Women’s Health Series: Are You Ashamed of having Menses?

I was clearly surprised when I know of some women who told me that they find that having menstruation is

unclean, troublesome and unnecessary, hence they are willing to take all measures to prevent their

menstruation from happening monthly. Such measures can include taking hormone pills, putting in the

coil or IUD or even just starve themselves so that their bodies can weaken to a state that menstruation is

ceased. Extreme, isn’t it? Women these days clearly have attached shame to menstruation and how it has

affected their lives in terms of convenience and even to the extent of their societal roles. This is clearly an

imbalanced and wrong view towards how the women body is being viewed and treated in modernity.

The menstrual cycle and the female body were seen as sacred until 5000 years ago, when the peaceful

matrilineal cultures of Old Europe were overturned. The original meaning of the word ‘taboo’ was “sacred”

and women having their menses were considered sacred.

Yet throughout much of written Western history, and even in some religious codes, the menstruation

process is associated with shame and dirtiness, with the taboo associated with the menstruation

continuing to this day.

So why is the menstrual cycle sacred?

Because the menstrual cycle encodes the wisdom of nature in cyclical and rhythmic correspondence. The

menstrual cycle governs the flow of not only the fluids but also of information and creativity of a women. At

different stages of the cycle, the women’s intuition and how information and creativity are being processed

are very different as well. That is why some native cultures still honour and keep a menstruating woman

from mundane duties as she is at the height of her spiritual power at this time.

In simple scientific concept, menstruation is a form of detox exclusive to women. By preventing this

process from happening, how much toxins (physical and emotional) are retained inside the women’s

bodies? No wonder hormonal imbalance is deemed the archetype for women in today’s society.

Therefore it is necessary to have menstruation to happen and also to be smooth and painless.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a woman’s body is focused on discharging menstrual blood, and if

this process is healthy, she will have a smooth, painless and unimpeded flow without painful cramps,

mood swings, fatigue, acne or other discomforts. One key factor that will impede the blood flow is

coldness. Hence one of the most commonly heard advice that is always given to ladies is to avoid cold

foods and drinks.

And of course there are many other tips and methods that TCM and other ancient cultures use to take care

of women during this sacred menstruation process.

Further reading: