FREE BLEEDING

ACTIVISM, TREND OR THE MOST NATURAL MENSTRUAL EXPERIENCE

have you heard of Free Bleeding yet? welcome to a whole new world!

one of the first things you’ll notice when googl’ing Free Bleeding is the amount of information about women running around with their undies in a bloody twist. some of them quite literally.

you have to dig deep, and I mean really deep into the underbelly of the internet to even find Free Bleeding in its actual practice.

I do not preach it as something to flaunt to the world. rather, it is a menstrual practice that one can partake to get more in touch with their wombs, their Yonis, and their menstruation itself.

to me Public Bleeding is not the same as Free Bleeding.

so, if it is empowering for women to bleed publicly, creating a form of activism then it should be fine for them to do. empowerment means to me allowing other women whatever they feel is right for them.

that, however, is not something my message subscribes to.

how you choose to see it, now that’s entirely up to you. read on if you want to learn of my yummie approach to Free Bleeding.

bleeding is a completely natural process that accompanies women for about 40 years of their life. and despite being such a powerful experience for women, there is so much stigma and taboo surrounding menstruation in general. any poor Hollywood creation reveals more blood than a woman is supposed to mention in her lifetime.

women may have been instilled with the belief that our blood is dirty. so how are we expected to go from believing that to Free Bleeding all over the damn place?

now I know you’re thinking, ‘But what about all that laundry?’. well, it’s actually not as messy as it sounds once you get the hang of it.

let me tell you how this works and you’ll be amazed at the wonders of our bodies and how menstruating doesn’t have to be the unpleasant experience we are all familiar with.

it facilitates the creation of a deeper bond and connection with our bodies, particularly our wombs and Yonis. in case you are not familiar with my term for our womb:

Yoni is the Sanskrit meaning for sacred space.
aaaaand Sanskrit?
that is the classical language of South Asia.

Free Bleeding means that you are practicing with your menstruation to the point when you are able to control the release of your blood.

wait what? you think I am crazy.

nope… read on.

Free Bleeding has been around for centuries. it’s not a short-time-trend that came up in modern society. many ancient civilizations and cultures believed that menstrual blood is sacred and holds magical and medicinal properties. cultures and civilizations like the Cherokee, Mayans and Ancient Romans practiced Free Bleeding.

Free Bleeding is the practice of menstruating freely without collecting or blocking the flow of blood. it’s an art of holding in your blood and being able to release whenever you want.

when I first heard about this, I had some thoughts and fears. wired drama scenarios came up upon hearing about this mysterious practice. admittedly I was afraid of making a colossal mess, or showing up in a public place looking as if something died in my pants. I thought the blood would just erupt out of me like a volcano… do you know the feeling? like when you stand up after sitting for a long time, and.. ah nice release and sweet volcanic eruption.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn’t the case. I’m not saying there weren’t challenges and mishaps. oh yes there are, and we will get to them in a second, but it’s not as disastrous or ‘otherworldly’ as some might think.

At the beginning, you would find me conspicuously trying to catch a glance at my ass in the mirror to see if there were red stains, or asking my friends every few minutes if they see something when I turn around, or looking at my seat and expecting to see blood soaking through the cushion seat.

sometimes there were a few drops, sometimes I did question why I’m even doing this. but as with everything, you live and you learn. and you bleed on your favorite pair of undies again and again while you learn. sleeping while free bleeding was also a big concern of mine. I opted to sleep with a Mount Everest of towels underneath.

well… Free Bleeding is actually very simple, but it does take some time to get used to.

when you’re menstruating, you’re not actually bleeding continually. it’s not that an imaginary pipeline is filling your sanitary supplies.

Free Bleeding is all about listening to your body so you know when you need to release your blood. it’s kind of like when you’re little and learn not to wet the bed by listening to your body and being able to tell when you need to pee. and eventually even controlling it to the point where you’ll pee when you decide. taking it to the pro level: being able to direct your urine while peeing – as a woman.

let’s get this out of the way. it will be messy at the beginning, especially as you learn to work ‘with’ your body instead of ‘against’ it. conscious use of your pelvic floor muscles, is key when practicing Free Bleeding. the PC muscles are these muscles that control the flow and release of the blood. the more you practice, you will literally be able to tell and feel when blood is being released.

it’s a specific moment that can be discharged at any given moment with the pelvic floor muscles. all of us can feel when blood is about to come out. at that exact moment, before passing through the uterine neck or cervix, contract your pelvic floor muscles gently to hold in the blood and go wherever you want to in order to release it. learning how to engage your PC muscles is really easy.

from conversations with many women I have been told that they experience less cramps and even less days of bleeding when they Free Bleed. probably it’s kind of like a white flag from your body honoring the fact that you are listening to it and learning to get in touch with it too.

when you learn to let your body do what it naturally does, without blocking or restricting the flow of blood, it can be quite enriching. there are so many practices for a healthy, happy Yoni – Free Bleeding is just one of them.

another important perk is that you save money on the menstrual products when you practice Free Bleeding. in terms of nature, it’s wonderful and incredibly environmentally-friendly, especially now when Mother Earth needs our protection and caretaking more than ever.

we can also give back to Planet Earth by releasing our blood in nature – on the grass, near a tree or a plant. the Earth heals from receiving such potent medicine from women.

most of all, you are connecting with your body on a visceral level by doing a practice like this. you are creating trust, getting in touch with your innate intuition and power, and learning to embrace all that comes with being a Woman.

words can probably not describe: there is just something really powerful about knowing when you are bleeding and when you aren’t.

mishaps can and will happen. it may go sideways at times. as you learn and experience and refine the PC muscles, you’ll be able to control and release at your desire. Free Bleeding is all about you. you decide how you want to go about it, how often you want to do it, and everything else that comes with it.

• to start with, try bringing awareness into your Yoni, while still using a pad or liner if you wish (my favourites are from reusable and washable bamboo).
• you may want to start trying this experience when you are at home. busy working or study days are not really suitable for sensing your womb.
• instead of the heavy bleeding days, you might find more comfort for your debut on your soft bleeding days.
• if a few drops come out, get some cold water and rinse it out. wash it later in the washing machine and all traces will disappear.

the wellbeing of your Yoni is key to your overall health. feel how your womb gets more and more empowered. drop into the experience of enhanced pleasure.

if you have no idea how to sensitise your pelvic floor muscles, how to empower your Yoni and feel your womb even more than ever: the Yoni Egg is a good way for you to start. remember to practice with your Yoni Egg in the phase when you are not bleeding.

equipped with all this precious info Ladies…

screw the gym, it’s time to practice our pelvic floor muscles.

your Pussy will thank you!

bleed freely.
love wholeheartedly.

yours

Violeta Labella