Lara Briden: “The Period Revolutionary”

At The Cova Project, we know that women are inherently strong and powerful, with the charity’s CEO and founder G. D Anderson famously stating “feminism isn’t about making women stronger, women are already strong, it’s about changing the way the world perceives that strength”.

However, we also know that women around the world often struggle with their periods being a source of shame and secrecy. Part of this comes from women and menstruation being unrepresented in the media.

 While contemplating this dilemma, I thought to myself “What is more powerful than empowering intrinsically strong women with information about their periods and helping to break down menstrual taboos?!”

Which is why for Day 6 of #PowerfulWomenWeek we wanted to tap into positive representation of periods with naturopathic doctor, bestselling author and period revolutionary Lara Briden. With more than two decades of work and activism, Lara empowers women with information about natural treatments for periods and tackles the taboo topic of menstruation in her book Period Repair Manual.

I had the extreme pleasure of speaking with Lara about her book and inspiring work in women’s health activism!

Kasey Syverson: Could you tell me a little bit about your work and what it means to be the “period revolutionary”?

Lara Briden: One of my missions is to help women everywhere have easy, symptomless periods because I believe that it’s possible. I believe that’s our birthright actually—to have periods that do not interfere with our lives.

It is not just that periods should be symptomless; it's also that we should recognize the value of periods, of menstrual cycles, as the way that women make hormones. We can therefore stop seeing periods and women’s hormones as a liability and instead see it as an important part of our general health.

KS: What inspired you to do this work?

LB: It all comes out of my work with patients over the last two or three decades. Just seeing over and over again how it is possible to have symptomless periods—even for women who think that it’s not a possibility. Even if they view their period as very problematic, there is usually a way through that and a way to have an easier time with periods.

KS: How was your book Period Repair Manual received given it is on a topic not often represented in mainstream society?

LB: My book was released in 2015 which ended up being “The Year of the Period”. That year was a watershed moment for periods in lots of ways. Not because of my book, but fortunately my book got to be a part of that change.

In 2014 when I was planning the release of the book, I did have some people question the wisdom of putting the word “period” on the book cover as part of the title because, at that stage, it was still a taboo word.

Fortunately, I stuck with the word “period”, I decided that it needed to be there, and then that year we ended up hearing the word “period” everywhere.

I think from that perspective, the book had a positive response.

KS: What do you find to be the most fulfilling aspect of being an activist for women’s health and menstruation?

LB: Connecting with women all over the world and hearing their excitement when they start to see their bodies in a different way. When they start to feel good about their bodies and trust their bodies. It is very rewarding.

Some of what I have been speaking to you about today has had quite a far reach. I feel it has penetrated quite a lot of thinking in different circles in women’s health. That has been really gratifying. If I can be part of that nudging change in women’s health then I will be very happy about that.

KS: Lastly, what would you say is the best thing someone can do to have a happy, healthy period?

LB: In my book, I talk about the fact that a period is your monthly report card. Whatever is going on with your general health is going to show up in your period. It is like a window into your health.

If something is not right with your period, then you need to be alerted to what is going on and that there is a problem.

Being fully nourished is one aspect to having a healthy period, it covers a lot of bases. Not just calories but nutrition. Being fully nourished and healthy in general can help to promote a healthy period.

Thank you, Dr. Lara Briden!

You can buy her book, Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatments for Better Hormones and Better Periods here.

You can read  more on her blog and by following her on Instagram and Twitter.