Woman covers self in menstrual blood to 'inspire' others

In this social media-driven age we are used to seeing weird and wonderful photos every day.

We scroll through our feeds and look at everything from Kim Kardashian's bum to someone's incredibly healthy dinner.

But one image on Instagram is stopping people in their tracks - because it's rather unusual.

Swedish naturist Maxinne Bjork has shared an image of herself, naked and covered in what she calls her own "life-giving fluids" - that's period blood to you and me.

Unsurprisingly, the image garnered a strong reaction from her 44,000 followers, but comments have since been disabled.

Posted on Saturday, Maxinne who currently lives in Bali, reveals she shared it to promote "acceptance and love".

She captioned it with a length post, writing: "Today after a very productive and super fun day, I came home all emotional with lots on my mind that I just pushed a side cause I didn't have space to deal with it in the moment.

"I sat down and did some deep breathing, and all of a sudden felt a strong urge to cover myself in my life-giving fluids as a woman.

"So without really thinking of why or anything else, I just did. Smudged it out all over my body and then rolled around naked on the grass in my garden all covered in my menstrual blood.

"Smelled the earth and started crying intensely. Both from happiness and sadness."

Maxinne then explained that after the crying she started laughing, before discussing how happy she is to have her mum in her life - despite the "draining" family situation they are in right now.

She adds: "But that's life. And exactly how it is supposed to be in this moment. Accept and love."

Over 2,800 people have liked the post so far.

But not everyone is supportive of the photo.

In a second post, the young woman revealed that people had been calling her "mentally sick" for sharing it

She hit back at the haters by uploading a photo of her sporting a huge grin and saying: "So interesting how people can't accept that we all are different and have different views about life.

"I'm not telling people to think like me, but with my actions I want to express to people to listen to their hearts, and do what feels right for them even though it doesn't fit the norm. And that's why I even use social media, I want to spread how I live, so people can be inspired to dare to live how they want to live.

"I'm not trying to change any one, be you! And bad comments that I'm mentally sick doesn't really affect me. Maybe I am? But oh my, how great it feels to be mentally disturbed then. I love my life!"

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