Apr 18, 2016
For most modern women today, no matter if you're from the east
or the west, menses is weird. We aren't passed down women's wisdom
on what it's all about. We're often caught missed 20+ years of good
women wisdom schooling by the time we're in our 30s. We wonder what
our puberty and early adulthood might have been like if we'd had a
clue.
Meet Sinu Joseph. She's been busy advancing the conversation in
villages around India about the ancient customs from Ayurveda and
Yoga around menses. She is clarifying the roots of women's
empowerment, not to mention human empowerment, based in these
traditions.
As you listen, notice what if different from what we're talking
about to what you're menarche - menopause experience has been like.
Cooperate? Disconnected? Antagonistic? Are you perplexed by the
seemingly restrictive recommendations around periods in yoga and
ayurveda?
In this episode Sinu Joseph reconnects us with how and why
menstrual cycles must become a positive experience in our lives.
She debunks and demystifies patriarchal overlays on matriarchal
rituals for women’s moon cycles. But she doesn’t stop there.
Sinu explains the Western and Eastern science behind this monthly
process that will awaken your desire to tap into the power of
your cycle, and the cycles of womankind.
What we talk
about in this episode:
- History of how perceptions of menstruation changed in
India
- How menstrual rituals can benefit women day to day
- How menstrual cycles can support a free monthly detox
What you
will learn:
- Just how powerful is the menstrual blood itself? Recent
research finds that our menses is valuable stuff!
- What do antibodies and the immune system have to do with
menstruation
- What is going on with our doshas (vata, pitta and kapha) during
moon cycles
- What is apana vayu and what does it have to do with
menstruation?
- The ayurvedic understanding and recent Western medicine’s
discovery on the best times to conceive or not to
conceive!
Quotes from this episode:
“Menstruation is a primary reason why women live longer than
men”- Sinu Joseph
“Even if we are not directly parenting someone, [in] the way
that we are holding views, we are either perpetuating old, outdated
thinking or we are perpetuating more forward, progressive thinking.
The way we are thinking impacts other people”. - Cate Stillman
Extra resources in this episode:
- Paleo
Coconut Egg Curry recipe from Dr. Akil
- Cate's Yoga for Menstruation tips
Links from Today’s Show:
About Sinu
Joseph
Sinu Joseph is an educator, a writer, a counselor, and when
needed, an activist! She is an Engineer by qualification and has
worked on various issues in the social space over the last 6 years.
She has traveled extensively across rural India interacting with
more than 17000 adolescent girls and women to really understand the
practices and problems first hand. She believes in action learning
and makes sure that our work in always grounded in reality. She is
the Managing Trustee at Mythri Speaks.