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#PeriodTalk #TwitterParty

Friday, July 12, at 2 PM ET (1 PM CT, 12 PM MT, 11 AM PT), Be Prepared Period kicks off year three of #PeriodTalk Tweetchats with a party – “Our 2nd Annual Menstrual Party.”

To the regular attendees of #PeriodTalk – I look forward to partying with you!

If you’ve never attended #PeriodTalk, or been involved in a Tweetchat, I encourage you to log into Twitter Friday (check times listed above) and follow #PeriodTalk.

Tara Bruley, founder of Be Prepared Period, said the following about #PeriodTalk.

We started these chats back in July of 2011 with the non-profit org You ARE Loved.  Continuing to host these events we’ve covered a variety of topics. Our 2nd year of tweet chats included the following subjects:

·        August 2012: Your TOTM: Time of the Month

·        September 2012: Back to School: Periods 101

·        October 2012: PeriodTalk Celebration – The launch of our Q&A forum for all things   menstrual (making PeriodTalk available 24/7/365)

·        November 2012: Menstrual Understanding & Creativity

·        December 2012: Menstruation and The Organizations That Care

·        January 2013: Puberty & Menopause: A Dangerous Combo

·        February 2013: Learning to Love Yourself & Your Period

·        March 2013: Endometriosis Awareness

·        April 2013: Pelvic Pain: What It Is & What You Can Do About It

·        May 2013: Be Prepared for Summer & Your Period

·        June 2013: Conventional Feminine HygieneProducts & Their Toxic Implications

As Director of Connectivity for You ARE Loved, I witnessed #PeriodTalk go from a tiny idea to the awesome outreach it is today.

I encourage you to visit Be Prepared Period. Read #PeriodTalk transcripts and visit the PeriodTalk forum.  You won’t be disappointed.

#PeriodTalk is about…period talk.

You can talk with some truly period wise women (and men), exchange thoughts and ideas, ask questions that have always bothered you and gain a lot of period wise knowledge.

Anything goes and nothing is too icky to discuss in #PeriodTalk.

Hate menstrual taboos?  We do, too.  Love certain products?  We do, too!  Have questions and need answers?  We all do!!  Just want to connect with others who understand what it’s like to menstruate? Well, what are you waiting for?  Want to share your experience?  Hey! We want to hear!

Come on! It’s going to be fun!  It’s a period party!

Join us Friday, July 12 and help kick off year three of #PeriodTalk TweetChats.

See you there!

(Be sure to stop by and register for a chance to win during #PeriodTalk!)

Menstrual Blood Paints a Picture

Artist Carina Úbeda, saved 5 years worth of menstrual cloths and displayed them for her exhibition, “Cloths,” at the Center of Culture and Health in Quillota, Chile.

She placed 90 used menstrual cloths in embroidery hoops, embroidered words on them, and then hung them from the ceiling along with rotten apples that symbolized ovulation.

What do you think of this?

What questions does this raise?

 

 

Cycle Harmony and PMS

Jing, long time sufferer of PMS, founded Cycle Harmony as a source of information and support for women who experience PMS.

Cycleharmony.com provides online tools and information to help you each step of the way. It filters the noise, takes out the complexity and makes it extremely simple and practical. It helps you take PMS into your own hands and take steps to live a healthier and happier life.

It’s also a community where women suffering from PMS can share their stories, their frustrations, their feelings, and their remedies. A place where women can go to get perspective and insights, help, support and hope.

It’s a journey that each woman will take individually – and together – not only to find relief for PMS, fatigue, depression and mood swings, but also to discover and reclaim our true power as a woman.  Read more.

If you, or someone you love, struggle with PMS, take 5 and view Jing’s video, then look through her site.  She offers encouragement, community, and information.

No Purses Allowed

The NFL implemented a new “all clear” rule that will affect all who choose to attend NFL games.

 

 

 

The NFL strongly encourages fans to not bring any type of bags, but outlined today what is permissible. Beginning with preseason games, fans will be able to carry the following style and size bag, package, or container at stadium plaza areas, stadium gates, or when approaching queue lines of fans awaiting entry into the stadium:

  • Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl or PVC and do not exceed 12” x 6” x 12.” (Official NFL team logo clear plastic tote bags are available through club merchandise outlets or at nflshop.com), or
  • One-gallon clear plastic freezer bag (Ziploc bag or similar).
  • Small clutch bags, approximately the size of a hand, with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the stadium with one of the clear plastic bag options.
  • An exception will be made for medically necessary items after proper inspection at a gate designated for this purpose.

Will this change affect you in any way?

What are your thoughts about carrying menstrual needs and products in a clear plastic bag if they are too numerous or too large to fit into a hand sized clutch?

What do you think of the exception “made for medically necessary items after proper inspection” at a designated gate? Would menstrual needs/products come under the heading of “medically necessary items”?

If you were menstruating, would the new ruling keep you from attending an NFL game? Would it cause you to rethink your menstrual product choice?

Girls of All Ages One Step Away

The Obama administration announced Monday it will end age restrictions on emergency contraception, allowing girls and women of all ages to purchase the morning-after pill without a prescription. Read more.

What are your thoughts on this?

As a mother, grandmother, or dad, how do you feel about your girl (regardless of her age) being able to purchase and take powerful hormones without your knowledge and without the advice/knowledge of her pediatrician?

Making Menstruation Matter

Today is day two of Making Menstruation Matter, the 20th conference focusing on menstrual cycle research and women’s health.

Since the first conference in 1977, the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research has been working to bring menstruation out of the shadows and to legitimize our concern with how our culture, medical and pharmaceutical industries, advertising, and educational efforts, have served women’s needs (or not). Read more.

Members of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research have contributed greatly to healthy practices for women, to debunking menstrual myths, to eradicating shame, and to nurturing research.

I applaud the members and offer my sincere “thank you” for your care, concern, wisdom, passion, and unwavering period wise focus.

You are a beneficiary of the efforts of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research.

If you are not familiar with the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research and their blog, I encourage you to be period wise and check into what they offer you.

Dr. Oz on Menstruation

Here’s a REALLY quick video on what happens during menstruation.

  http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Dr-Oz-on-Menstruation

“And, that’s what menstruation is all about.” — Dr. Oz

For those of us who are period wise, menstruation is so much more.

  • What is menstruation all about to you?
  • Do you think the video would be helpful in explaining the fundamentals of menstruation to girls?

What’s a Grandmother to do?

Susan Stiffelman offers an interesting scenario in which your 13 year old granddaughter confides to you that she’s started her period and doesn’t want her mother to know. Take a moment, read, and see if you agree that her solution is period wise.

Your 13-year-old granddaughter tells you she’s gotten her period.

“Grandma, you absolutely, positively cannot tell Mom and Dad,” she cries.
You know your daughter — her mother — would want to know, and to celebrate this moment in her daughter’s life. You also know that your daughter will be furious with you when she finds out you’d kept it from her. What do you do?

You hold the secret, and create the space for your granddaughter to tell you about this new experience. You don’t rush the talk, and you stay lovingly connected to her. Eventually you may say, “Sweetie, I’m so happy for you. Wow! This is a huge moment in your life. I’m honored that you told me, and I respect that it’s your right to share this with whomever you choose. Can you tell me what it is about telling Mom and Dad that feels uncomfortable? What do you think might happen if you tell them?”

And then you listen. In the back of your mind, you’re looking for a way to help your granddaughter become comfortable sharing this with her parents, but you allow her to be ready at her pace. If your daughter finds out that you knew and didn’t tell her, you accept her anger and disappointment, assuring her that you will absolutely tell her if your granddaughter discloses anything dangerous.

Society for Menstrual Cycle Research Blog

If you’ve never visited (or only rarely visit) the blog re: Cycling you’re missing out on a world of information that matters.

We are often under informed when it comes to our bodies and things pertaining to them – period wise and otherwise, too.

Here’s a rundown of the past 10 posts on re: Cycling.

 

Take a few minutes and click on the links that interest you – bookmark them to read later.

Awareness – of our bodies and that which concerns them – is period wise.

In case you’re wondering what The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research is and why we should be interested in what they have to say, the following is taking from their homepage.

The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary research organization. Our membership includes researchers in the social and health sciences, humanities scholars, health care providers, policy makers, health activists, artists and students with interests in the role of the menstrual cycle in women’s health and well-being.

We strive to be the source of guidance, expertise, and ethical considerations for researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funding resources interested in the menstrual cycle.

re: Cycling provides up to date information that is period wise and beneficial to girls and women. To quickly and easily receive updates, you can can subscribe to re: Cycling and receive it by email, “Like” it on Facebook and follow on Twitter.