Between the Moon - Ep 32: Not Your Mother's Menstrual Cycle with Elizabeth Tidwell

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

In today’s episode I have the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Tidwell, womb guide and menstrual cycle coach at My Club Red. We’ve been in each other’s orbit for a number of years, and it was great to finally get a chance to share about transforming the next generation’s relationship with the menstrual cycle as they navigate a world that is slowly waking up to honoring this rhythm.This is a refreshingly candid conversation about the ins and outs of understanding the menstrual cycle at a time when we are still unlearning the cultural programing about living in a cyclical body.If you are a Mother of a Menstruator (MOM) I would love to hear what resources or tools you wish that you or your menstruator could have or what the could have benefitted from when they were younger!“We haven’t been given a shared understanding of a pattern for our cyclical energy.”- Elizabeth TidwellIn this episode Elizabeth offers practical advice on how to integrate cyclical awareness into everyday life, making it a powerful tool for personal and collective liberation. She also reveals the significance of cycle awareness for youth through menopause and how it can transform cultural perceptions and practices within families and communities.Get ready to explore the power of cycle awareness as well as:* Moving away from “fixing” to befriending* Working with the menstrual cycle as a compass and anchor* Self-care through building buffers* Hyper-personalizing the menstrual cycle archetypes* What is wrong with me - why can’t I rise to the occasion?* Removing self blame and shame about fluctuations in energy* Meeting (and naming) the different versions and parts of ourselves* Breaking the model of the inner seasons every cycle* Dealing with deficit and depletion* Cultural expectations and inner wisdom* Pay attention to the “Inner Summer Woman” and pleasure receptorsElizabeth shares her secrets on dealing with energy dips, equipping kids for their first period, and why tracking your cycle is more vital than ever. Be prepared to unlearn, relearn, and laugh along the way!Ready to practice menstrual cycle awareness on a circular calendar? Head over to the shop to get your copy of the 2026 Lunation Journal for yourself or someone you love here: https://themoonismycalendar.com/new-productsThis podcast episode follows a flow through these chapters …* Introduction and Welcome* Cycle Check-In: Understanding Our Inner Landscape* Personal Stories and Cycle Awareness* Lessons from Cycle Work* Rediscovering Personal Anchors* The Power of Integrated Practices* The Importance of Daily Cycle Check-ins* Returning to the Moon Calendar* Working with Youth on Menstrual Awareness* Family Dynamics and Menstrual Cycles* Supporting Families and Community* Practical Tools for Cycle Awareness* Final Thoughts and ResourcesHope you benefit from listening to this episode, if you do - please leave a review and share it with a friend.Show Notes:Wild Power by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer of Red School: https://www.redschool.net/wildpowerConnect with Elizabeth…Website: https://myclubred.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myclubredFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/myclubredElizabeth Tidwell helps women and menstruators discover and live in alignment with their menstrual cycle superpowers. She helps adults and children learn vital body literacy and facilitates a deeper relationship between menstruators and their cycles, bodies, and whole selves.As a former university educator, Elizabeth loves to bring menstrual cycle awareness to both her local community through live workshops and the broader international community through individual client work, virtual workshops, and My Club Red.What are some resources or tools that you wish you or your menstruator could have or wish the would have had when they were younger? Feel free to share in the comments! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themoonismycalendar.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, dear listener, to this episode of Between the Moon. I'm April McMurtry from The Moon is My Calendar. And before we dive in, I just wanted to share that the 26 lunar wall calendars and the Lunation journals are almost sold out. There are a handful left, hand few, oh my goodness, a handful left in the shop. So if you were hoping to order one for 2026, hop over. over to the moon is my calendar.com. And if they are sold out and you want to get a digital copy that you can print at home,

those will be available as well. Thank you for your support and for engaging with lunar time in a way really to bring about a shifting of the tides. Our awareness and our consciousness of cycles is what helps us stay in tune and attuned, not just to ourself, but ourself as a part of nature. and the larger world and really valuing being a cyclical being. And may it bring forth so much creativity and connection and beauty. All right.

On today's episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Elizabeth Tidwell. And we've been in each other's orbits for probably at least five, maybe six years. She is a menstrual coach at my club Red and a womb guide for women and children, really anyone who wants to deepen their relationship with their cycle, with their bodies, to learn vital literacy. And so in this conversation, we get a chance to share more about transforming the next generation's relationship with the menstrual cycle. As they navigate the world that we live in, that is slowly waking up to honoring this rhythm. two of my intentions for recording this episode were one to find out more about what Elizabeth actually does. I see what she posts on Instagram and I'm like, oh, it looks so cool. I wonder like,

how does she work with people? So you'll get to hear sort of some of the insight from her experience. And also, I have been wanting to create a journal for youth. That seed came from other mothers writing to me and saying, do you have a calendar, a moon calendar? You know, my daughter, she's not menstruating yet, but I want her to kind of learn about this. Or my child just started bleeding and they feel really disoriented. I say all that because it's been 10 years on the back burner. And I have notes and notes and notebooks and drafts

and resources and all kinds of things that I would love to compile. And the more that I hear from other caretakers or what I like to call mothers of men's like the acronym is mom, other mothers of menstruators, that gives me a chance. It kind of, it helps to spark my creative fire to really bring it into form because I would love to have this resource and tool, not just for my own children, but for young people who are really waking up to what it means to live in a cyclical body. And if you no longer have a menstrual cycle, this might be a reflection on the wisdom that shared with younger people in. your life. Maybe you're an auntie or a grandma. And if you are, I would love to hear what are some of the

tools or resources that you wish you had when you were younger or that you hope for the younger generation. So I would love to hear from you. Enjoy this episode. It is really, I felt like it was really refreshing to listen to. So if you want to reach out and get in touch with Elizabeth, she leads First Moon Circle workshops locally where she is in Utah, also online. You can find her at My Club Red. And let me make sure if that is dot com. Yes, it is.com. Okay. All right. Enjoy. So welcome. Thank you so much for having me. I have been following your work and I've been using the calendar for years and years and years. So it's like such an honor to be connecting in real time. Love it. Yeah. I'm so excited.

And I'm so inspired by your work and the structures that you've put around something that really helps support our connection with cycles. And something that I love and on your website, there's a little tab for all of the different seasons of life. There's a tab for first period for menstruating years, for menopause and non-cycling years, that whole kind of arc of life that has this life-giving cycle that's at the center. Yeah. Yeah. I just wanted to start with a cycle check-in. Something that we have in common is the Red School and the work by Alexandra Pope and Sharnie Hula Wurlitzer.

And they often talk about doing a cycle check-in and locating ourselves. So I'd love to just share this opportunity for checking in and for everyone who's listening. What are some of those ways that you locate yourself, some of those factors that you look to of like, okay, who am I today? What's going on today in my inner landscape? Well, first, I am day 28. So it's a little surprising to me that I, an earlier version of myself, thought I'd be up for hopping on a podcast. But so I am very late ludial. And again, with the new moon phase that we're also in, I'm feeling myself just being low and slow. Like I can feel that I'm more in like a very inward, very reflective, very unhurried, can't be

bothered and feeling like I'm wanting to extract nourishment from everywhere. So I feel like maybe, you know, previous version of me knew that this podcast chat would be one where it's like, I can already tell that I'm being held versus ones where I feel like I need to bring far more of that ovulation version of myself that is far more high energy. I'm like, ooh, I feel I can settle because that is, that is the quality that I'm bringing today. And I know that it is appreciated and honored here. Yeah, I feel like that is such an important way to start chats like this is just like, what version of my energy even am I bringing? So yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to let that be the context and the starting point. Yeah. It's a vulnerable thing.

When you're wearing that on your sleeve, there can be a kind of a judgment around, oh, you're menstruating, then this, this, this, that it can color the conversation rather than inform. Like you said, this is the version of me that's showing up. And that's the world I want to live in is that we can be like, okay, this is the version of me you're getting today and that not be shamed or something to hide from or be embarrassed. And not only that, but that's the first step is that we're not going to shame it. Then immediately on its heels is that we're going to make space for it and actually like honor the different versions of ourselves. Right?

Like that first step, of course, has to be present that we don't make any stories about it. we just allow what it is to unfold and be welcome. So yeah, I want to live there too. And I love we're making it happen. Exactly. So my oldest daughter's almost 18. So she's a job interview. And I remember early on in my journey with the menstrual cycle and the awareness of, oh, there are these different energy levels that fluctuate. And I remember this recommendation of if you're going to have a job interview or ask for a raise, go in when you're ovulating. right take advantage of that high energy and confidence and all these things that are often associated and experienced around that time so my daughter is about to bleed also and she has a

job interview and she's like i'm just going to cry mom they're going to ask me a question i'm just going to cry and so i had this feeling this sense of wow when it's not being matched of like that energy is so tender and so needed for so many things and showing up for a job interview is a really tricky ask. Yeah. Because they're not going to get her best, most radiant version that she does. Yeah. I have it other times.

Yeah. Yeah. You're like, that is something that's so tricky. And these types of situations come up all the time in my work. There's this misconception that. our cycle has to like kind of, um, if we live according to our menstrual cycle and harness each of the supposed tos of the phases. I love the air quotes. Yeah. Oh yeah. Major air quotes always. Then this idea of like, then I can't do what I want to do and need to do, like show up for an interview when it's not optimal.

And I, because again, this world that I would love to live in, my first thought, with you explaining the situation was like, oh, I wonder what kind of situation this employment is. Could they handle? Would they make space for? And also, I mean, I would love that, but probably not, which is a huge flaw in the system. If we could do cycle check-ins anywhere, then we could say, listen, I am, you know, day one right now. And so this is the version of me that's here, but I would love to do a follow-up on day 14 or day 10, but you know what I mean? Like, imagine, imagine if, first of all, if our employment, places of work could handle a very sensitive person of any age, but especially like when they're that young, like it's a big deal.

All of it's a big deal. Like, anyway, so, but it doesn't have to limit us. I always like to teach that it can just help us buffer. So, okay, how can I better prepare myself for what is more likely to happen? Maybe tears. Maybe I'm going to be more sensitive. Maybe I'm not going to be as high energy. Okay.

How might I also, are they looking for that anyway? Maybe that's not a demand of the job. I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. There's all sorts of stories. Anyway. But then how do I recover from that afterward?

and that's where a lot of that work comes in. So it's always relevant, always, always. And I love it. And I think that awareness, too, of me at her age, I'd just be like, there's something wrong with me, and I wouldn't have the context. And I feel like the cycle is what gives the context. And at least she is more prepared to understand

that it's not a fault of, her and there isn't something wrong. It's just that kind of matchup of activity and energy level. And I feel like, and I have this sense of from what you've shared as well, is life does call us into situations that are not optimal. I remember I was leading a workshop in another, I also work for a nonprofit youth leadership organization. We had our kickoff and there was about 60 plus people. And it was day one of my cycle. And I was like, this is not ideal. No. Okay. But in the lunar tracking and the cycle tracking, I saw it coming. So there was an extra self-care on the front end of all of that. I had all the hydration stuff I needed rather than doing a four-hour workshop with no water.

Like, and I got through it. And it was actually great. And I got to show up in a sparkly way that was may be more inward, but I'm just going to turn up the sparkle a little bit because I know that that's what's being called for in this context. And without the cycle work. Right. That would have ended and gone very, very differently. Yeah. Like just like you were saying, when we don't have that context that we know it's not a personal problem, always we're just going to be like, what is wrong with me. Why can't I rise? I know I've done this before or or I know it's not a big deal, but everything goes wrong and you can't handle anything. And it's like, oh, I can remove all of the self blame and shame from that entirely. And that alone makes things go smoother and like

penetrate us less deeply because it gives us this really healthy understanding of ourselves in context, which is vital. So I love that example. Yeah. Yeah. Right. That buffering. of us in the world and how we meet the world and what version of ourselves. I was thinking through, you know, these inner seasons and these different versions of ourselves. And I don't know if you do this in your work of giving a name to those. With the menstrual cycle, there's this association that's often made of the maiden and the mother and the crone, right, these different phases.

I don't resonate with that. I understand that those are archetypes, but there's this other breaking even out of that mold. You know, that phrase of like, there's, what is it, there's two wolves inside of me. There's something like which wolf are you feeding? Yeah. I'm totally losing the plot on what that quote is from. But I've thought about what are the different versions that might go along with the menstrual cycle as our own archetypes that we might name, play with. I was thinking one of them is actually cookie monster. Like one of those versions is the one who's

like, where's the cookies? Give me all the cookies. I don't go for sweets, but there is this cookie monster that comes out in me. And I'm like, okay, what are we going to do with that version? Or even, you know, that feeling of the Tasmanian devil or some kind of, I don't, trickster energy or a kind of, I'm going to burn it all down. Yep. Uh-huh. That comes along too. And so we can, I don't know, greeting those parts of ourselves in a way that it's like, oh, I recognize these signs. Yeah. I love that because a lot of my work right now with who I'm working with and also where we are in the world, it's far more on this level of let me show you a model. let me show you an archetype because we haven't been given a shared understanding of a pattern for our cyclical energy.

And so I'm like, let me give you the inner seasons. But the next step is always how do we individually express and break that model every cycle? You know what I mean? I always remind people, even when I am handing them this model, I'm like, there is no such thing as a typical cycle just because it varies person to person. and cycle to cycle all the time. So I love this idea of like super, super, super personalizing it. And then again, once we do that, that opens up that context that kind of, yeah, desensitizes the impact of some of these versions of ourselves that come up because we're

expecting them and we can befriend them and we can give them what they need instead of, again, pointing to you don't belong here and I've got to fix you. And that energy is just never going to be our friend. So I love that. Super, super resonate with that. Yeah. I think when there's an idea that there's this perfect cycle and that some,

that it's something to achieve, already women, female bodied people are socialized in a way where like you got to fix everything about yourself all the time. And that's, yeah, leads to. so much suffering. Yes. Oh, so much. Well, I'd love going into what brought you to cycle work. Okay. Well, let's see. I really, really, really was not into this as I was a huge tomboy growing up,

honestly, like, denied that I had a period for the first while. You could not have told me that this was this was what I would choose to do. But something about a few things in my life happened at the same time that really, really, really shifted everything for me. I left the high demand patriarchal religion that I was raised in that had informed everything. So that opens up a lot. Also, I had just had a baby girl, which really, again, as somebody who really denied my female body and what. what it meant and had a lot of baggage with that. That meant a lot to me about how I wanted to,

like the world I wanted to raise a girl in and my own world to reflect for her. And then also I live in Utah where the winters are real dark and cold and I had had a horrible relationship with both my periods and the season of winter. I got seasonal affective disorder. And then again, like being right in this kind of postpartum, I had stopped working and I was just focusing on this baby.

Anyway, it was all a lot going on for me. And those huge catalysts basically opened up this idea. At the time, I also had an IUD and so I wasn't cycling. And I was like, wait a second, I looked out my windows, my cold frozen landscape. And I just realized I was like, okay, the trees outside get to change every season. And I feel way too quiet inside. What if I didn't have this horrible resistance to winter? And what if I didn't have this too quietness going on?

What if I were allowed to like just appreciate the seasons and my cycles for what they were, what they are, what they could be? Anyway, that is all the huge foundational context. And then serendipitously, I just saw some. somebody, a friend recommend a book, Wild Power, by Red School, so Alexander Popin, Shawnee Hugo Wurlitzer. And I was like, oh, that sounds interesting. I'm interested in the seasons. I'm interested in cyclical things. And here we are today. It snowballed. I immediately was like, this is it. This changes the context of life for me. And I knew that I wanted to help everybody else learn how we are nature and we don't have to fight against the outer seasons or our inner seasons

or just the fact that there's so much wisdom in understanding ourselves in the cyclical context. So that is where it all began. Yeah. Wow. Thank you. Those layers and that connection that you, when you were talking about the trees, that feels so deep and deeply rooted in that acceptance of if I see myself in nature, and nature and me, then I don't have to expect myself to be the same version, same energy level,

you know, 24-7. Yeah. There's a lot of permission there. Yes, so important. And like I said, it really, really, really changed the whole trajectory of so much of my life, like, quickly in a snap when I was like, wait a second. I can just like totally shift how I've engaged with everything. And it did, it did totally shift how we engaged with everything.

It's amazing because I was thinking of what are those windows, you know, and for people who are listening, what draws you into cycles? And it could be through that appreciation of nature and appreciation of seasons and change. And I know for me, I love the spring. I mean, I know my name is April, but I wasn't born in the same. the spring. I was actually born in winter. My father had a gardening business, and it was, he called it April's Garden. And so I got to be a part of his cycles of planting and composting, you know, harvesting, just through sort of proximity of being close to gardening. There's something I really, I look forward to and I love about spring. And right now I'm in my inner spring. And also inner spring can lead to these

downfalls later in the cycle that I wouldn't have known. And even when I started making the Lunation Journal, I didn't have a grasp. My window entry point was the moon. I always had really heavy periods when I was a teenager. The doctors put me on birth control because they're like, well, you could get a blood transfusion, bleed to death, or take these pills. And I was like, great options. Right. I'm like, here's the two things. Yeah, just bleed out or. get on birth control. So my mom made me take him through high school because I traveled and just for safety, she's like, I don't want this happening when you're abroad and, you know, but then quickly was like, I want to know my own body. I don't want to have something controlling me that I don't understand.

And so wanting that relationship, but also honestly, like this burden of physical depletion, energetic depletion and why do I have to, it's not even, what is it? It's why is the release so taxing? Because release is a beautiful thing. And again, the trees and fall are about the conservation. It's like that's part of their energy conservation. And for me, it has felt like through menstruation, there's this additional depletion that comes with it.

Since practicing cycle awareness, I'm like, how do I yet? ahead of that on top of that so it's not always operating in deficit. Yeah. So I think most women and people who bleed are like, it feels like a lot of effort to not operate in deficit. Yeah. And honestly, like even without the physical aspect, again, look at the layers of culture and what we exploit from women and female bodies.

Like there's just so much exploitation inherent. in how our modern culture and capital, like there's so many layers. And so then you add this very tangible depletion on top of it. And of course, like, of course, how do we navigate not constantly coming up short to any context because we are being depleted. Yeah, constantly.

Yeah. And that care, right, that learning. to care for, yeah, not even just the body, but all of the things that go into caring for ourselves. So that's been a big part of my journey because every cycle I would get sick at least for a part of a week of the cycle and tying that back into that inner spring. And the kind of warning of yes, the sky is the limit or all of the possibilities and the saying yes and the taking on new projects and that kind of energy of possibility and growth. that if that is not counterbalanced with the discernment of the no,

taking things off of the plate and saying, whoops, I thought I had the capacity for this and let me reassess, like those kinds of conversations rather than, oh, I don't want to seem like I'm a flake because I have to either let this go or postpone or something like that. It takes a lot of cycles to go through, to see the patterns, to understand the patterns, to shift the patterns,

and then come into a place of an understanding and a relationship to appreciate the different energies that can flow through that are available with those inner seasons. So I'm wondering, yeah, if you want to share some of the lessons and evolution of your work and your relationship with cycles along the way that have felt like they really stand out. I feel like immediately that reminds me that I always try to remind women to not let your inner summer woman have your calendar. No matter what I'm teaching, I'm always like, remember. Because again, the expectation is on us that we are that version of ourselves in every context, always no matter what. And so we don't even realize, especially because again, again,

as I work with adults coming in with like 10, 20, 30, 40 years of overriding. Yes. And again, not by personal feeling, just because that's the cultural expectation. And we've never seen it modeled that there's, that that's what's happening is that we're actually overriding our inner wisdom. So it happens and we don't even register it. So, yeah, like, that is like my number one thing that I try to always say. two things about ovulation besides all the general stuff.

One, don't let her plan things for two weeks out. Just don't. Even though you will think that you can, just again bringing that gentle reminder and the gentle, like the reins of a horse, you can do it gently. You don't feel like you have to yank or like punish her for being who she is.

But also remember that you are all of these, versions and, you know, putting in some boundaries on that inner summer woman. But then also one important thing for the inner summer season, that ovulation season as well, that I love to remind people is to save some of your pleasure for yourself. Because I think, again, we just, it's so easy to give it. It's so easy to pour it into other people, to say yes to things, to be really generous. And again, you're super outward focused here. And your capacity for pleasure is so high, I'm like, oh, don't let it be exploited. Even just something as simple as like, I don't know, do a pleasure practice of whatever kind.

Do five minutes sitting in the sun with a cup of tea during your ovulation and feel how much more pleasurable that is. Like how open your pleasure receptors are. So anything that isn't productive, doesn't do anything good for somebody else, give that gift to yourself in the inner summer. because we're used to treat yourself with a little more grace on your period. I think we've heard that message. But to hear, hey, pull back the reins just an inch or two in your inner summer so that you get to refill your own capacity to express yourself and let yourself up for your own sake and not for anybody else's. So yeah, I feel like those are two very quick lessons that I feel like I always have to give

because they're so opposite of what we're used to hearing and what we're used to experiencing. And also that's come through, you know, years of my own work on this too that like at the beginning I didn't I didn't notice that. I was like, oh, yes, I'm scheduling everything for my ovulation week. And oh, yes, I'm finally here. And then I started to notice that I was like, oh, I am vastly overfarmament. my own labor and is not fair to the rest of the versions of me, the rest of the cycle, they've got capacity. They've got their own like stuff to bring to the table. And also,

inner summer woman's tired. Let her just enjoy the high energy that she feels and not farm the high energy she feels. So anyway, there's just a couple of quick ones that I'm like, those ones. So many people are often like, oh, that makes so much sense. I've been doing that without ever realizing because it doesn't feel like, first of all, it's not a super self-reflective time of the cycle. But second of all, it doesn't feel like that's what you're doing. You feel like, yes, of course I want to do that thing in next week. Of course I want to do that thing in a month and a half. But so it doesn't feel like that's what you're doing in the moment. But recognizing that's what you're doing is only giving yourself more gifts in all of the phases and more grace in all of the

phases. I love that. Thank you, Elizabeth. I haven't ever really considered deeply that part of how to, like you said, that refilling, but opening up the pleasure receptors and having that be a personal practice rather than that outward focus nature is like in relationship with others, in the world and outward expression. It's almost, you know, even just in this conversation, this sense of like how we pass the baton to the different parts of ourselves and where we're at and how we get to show up in each of those phases. It's like it's not a copy paste each time, which keeps it really dynamic.

And as you're speaking, I'm like, this is part of my version to planning things for the future. I'm like, how am I going to feel? How do I even know that that's what I'm going to want when the time comes? And so that can kind of go two directions. And I'm, you know, this is just something for reflection, for everyone who's listening, that reflection on do you tend towards making the plans and then canceling them because you realize, okay, I'm really not up for this? Or not making the plans at all because it doesn't feel good to have.

plans and then cancel or maybe even just make them and then follow through and see what happens even though it might not feel like a match. I'm just thinking because this is something that comes up for all of us. Like, oh, I made these plans and now I don't feel like doing. Like how to bring sort of more skillfulness through the cycle awareness. I think of it as like the energy conservation or the Chi conservation where maybe I needed to hold the reins a little tighter because of the extreme burnout that was experienced early on in childhood where I'm like, am I going to crawl myself out of this hole? Yeah.

Really, truly. And it's been the moon. I mean, it has been the moon, the lunar cycle, and that entry point then into working with the menstrual cycle to personalize. that that simple question of where am I right now? Where am I going? And what am I saying yes to? And what do I have the capacity for?

And how is that changing? And why do things take so much longer than I think they're going to take? Because of the dips, often those dips in a cycle of a comeback from a bleed and like, where was I again? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Right? Yep. Oh, yeah.

I love that you said. Where am I? Because I feel like that is the guiding sentence of why I even do a menstrual cycle awareness and a lunar awareness practice because I am going through huge life changes right now. I'm in the middle of a divorce. I just like sold our house a handful of months ago. Lots of big things that come with that. And in the midst of all that, I didn't track for a while. And I remember, I was feeling so off. And I was like, this isn't just because everything's changing. It's because everything's changing and I have no anchors.

And so that feeling of like, where am I? Where am I in myself? And so I started first with tracking my cycle again. I was like, oh, few. Because I have a very alive sense of the inner seasons, but I didn't know the days. And that was really important. That's really important. So know exactly what day.

it gives extra flavor to what that inner season is. But even that, I was like, oh, there's still something missing. And it's because, oh, yeah, I wasn't going out and looking at the moon and like really engaging with my lunation calendar. Like, I was just kind of like just doing it to get through because there's a lot. And that happens. But the whole reason, like, as soon as I came back to a more integrated practice, it really did through this huge. huge period of transition and kind of like everything's up in the air. Like every single aspect of my

daily life is entirely different than it was a year ago. Throughout this, this sense now of like, where am I is now so much more, man, it feels like an anchor, like a safety in my body and then in the moon. It is not just one or the other. Like I love. the power of pairing these because it takes either of them so much further. And it takes that anchoring with either of them, inner and outer, so much deeper. Yeah. Again, lots of things changing. But I don't at all feel like where am I?

I don't have that question kind of resounding in my awareness in the back of my head like I did for a good few months there where I was like, ooh. So it really is such a powerful daily practice, again, either of them, but especially when we can do both. It is like such a deepening for just how do we experience ourselves and hold ourselves and be held with the moon through whatever life has going for us. Because I think that is the biggest gift of both of these. And also, it really helps when time feels like it's spinning really fast, I feel like I've gotten super time blindness this year, not in the day to day, but in like the calendar year, it does help me slow down the days when I start with a cycle check-in in the morning and end with one at night. And I'm like, few. This was a day that I experienced and kind of put it in its beautiful little spot instead of letting life unravel so quickly.

Yeah. Well, what you're describing about that kind of the unraveling and the disorientation that happens at different periods and different types and chapters in our life. There's been some people who've written me recently and said, you know, I've stopped working with the calendar for health crisis reasons or just other things. I'm so glad I have something to come back to. Yes. And it really does. It really brings us, it brings us back to ourself. And that feels. feeling, like you said, of that feeling of being held. Yeah. Especially as mothers, but anyone who has caretaking in some capacity where you're

holding space, you're holding space for other people, that feeling of how am I being held. Yes. The lunar cycle can be in the moon really can be a constant companion that's like, hey, I change too. Like, it's not weird. It's not bad. You don't have to fix it. You don't have to be the full moon all with.

time. That modeling that if we didn't have people in our life early on to model in a way that felt nourishing, that felt like safe to cycle. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'd love to hear more about your work with youth. Yeah. That experience of leading into monarch, menarch. I've heard it said both ways. It said so many ways. Okay. Menarch, no. Yes, I've heard that too.

Yes. I think in Canada, French Canada, they say minarsh. Oh, so. Amazing. There's lots of ways. But that, yeah, this way of relating to time and the way of relating to our self-sistic local beings coming to that much later in life. Yeah.

I was looking back, my first mandala, I was about to turn 37. And so I wrote that on there and that felt like, oh, my gosh, you know, I'm, I'm, I I look at it now. I'm like 37 years young. That was 12 years ago when I was first starting to work with this container, you know, to have this. And now I just lost my train of thought. That's beautiful to me because I'm 37 right now and going through this whole huge life rework. So that is like extra meaningful to me where I am again in my cycle and in this moment. and just how beautiful that this thing that you created when you are at some point that has similarities to where I am and how much that has like nourished me.

And again, when so much everything about my life right now is so different, but then this idea of like, but the moon is always there and I am always here and this practice is always here so that those are not as loud. and what is loud is being held by ourselves, right? Like, love that. Anyway, so I'm definitely celebrating and thanking my 37-year-old self because I love it. Very cool circle because at that time I was leaving my job to then start on a completely uncharted, unknown path that just called me.

And I was like, okay, I guess I'm showing up for this. Yeah, what if you didn't have to live most of your adult life to start? start before the menstrual cycle starts. Yeah. Right? Actually from the get-go, and it's never too late, but rather than coming back to it, oh, yeah. Start with it.

That is precisely why I got into working with youth because I was like, okay, working with adults I love, it's great, it's very powerful. But also, most of what we do is undo. And I'm like, how incredible. to be able to meet them before they've absorbed the conditioning, the messages, the patterns, the relationships that is most of my job kind of teasing apart with adults. What if we could just not start from that context at all? What if we could just remove that or at least like get most of it out of there?

So yeah, that is precisely what is so rewarding about working with kids in these first moon circle. So some of them have already started and most of them haven't. So they're usually about age 8 to 12, 13, 14. And yeah, it's like so nice because, of course, sometimes I can tell the ones who have already absorbed some messages and are a little more uncomfortable. But my favorite age to teach is 8 to 10 because it is far less. likely that they, one, have heard that much about it. And two, it hasn't become about them yet because they don't really see themselves there yet. For a lot of them, they still got a little bit of time. And also, 8 to 10, they're still really curious and they don't have that nearly that

like body self-consciousness that they probably get just through normal development, let alone, you know, peer shifts and all that stuff. But yeah, I love catching them before all of that so that we can start from a healthier, more open, more informed, more body positive, and just like neutral ground. Because that like, again, if my entire goal with what I do is to change the entire culture around menstrual cycles. So no big deal at all, right? I love that. No big deal. Yeah. But it is so rewarding to see that I'm like, I teach one kid.

and then they show up differently to their friend groups. They show up differently in their homes, and moms come and join for the last hour, so then they're already having different conversations than I ever had. You know what I mean? And then, of course, if they're willing, and they're showing up differently for their bodies and for their lives and for the idea of their cyclicality in the first place.

Again, it's just laying that foundation, and I am fully trusting that those ripples will just get bigger and bigger and bigger. So I love watching it happen. I love watching it happen to any individual, but also watching the culture shift not only locally, but again, like having these conversations online and just coming on podcasts and anybody could find this.

You know what I mean? Like, it is already shifting. And I'm so grateful that we have these points of entry, whatever they are, to allow for us, all to grow and deepen into our cyclical nature and make space, even if you don't have a cycle, either you'd never had one or you don't anymore. Like, there's still space to support everyone with the cycle. And that is the shift I want to see is whether you have a cycle or you don't,

we enter the world and all of our contexts making space for, the wisdom in the room that originates with where each cycling person is in their cycle, because there is unique wisdom and how incredible to be able to show up exactly as you are without having to apologize or downplay or dismiss or any of that. And then how, like, again, imagine if everyone around you expected that of you in a supportive way. Like, so powerful. So I think the conversation and having language to describe and talk about cycles and name what's going on at some point, in some near or distant future, I won't be cycling physically. And I keep telling my body, I keep giving that message of like, you know what,

you've done a lot of work. This has been a lot of years of building up and shedding. Yes. A lot. And you know what? I'm ready for some of that energy to get recycled back into myself and not continue to be released back to the earth. Those days at some point will come to an end and that's a part of the mystery, right, on this end of the cycling years. To be a part of a conversation, again, like you said, whether or not that's because you connect with the moon or because you're connecting with, not everything is in season all of the time, right?

Like that's a part of being a cyclical being of appreciating. Yeah, I love cherries or stone fruits and I appreciate them when they're ripe, but because I honor cycles, I'm not going to demand of the earth that they get flown from another hemisphere in order to consume them all the different kinds of ways that we're all in this. And I love that idea of the stone fruit because it's like how much of a more potent gift is a stone fruit when it's grown, right here in its appropriate season. You know what I mean? Yeah, you can get one at the store anytime. But like the pleasure, the full expression is available. And to me, I'm like, yeah, I love engaging with the season that way.

Because I'm like, this is a mark of the season that I'm in. And it is its own gift. Because when we allow it to be its full expression, that is the gift. And we get to enjoy it instead of trying to afford. It's worth it. So yeah, this is everywhere always for all of us. And it's powerful to finally see just how magical it is and just how important it is and just how well we fit in all of this. Yeah. Yeah. I'm wondering if there's anything else, just the kinds of questions that may come up for young people and anything that surprised you or that you've just, you know, to share for

anyone who's listening who has a young person in their life. And I love that age. I feel like the eight to ten for my own kids. One of them did not want to talk about it at all, but would read any of the books that I would just like slip the book. Like here just, you know, check, check this out. Of course they were hungry. Yes. Like what is going to happen to me and coming up with language that actually was really helpful because I could see before bleeding, I could see my own kids, Like they felt me retreating. They felt like, wait, mom's not. Where's mom?

Where's mom? They would come after me and like be very like touchy, needy. Yeah. At the time when I was like, nobody touched. Yeah. How do I model this in a way that shows that menstruation isn't something that's undesirable or somehow unwanted? Mm-hmm. Because if a period gets plain for something,

then it gets put into this unwanted space. Yep. What are you supposed to do with that as a kid? Before you even know anything about periods, but you're already getting this idea that, oh, yeah, this means all these things that make me uncomfortable. I want my mom available. I don't understand why she's not available.

I don't understand. And then we blame it on a period and you're like, okay, before it's operating consciously, it's like, yes, it is this bad thing. So yes, we don't want to, we want to be able to do something different there because that is such an opportunity to do something different. Yeah.

And I saw it in real time like, okay, I wasn't preparing for this mismatch of I need just some quiet and extra sensitivity and then that that would draw my kids towards me in a way where I was like pushing them away. And I'm like, I don't want to be doing this. Right. And I was like, you know what? I'm a little like a bear right now. I need to go crawl in my cave just for a little.

bit, you know, not a whole winter, but like just a little bit of time in the cave. And then if I'm disturbed when I'm in my little cave, then I seem angry. And then I might seem kind of scary. And I'm not meaning to be scary. I'm meaning to be protecting my, my need for this rest. And then I'll get out of my cave and we'll go to the park and we'll bake cookies and we'll do things that are fun. But like, right now, mom is bear in the cave. I love that. I love that modeling. of also you will meet your own needs and you have boundaries and your needs are just as important and valid and their needs are too they're probably going to feel this way or here's some ways that we can still connect while mom's in the cave you can draw her a picture you know like there's

so many ways to model that everybody within a family system has needs and they're just as valid as anybody else's and we can all work together to meet them i really doing this way work with families. I get a lot of, yeah, a lot of these questions on like, I mean, a lot of them are like, I'm bringing our to you. Hope this is, hope we're good to go. And first of all, I totally get that because we're just not equipped. When we weren't handed this ourselves, like, I totally get it. And even if we were, there's still another factor in here, which is a child may not want to talk to you about it or anyone. And that's fine. So I really do view it as such an honor that I can offer this because I hope to help equip the kids and the parents. Yeah, that's such a

big, big part of it is just like, okay, we have a conversation. That's why I have the moms come at the end with their kids to do a little bit of how might you be aware of each other, cycles in your home, in your daily life. And maybe how might you want to extend that to other family members? What can we do to just start building the, it doesn't have to be a big deal. It can be pretty simple. It can be something like, I have this, I haven't made it yet, but I'm planning on just basically some of these very simple resources, like a fridge magnet where you put you know, whoever's name or picture on a little magnet and then they go around the cycle.

And depending on how many people with active cycles and the family, you can look at the fridge. You know, like, and that can open more conversations. It can be that simple. Again, it should be a pretty basic foundation of community care.

And so what are the barriers in our own lives and in our own relationships and in our own homes and our own families? and just bringing an eye to like, okay, what could I do to make this smoother? No matter what we want or say or are told, it is a fact of life that we are in cycling bodies. And we live in a cyclical world. So we can't go outside in Utah in a swimsuit in December and expect to have the same experience as you would in July. And that's fine. I can wait until July.

I know it's coming. That's great. I can look forward to that. So how can we just like do that in such these bite size mini conversations like that one with the bear and your kids? Like that's powerful and it's memorable. And it builds the buffers that we need and the compassionate understanding that we need. Then it gives them, then it gives them permission later to ask for their cave time, whether it's about a cycle or not. like in this family, we respect boundaries and we honor each other's needs.

Like that is the ultimate goal and the cyclical awareness just serves that goal. So when we remember like the whole purpose is just to, you know, care for each other. I feel like that helps remove some of the weight. I feel like we put so much weight on ourselves as parents in this kind of cultural moment to do the right things, to say the right things. and especially about this huge topic about bodies and raising our kids. Like it's, it feels big. It's really big.

But if we can just remember what it's all for, so that we're just caring for each other. And we as the mom are just as deserving of that care and modeling of that care. I feel like it takes off some of that pressure. Yeah. Which is really necessary. Yeah. And it gives the kind of modeling that maybe we didn't have. This is what I'm feeling.

And I guess this is what my mom was talking about maybe when she was describing this way of being. And just listening to you right now, Elizabeth, that feeling of having something on the fridge where something is out in the open. That maybe our parents or grandparents, grandmothers would have been so mortified. Oh, yeah. Completely mortified. And that is still in our systems. That's in our system, the systems of like institutions. And that's in our system of like, how do we metabolize that mortification of having something out in the open that wasn't supposed to be?

And all of that conditioned when you get to the bottom of it is like, oh, yeah, suppression. The suppression of really the cyclical power. In this case, in this context, we're talking about like in the menstrual cycle. What is it that's so powerful? Something that's suppressed, to me, that already says if it needs to be suppressed, there is power there. And the power is challenging something that's in place that is trying to suppress it. And I think about this a lot.

At the root of that, why does it even have to be that way? Who is benefiting? I mean, when you ask a question, it's like, oh, yeah, who is benefiting from this way? as opposed to a cycle honoring way. Right. Right. And there's so many answers, and it's always not you. Right.

Right. Yeah. Oh, my goodness. I love talking with you. I'm like, why haven't we spoken sooner? I know. Maybe the communication has been passing back and forth, just through the cycle itself, through that understanding and really to be able to come together

and share in this way. I just, I love how you share and speak about not just the cycle, but the full picture of the dynamic within our relationship with ourselves, within family dynamics, within generations and within the larger society of what's possible when this ripples out. Yes. It matters. It matters. It really does in a really, really profound way. Yeah. Anything else you would like to share and where people can find you and what you're excited about in this season,

perhaps season of the fall or season of your work? So many things. I have so many exciting things in the creative fire right now. And a lot of them are geared around supporting families. with this. So if that's something on your docket or on your mind, definitely visit my website is my clubred.com. You can also connect with me on social media, My Club Red there as well. And I also really just super want to invite anybody's questions. I feel like at this phase of my life, Again, with all the transitions that I've mentioned that I'm going through,

I super crave actual connections. Like, I don't want to assume what you're wondering about as a parent with how to talk about cycles. I would love to actually hear. So always reach out to me either through my website or through social media. I would love to connect and love to hear what particularly is on your mind. So, again, I can make the resources that would help make this matter. and make it so easy in your own personal life or family systems or in your culture, like your community to start making these bigger shifts.

Because again, with that big lofty goal I have, I'm only going to get there if we're all actually talking with each other and actually connecting. So I would super appreciate that. And definitely don't hesitate because I love chatting. So this was such a pleasure to be able to just like, again, connect in real time. because, yeah, I've been, I've been like a consumer of your creativity for so long, April, that it was like kind of a surprise. And I'm like, oh, yeah, this is like our first conversation.

What? But, yeah, I just, this has been so beautiful and I'm so grateful for everything that you put out in the world. My goodness, my pleasure and that feeling of rippling when it comes back. It feeds me. I started this without quite knowing who it was for. where it was going or how it fit into a larger context. And day by day, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is, this has just been brewing underground and it's coming up.

And so seeing the form that is coming up that you're sharing it in is really, it's really beautiful. Yeah. One last thing really quick about using the Lunation Journal in specific with wherever you're at. I think like that, because again, if you've already got that practice, that can open up such an important model for your kids to just like invite them in, no matter their age, no matter their gender, just like here we are. Here we are on earth with this moon.

And here I am paying attention, right? Like that is powerful. But also another thing that we always talk about in first moon circles with these kids is we We talk about how you won't, even if you're in a cyclical body, you won't always have a cycle. And so I love this Lunation Journal. This is like the journal that I always recommend for lots of reasons. And one of them is because it's like, anybody can use this. I'm teaching kids who don't have a menstrual cycle yet.

And they're like, well, how do I do this? And I'm like, good news. You can already start practicing with the moon. And also like, you know, decades down the road, you're still going to be in a cyclical body, but this particular cycle will be in a different phase. It'll end. It won't be coming monthly. And so you will still have that lunation to anchor you.

I show them this. And also, so like, again, for listeners, if you're already using this practice, whether you have a menstrual cycle now or yours has already ended or whatever the case may be, show them that they can start working with the moon just as much as you. Like that is what we do. That is what we track in lieu of a cycle for whatever reason. So everybody can already start this practice. And then, you know, for grandkids or kids, when they do get their cycle,

that practice is already there. And they already have this understanding of its importance and how much it feeds someone to this relationship with the moon, which is building relationship with themselves. So like on like a really practical level, if that's something, somewhere where you're at and want to carry this on to kids, grandkids, using what's you're already doing and inviting them into that is very powerful. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

And also having a version for youth. Yeah. So this conversation, may this spark the evolution and the next iteration. and the next iteration to really have a tool that supports young people and coming into their cycle awareness in a way that's yeah beautiful yes oh my goodness all right well thank you elizabeth and um such a pleasure to connect and we'll just continue this ongoing conversation really perfect coming back and coming back to the cycle over and over always thank you so much to today's episode. Between the Moon is a listener supported podcast. If you haven't already,

please consider subscribing or writing a review. These are ways that help this work reach more people. And if you'd like to access all the episodes as well as bonus articles, head on over to substack. That is substack.com backslash at Between the Moon to see ways that you can support. support this work. This is April and I'll be with you next time on Between the Moon.