Imagine celebrating Christmas with a newborn, a 9 year old, and your 39 year old husband passing away suddenly in your bedroom. On the outside, I looked calm and collected, yet internally, I was numb and actually telling myself to breathe, any thought beyond the inhale/exhale pattern was too overwhelming. Not only was I dealing with the passing of my husband and life with a newborn, my corporate life changed too when a new management team was assigned. As I pulled the broken pieces back together, realization hit, I needed a new start; I’d outgrown the corporate world, it was time to share my love of the products I’d been using, but sales felt gross to me. So, I went back to school, earning three health coaching certifications. In the process, I saw how little we know and talk about the menstrual cycle. We don’t know how it works or how it interacts with every single system in our body. The taboo of menstruation had to stop! Flashbacks of my grandmother giving me the period talk, the absolute hatred of my painful, heavy, nauseating, passing out periods, to the embarrassing nurse’s office trip with bled through dark pants and being handed WHITE sweatpants! I remember the shock and excitement of my first pregnancy, the frustrating 14 months of secondary infertility plus gestational diabetes with my second child, treatment of cervical dysplasia, and my own cycle syncing journey which has allowed me to appreciate and enjoy my period. Imagine embracing your period every single month? I wondered how much of this could have been avoided? I knew I wasn’t alone in these experiences. That’s why I created Vivydus, the Full of Life Company whose vision is to change how menstruation is viewed by society and the mission to provide an educational, holistic, safe space for all individuals to learn and discuss the menstrual cycle from puberty through menopause. Join me on this journey as we learn, break the taboo, and openly discuss how we can authentically and uncompromisingly be full of life. I am your host Heather Allmendinger and this is the Embracing Flow podcast.