This 30-year-old yoga instructor is normalizing period blood in the most unique way possible

After years of deliberation, she decided on challenging the stereotype in her own unique way. Photo courtesy: Instagram/ casa_colibri

Social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter are not very keen on letting their users post videos and pictures that have remotely anything do with period blood.

But, 30-year-old yoga instructor Stephanie Gongora doesn't give two hoots about it. The lady took to Instagram to post a video, where she can be seen performing some very strenuous yoga asanas.

However, what sets this video apart is the fact that Gongora is menstruating while doing her routine. And it's quite evident as you can see blood stains on her white yoga pants.

Menstruation, though an absolutely normal biological phenomenon, is a topic that is still hushed up in most societies. And we are not talking only about the regressive ones.

Also read: Bad blood, leaking water, impure. That's periods for Indian men Being spotted with period blood makes women feel ashamed and men uncomfortable. And that's exactly what happened with Gongora while growing up.

 

I am a woman, therefore, I bleed. . It's messy, it's painful, it's terrible, & it's beautiful. . And yet, you wouldn't know. Because I hide it. . I bury things at the bottom of the trash. I breathe, ragged and awkward through the cramps, all the while holding onto this tight lipped, painted on smile. . Tampons? What are those. We don't say those words out loud. Hide them. In the back pocket of your purse, in the corner of the bathroom drawer, at the very bottom of your shopping cart (please let me get a female cashier). . Events or engagements get missed. I'll tell myself it's the PMS, sure, but it has more to with the risk of being "caught," at what...I'm not quite sure. . And I'm lucky. . Over 100 million young women around the globe miss school or work for lack of adequate menstrual supplies, & fear of what might happen if the world witnesses A NATURAL BODILY FUNCTION. . WHY? . Because hundreds of years of culture have made us embarrassed to bleed. Have left us feeling dirty and ashamed. . STOP PRETENDING. Stop using silly pet names like Aunt Flo because you're too afraid to say "I'm bleeding" or "vagina." Stop wasting so much effort hiding the very thing that gives this species continuity. . START talking about it. Educate your daughters. Make them understand that it can be both an inconvenience and a gift, but NEVER something to be ashamed about. Educate your sons so they don't recoil from the word tampon. So when a girl bleeds through her khaki shorts in third period (pun intended), they don't perpetuate the cycle of shame and intolerance. . This #StartSomethingSunday , I want to highlight @corawomen . . Cora Women is a 100% Organic tampon company. . But that's not all. They are also breaking barriers. Making it ok to talk about periods, even on social media. Providing personalized, delivered tampon/pad orders right to your door. AND for every box purchased, donating a box of sustainable pads to girls who can't afford menstruation products. . Fuck yeah. That's the kind of stuff I can galvanize behind, no money or even product needed. Just a mission I support on a topic we should ALL be talking about. . More ??

A video posted by Steph Gongora (@casa_colibri) on Feb 5, 2017 at 11:06am PST

"Back in high school, if a spot of blood made it past my arsenal and onto my pants, I would tie a giant sweatshirt around my waist and spend the rest of the day exquisitely stressed out about someone seeing it and finding out the truth: That I bleed, and sometimes, I leak," she wrote in her post.

"When I started getting into yoga about four years ago, I faced even more pressure to hide my period," Gongora further wrote.

After years of deliberation, she decided on challenging the stereotype in her own unique way and ended up posting the video. Needless to say, it is already breaking the Internet. "Since posting, I've received hundreds, if not thousands of direct messages with period stories, and leak stories, thanks you's, and people admitting that they were shocked and disgusted by my post - but only until they began to consider why they felt that way. Their disgust then turned to anger towards the system and society that has evolved to make women feel dirty," she said in an interview to Cosmopoliton.

Gongora's intentions are to normalize period blood--a step we indeed applaud.

Also read: Period stigma is killing women in Nepal