Body autonomy hypocrisy
When I was 38, I learnt something really amazing about the menstrual cycle. Something I hadn’t known all my life, even though, I’d been having periods for decades.
The menstrual cycle is divided into four ‘seasons’ where we have different energy levels, and emotional states. I read a book about how we can best manage our energy and lives, by utilising these different states and working with our bodies, rather than trying to ignore our periods as an inconvenience.
For example during ovulation time our energy is at a high point, so this is a good time for getting things done, and socialising etc. Whereas when we have our periods it’s a good time for rest, reflection, and retreating from the world. Obviously our world is not designed to honour this natural cycle. We are often forced to be on the go 9-5, but it can help to know about it.
So that when we do have choice about when we schedule things we can look at our calendar, and think about having social events when we know we’ll be in the mood, and trying to schedule quiet time for when we have our periods. I found learning this super helpful. It made me realise, for example, something like giving a workshop, why was it sometimes I could feel so upbeat, and that other times, like I was dragging myself when every inch of my body didn’t want to be around people or make the effort.
As someone who doesn’t have high levels of energy I found that I could be more productive the more I honoured my cycle and rested when i could, rather than try to fight it. Every time I scheduled something I would try to keep my cycle in mind. It does help to be self-employed, as then I have a lot of choice, and freedom about when I choose to do things.
It worked, until recently, when my regular 28 day cycle changed. Instead of being like clockwork 28 days, it has shifted towards, 27, 26, 25.
I kept thinking I had the dates wrong in my calendar. I kept thinking it must just be stress or something, even though there was no out of the ordinary stress in my life. But when this is consistently happening month after month. I can’t deny it. Something has changed.
In our mainsteam society, it is unacceptable to acknowledge that vaccine injury happens. It is even more unheard of to acknowledge that having a vaccine effects others around you.I heard of this during the beginning of the roll-out when lots of unvaccinated people were reporting severe menstrual issues simply from being around vaccinated people. I would never dismiss these stories. It’s my experience that when lots of women report the same thing, it’s because it happens.
My issue is minor, although it took me many years to recover my 28 day cycle, in the first place, to heal and look after my body. As someone who had dealt with some physical health issues, and had anxiety about my health, those 28 days were like reassurance, everything is okay and in working order.
Now I feel grief. Here we are in a drought, with the natural weather cycle out of alignment too. I feel pessimistic about how we can look after our health in a world in which we are continually assaulted with toxins, and anti-life ways of being.
When I woke up this morning to a flood of posts about Roe vs. Wade, I couldn’t help but think. Where have you been the last two years? Why are you now choosing to talk about bodily autonomy and ‘freedom to choose’.
My choice, was to keep my house a safe space, that while the world out there would be full of people who chose to take a vaccine, this would not impact my own household. Sadly because of finances, my husband’s freedom to choose was taken away from him as it has been taken away from every person in Italy who did not have a financial safety net, to afford them the freedom to choose.
Do you actually believe in body autonomy? Real 100%? Or do you believe in getting agitated at the issues that your wing of the bird tells you to get agitated about?
I wasn’t planning to write about this issue, but seeing all these posts, I felt such outrage for the victims of the vaccines, and their loved ones. Because their body autonomy didn’t matter.
And for those who have menstrual issues caused by the vaccine, who are further sidelined, because nobody believes.
It’s only when we hear other women’s stories, that we realise, oh yes, me too. It helps us understand our bodies better, when we get together and tell our stories. It helps us share wisdom and solutions. It helps restore our hope.