Woman and the Pain Body

Chapter 2~ Menstruation.


Menstruation occurs in each generation at a younger age. I know for me personally, I had my period at 11 years, 4 months. It wasn’t so bad. Fortunately, my mother was a bit hippy-ish, so I wasn’t surprised and knew what to expect. I did not expect however, to become a woman at 11. My mom was taken aback as well. Bless her, as she treated my transition as a rite of passage instead of something to be ashamed of.
Not every teenager is so lucky. Even today, many prepubescent teens do not have enough information about what changes are happening in their maturing bodies. Sometimes just watching their mothers, older sisters, aunts and family friends going through their monthly cycles is enough to strike fear in a young girl.

From this point on, I will use the term ”moon-time” to express menstrual cycle, period, monthlies or any other word that can be used to convey this magical time of the month.
In Meso-America, the natives referred to a woman’s cycle as a moon-time because it followed the cycles of the moon. It was also common to have your moon-time at around the same time as other women in your tribe. There was a special hut near the edge of the village where all the ladies in their magical moon-times were forbidden to touch food, work, or watch their children. The Grandmothers of the tribe brought them food and water and watched the tribe’s children while the mothers rested. A woman during her moon-time was honored. Her body is weaker during this time, and needed more nourishment and rest. It was in no way banishment, but an honor. The daughters that were old enough to understand came in and brushed their mother’s hair. It was a time to look forward to each month.

This is a far cry from the moon-time the average woman experiences today. There is no break at all and her workload is probably more hectic as she is lacking in iron and feeling tired. Modern woman pops pills, from Advil to Prozac, depending on the urgency of her moon-time crisis. Perhaps her self hate and loathing leads her to believe that her life is horrible and she becomes incredibly depressed, or suffers from severe migraines at some point in her cycle.

The allopathic term for this is Pre-menstrual Syndrome. There is nothing pre or menstrual about it! And it’s most definitely not a syndrome. Women become slaves to their moon-time. And it’s not just at moon-time. Some really suffer the whole month through! This is not PMS. This is the Woman’s Pain Body in action. The more severe her suppression of femininity, the more the pain body takes over. If this resonates with you, hold the thought that you are able to heal your own pain-body. Know that this is not some horrid, incurable disease. You will not remain trapped in the pain-body much longer.

If a woman is angry with her husband because he is cold and ignores her, and does not deal with the situation, it comes out through the pain body. These suppressed emotions and lifelong issues of her own begin to compound, and every month the woman notices her cramps and other “symptoms” get worse and worse. Often depression-like symptoms ensue because the woman is repressing rage, anger, sadness, and powerlessness. Allopathic remedies include prescription anti-depressants. But be warned, the symptoms may have gone away, but the cause is still present. The cause will manifest itself later on as a form of cancer, fibromyalgia or lupus.

I am going to take a small liberty and rename Premenstrual Syndrome. From this point forward, I call this Painful Moon-time Sadness. This is more the truth of it. We may be sad for a myriad of reasons, and since we are so covered up it comes out during what is really a magical healing time of renewal. Your body is literally trying to rid itself of the pain-body at each moon-time. The more it is pushed away, the stronger the Sadness becomes. At your next moon-time, I ask you to hold the intention that this is a time for you to rejoice in your blessed body. Imagine with the release of the flow, comes release of all toxic and negative emotions as well.

The moon, the sun, and earth all renew themselves regularly. We are a part of this same cycle and we need to discharge the gunk for the last 28 days that have been accumulating in our bodies. That is all our body is doing each month. It’s just a little housecleaning. There is no need for sadness. Your body is not betraying you, nor is it faulty. It keeps it clean so that when you are ready, you can bring healthy children into this world. And when you are done with that, your body continues to have moon-times to keep you young, vibrant and healthy. We can live longer, stronger and younger lives just by keeping our moon-times in balance.

It is important to for us to recharge. We need sleep every night, fresh water and nourishing food to sustain our lives. Part of this recharge occurs inside of us when we have our moon-time. Every moon-time we have, we recharge our uteruses, and also the Earth. It is a mini-healing each month and part of that is giving back to the planet.

There are many ancient rituals based on Moon-time blood. It is said to be very powerful, and a tonic of youth. Some cultures even drank this blood to replenish what is being lost in the body. I am not saying you should drink your moon-time blood, but DO take the time to notice its scent, texture and flow. If it is dry and sticky, drink more water, and eat less sugar. If it clots heavily, cut out caffeine, chocolate and salt. If it is normal, you are doing a good job. Your body is regularly getting the nourishment it needs to. I have even found references where women used this special flow to fertilize their herbs. If you feel comfortable doing so, go ahead and try it.
Here are a few interesting rituals. You may want to try them out or just read to have a deeper understanding of just how magical this time really is for us.


A very simple ritual to do here is to simply bless yourself each time you change your hygiene product. Honor that this is part of you. I will suggest that you use only 100% natural cotton products. I have not yet tried them myself, but in my research I found a product called Luna pads. They are 100% cotton and reusable. Certain name brands that we are familiar with are made from bleached rayon and this creates dioxin, which is a highly toxic chemical. This is the main cause for Toxic Shock Syndrome. It is also possible that it causes cervical cancer.
Another simple ritual is to change your pad! Try one of the cotton brands that are available. In my own experiences, I used less product and my moon-time went from 7 days to 3.5 days. My cramping was also much less noticeable.

Create a Moon Day! Spend the heaviest day of your moon-time doing as little as possible to recreate the Moon-time Lodge that Natives used. Find a Moon Day buddy to cover each other’s shift, help with housework, watch the kids, etc. Do things that make you feel good like read a good book, take a bath, nap or get a massage. My favorite thing to do is get a pedicure. It is an excellent time to do creative projects. You can paint, journal, dance, make jewelry, garden or whatever outlet of creativity works best for you! If you have a pre-teen daughter, tell her about your Moon Day, and how special it is to be a woman. Include her in one of your activities. When she has moon-times, include her in the Lodge. I would rub my mom’s feet at her moon-time. When I had my own moon-time, we would lie in bed and rub each other’s feet. That’s why I like to get a pedicure!

If you have a daughter who has recently started her moon-time, honor her with gifts of chocolate, her own Luna pads, a piece of jewelry, or make a ritual out of it with something adult with a body piercing. I got a navel ring when I turned 22. It signified to me that I was a young adult. The navel coincides with the Sacral Chakra, and it is the base for women’s sexuality, sex organs and creativity. You and your daughter could get your piercing together!

The SACRAL CHAKRA connects us to pleasure, appetite--our appetite for sexuality and our appetite for life--and emotional empathy. Located in the lower belly midway between the navel and the genitals, the sacral chakra is sometimes called "the seat of life." The Sanskrit name for it is Svadhisthana, which means "sweetness."Try this simple, very comforting exercise to help you feel more balanced and fully connected to your Sacral Chakra:1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and knees relaxed. Close your eyes.2. Bring your hands to your lower belly. Begin to shift your weight from foot to foot, making a gentle, comforting rocking motion. As you rock from side to side, begin making small gentle circles with both hands on your lower belly.3. Continue doing this as long as you need to. Then open your eyes.