Wisdom Women Needed to Learn in School, & What We Missed
A conversation about what none of us were taught
Almost every woman I know worked out how her own body operates somewhere in her thirties, alone, on the internet.
We learned the mechanics of reproduction at school and essentially nothing about living in a cyclical body. Not that energy moves across the month. Not that appetite and sleep and confidence move with it. Not that every week carries its own energy, its own capacity and its own kind of superpower. And most importantly, nobody told us we were never meant to push equally hard through all of it.
So I sat down with four women I admire and we talked about what we wish somebody had told us.
What school never taught us about our cycles
We started with what school might look like if girls were taught their cycle as ordinary information rather than as a hygiene problem to be managed discreetly.
From there it went to work, and how much of professional life is built around a rhythm that suits some bodies more than others. Not as a grievance, more as an observation none of us had been able to name at twenty five.
We talked about rest, and how few of us actually take any. About the particular exhaustion of always pushing, and what it costs.
And about how much of this we each had to find on our own, late, usually after something had gone wrong.
Watch the conversation
Here is the whole thing, and it is worth your time more than my summary of it.
The women I spoke to
Sarah Armide
Works with cellular detoxification alongside trauma release and the subconscious mind, holding the physical and the emotional sides of that work together rather than separately.
A transformational coach with sixteen years of experience teaching self-love, working with EFT tapping to help people let go of old patterns and beliefs they have outgrown.
Rebecca Needs
Works with women on their relationship with their menstrual cycle, treating it as something to understand and work with rather than endure.
Shares vibrational sound work, rebirthing breathwork and voice activation through workshops and retreats, holding space for people to drop in properly rather than skim.
Where to start with your own cycle
If you want the practical companion to the conversation, I have written up the four phases of your cycle and what each one tends to ask for.
And if you would like something to keep, my free guide to balancing your hormones walks through those same four phases and how to nourish yourself in each.
With love,
Jodie Louise