In celebration of this day of all things women, I wanted to share a Rasa policy we recently rolled out to the bleeders on our team (side note: we lovingly acknowledge that not all who bleed are women, and not all women bleed. 💛)
Heh, yep, we're gonna talk about menstruation. We feel that the normalization of periods is an important thing, and if it's not what you want to read right now, please do cruise on by. 🙂
Having a period is not always a fun thing—hello PMS, cramps, mood swings, exhaustion, and all that can come with it. And, periods can also be wonderful experiences of our cyclical nature and the way we are impacted by the moon and the tides when we bleed.
In the Kashmiri Shaivite tradition I studied in, the first day of your period was considered a sacred day for rest and basking in the divine emanation of creative possibility that you are. Even yoga practice was supposed to be very very gentle & very very slow—if at all.
My hypothesis is that part of what can make periods insufferable is the implicit cultural imperative to push forward when our bodies are sincerely asking us to chill the eff out.
Rasa exists between the worlds of do-do-do, go-go-go (create something in the world! Make big waves!) and be, be, be....ahhhhh. We're a both/and company, and we embrace the delicious complexity of being human in a system that is designed for profit over humanness.
In an ideal world, I’d give everyone the first (or hardest) day of their Moon Shark Week off. However, #capitalism, #startuplife & stuff. The financial reality of offering an extra 12 days off a year to everyone who bleeds on our team is, well...nope. At least not yet!
What we do offer, however, is full, wholehearted permission to downshift during the first (or hardest) day of one's period—whether that means rescheduling calls, taking more time for rest & Rasa Moments (10-15 min of chill time while your Rasa brews), focusing on more inward work to the extent possible, and any other method our people creatively come up with that supports them tuning into their majestic natural energy flows.
We have also just started offering free Chica Chocolate to our Rasa Bleeders on our team. Chica is a blend of Chinese herbs designed to support optimal Flow, created by a former beloved employee of Rasa, Momo (AKA Elise). Chica is also a woman-owned business, and damed good one too. These little treats have been tremendously helpful for me in terms of making my periods less sharky & more moony.
I used to feel like I basically "lost a day" every month thanks to Aunt Flo, and after taking Chica consistently for a few months (yes, these things take time, young grasshopper 🦗), I actually was enjoying the experience of having a period. 🤯🤯🤯
Let's just say that it works so well that if I'm cranky pre-period, my husband will ask, "Did you forget to eat your Chica?"
We wanted to share that goodness with you & partnered with Chica to offer you 10% off your first order*. Just enter RASACHICA with your order from Chica chocolates and BAM watch the magic unfold over the next few months.
*Discount does not apply to subscription orders.