Mindful Menstruation: Because Period-Care Is The New Self-Care

Mine is the exact pattern of the cracks on the wall of the nurse’s office at my school.

- Kelsey Haywood Lucas

What’s your most unforgettable period memory? Maybe it was the shock you experienced when you unexpectedly got it for the very first time. Or when a tampon got stuck. Or when you wore white pants on the worst day ever to wear white pants.

Mine is the exact pattern of the cracks on the wall of the nurse’s office at my school. It was a place I’d lie for hours, month after month like clockwork, in agonizing pain. I’d stare at the mint green-painted bricks while I curled up into a ball on the cot—gripping my stomach, cursing the day I first became a woman.

When I returned to class and got asked why I was out for so long (again), I should have said, “Oh, I just suffer from a severe menstrual cycle that causes cramping, nausea, dizziness and sharp pains. It’s actually quite common.”

But I didn’t. Because girls weren’t talking about periods like that—and girls *still* really aren’t talking about periods like that. But we’re getting better at it.

For a long time, periods have been taboo—something to be ashamed about. Girls have been taught to keep their flow a big secret (raise your hand if you’ve ever slipped off to the bathroom at school after stashing a tampon up your sleeve... or passed a pad to a friend with all the stealth of a covert spy operation).