PMS

Sugar has now become public enemy number one, and salt is vying for second place as well, what with diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure issues becoming the norm rather than rarity.

Bloating, cramps, headaches, body aches, swelling, breast tenderness, mood swings -- is this what we were destined for? To a young girl newly entering puberty I knew nothing better. I entered the era of menstruation without proper initiation or training. I had no wisdom-woman grooming me in the way to consciously awaken into my womanhood. I only had societal conditioning, programming, and a mother who grew up with shame and guilt around bleeding.

For as long as I can remember, my menstrual cycle has been a source of pain, fatigue, and emotionality. While I consider this monthly process of the body to be a sacred one, the disruption that it causes due to the pain and fatigue that I experience during this time is at the point of needing to plan events and trips around my cycle, and sometimes needing to cancel events when it arrives. Needless to say, for the majority of my life, I have overall not ‘enjoyed’ my menstrual cycle, and it is something that I have come to dread and feel powerless to the effects of.

Do you or a woman you know suffer from severe premenstrual pain? Water retention, lower back pain, mood swings, constipation, headaches? PMS can feel challenging because it affects our bodies physically and then it even affects us emotionally. I find when I have PMS, I have to cut back on my workload, make time for yoga and acupressure, and just basically give myself a break.