In today's podcast, Marion welcomes Marie Oheix, known for her participation in the Koh Lanta 2021 adventure.
Before taking part in Koh Lanta, Marie was above all a great sportswoman. Today, she tells us about her sporting career, the Koh Lanta adventure, and how to live the adventure as a woman.
How do you prepare physically and psychologically for a major competition or adventure like Koh Lanta?
A sporting adventure or competition of any kind requires training, both physical and psychological. Physical training, in Marie's case for Koh Lanta, involved training in a variety of sports and disciplines (swimming, running) to ensure she was as complete and efficient as possible throughout the adventure.
So you can train without fear while you're on your period, our menstrual briefs are optimally absorbent for 12 hours!
But psychological preparation is just as important: even before being selected to take part in Koh Lanta, Marie conditions herself and visualizes her presence in the game. This practice is called "visualization". Positive visualization allows us to relax, focus and confront the limiting and negative thoughts we may have in spite of ourselves. What's more, visualization techniques enable us to refocus on action, to memorize the path we've taken, and to condition ourselves for success. They help to remove any psychological obstacles and build self-confidence.
As a woman, is it more complicated to take part in the Koh Lanta adventure?
Marie goes on to talk about the Koh Lanta adventure as a woman: how can you live it serenely, with all that you have to deal with as a woman? The mental load is much heavier for women, who have to deal with menstruation and, for some, the pill and hair if they usually wax.
Women generally have a more complicated adventure. They have to cope with menstrual pain (although they are allowed to take painkillers in case of painful periods), mood swings, fatigue and the various effects of PMS and menstruation, while they have to survive in a hostile environment, and take part in sporting events that require a lot of energy. Fatigue is already a basic feature of the candidates' living conditions: little sleep, no food, so added to the various inconveniences of the menstrual cycle, it can get really complicated.
How do you manage your period and your femininity on Koh Lanta or in an adventure game?
Marie explains that menstruation isn't really a taboo subject on the game. The hardest part is hygiene, since participants can't shower.
Some women, to avoid having their period during the adventure, choose to take the pill continuously. In fact, periods on the pill are deprivation bleeding, artificial periods, and it is entirely possible to start one pack immediately after the other, without a break, so as not to have to menstruate.
Hair removal is also a recurring topic on Koh Lanta. Adventurers are not allowed to use razors. So, everyone has to deal with it in their own way: permanent waxing, waxing just before leaving, or no waxing at all: it's up to them to organize it as they see fit!
How do you deal with poor hygiene on Koh Lanta?
As Marie explains, on Koh Lanta, there's no showering, no washing, no shampooing, no brushing your teeth and no waxing!
So, faced with this lack of hygiene, some invent alternative solutions: pieces of bamboo to try and brush their teeth, showers using rainwater when it's stormy out. If they're lucky enough to have fresh water like waterfalls near their camp, they can use them to wash themselves. But this is not always the case, as many "wash" in sea water.
Of course, the adventurers on Koh Lanta still benefit from essential care such as sun cream and biafine for sunburn. They also have a first-aid kit containing disinfectant, compresses, bandages and mosquito repellent, all useful for the tropical environment in which they find themselves.
Towels and tampons are also given to Koh Lanta adventurers who need them.
As for their needs, the adventurers don't have toilet paper, or toilets for that matter. So, they define a place on the island where they can relieve themselves... Most of the time, this goes off without a hitch.
