CAN YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU HAD YOUR PERIOD? – Thrive Natural Health
Racheal Lee
I was 14 years old.
I was playing at the park after school and my younger sister pointed down at me and shouted: “Look Racheal, you’re bleeding!”. All the kids that lived on my entire street, turned to look at the bloodstain I had on my pants.
I ran home confused, upset and I felt ashamed.
When I got home my mum looked surprised and said with a smile, “Rach this is your first period, this means that you will bleed every month now”. I had no idea what was happening and I remember thinking, “Oh my god, everyone is going to know and so will Dad”.
After that day, my menstrual cycle was never regular, so my period kept popping up in the most embarrassing places. Like when I was laying on the beach in my bikini when I was at my friend’s birthday pool party and in the middle of the night when I was sleeping! Not only did my period come unexpectedly, it also came with really unpleasant symptoms like, making me irritable and rebellious, making my boobs hurt, making me crave big bowls of pasta and massive pimples on my nose.
It was no wonder at the age of 15 I decided to go on the pill. After all, my doctor said it will cure all the problems I was having and most of all, I could control when my period decides to show up.
Looking back at my younger self, I really loathed having my period. It made me feel dirty, it made me feel ashamed and I found it really irritating that it came every month or so. My mother never really sat me down and explained what was happening in my body. This made me think of the topic as taboo, and not to be spoken about, which is pretty crazy because women have had their period since the beginning of time.
Now that I am older, I have realised, how scared I was. I wish I had someone there to tell me that I was going to go through something completely normal and natural, that I’m not the only person going through this and that everything is going to be ok. I wish someone had told me that my period is something I should not be ashamed or embarrassed about. In fact, we should speak about our periods and we should embrace this natural gift.
My advice for those who had a similar experience is to clear the negative memories and thoughts about your period. What I’ve done is written a letter to my younger self, my 14-year-old self. In this letter, I’ve given younger me the advice I needed to hear, that my body was going through incredible growth and that I should embrace this transition. So here is my letter to myself, the girl that ran home, this letter is for you.
For more visit: https://www.thrivenaturalhealth.com.au