Marie Koh Lanta 2021 - Having your period during an adventure game

Today in this podcast, Marion receives Marie Oheix, known for having participated in the adventure Koh Lanta 2021.
Before participating in Koh Lanta, Marie is above all a great sportswoman. She tells us today about her journey, about sport, about the Koh Lanta adventure, and how to live the adventure as a woman.

How do you prepare yourself physically and psychologically for a big competition or an adventure like Koh Lanta?

A sports adventure or competition of any kind requires training, both physical and psychological. The physical training in Marie's case for Koh Lanta involved training in different sports and disciplines (swimming, running) to be as complete and efficient as possible throughout the adventure.

To train without fear during your period, our menstrual panties have an optimal absorption during 12 hours!
But psychological preparation is just as important, in fact, even before being selected to participate in Koh Lanta, Marie conditions herself and visualizes her presence in the game. This is a practice called "visualization". Positive visualization allows us to relax, focus and confront the limiting and negative thoughts we may have in spite of ourselves. In addition, visualization techniques allow us to refocus on the action, to memorize the path, and to condition ourselves for success. They allow us to remove the psychological brakes that we may have and to gain self-confidence.

As a woman, is it more complicated to live the Koh Lanta adventure?

Marie then talks about the Koh Lanta adventure as a woman: How can you live it serenely with all that you have to manage as a woman? The mental load is much higher for women who have to deal with menstruation before the adventure, and for some women, the pill and hair if they are used to waxing.
The women live in general, a more complicated adventure. They have to deal with menstrual pain (even if they are allowed to take painkillers in case of painful periods), mood changes, fatigue and different effects of PMS and menstruation, while they have to survive in a hostile environment, and participate in sports events, which require a lot of energy. Fatigue is already present due to the living conditions of the candidates: little sleep, no food, so added to the various inconveniences of the menstrual cycle, it can really become complicated.

How to manage your period and your femininity in Koh Lanta or in an adventure game?

Marie explains that menstruation is not really a taboo subject on the game. The hardest part is hygiene, since the participants can't shower.
Some women, in order not to have their period during the adventure, choose to take the pill continuously. In fact, menstruation on the pill is withdrawal bleeding, artificial menstruation, and it is entirely possible to start one pack immediately after the other, without a break, in order to avoid having a period.
Hair removal is also a subject that comes up a lot in Koh Lanta. Indeed, the adventurers are not allowed to use razors. So, everyone has to deal with it in their own way: permanent hair removal, hair removal just before leaving, or no hair removal at all: it's up to each of them to organize themselves as they see fit!

How do you deal with the lack of hygiene on Koh Lanta?

As Marie explains, on Koh Lanta, there is no shower, no laundry, no shampoo, no brushing of teeth, no waxing!
So, faced with this lack of hygiene, some invent alternative solutions: pieces of bamboo to try to brush their teeth, rain showers when the storm is on. If they are lucky enough to have fresh water like waterfalls near their camp, they can take advantage of it to wash themselves. But this is not always the case, many "wash" in the sea water.
Of course, the adventurers on Koh Lanta are still provided with essential care such as sunscreen and biafine for sunburn. They also have a first aid kit with first aid supplies such as disinfectant, compresses, bandages, and mosquito repellent, useful for the tropical environment they are in.
Towels and tampons are also given to the Koh Lanta adventurers who need them.
As for their needs, the adventurers don't have toilet paper, nor do they have a toilet at all. So, they define a place to relieve themselves on the island... Most of the time, it goes smoothly.