Redefining 'Normal': Our Menstrual Cycle
If no one ever taught you what a “normal” period is, you might assume that debilitating pain, extreme fatigue, and riding an emotional roller coaster are par for the course. Or that bleeding through a pad every hour or heavy clotting are how your body does periods. And why wouldn’t you assume these things are normal? Modern society reinforces that period suffering is just part of being a woman and the solution is Advil.
It’s time we redefine what’s “normal” and reframe our attitude toward our cycles! Because actually, all the aforementioned symptoms are abnormal. Periods don’t have to bring suffering and abnormalities are signs of an imbalance in the mind-body system.
Ayurveda, the holistic system of healing from ancient India, gives us complete parameters to understand what a normal cycle is and when we should consider a symptom a red flag that needs our attention.
Here’s what a “normal” cycle looks like:
Regular, around the same time each month.
About 28 days in between the first day of each cycle.
About 3-5 days of bleeding.
Painless and without any burning.
An easy flow without sliminess or clots.
A medium flow — not too much or too little.
The blood should be the color of “rabbit blood” meaning a nice red.
The blood shouldn’t stain clothes.
There’s a little room for variation in cycle timing because every body is different. Some body types will tend toward shorter cycles, some a little longer. But anything outside of the other parameters can be considered abnormal.
One thing to note: the period is a sort of report card for the month. If we’ve had a month of high stress, travel, or an illness, it’s very likely to show up in the following period. And it’s to be expected that once in a while, we have these kinds of months. That said, it’s our overall menstruation patterns that we’re looking at here.
So what’s causing abnormalities to happen? According to ayurveda, it’s the body’s internal vital energies, called the doshas, which have deviated from their normal balance and vitiated the menstrual cycle. There may also be a factor of depletion that’s causing scanty or irregular cycles, blockage from cysts or fibroids that’s preventing a fluid flow, or stagnation and accumulation in the system that’s causing fatigue or clotting.
There are over 30 gynecological and menstrual disorders described in ayurveda covering every possible vitiation, down to the strange and less easily-defined symptoms that Western medicine has yet to acknowledge as problematic.
And what, you may be wondering, causes these doshas to go out of balance? Again, there are many factors here, but diet and lifestyle are the first and foremost vitiators of our internal energies. That could be unwholesome food, exercising too much or not enough, poor sleep, or overscheduling. It could be high stress or anxiety.
A skilled Ayurvedic Practitioner can identify the cause, but the takeaway for all is that a wholesome diet and lifestyle and managing our stress are so important for our entire mind-body system, and they have a ripple effect all the way down to our periods.
The beauty of having this knowledge — these clear parameters of what’s “normal” — is that we’ll know when something is abnormal and needs our attention. The sooner we address a symptom, the easier it is to resolve. The longer it stands in the body, becoming chronic, the harder it is to correct, and the deeper the pathology may go. A chronic imbalance can affect our fertility and our experience during menopause.
With this knowledge of “normal,” we become empowered to be our own best healers by giving our body wholesome nourishment, exercise, and rest. When an imbalance has gone deeper and that alone isn’t correcting the problem, we can take the support of a system like ayurveda which recognizes the subtle energies of the mind-body system, and has a myriad of holistic modalities to reestablish balance and wellbeing.
Periods don’t have to be suffering. They’re a gift, actually, a sign that everything in the body is working well.
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Photos: Anthony Tran, Polina Zimmerman, and Thought Catalog.
Words:
Julie Bernier is a registered Ayurvedic Practitioner and Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist with the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) as well as a Certified Massage Therapist. She helps women bring their bodies back into balance, whether they’re struggling with hormonal imbalances, period problems, digestive troubles, skin conditions, anxiety, depression, preparing for or recovering from giving birth, or any other dis-ease.
This holistic approach to individualized wellness is rooted in ayurveda: a holistic system of healing from ancient India. She studied each of these modalities in the US and straight from the source, in India. Julie supports women individually and through online courses including Learn Your Body, where she teaches women how to become their own best healers using ayurveda. Connect with her at trueayurveda.com or on IG at @juliebernier.