Bleeding, Breathing, and Being Enough: A Valentine to Yourself During Your Period

Valentine’s Day usually comes wrapped in roses, heart-shaped boxes, and the quiet pressure to be desirable, productive, and smiling. But some months, Valentine’s Day arrives while you are bleeding. Your lower back aches. Your emotions feel closer to the surface. Your body is busy doing something ancient and intelligent, even if the world around you pretends nothing special is happening. This article is a valentine to that version of you.

The one on her period.

The one who is bleeding, breathing, and still enough.

Menstruation is not a sign of weakness or loss. Medically speaking, it is a precise, hormone-regulated process that reflects a healthy communication between the brain, ovaries, and uterus.

Each menstrual cycle, estrogen stimulates the growth of the uterine lining in preparation for a possible pregnancy. After ovulation, progesterone stabilizes this lining. When pregnancy does not occur, progesterone levels fall. This hormonal withdrawal causes the spiral arteries of the endometrium to constrict, leading to shedding of the lining as menstrual blood.

What you see as “bleeding” is actually:

Your body is not breaking down. It is resetting.

During your period, prostaglandins are released to help the uterus contract and expel the lining. These same chemicals can also cause:

At the same time, estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest levels in the cycle. This hormonal dip can affect neurotransmitters like serotonin, which explains why many women feel emotionally sensitive, introspective, or low during menstruation.

This is not “being dramatic.”

This is neurohormonal reality.

Periods often bring emotions to the surface not because you are weak, but because your body is temporarily less buffered by hormones that usually stabilize mood.

You may feel:

There is medical sense in this. Reduced estrogen affects emotional regulation and stress tolerance. Your nervous system is simply more exposed.

Slower breathing, gentle stretching, warmth, and rest are not indulgences during this phase. They are physiological support.

Breathing deeply is not about fixing yourself.

It is about meeting your body where it is.

Modern culture celebrates peak performance, glowing skin, high energy, and emotional availability, things that often feel hardest during menstruation. But your worth does not fluctuate with your hormone levels.

From a biological perspective, menstruation is evidence that:

From a human perspective, it is okay if you do not feel lovable, attractive, or productive today.

You do not need to earn rest.

You do not need to apologise for slowing down.

You do not need to romanticise pain to be respected.

This Valentine’s Day, instead of asking what you can give, ask what your body is asking for.

Maybe it is:

Loving yourself during your period does not mean pretending it is beautiful or empowering. It means acknowledging that your body is doing necessary work and choosing not to fight it.

Bleeding does not make you fragile. Breathing through discomfort does not make you weak.

Resting does not make you unworthy. This Valentine’s Day, if all you do is survive your period with a little more kindness than last month, that is enough.

You are already enough. Even now.