Mindful Menstrual Product Choices & Tips for a Healthy Cycle
Part of being a portal for life encompasses the git of monthly bleeding. My choices around menstrual products have evolved dramatically as I have grown as a woman, and today, I want to share with you the arc of this journey and why I choose the products I choose today.
The mindfulness around what I choose to navigate my monthly bleed, in many ways, mirrors the evolution of my own consciousness and loving relationship with my body. Most of the menstrual products on the market today are toxic physically (loaded with pesticides, etc) as well as toxic mentally/ emotionally (rooted in ignoring or hiding your bleed). I hope this article inspires you to bring intention to the menstrual products you use, in the name of honoring your body.
It all began with the classic conventional pad and tampons. Widely available, and commonly a woman’s first choice: conventional pads and tampons. They’re everywhere, and these are some of the most toxic things we can expose our reproductive organs to. Full of synthetic ingredients like bleach, fragrances, and adhesives, these products also often use non-organic cotton, which is typically treated with harmful pesticides like glyphosate. The presence of these chemicals can pose significant health risks.
Avoiding these products, honestly at all costs, is a major first step in the name of honoring our feminine self and health.
That being said, I used mostly non-organic tampons, for most of my younger years. Although pads were my very first introduction to menstrual products, I was quick to transition to tampons so that I could keep up with my sports, activities, and overall hide (and ignore) the fact that I was bleeding.
As I journey’d into the world of organic food in my early 20s it wasn’t long until I discovered organic pads and tampons too. For a long time, it was tampons only for me. Although I had found my way out of the chemical shit-storm that was non-organic menstrual products, I was still fixated on ignoring my bleed as much as possible. I continued to have intense workouts, go to work as usual, and all in all just rely on (now organic) tampons to keep living life as usual. I often used a tampon even while sleeping, just putting one in before bed and changing it in the morning.
In my mid-20s I discovered the menstrual cup. Now this was an odd one for me at first because it brought on an entirely new relationship with my blood. Menstrual cups are silicone cups that are folded and slide into the vaginal canal, and then pop open to essential sit below the cervix opening. They catch blood, and then you pull out the cup carefully, empty it out, rinse it, and re-insert. Having to see my blood actually as blood was pretty awesome and invited this opportunity to see its real color, texture, thickness, etc: all signs you can use to interpret your bleed as the 5th vital sign. Using your monthly symptoms and blood quality as an indication of how much you did (or didn’t) honor yourself that month: as a way for your body to communicate with you what it might need more (or less) of the upcoming month. Healthy menstrual blood is bright ruby red with no clots bigger than a thumbnail (for more info, consider checking out The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack).
I still use the cup today, albeit infrequently. I really try and make choices around honoring my menstrual cycle these days (like when my now partner and I first met through social media, and he was planning to visit me in Mexico, we coordinated the visit in my follicular phase!). Still, however, there are times in which travel or other plans make it so that wearing the cup is more convenient and suitable. I’ll also wear the cup if in the last day or two of my bleed I feel energized and want to go for a short surf!
But all in all, my go-to these days are period underwear and handmade pads. Let’s start with period underwear. When I first discovered them years ago, I was honestly super turned off. The idea of bleeding into my underwear sounded terrible. I dismissed the idea for a long time until it ‘clicked’ that we’re not naturally supposed to block the flow of our menstrual blood. Energetically, this shedding is about much more than our uterus. Every month we have this beautiful portal to let go of what no longer serves us, to clear space for what does. This goes hand-in-hand with what Jane Hardwicke Collings calls new moon prayers: essentially getting clear on what we want to say goodbye to and what seeds we want to plant in the fresh soil. These are the seeds we nurture and then harvest with the energy of the full moon (the peak of our menstrual cycle: ovulation).
So allowing our blood, that carries out of our body that which no longer serves us (the death of the old and re-birth of the new) must effectively leave the body. Energetically blocking this process creates disharmony in the body. This shouldn’t inspire fear but rather awareness around the choices we make. Allowing the energy to flow freely through the body is at the root of so many traditional and holistic practices, like acupuncture. Traditional Chinese medicine explains acupuncture as a technique for balancing the flow of energy or life force — known as chi or qi — which flow through pathways (meridians) in your body. Tai Chi and Qigong are two other gentle practices to encourage this flowing life force energy in the body to move freely (which are beautiful forms of gentle movement to practice while you bleed).
Using tampons or menstrual cups isn’t bad or wrong; it’s really about mindfulness around our choices. Not just popping one in and getting about your day. Pause and reflect: if I need to block my bleed like this, are my choices today sustainable and honoring of my cycle? If not, what kind of life choices might I have to make to encourage deeper rest during this time in my cycle? Note the pressures to keep exercising or keep working. What might life look like if you could let your body dictate your to-do list while you bleed?
So, having these epiphanies around 2020 let me to invest in my first set of period underwear. I did lots of research, and landed on the Scarlet Period Underwear brand, and got the g-string and bikini briefs. I chose them because they were made from organic cotton, and I liked the look aesthetically. I can attest that they fit so well, and I still use them to this day! I recently got a new set and stuck with the same style (three pairs of g-strings and three bikini briefs). I wear the briefs at night and all day during days 1 and 2 of my cycle. I swap to the thong on day 3 or 4, but continue to wear the full brief to sleep until my cycle finishes.
Period underwear is not ‘perfect’, since the nature of a leak-proof underwear uses a synthetic lining. The Scarlet undies are 95% Organic Cotton, 5% Elastane and a Polyester/Elastane/ PUL Quick Dry Gusset. The lining is, however, free from added chemical treatments, including PFAS (which they independently lab test). It’s easy to play the purist card and dismiss anything synthetic (I’ve been there in the past!) but I’ve found that mentality doesn’t serve reality. Life isn’t perfect!
Overall, this synthetic lining is well worth the overall positive and healthy impact they have on my life. The average menstruating woman uses 11,000 pads, tampons and panty liners in her fertile years (!!!!!) which is wild. I haven’t purchased a pad or tampon in years. Financially, it’s great (the underwear lasts years, especially if you get a few pairs to rotate through), and best of all it allows you to honor the natural free flow of your blood without forceful blocks.
The only other menstrual products I use are homemade pads I make from black organic bamboo facecloths (which are processed into a material called Viscose, which I would argue isn’t 100% “natural” albeit made from a natural material originally). Once in a while, I will fold one in half and use it like a pad. Especially on heavier flow days 1 and 2 I find it helpful to have an option for quick swaps. Note: the period underwear doesn’t leak and can totally handle hours and hours of blood, but sometimes, I’ll just wear regular organic underwear (like these organic high-cut briefs) with a homemade pad, and swap out the pad often. I find the combination of having a good amount of period underwear, with a few organic homemade pads / organic underwear, makes for a perfect combo of options depending if I’m just lounging around the house, or out and about.
A few tips for a mindful menstrual cycle
Have enough pairs of period underwear so you don’t stress about washing them in a rush ever I have 6 pairs and that feels like the perfect amount for me to never think about it!
You can rinse out the blood from underwear in between washes if you want, but I usually don’t. I simply do a wash at least every other day on my period and make sure to use cold water (which is better for washing bodily fluids like blood)
Get a leakproof, washable sleeping pad to lay on while you sleep (during your period). Although I’ve never had period underwear leak, there’s something subconsciously soothing about knowing you won’t ever possibly bleed into your mattress. It’s kind of like that bad sleep you inevitably get when you have an early flight. Even though your alarm is set, it’s like the body just won’t fully surrender into a very deep sleep just in case. With this extra layer I can feel my body soften. Plus, they’re cheap!
Gift your blood back to the earth. A powerful way to set intentions/ send your prayers into the earth is to bleed into it. I’ve heard to many incredible stories of women manifesting their dream homes or partners using this tool, by communing with the earth and their blood. When I use my menstrual cup, I always pour the blood into a glass, add filtered water to thin it out, and give this nourishing life force to a tree or plant on the land I live. Sometimes I also do this ritual using the blood from my period undies by simply rinsing them off in a bowl and using that water to give back to the earth :)
Take time off. I get it, we wish our society honored the female cycle more and offered paid days off during our monthly bleeds. The problem is, if you’re not willing or able to honor yourself during this time, how can you expect anyone else (never mind a whole society!) to shift and honor it? We’re in a liminal time where women’s bodies, blood, and mysteries are becoming more valued and respected, and yet we still very much operate in a patriarchal model that ignores the feminine nature of life’s cycles. Take a stand for your values and health by taking day 1 and 2 off from work to rest and bask in your feminine self. It’s life changing.
Cycle caffeine. If you’re the go-go-go type, consider cycling off caffeine during the few days prior to and throughout your monthly bleed. Swap to decaf coffee or herbal teas and really meet your energy levels where they are at. There’s nothing wrong with movement during your cycle, but it’s vital to know if your energy is authentic or not. Pausing caffeine briefly each month can help ensure you’re making sustainable and loving choices for your body.
Stay warm. There’s a traditional Chinese medicine saying that goes 'cold feet, cold womb’ and it highlights the importance of staying extra warm during your bleeding phase of the month (especially days 1-3). When in doubt: wear socks.
Avoid showering days 1 and 2: this may seem counterintuitive, but water (even when hot!) is considered very yin (cooling) to the body in TCM. This is why women aren’t advised to shower during the first most delicate days of the cycle. If you do shower or want to take a warm bath, try to avoid getting the crown of your head wet, which is an especially sensitive energetic spot! After you rinse, make sure to bundle up.
