Free instinctive flow: how to practice it? Methods and tips

Free instinctive flow, also abbreviated FIL, is a solution for retaining blood from periods, by contracting the muscles of the perineum, until the time comes toevacuate it. It's an ecological and economical method that doesn't require the use of sanitary protection and allows you to rediscover the sensations of your body and listen to your menstrual signals.

Initiated across the Atlantic, free flow during periods saw the light of day in 2015, popularized on the Internet and social networks, thanks to bloggers and youtubers who promoted this ecological and natural method. Skepticism about the effectiveness of the method also helped to increase its success, with many women questioning whether it was truly reliable! In fact, the method is much more widely used by American women than European ones, but its democratization is tending to narrow the gap.

You're probably wondering how to get into free instinctive flow in this case! To practice FIL, you first need to understand your flow, listen to your body and s'train: it's not a method that s'acquires in 5 minutes! It's more like working on your body awareness over several cycles to tame menstrual continence.

First and foremost, you need to observe your menstrual discharge by wearing an external protection, i.e. one that allows discharge to flow from periods. Next, it's crucial to identify the following key points:

• The arrival of periods: know when your period will arrive in the next few days and know your premenstrual symptoms and cycle.
• Key times: identify the times of day when blood generally flows, and when it does not, or when it flows very little.
• Quantity: which day of the cycle and which time of day is the greatest volume of blood lost?
• Sensations: being able to feel the sensation of blood flowing into the vagina from the cervix to the labia minora, uterine contractions, bladder pressure, the need to urinate, gravity in the lower abdomen...
• Your daily activities: which activities do or do not promote discharge (sports, bathing, sleeping, carrying heavy loads, sneezing...).

This exercise will enable you to reconnect with your bodily sensations and establish the first reference points for setting up free instinctive flow. In fact, your cycle may not be like clockwork, and the menstrual blood does not s'flow continuously To use FIL effectively, you need to decipher a whole range of factors and signals.

When you first start using free instinctive flow, you'll probably need to go to the toilet regularly to evacuate blood. We therefore recommend that you carry out your first trials in the comfort of your own home! Accidents can happen at first, so it's important to feel comfortable, calm and able to concentrate on your bodily sensations. If this isn't possible, you can always double up at work with an external sanitary protection such as a period pants to avoid leaks and experiment without stress!

At Elia, we also offer an ecru-coloured shorty for practising FIL and quickly checking whether any drops have been accidentally evacuated. As you go along, you'll develop a habit!

In concrete terms, as soon as you feel a liquid draining from the cervix, you'll be able to contract the perineum muscles, which will enable the vagina to tighten: blood loss won't be able to flow to the bottom of your panties! The perineum is made up of a set of muscles that line the bottom of the pelvis, from the pubis to the coccyx, and play a role in continence. Although few women realize it before pregnancy, the perineum can contract and relax voluntarily on command! So it's important to keep it toned!

After holding back your bleeding, you can go to the toilet, or shower, to evacuate it! The aim is to gradually increase the amount of time you are able to hold back, so that you can evacuate it only when you go to the toilet to pee: from about fifteen minutes, you can quickly increase this to several hours, by making your urge to urinate coincide with your relaxation of the perineum muscles !

In fact, it's easy to train yourself to make the stream flow to the toilet, as we're generally conditioned to relax the pelvic floor once we're sitting on the toilet, or even to push! The urine stream usually flows much faster and first: don't be fooled, the blood is more viscous and takes a little longer to flow down the vaginal wall. It's also a good idea to observe the flow visually, to appreciate the quantity. Don't hesitate to stay a little longer on the throne to wait for the last drops to come down.

As you go along, you'll be able to fine-tune your sensations so that you can be more and more efficient in your daytime FIL practice. Once the reflexes have been acquired, it's now possible to train them to last through the night, because that's not so easy! Muscles tend to relax naturally, making menstrual continence more complicated.

There are many advantages to choosing FIL:

• It's economical: you won't have to spend money on menstrual protection every month - free instinctive flow is free!
• It's good for the planet: with no waste and no production, free instinctive flow involves no one but you and leaves no impact on l.
• It puts you back in the driver's seat: you are now fully aware and in control of your bodily sensations, and you can free your sex life from the inconveniences associated with sanitary protection.
• It's good for your body: with no endocrine disruptors, this method of menstrual continence also allows you to strengthen and maintain your perineum, which supports your entire pelvic floor: goodbye to organ descent!
• There are no odours: secretions don't have time to stagnate in your sanitary protection and bacteria s'to develop. They are evacuated after a few hours throughout the day.

There is no known danger to the practice of free instinctive flow. There is no risk of toxic shock syndrome, despite the presence of blood stagnating in the vagina, because the frequency of evacuation is less than 4 hours: after all, we urinate an average of 6 times a day!

On the other hand, there may be some difficulties or disadvantages to practicing FIL :

• After childbirth or a difficult pregnancy: the perineum is less toned and its long-term contraction is compromised. Perineal reeducation is therefore the first step.
• Long-term sports: while an hour or two of sporting activity is perfectly feasible, longer periods without access to a toilet, or sports that are particularly hard on the body, increase the risk of overflow.
• With periods bleeding or a copper coil: this means going to the toilet several times an hour, which can be complicated if you're not at home.
• At night: when you're particularly prone to heavy sleep and muscle relaxation, you generally operate on autopilot and blood may stagnate for several hours in the vagina, depending on your flow.
• Without access to a toilet: if you're on the move or don't have access to a toilet throughout the day, you won't be able to evacuate!
• If you're very tired and/or ill: fatigue causes you to lose concentration and perineal muscle contraction is reduced, as is sneezing or coughing repeatedly, which can lead to involuntary leakage!

In such cases, we recommend that you overtake with a period pants !

It's not impossible, but with periods , menstrual blood loss is much greater, so you need to go to the bathroom much more regularly. It all depends on your ability to go several times an hour and the impact on your day. The risk of involuntary bleeding is therefore much greater.