Lunapads

Believe it or not, we have been working on Happier periods, naturally! the Lunapads guide to natural cycles for girls and teens for close to 3 (count ‘em!) years. It’s been a long journey, but as they say, sometimes good things can take a while.

This beautifully illustrated 28 page booklet (also available as a .pdf download) presents an inspiring, educational and eco-minded look at cycles and periods.  We wrote this booklet to provide young girls and teens with a perspective about periods and cycles that we wish someone had written when we were growing up.  Emphasizing the positive and celebratory aspects of getting your period (without being preachy or getting technical) the booklet features a “do it yourself” Cycle Chart, natural remedies for cramps, a discussion about the environmental impact of disposable products, and tips for using natural menstrual products at school and beyond.  We think this booklet ideal for every girl or teen who is just starting her journey to becoming a woman. 

Receive a FREE copy with every Lunapads Teen Kit purchased – this month only!

Big thank you’s to all the amazing women who helped to make Happier periods, naturally! happen: contributors include past and present Lunapads staffers (and alumni) Sandra, Lisa, Marie-Genevieve and Krisztina, Scarleteen.com creatrix and S.E.X. author Heather Corinna, cunt: a declaration of independence author inga muscio, progressive local GP Dr. Dorle Kneifel, teen sexual health educator and creator of “You Go, Girl!” workshops Saleema Noon, mother-daughter customers Karen and KT Patrick, myvag.net’s Sarah Mundy, uber-supporter and webmistress Emira Mears and last but hardly least, Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Scientific Director of the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), who dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s and contributed a gracious foreward. And in case you were wondering who’s responsible for the gorgeous layout and design, look no further than Tessa and the wonderful team at Fluid Communications. It was wonderful to share this project with so many talented people.  Please write back and tell us what you think!

For all you gals who have switched to resuable menstrual products, Lunapads and the Earth thanks you. As another small token of our thanks, we are offering our new Cycle Chart as a free, earth friendly download to fans who join our facebook group. Joining our facebook group is a convenient way for us to stay in touch with our customers and give you facebook exclusive specials like this one. The free Cycle Chart download offer expires My 31, 2008. �

Woo hoo! The brand-new super-gorgeous and of course highly practical Lunapads Cycle Charts are here! This new product is a fun and creative tool that offers insight into the unique patterns of your menstrual cycle. Whether you’re trying to predict the date of your next period, know when you’re ovulating, or just want to be more in tune with your body, we’re sure that you’ll find it useful and interesting.

The Cycle Chart has 2 parts: the Legend and the Chart. The Legend has four sections of symbols: “your period” for information about your menses and body, “your mood” to track emotions, “your fertility” for information related to fertility, and “your world” to note your external environment.

The Chart is a grid with two circles for each day: one to record the calendar date, and the other for a symbol chosen from the Legend (or make your own!) When used consistently for a few months, the Cycle Chart will reveal patterns that can lead you to a deeper understanding of your cycle…and yourself. Available now as a downloadable .pdf file or we’ll send you one in the mail.

Sorry to be so Vancouver-centric in my posts these days, but there is just a ton of good stuff happening!

On Thursday April 24th the Women’s Health Research Network presents health activist Judy Norsigian speaking about about the global reach of the now classic book on women’s health Our Bodies, Ourselves. The Director of the Institute of Gender and Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), Dr. Joy Johnson, will open the evening with a discussion of the advances in women’s health research in Canada.

This free event is open to anyone with an interest in women’s health. Guests can attend in person or over the internet via live webcast.

Speakers include:

* Judy Norsigian, Executive Director and co-founder of Our Bodies, Ourselves
* Dr. Joy Johnson, Director of the Institute for Gender and Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
* Dr. Lorraine Greaves, Director of the BC Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health
* Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Founder and Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research

Details:
Date: April 24, 2008
Time: 6:30pm-10:00pm
Place: Paetzold Auditorium, Vancouver General Hospital
Cost: Free, but space is limited (live webcast also available)

For tickets, call 778.782.8589 or register online.

The Business of Being Born is showing again this Sunday April 6th in Vancouver! Suzanne, Emira and I went a few weeks ago and loved it. Anyone out there who is having a baby, thinking about it, or who simply cares about those of us in that boat and/or is of a naturista or feminist bent (and who’s not, around here?) will not want to miss out.

The details: The Birth Lounge and Sweet Home Birth are pleased to present a special screening of the Abby Epstien/Ricki Lake documentary, THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN. The screening will be followed by a question and answer period about the issues the film raises with a panel that includes a family practice physician, a registered midwife and a birth doula. All proceeds of the screening will go to SMILE, a non-profit organization that gives prenatal care to young mothers.

In 2001, actress Ricki Lake gave birth to her second child on her own terms, in her home bathtub, and the experience was so unexpectedly empowering and life-changing that she felt every woman should know what they could be missing out on. She approached filmmaker Abby Epstein to collaborate on a film that would examine birth culture in America. THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN is that film.

Peppered with actual footage of women giving birth, Epstein also conducts interviews with a number of obstetricians, experts and advocates about the history, culture and economics of childbirth. The film’s fundamental question: should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potential medical emergency?

As Epstein uncovers some surprising answers, her own pregnancy adds a very personal dimension to THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN, a must-see movie for anyone who is pregnant, or even thinking about having a baby!

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN screens on Sunday, April 6, at 1pm at the Rio Theatre (1660 E Broadway at Commercial). Tickets are $10 each and are available at the door. For more information, please visit thebusinessofbeingborn or thebirthlounge.

Here at Lunapads, we encourage others to blog about us, and reward them (and their readers) for their efforts. Sheri Minelli is a “business doula” and founder of the Birthing Business Institute (which provides tools for birthing professionals to run their business). During her research while submitting a story to Midwifery Today about the value of business blogs, we exchanged phone calls and emails about blogs and various contest ideas.

In addition to reading her blog where she talks about why she loves Lunapads, Sheri is running a creative and festive ‘song contest’ for a chance to win a Lunapads Intro Kit (and details on a coupon code for further savings when you buy Lunapads.) Contest closes January 7th, 2008. Good luck!

The Red Moon contest through Re:Connection Magazine that we mentioned on the blog back in September has found it’s winning poem. A beautiful piece demonstrating that even in pain we can have beautiful moments.

My Blessed Curse

Way back when
when my limbs
were long and thin
the change had finally
come to me.

My mother knew.
I didn’t have to say a word.

How does a mother know?

Way back when,
when my hips
and chest
began to shape
with curves
the pain was so severe
it sent me crying to the floor.

My mother did not judge me
Drama Queen,
but only looked
with sympathetic hazel eyes
then let me know
she would make some tea.

And so my blessed curse came,
came every month,
with nausea, pain and blood.

Still it’s the delicious smells
of cinnamon tea
that I remember most.

Way back when,
when my body young,
curved, thin and firm,
I began to feel
a different way-
a different me-
Yes, my blessed curse had skipped a turn.

And yes, my mother knew.
I didn’t have to say a word.

It must have been the glow.

And there within my ever changing me
grew inside a little mini me,
growing steadily
with my ever growing dreams
of then and now,
the blessed curse,
good moms, good daughters, good lives
and cinnamon tea.

Gloria Campos-Hensley

How does one make sure girls are getting involded in the action sports that have typically been left to the ‘boyz’? You start your own community to get women involved! Enter Bettygohard, the action sports company focused on inspiring women. Created by Natasha Lockey aka Betty, a lover of action sports who was frustrated at never seeing Girls in Action and wanted to see more girls out there pushing their limits and inspiring others to do the same! She wanted to create a safe space where women could play hard and get the suport they needed to get involved.

She started out with a series of women’s weekly shuttle-assisted rides followed with appetizers (wine, cheese & chocolate…the way to a girls heart.) This mountain biking series was created after speaking with a number of women who wanted to get out on their bikes but lacked confidence and riding partners of a similar level. She has been overwhelmed with the positive response for the six week riding series, and is developing other programs to accommodate the demand.

While inspiring women to get outdoors, she also decided to make a point of educating women on how to respect their bodies. She contacted us here at Lunapads to make a donation so we sent along a Mini Pantyliner for each rider in the summer series - they were a hit! Wearing cloth pads while riding a bike is far more comfortable and healthier for you.

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We invite you to enter the latest contest at Pajama Mommy to win a Lunapads Intro Kit. What originally started as a blog, Pajama Mommy is an online community that is “a nice cozy spot on the web for mothers”. Pajama Mommy does book reviews, interviews, tips on blogging, and of course product reviews. When Pajama Mommy featured Lunapads as a product in the Going Green section on their site last month, we were thrilled and rewarded them with an Intro Kit to give away. To see the contest details and enter, visit their site. Good luck!

I have many reasons for praising and choosing to switch from disposable pads to Lunapads! First and foremost is my health. I was HORRIFIED when I learned about the nasty chemicals inside of disposable pads - and the fact that my poor vagina was the most absorbant part of my body. YIKES!!!

My other reason was activity and comfort. I live on a farm in Scotland where I spend a good amount of time wrestling sheep and herding cattle and all manner of physical work. Having my period has always been a problem because the disposable maxi pads are so useless! They roll up and become narrow so everything leaks. They tear apart. And they chafe in places that shouldn’t be chafed! This is not very helpful when you have several miles to walk behind a herd of cattle! Then, trying to sleep at night with a hard plastic-y sticky pad poking me here and there made my period misery from sun up to sun down!

This may sound like a strange reason but I also changed over to Lunapads because of sanitation reasons. I’ll get to that…

My last, but definately not least, reason for choosing Lunapads is the Earth. Disposable maxi pads may be small but a lot of small things add up and become very big! As a farmer I am very aware of the importance of responsible stewardship of the Earth!

I discovered Lunapads on the internet, but at first the price put me off. Then I did a bit of calculating and realized that Lunapads would pay for themselves in several ways! So I bought one pad and liner for a trial run.

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