About Minding Menstruation

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Greetings, I'm Erin Stauffer, the founder of Minding Menstruation. My journey with menstrual health began long before I ever understood the importance of the menstrual cycle. As a young athlete, I lost my period for a year during intense training and endured prolonged recoveries from injuries. I finally heard the urgent message my menstrual cycle absence was trying to tell me - I didn’t have enough biological energy to sustain my health. Through that experience, I gained an understanding of how deeply the menstrual cycle is tied to overall well-being. 

During my undergraduate coursework in Adventure Education and Gender Studies, I saw a gap—people were talking about safety, nutrition, and endurance, but not about the menstrual cycle as a key part of health and performance. This inspired me to dive deeper into the world of menstrual health and awareness. My current training as a Women’s Hormone Health Specialist highlights the connection between menstrual health and nutrition, sleep, movement, genetics, and bio-individuality. 

I care about this work because menstrual health is health. 

The menstrual cycle is a “fifth vital sign” (Dr. Kristi Funk, 2017), a rhythm that affects every system of the body—cardiovascular, skeletal, metabolic, and mental. When we integrate the menstrual cycle to our perspectives on` health, we not only support individual wellbeing but also create more inclusive, supportive and healthy communities.