Dearest Monthlies, 

Welcome to our 13th issue of The Monthly. In this issue you will learn about the Chinese New Year, what chakras are and how to meditate them into balance, you will be introduced to Romanian artist Timi Pall, find some suggestions to minimize stress, and find out which book we recommend in our new section "Bookish." This issue is all about self-care and we hope you find value in it. We also hope you are all doing well during this very tumultuous time. Please, take care. 

Happy Monthly,
The Red Rebels

Bloody Good Art

"Diary of my Period" by Timi Pall             

Timi Pall is a Romanian painter who used her own menstrual blood to paint a 9-canvass to create an image of an unborn fetus over a series of 9 months. According to the artists, this piece is to articulate that art is born through the menstrual process:

“The focus is not on the blood, but the work has its message because of the menstrual flow. Each month a woman has the chance to became pregnant, but with the menstrual flow the ovum is eliminated, and the chance to have a baby in not relevant at all.

My concept with this elimination of the ovum, through the menstrual blood I gave birth to an artwork duringthese nine month and actually I created a ‘start of the end.’  I feel that this artwork has a mission, even if it’s not able to see, to talk, or to breathe but maybe the audience will see, talk and breath instead of this little creature. When an ‘ovum dies’ an ‘artwork is born.’”

I know that stress can have a negative impact on wellness, but I’m having a really hard time controlling it with everything that has been going on. I like to take a more natural approach to health: I exercise regularly, eat a balanced diet, try to get at least 8 hours of sleep, but I keep experiencing tension, mild anxiety and general feelings of uneasiness. What else can I do to cope? 

Simone J.
Seattle, WA

Simone, 

I am sorry to hear you are experiencing so much distress. It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right but haven’t been able to find complete relief. I did, however, notice there was one very important strategy that is missing from your list: minimizing exposure to stress. Now, I am not advocating you shut yourself off completely, especially if you feel compelled to pay attention and do something.

What I am advocating for, though, is that you begin to implement a self-care routine that allows you to shut everything out for one hour a day. I’ve spoken with a lot of friends and family members lately who are already experiencing political fatigue. We must remember that what we are up against will be for the long haul. This is a marathon, not a sprint. 

Setting aside time to care for yourself is not selfish, it’s imperative. You will be no help to anyone if you exhaust yourself to the point where you just give up altogether. As I mentioned above, take an hour, if you can, each day to focus on things that bring you peace: meditate, read a book, watch something funny, journal, take a walk, make art . . . really anything that takes you mind off of current affairs for the moment.

I know this will be challenging, especially since our world feels like it is moving faster than we can control these days. But I promise you, letting your mind and your soul recover, even for a short time, can help you feel reenergized, more focused, and less stressed. 

...

Have a Monthly related question? Submit your inquiry via email to be featured in a future edition of The Monthly: ask@cycledork.com

Further Reading

Can the Mere Sight of a Menstrual Product Help Normalize Periods? 

When you were young, were you taught how to conceal your tampon or pad when you were on your way to the bathroom? Yeah, me, too. When I was in middle school, I mastered slipping my tampon, in a plastic wrapper covered in flowers no doubt, up my sleeve. The idea of being caught with a tampon or pad was enough to make you want to faint. The first time I learned the word “mortifying” was while . . . 

A First-Timers Guide to Free-Bleeding

In the most recent issue of The Monthly I briefly wrote about my experience with free-bleeding. The idea of free-bleeding was not something I was familiar with as a teen, it wasn’t until I was 30 that I actually tried it out. If you are not familiar, free-bleeding is just what it sounds like: allowing your menstrual blood to flow naturally without trying to capture it . . .

2016 Cycledork Year-in-Review

Over the past year, we have worked hard to offer our readers diverse content. Through collaboration with our amazing writers, we covered as many menstrual-related topics as we could, and look forward to expanding our coverage in 2017. Thank you to the readers who comment and share our work. We have an immense amount of appreciation for those who offer financial support. And a heartfelt . . . 

If you have an idea for a topic you would like us to cover, or you, yourself would like to contribute an article, let us know! 

Bookish

Our Bodies Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective

The first time I flipped through a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves I was in college. I nannied for a family of two physicians and one day its title jumped out to me as I perused the spines of the books on their bookshelves. I pulled the tome off the shelf and flipped through its pages. I picked a random page and began to read about natural childbirth. After a few paragraphs, I paused and was immediately filled with excitement for what I found. I turned to the index and thumbed over topics like abortion, birth control, infertility, pregnancy, STIs, etc. and realized I had found it: the women’s health bible. 

After work, I headed immediately to the local bookstore and picked myself up a copy. I went home and read it cover to cover. Okay, not completely cover to cover, I did skim over some sections but suffice it to say, I devoured the book. When I finished, I couldn’t believe I had gone that long without owning this book. So, for my first recommendation in our Bookish section, I suggest to you the mother-of-all women’s health books: Our Bodies, Ourselves. Buy yourself a copy, and maybe an extra copy or two to give away, and read it. I promise you when you finish, you will wonder how you, too, ever lived without it.

We encourage you to get the most out of your subscription by contributing to The Monthly’s content. Have a question you want to ask? Know an amazing period-positive artist? Want to share a story about your experiences as a menstruating person? We want to hear from you!

Feel free to send us an email, tweet us, tag us on Instagram or message us on Facebook. We look forward to sharing this space with you and building our community together. 

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