Testimonials All about periods and its cycle February 8, 2021

Can I wear a tampon during sport?

By Léna Ménard

Why don't I wear a tampon?

Lorna is 24 years old, works as a press agent for a publishing house and has been practicing Ju-Jitsu in her spare time for the past 6 years. Ju-jistu is a Japanese martial art that combines fighting techniques developed by samurai over 300 years ago. Lorna hates tampons and has never been able to wear one?

But Lorna is also one of our customers, and not only! She was selected from among others to be an Elia lingerie model for a photo shoot. Indeed, at Elia lingerie, we've always been keen to feature our own customers in our shoots. With the idea that THEY were the best representatives of the brand and its values. We felt it was our duty to showcase every body type, every morphology, every singular career path and every magnificent woman.

So today, Lorna takes a look back at her journey as a woman, and what Elia lingerie has changed for her. Elia lingerie menstrual panties. But she also gives us her little life lesson.

How would you define your periods ?

"My periods I live them rather well because I have a small cycle, a small flow. Despite everything, I practice Ju-jitsu, so it's a sport that's done in a white kimono.

It's always an added stress to have to practice with your periods because you don't really have the right to make mistakes when you're wearing a white kimono, and the stain will be immediately noticeable.

It's a combat sport, you move around a lot, so there's always that moment when you think "ah dear, maybe my pad has moved" or "maybe my tampon isn't as absorbent as it used to be".

I'm not a big fan of tampons, so the pad means that you're never really quite sure what you're doing, because there's always that little voice, or that little mental charge that says "ah maybe I should put myself back, put myself back".

When did you start Jujitsu?

"I started practicing Ju-jitsu 6 years ago. Initially, I never wanted to get on the tatami because for me it was considered a boy's sport. I was younger and I think there are a lot of taboos attached to these sports: "girls should dance", etc. And finally, they sold me on it. And in the end, people m'sold it as "it's a combat sport, it could be good because you're a girl in Paris and the street's dangerous". What I really like today is that I'm surrounded by men who don't give a damn about these things, they're almost all old enough to be my father, and it's a bit like a big summer camp, like a big family. I'm like their daughter in fact, and it's completely gone beyond "you're a girl or a boy", it's more "you're part of the group". More about skills than gender, and that's good."

Does Ju-jitsu make you feel safer?

"Do I feel safer thanks to this sport? I'd say yes and no. My teacher mhas always said, "If anything happens to you, just scream and run. It doesn't matter what belt you're wearing". It can happen to all of us, and before you start typing, you have to alert the people around you, and then run.

I always try to say to myself when I'm walking down the street alone at night, "keep your head up", because if you feel safe, people may find it harder to approach you. It's not always the case, it's not always reality, but I think that keeping a bit of control and confidence helps you to keep moving forward and be less afraid.

What sanitary protection did you use before period pants ?

"Menstrual panties really revolutionized my life as a woman. I think that if I'd known about them at the very beginning, when I had my periods when I was young, I would have lived through that period much more serenely.

I had real problems with tampons, I couldn't use them to such an extent that I think the first one I managed to put on, I kept the applicator inside, it seemed so complicated. Whereas with panties, you put them on in the morning and don't think about them all day. And I often go to the gym after work and don't even change. I put on my kimono, get on the tatami, and that's it. There's no "ah I've got to go and change, ah I haven't got time! And I'm really much more serene about the task too."

Do you have a message for us?

"The message I'd like to get across in general is more about self-acceptance. All my life I've had a complex about myself because I was taller than all the girls in my class, or bigger, and I didn't want to practice judo.

I was already a big girl, so I didn't want to be lumped in with this "tomboy" girl, that sort of thing. I think when you're little, you just want to fit in.

If I had to give one piece of advice to the me of 10 years ago, it would just be "accept yourself, you first have to love yourself so that others can love you" and I think that the fact of already having confidence and s'assuming it is a big step for the rest. Knowing your worth before you can ask others to value you.

Any final words?

"There's a phrase by Xavier Dolan that I really like: "Everything is possible to those who dream, dare, work and never give up". And I think that when you're a woman, it's all the more true because we're confronted with so many things, so many problems and so many preconceived ideas about society. And if there's one thing we can dream of, if we work at it, we can achieve it. And that's all the more true when you're a woman: never give up and give yourself the means, so that also means believing in yourself."