The Menstruality Podcast - How to Access the Depth, Power and Wisdom of Cycle Awareness *Retreat Special* (Alexandra & Sjanie)

Episode Date: January 11, 2022

Would you love to feel more healthy, more creative and more confident in your leadership in 2022? Today’s episode is part one of a special series - the Wild Power retreat - where we’ll share six 30-minute interviews over the coming 10 days, all to inspire you to enhance your vitality, creativity and leadership this year, through the power of Menstrual Cycle Awareness.You can register to be part of the retreat, and receive our emails, watch videos, download our Wild Power Creative Journal, which includes 12 cycle charts at redschool.net/wild-power-retreat.We explore:How to access the depth, power and wisdom of Menstrual Cycle Awareness from the women who coined this term, Red School co-founders Sjanie and Alexandra.How you can work with dreams to deepen your Menstrual Cycle Awareness practice.The Big Red Rule - stay loyal to your cycle experience.---Registration is open for our 2022 Wild Power Immersion is now open. You can join here: https://www.wildpower.online. ---The Menstruality Podcast is hosted by Red School. We love hearing from you. To contact us, email [e-mail]---Social media:Red School: @red.school - https://www.instagram.com/red.school

Welcome to the Menstruality Podcast, where we share inspiring conversations about the power of menstrual cycle awareness and conscious menopause. This podcast is brought to you by Red School, where we're training the menstruality leaders of the future. I'm your host, Sophie Jane Hardy, and I'll be joined often by Red School's founders, Alexandra and Sharni, as well as an inspiring group of pioneers, activists, changemakers and creatives to explore how you can unashamedly claim the power of the menstrual cycle to activate your unique form of leadership for yourself, your community and the world. Hey there, welcome back to the Menstruality Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. Today is part one of a special series that we've created to kick off the year. It's called the

Wild Power Retreat and we're going to be releasing six 30-minute, approximately, it's hard to keep interviews to 30 minutes, six 30-minute interviews over the coming 10 days, all to inspire you to enhance your vitality, creativity and leadership in 2022 through the power of menstrual cycle awareness. So you can register to be part of the retreat and receive our retreat emails, you can watch the retreat videos and also download our wild power creative journal that we've made to as your companion through the retreat at redschool.net forward slash wild dash power dash retreat and I'll drop the link to that in the show notes so this this is session one, how to access the depth, power and wisdom of menstrual cycle awareness from the brilliant women who actually coined this term menstrual cycle awareness, Alexandra Pope and Sharni Hugo-Wurlitzer. Welcome to session one of our Wild Power Retreat. We're so grateful to have you with us. This 10 days is

all about sharing inspiring conversations to inspire you to make this your year of cycle awareness, to enhance your vitality and your health, to expand your creative potential, and to deepen you into your leadership in this year 2022 through the power and magic of menstrual cycle awareness. I'm here with Sharni, Hugo Wurlitzer and Alexandra Pope who are the co-founders of Red School. They're the authors of Wild Power, the book, the Hay House book. They're the teachers of the menstruality leadership program. And they're also the guides for the wild power immersion, which starts on February the 8th, and which we'll be telling you more about later. Today's conversation with them is all about how to actually do this

tracking of the rhythm and flow of your beautiful and brilliant menstrual cycle exactly as it is. We're not looking for some perfect cycle here, this is your cycle and developing your intimacy with your own experience. So if you've just begun cycle awareness or you're yet to begin, we're going to share some of the fundamentals of how to actually track and if you've been doing this for a while we're going to explore some different approaches for how you can take your tracking process deeper. As usual we're going to explore some different approaches for how you can take your tracking process deeper. As usual we're going to start with a cycle check-in and this is a way that we practice cycle check-ins in the team sometimes and on our programs it's simply sharing the cycle day

and then three words which go some way to illustrate how you're feeling or how your cycle day is so let's start with you Shani oh thanks Sophie I'm day four today and I'm feeling weary and sparse and fragile thank you oh shiny and i'm sending love to you because i'm full of abundance on day 14 of the moon cycle. So I was reflecting on it. I was thinking, I feel generous and present to others, you know, generosity and chilled, chilled, relaxed and easy. Okay, so we're spanning two ends of the cycle here which feels perfect for this conversation actually yeah let's kick off you know this this is all about inspiring

everyone listening and us to make this our year of menstrual cycle awareness so i thought we could kick off by hearing how this whole cycle awareness story began for Red School. Sophie, moi, it was moi, I'm the guilty party here and it's my body that directed the show entirely. Just before my 31st birthday I got the menstrual pain from hell and this pain would last for up to four days sometimes and it came every month it was absolutely bonkers and I did not want to take drugs I did not want to take surgery as a kind of solution I might have used drugs in the moment occasionally but it was not the answer and I remember having this very conscious thought of my body is talking to me and I am going to listen to it and what that meant for me was actually really paying attention

to menstruation so that's how it sort of first began I should add I was already practicing fertility awareness so I had an awareness of my cycle in terms of the physical changes for contraceptive purposes But it was this decision to really clock where I was in the cycle so that I could give space to menstruation. That was the key thing. So the pain forced me to give space to menstruation so that I just didn't, I didn't have to take drugs to sort of keep going in the world. I would actually organize my life around this. It was imperfect. It didn't always work out quite like this, but I had a degree of control in my working life. So this was the early prototype of menstrual cycle awareness. Yeah, outrageous menstrual pain we have to give thanks for it thank you let's look at the basic things

that we all need to be tracking with the cycle so you said you started with fertility awareness and then you took it to the next level deeper so what was that so fertility awareness you're tracking well i was tracking uh i was taking my temperature um and um checking my mucus basically but i also knew other signs in my body i could i always remember i would often say oh i've ovulated and not because of the temperature because i knew i had ovulated because suddenly my breasts were sort of pachung, I was just a few pachung. Also because I had some sort of fatigue you know in my 30s and 40s chronic fatigue stuff I was dealing with and my energy was always a bit low and but my energy seemed to sort of be suddenly back in gear around ovulation. So it was temperature, mucus and then just noticing all these other physical signs

and then from there i began to really appreciate the autumn energies more i could really i i can so clearly remember one day standing at the sink the kitchen sink washing up and I could feel suddenly these storm clouds gathering and I and I could feel my energy drop down another gear and this was a really good feeling because I loved the autumn I could feel my energy drop down a gear and I'd go I'm in the autumn now yes and I could feel this grunt in my system like I had drive I had chi to go and do stuff um so it was then you know clocking I became just more cute acutely aware because I was aware of when menstruation was due I started just to become more aware of the whole atmosphere of my cycle. Okay, and then Red School was born eventually, that's a bigger story.

Yes. And this idea of menstrual cycle awareness was born and you formally named it as a practice. So can we look at what you would guide people to track on the sort of basic level what are the fundamentals what's the fundamentals to cycle awareness so we've covered the um body literacy layer so that that really feels important i think um so many of us missed out on that education that it's really good to start with that body literacy level of fertility awareness so then menstrual cycle awareness what are we paying attention to here so alexandra started to uh talk about that with these sort of inner autumn energies so with menstrual cycle awareness we are tracking our we talk about it as our inner atmosphere like our internal

weather system the landscape yeah the landscape of our being on any given day so what that means is we're noticing things like the mood we're in what sort of mood are we in? We're noticing our energy levels and we're noticing things like how our mind is operating, the sort of type of mental energy or mental activity that we're inhabiting on any given day. And other things I pay attention to are like the degree of sensitivity I feel. You know, how strong is my feeling life, for example, because that seems to fluctuate and change. I also pay attention to where my attention is drawn to at any given time. So that's something that I really notice fluctuates whether I'm drawn to a more kind of internal focus or a more external focus.

So those are other good things to notice. So you're really tracking what it's like to be you on any given day because, hey, who would have guessed you aren't the same every day so it's like who am I today like what am I how am I showing up in the world what what is what am I feeling what am I needing where is my energy uh what what, yeah, what's cooking? What's cooking for me? And then there's one other piece, which we can get into in a bit more detail later, but there are certain sort of themes that come up. They may be certain beliefs that are triggered at certain times,

like you go into a certain sort of story about something, or the themes may seem connected to external events. For example, it's a certain like argument you have with your partner, or a certain tussle you have with your child, like these themes, these activation points, I don't know what you want to call them, but it's quite fascinating to notice those as well. And as part of that, that sort of those flavors, also your dreams change, or whether you do or don't dream changes and the kinds of dreams you have changed. I have found this layer of observing my dreams really, really fascinating. We can talk more about that in a minute, Sophie, but actually tracking your dreams is a very powerful way of observing your cycle experience at a much deeper level so yeah that that's essentially the observation points i don't know alexandra have you got anything to add on that or i am absolutely loving

all the way you have described all this and i particularly love that phrase you know our the weather patterns in ourselves the emotional weather patterns but um and the way you speak about focus and i mean all the obvious things of energy and feeling and so on and uh is there anything more i would add to that i was thinking there is one thing i want to put in actually but i was thinking about yes notice where you have your fights yes yes but you sort of almost alluded to that you spoke about sort of activation points i kind of reminded me of the other one so fights reminded me of sex for some bizarre reason yes sexual energy that's of course the other thing of course that really shifts yeah your sexual energy and your desire and and and what's happening in your

kind of sensual body yeah exactly yes that is so crucial just paying attention to the whole sensual experience of your body and then this relational process that you started to allude to shadi and the different dynamics of the relational process that we move through in the menstrual month are just so fascinating to clock and I'm now this I often tell the story it's cracking me up and I instantly think of my wonderful friend Marie in Australia who used to have this argument with her daughter or son you know it's day 25 don't argue with me you know because the subtext was because if you do you will lose day but it is just so fun to bring your cycle awareness into that much detail that you can even notice specific days where certain things reliably occur for you.

I'm going to ask you next how we can take this the next level deeper. But before we do, I want to summarize what you've said. And for anyone that's listening, who's following along with the Wild Power Journal, there's a note section where you might want to take these down so that as you're going through your year of cycle awareness, and you want some inspiration for how to track, then these will be here for you. So the fundamentals, tracking your mood, your energy levels, your mental activity, your sensitivity, your sexual or sensual energy,

whether your focus is internal or external, the kind of themes or beliefs that you're noticing coming up at different phases, the arguments or fights or activation points, and your relational process. Could you just explain that again, Alexandra, the relational process, what you mean by that? Well, how you relate to people. Yeah, just the different kinds of energies that you have. And I can feel how Shani and my relationship shifts through the menstrual month. There's subtly different dynamics that happen

and how we occupy then different roles in our relationship. It's really fascinating and it's very lovely. It's like who's looking after who. Yeah, actually, that's what I was thinking, Charlie. Because when you're in the summer of your cycle, you know, I just carry, you know, I'm carried on your tailwind. And, and then when you go into the autumn, I can just feel my motherly energy coming in and protecting you. And, yeah, and then that, that creative tension that happens in the autumn where we both are,

you know, it's like we both sort of spark up. Yeah, there's a different kind of spark that happens. It's more provocative and challenging. And then in the spring, I can get anything past you then. You're so sweet. You're so sweet and so tender. And I'll and i'll go yeah yeah yeah like this is what this is how it should be and you go yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you're just so trusting and i can also get things past you um just before you bleed you know post all the argy-bargy of the

autumn and where i can't get it i'm like whatever whatever anything yeah whatever but i but i'm more mother yeah i've got that lovely kind of motherly energy that comes in but it's so nice that and then sort of that would be in with your nearest and dearest you know your relationship with your partner your you know your lover your, wife, you know, you've got that changing dynamic. It's good to know about because if you don't know about it, then you may often see it as problematic as well. Yeah. So that's the relational one. Yeah. I put my day 7, 14, 21 and 28 in our shared calendar so that he knows where I am and I and I see it when he get when it's day 21 he's like how you doing you know you know sort of feeling into it if this conversation is inspiring you to deepen your menstrual cycle awareness practice this year

and you'd like support from Alexandra, Sharni and a community of like-minded cycle aware people, we invite you to visit wildpower.online where you can find out more about our 2022 Wild Power Immersion. This is six weeks of inspiring teachings live coaching sessions with alessandra and sharni a supportive community to help you awaken to the inner architecture of your cycle so that you can embrace the full force of your cyclical intelligence and create a new power story for yourself and the world we're really excited we've totally redesigned this program this year to help you better encounter and embody and activate your wild power through the magic of mental cycle awareness you can find out more at wildpower.online that's wildpower.online. So Sharni, you mentioned dreams as a gateway to go deeper, to take your cycle

awareness practice deeper. Could we speak to that now for people who might have been tracking for a while and they want to hear from you too? Okay, what are the next levels to this let's start with dreams and see where we go so what I've discovered about dreams and dreaming is that if I go to sleep with an intention to remember my dreams that really helps and if I have a journal next to my bed and I know that the first thing I'm going to do in the morning is pick my journal up and write down anything that I've experienced during the night. That seems to bring a different kind of awareness to the foreground for me. And my dreamscape starts to come more into my awareness. And what I have noticed, but this is the thing I find really fascinating, is the dream, the dream, and I don't obviously dream every night or remember my dreams every night.

But there are dreams that I have that are like precursors to the shifting energy that is about to come in my cycle. Yes. Yeah. You know how you can wake up one day and just be in a completely different place you know like you were talking about alexandra that in the autumn just suddenly you know there's this like sort of stormy atmosphere i was noticing that i was having dreams that would be uh foretelling a um precognition, if you like, that that was coming. The dream would usher in the atmosphere and then I would wake up and I would track the dream. And I would almost be that much, I was that much more closer to my experience than when I'm not tracking my dreams.

It's like I would wake up and be like, ah, yes, the tide has changed, the gear has shifted, I'm in this new place. And it would take me less by surprise, I would have more spaciousness around myself because of it, I'd be able to tend to my needs more easily because of it. So that's where dream tracking really helped me to pace my changing mood and energy in a much more subtle and kind of nuanced

way. And then the next level of this, which is, you know, Alexandra and I laugh about this all the time, and I know she has dreams like this as well. There are, you know, there are certain underbelly dreams. This is the only way I can describe them shadow dreams you know something really from the deep murkiness of my psyche that comes up over and over and over in my autumn and there it has changed over the years like at one point in my life I was having these black dog dreams where I was being attacked by this big black dog in the autumn of my cycle. The dream took loads of forms, but I was always being attacked by this big black dog. Now my autumn dreams are of a more sexual nature where I'm having like, you know, affairs with all sorts of other people and just like they're full of sexual deviance. And I sort of wake up in the

morning and, you know, to my husband, you know, morning sweetie. I'm all flushed in the face, you know. Yeah, a lovely night with whoever I was with last night. Marital affairs while I sleep, but that is, that's my current autumn dream. So it's, it's fascinating's fascinating and I've you know and I've sat with those dreams and they uh they've unfolded so much meaning for me and given me such insight into my own ultimately relationship to power is how I would describe it they've given me yes yeah that's into my relationship with power yeah so it's one of the ways that our cycles work us to enhance our vitality and creativity and leadership is happening while we're sleeping absolutely yeah clever cycle yeah clever clever cycle yeah but the secret ingredient here is your attention to that and your care of it.

Yeah. Hence the practice of menstrual cycle awareness. That is the key. Alexandra, you often speak about the importance of tracking the crossover days. That could be good to bring in here. Well, it's interesting when you spoke about those days you put into the calendar for your husband I think those are the crossover days for you sort of aren't they yes so um the crossover day is the day where and Shani of course was alluding to it

with her dreams you know that her dream sort of foretells it is where you're moving from one in a season to another and um where the more that you pay attention to your cycle the more you're going to pick up these clues that tell you um you've shifted gear if they like the gear shift moments in the cycle process and so Shani has picked up how her dreams can signal it and there's very obvious ones I think like the crossover from the summer into the autumn I think most people will probably catch that shift and probably the other shift is that was always very powerful for me was from the autumn inner autumn to the inner winter that crossover into the bleed and it's just really fun to watch

your pattern of you know over a few months and to see if you can pick up those clues, what those clues are for you. And apart from it being incredibly useful having that information, it is feeling it in your being is just another movement towards greater intimacy with yourself and tracking what we like to call the power process within oneself, which of course is what our wild power immersion is about. But when you're coming into that level of awareness, it brings in a degree, much greater harmony into your system. It also creates harmony around because of course you see your partners oh you know he was tracking you i think you may and i'm also thinking of our beloved louise and her partner and how he was looking at her one day one day and going

you've crossed over haven't you and she sort of nods and he goes oh shit this stuff is real this i just love that stuff is real it's actually like you know and and of course you're bringing that level intimacy into your relationship then that level of acuity so it's very lovely um i mean any level of awareness you bring to your cycle, because I'm now just remembering when I used to feel that moment of ovulation, it just felt like this sweet secret in me, you know, and this feeling of being really plugged into me, you know, and feeling the magic of my body at work and that's just at a physical level but then when you bring that to the emotional and the energetic it's just this another layer of kind of sweetness with yourself isn't it shawnee and feeling in the flow of who you are yeah let's speak to people who might not experience much change and shift at the beginning as they're tracking their cycle because i know that can happen for people yes sophie i um you know i think of our menstrual cycles as well they're like um I want to say

our friends but it's something that we're coming into or having a relationship with and you know when you meet someone for the first time you don't really know them you know you know they're there and but there just that there is not a level of intimacy yet. That takes time and that takes like hanging out with them and being really curious and sticking with it. That's how you get to know someone. And it's very, very much the same with this practice of menstrual cycle awareness. It's not uncommon, you know know to be charting your cycle and to not be experiencing very much at first but the important thing here is to just keep on going

and and the next piece i think is really important is to keep noticing what is happening. Because often what people are really negotiating is the fact that they think they should be experiencing X, Y, or Z, and therefore they aren't really noticing what they are experiencing. And, you know, this is true for all of us, in fact. I mean, especially if you've read our book, Wild Power, the book is packed full of, you know, this is true for all of us, in fact. I mean, especially if you've read our book, Wild Power, the book is packed full of, you know, stories, ideas, examples of an archetypal experience. But each one of us is going to be having our own very singular version of that, which isn't going to be colored in all the same ways you've heard about or read about so this is about getting really honest and real with yourself and go what am I actually experiencing what should I be experiencing what should be more it should be less but actually noticing what you're experiencing so this practice of each and every day just writing down what day of your cycle you're on

and writing something about what is real for you on that day what you are noticing if you stick with it just stick with it keep going over time it's like more is revealed to you and over time you'll look back and be like oh my word there is a pattern and that subtlety of experience will become stronger and deeper and richer over time. This is what is for me so profound about the practice of cycle awareness. I've been doing it for years and like in lots of different ways and a lot of detail. And it keeps on giving. The more I stay with it, the deeper I'm going with it and the deeper my relationship is

so yes just basically don't give up keep going yeah and get support I think that's the other thing is I have somebody to share your experience with that also really helps and that's why that's the one of the main reasons why we've created this retreat it's so that there can be an atmosphere of support and encouragement and upliftment for people as they're tracking their cycles so that you can make this your year of cycle awareness yeah so our invitation for you over these 10 days is to you can use the wild power journal that we've created or you can just use a notebook pad or like your lip liner on a napkin whatever you've got to fight figure out what cycle day you're on and then write something about your actual experience and like Shani said we're

following the big red wall here which is your cycle experience trumps all we're not looking for some perfect cycle or it doesn't have to it's okay if it isn't following the archetypal cycle it's what your own experience is is most important and yeah I wanted to share a few things about how to get the most out of this experience you two one would be to download the journal and follow along you can use it to track your cycle day another one is to show up and listen to each of these different conversations that we have coming because each one is with someone who's been deeply worked by their cycle and brings wisdom from a different angle so there's Nicole Jardim speaking more about stress work working with your cycle to create balance and manage stress there's Lisa looking at how it can enhance your vitality

and your health um Alexander and Shani I'm really excited about this one we'll be looking at creativity and how your cycle can support your creative process with whatever you're creating in your life and then if you feel inspired we're continuing the year of cycle awareness with our wild power immersion which alexandra spoke about just now it's a really beautiful is there actually is there a sentence or two you could say about the wild power immersion and how it can support people to really be initiated into their power process through their cycle yeah i mean it really opens the door doesn't it shani because of the well the teachings we give but the exercise that we do and then the subsequent kind of conversation out of that it all it almost opens a trapdoor into a deeper relationship or awareness of what's going on you get to see behind the scenes of your lived experience of the

process and in that you then just wake just awaken a whole other kind of understanding, insight and relationship to yourself, don't you, Shani? That's very well described. And then the other piece of the immersion is that there are listening circles and listening partnerships and an online community space. So you get to share what's happening for you and have that witnessed and affirmed by others. And don't take that step for granted because, you know, when cycle awareness is just our own little private experience, we can often wonder if we're making it up or if it really is real. And that act of sharing what's happening for you and others going you know we get it we understand and yes that you know this this is relatable and this is part of the plethora of experiences that

we can have in our cycle it makes more real what you've noticed and then the next time around it's like that awareness and that muscle to take yourself seriously has grown and that is a very very powerful part of this immersion is you know you you're actually being held in something and supported and affirmed and you know we we make such good companions for each other with this menstrual cycle journey don't we i mean there's just something i really want to affirm here that you know whether you're just a beginner starting out or whether you're a seasoned cycle awareness practitioner, I can't say this more strongly. The cycle keeps on giving right up until the day it stops. And so your cycle awareness practice is, you know, as Shani's already alluded to you can just go deeper and

deeper into it because it is a spiritual path and practice ultimately i mean it has all these levels to it but that at its heart and that's the thing you're growing into that's the muscle that you're developing to be able to embody this deep evolutionary initiatory process that's held within that and i i think you know people you can redo this wild power immersion each year you see and then go to another level with it so it's just a great um program for uh for for the ongoing process of expanding your experience of what cycle awareness can offer you thank you thank you so much you two let's see if we can distill this conversation down into a golden nugget or you know a final word that you would like to share that can help to inspire and encourage our listeners to make this their year of menstrual cycle awareness i'd like to start because it's something i've

been wanting to say since the beginning of this conversation don't make the practice of menstrual cycle awareness another thing that you have to do. Find your way to make a part of your everyday life, however you need to do that. So if it needs to be really simple, like you just note it in your existing Google calendar, and when you're going to sleep at night, you write down three words that describe your day. Whatever is the most simple way so you can keep your practice going regardless. Always know what day of your cycle you're on and always check in with how that day is for you. Then there are options for going deeper with it and expanding and journaling and doing all sorts of artwork and all kinds of wonderful ways of deeper inquiry

but find a way of making it like brushing your teeth or whatever you do every day that's just non-negotiable and simple yeah that's if this is going to be a year of cycle awareness find a way to make it absolutely doable come rain or shine and a kind of an adventure you know just so you can enjoy doing it i think that's so important what you've just said shani um because it is a kind of adventure you're embarking on and the key thing i want to say um is to really trust your experience of the cycle trust what is emerging the pattern that's emerging with you trust that trust yourself beautiful thank you so we're going to continue the wild power retreat in two days time with session two with lisa hendrix and jack where we'll be

exploring how menstrual cycle awareness can support you to live in vibrant health. Can't wait for that. Thanks you two. Thank you Sophie. Thank you for joining us for part one of this special podcast series, The Wild Power Retreat. Part two is coming up this Thursday, menstrual cycle awareness, transform your health and vitality. So you can register to be part of the retreat to receive the retreat emails, watch the retreat videos, and download the special journal that we've created at redschool.net forward slash wild-power-retreat. I'll drop the link to that in our show notes. And if you love this podcast,

please subscribe and leave us a review. It really helps other people to find us. Okay, I hope to see you for part two of the Wild Power Retreat. And until then, keep living life according to your own brilliant rhythm.