In particular cultures around the world we can see the extremes of these ‘attitudes’, with strict tribal or local community rules that no one, men in particular, engage with a woman while she is menstruating because she is regarded as being unclean, likely to indulge in ‘dodgy’ witchcraft and in essence ‘cursed’ at her time of bleed.

The very fact that women all over the developing and developed world complain and shun their monthly periods, ingrained with the underlying seeds of entrenched attitudes or beliefs, demonstrates just how far we have removed ourselves from something that is a completely natural and fundamental element of being a woman.

We have created a situation where a woman’s menstrual cycle is to be seen as something 'dirty' or 'unclean'; that periods are unfortunate frustrating bothers and inconveniences to busy lives ... all of which conveys and cements the great mistruth we live by: that being a woman is also an 'unfortunate inconvenience', and hence have we not sadly forgotten, discounted or completely missed ever knowing of the beauty and wonder that we naturally hold as women?

What if, instead of being a dreaded inconvenience, we could regard our periods as something to look forward to and be enjoyed? ... What if we saw this time of the month as our opportunity to stop, slow down a bit, and take stock of how we’re actually feeling and living on a daily basis?

Most of us have busy and packed-full lives, usually with a million and one things ‘to do’, ‘sort out’, ‘fix’ or ‘take care of'. But could it be that when we have our monthly period, and feel more tired, fragile or delicate, it’s our body’s way of ‘messaging us’ to perhaps slow down a bit; to not rush or take on so much? A time every month that our body may be calling for us to go about our lives at a pace that is more harmonious and balanced, with more care and nurturing for ourselves. But how often does the repetitive thought interject that if we did stop or slow down, then our lives will collapse and fall apart?!

With society championing ‘doing’ and the efficient multi-tasking ‘superwoman’, so easily do we succumb to this thought, placing enormous pressure on our bodies. So the issue is, do we keep doing, keep going, accepting society’s box ticking pace, or press pause on this, reflect, and choose a rhythm that’s naturally right for our own body?

Our bodies register how we are living or pushing through life and so painful periods or PMT is its way of communicating that what we are doing is actually hurting us. If this is true, then could it also be considered that the common period symptom of sadness or ‘feeling blue’ is reflecting deep down inside that we are missing the presence of natural ease or harmony within us?

If we make the choice to deny how we feel, soldier on and curse this time of the month, chances are that our periods will continue to be something we dread because they’ll keep giving us the same message through pain and discomfort, and possibly further health complications.

Learning to pay attention, listening to and respecting the language of our bodies such as pain or PMT, supports us in accepting the beauty and truth they hold such that our periods can become precious checkpoints that we have as women every month. This is amazing.