Sunday, February 8, 2009

The Diva Cup- An Eco-Yogini's Friend!


I was reminded of this post idea by Down2Earth, who commented on my Bamboo post. :) This is actually a bit out of my comfort zone when it comes to sharing via blogger, but I am thinking of this as part of my personal practice of giving.

Moon-time, the rag, that time of the month; however you'd like to phrase it menstruating is a reality for the majority of women between puberty and the wondrous phase of menopause. Whether you choose to view menstruation as a beautiful monthly cleansing or as something to dread, women use a ridiculous amount of ways to contain this monthly flow. An estimated 12 billion disposable sanitary pads and 7 billion tampons are dumped into American landfills each year. Billions??? OMG. 

I first heard of the Diva Cup about four years ago during my grad studies in Montreal. I had a friend who made her own menstral pads (another popular eco-option!) and yet another who used the Diva Cup. I'm the type of person who only thinks to buy Toilet Paper when we actually run out. So the real reason that I decided to give the Diva Cup a try had more to do with my annoyance with constantly having to run out to Shoppers in a panic to buy tampons than for the environment. That and I thought it was ridiculous that I was spending around 15.00$ a month on these things. 

After a few interesting episodes regarding perfecting the "mode d'emploie" (while remembering the "DO NOT PANIC" instruction in the booklet LOL) I marveled at what I had been missing all these years of horrible tampon use! Eco-benefits aside (although 7 BILLION tampons a year is disgusting), the Diva Cup was five hundred times better at being a feminine hygiene product than any tampon ever invented. You can leave it in for 12 hours straight- no matter HOW flowing your cycle can be. Really. You never have to worry about carrying an extra with you discreetly hidden in your purse. Actually, you never have to excuse yourself to the bathroom WITH your purse. And my favourite: you never have to rush out and buy tampons again. Ever. 

As a non-active person, yoga being my only physical activity really, I was surprised with the Yoga benefit. The Diva Cup was by far the most comfortable monthly product I had ever used. I can forget it's there- even while I'm doing shoulderstand or Triangle- you name the pose! No worries about any sort of surprises. 

The Diva Cup comes in two sizes for those yet to experience the beauty of childbirth, and those who have. It's made with silicone which has been tested and FDA approved as safe. Most tampons and pads have chemical additives that are there to improve absorbtion and are bleached... Bleach on my vagina???? hah- right. The Diva Cup is made from medical grade silicone (not what is in breast implants) and does not contain latex, phtalates or BPA.

I am a fan and thought I'd share this with other Eco minded Yogini's out there. Seriously, it has been one of my favourite eco-transitions... 

Namaste!

3 comments:

  1. i've been ruminating over this for a few months and i've decided: starting next cycle i will be switching to the diva cup and re-usable menstrual pads. done!
    thanks lady!*

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  2. For first month i was not so comfortable with diva cup. Was causing irritation. But later on i felt comfortable with it. It is very easy to use, cost-effective and convenient, comfortable, it can be used for 2yrs with regular cleaning, it is also useful for collecting stem cells as menstrual blood is rich in stem cells.

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  3. Dear Ecoyogini,

    Are you aware of the Ayurvedic practices in conflict with your use of the Diva Cup? As a yogini, you may want to check it out. Specifically- apana, and the recommendations against interfering with apana by inserting plastic into your flow, or even doing inverted poses like shoulder stand.

    Good luck!
    Bee- a kindred

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