to raise awareness about the plight of menstruating girls and women everywhere.  Let’s end these ridiculous menstrual taboos and stereotypical assumptions about those who menstruate.  Let’s put a stop to the assassination of confident menstrual lifestyles by those who assure us they mean well and that it’s for our own good.

Girls at Galesburg High, and in schools across the land, are you willing to band together in support of your right to menstruate confidently, whether privately or publicly, as YOU choose and not as it’s chosen for you?  Join me in carrying feminine hygiene products where all can see on May 9.

Period wise women buck the norm.  What’s your norm and are you brave enough to step out of it for just one day for confident carry?

They’re Your Hormones – Make Them Work FOR You

It was the day of my big photo shoot…a day I had awaited with both anxiety and eagerness. I wanted to look good…to feel good – not only physically, but mentally – about who I am.

It was my first time to experience a professional photo shoot.  To make sure everything would be camera friendly, the photographer had arranged for a makeup artist / hair stylist to touch me up.

(Okay…okay…it was a make over.)

I had painstakingly chosen the outfits I would take for the shoot.  For two weeks, I had carefully chosen the foods I would eat, had worked my body…had done everything I could to make sure I would be in top form.

Guess what happened. (Check out the picture above for a clue – and no…that’s not of me.)

The morning of the shoot, I woke groggy and puffy-eyed.  A quick look in the mirror told me this was more than just bed face.

Two zits had appeared during the night. One highlighted my left cheek and the other was just shy of center on my chin.  My face was puffy…I looked like I’d gained 10 pounds in the night.

What the…?

I stepped onto the scale…my weight WAS up…three pounds.  How did that happen?  It was impossible!

My stomach gurgled and I realized she was bloated.

BLOATED!

How would those slim, tight slacks I’d chosen to wear fit me?  WOULD they fit me?

As I rubbed my tummy I realized I was swollen all over.  My hands, my face, my stomach, my…breasts….

Yep, they had increased in size and were sore.

Full breasts – now that’s something I’m usually grateful for, but that morning I wasn’t.  The shirts I’d picked for the shoot were form fitting.  There was no room in them for my newly enlarged breasts.

NO ROOM!  I would pop the buttons.

I panicked.

All the work I’d put into preparing my body and mind was for naught.  My hormones changed as I’d slept and undid every bit of the work I’d done.

Physically, I was a wreck.

Emotionally, I was…well…let’s not go there.

The photo shoot was scheduled for late afternoon so there was hope that some of the bloating would pass.  And, with each cup of coffee I drank, it did.

The change in hormones, combined with the amount of coffee I drank, triggered my body to eliminate and by the time I left my house for the drive to the studio, I was feeling (and looking) more the me I wished to be for the shoot.

I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.  I had covered all the bases, taken everything possible into the planning of my prep for my photo shoot.  Well, almost everything.

I’d forgotten one very important thing…my cycle and the effect stress can have on it.

I was diet wise.

I was exercise wise.

I was style wise.

But, I wasn’t cycle wise.

Period wise planning takes all things into consideration…especially where you are in your cycle, how your hormones are affecting you, and includes having a backup plan in case Aunt Flo unexpectedly sends her hormonal baggage ahead of her arrival.

How did the photo shoot go?

I was gorgeous, of course!

An artist needs only a willing canvas and I was oh so willing!  The photographer found my good side (yes, I have one), and the hormonal change that had occurred in the night brought out the best me possible and it was captured in every picture taken.

Want a little period wise advise? Schedule a make over and photo shoot.  You may discover a you that you want to lean hard into being more often.

Be period wise.  Don’t just go with the flow…make those hormones work for you!

What’s Your Cycle Day (CD) and Why You Should Know

If I asked you, “What’s your CD,” could you tell me?

Could you tell me without looking at the calendar when your last period started? (That day would be CD 1.)

Why should you know your CD?

How else can you live fully in it and lean hard into it?

Each CD has its own strengths.  If you don’t know what your CD is how will you know how to plan for and use each CD’s strengths to the max?

For women who cycle, especially those cycling naturally (not using hormonal birth control), knowing your CD and the strengths that belong to it can empower you in ways that may surprise you.

I challenge you – keep a brief journal each day of your cycle for one month.  Record the strengths that you note on each day.

Perhaps on one day you want to organize or clean house. Another day, you may prefer to write.  And another cycle day, you may feel chatty.  You may find that there are days that indicate it would be good to start a diet and other CDs can alert you to stay away from the kitchen or you will eat everything in sight.

Knowing what CD you can expect which strengths to surface on and when to expect them to be the strongest can be empowering.

Give it a try.

Be period wise.

(Looking for a fun way to track your cycle?  Check out Val Carey’s TOTM Period Planner.)