nate
the ovum, the womb-lining rejects the egg as chemically unfit. All the
furbishings are loosened from the walls and slowly cast out,
constituting the menstrual flow. The phenomenon as a whole is a
physiological function and should be accompanied by a sense of
well-being and comfort as is the exercise of any other function, such
as digestion or muscular activity. Only too often, however, it is
dreaded as an unmitigated disaster, a time for giving up work or fun
and going to bed with a hot-water bottle until "the worst is over."
Let us see how this perversion comes about.

=Why Menstruation Is Painful.= What sort of atmosphere is created for
the young girl as she attains puberty? Most girls get their first
inkling of the menstrual period from the periodic "sick spells" of
mother or sister. This knowledge comes without conscious thought and
is a direct observation of the subconscious mind, which records
impressions with the accuracy and completeness of a photographic
plate. Hearing the talk about a "sick-time" and observing the signs of
"cramps" among older friends, the young girl's subconscious mind plays
up to the suggestion and recoils with fear from the newly experienced
sensations in the maturing organs of reproduction.

This recoil of fear interferes with the circulation in the functioning
organs, just as fear blanches the face or hinders digestion. There is
several times as much blood in the stomach when it is full of food as
there is between meals, but we do not for this reason fancy that we
have a pain after each meal. There is more blood in the generative
organs during their functioning, but this means pain only when fear
ties up the circulation and causes undue congestion. Fear acts further
on the sturdy muscle of the womb, tying it up into just such knots as
we feel in the esophagus when we say that we have a lump in the
throat. It is safe to say that ninety-five cases of painful
menstruation out of every hundred are caused by fear and by the
expectation of pain. The cysts and tumors responsible for pain are so
rare as to be fairly negligible, when compared with these other
causes.

Dr. Clelia Duel Mosher of Stanford University has for many years
carried on careful investigations among the students of the
university. After describing in detail certain physical exercises
which she has found of value, she continues:

But more important even than this is an alteration of the morbid
attitude of