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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“Even if we are not directly parenting someone, [in] the way that we are holding views, we are either perpetuating old, outdated thinking or we are perpetuating more forward, progressive thinking.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.