I can honestly say that the menstrual cycle saved my life. I (Alexandra) might sound melodramatic when I say that, but it's true. My menstrual cycle not only helped me to heal outrageous menstrual pain, but in doing so, it helped me to find myself.
In finding myself, I found my calling. And over years of menstrual cycle awareness (though we didn’t have that term back then) my cycle helped to quite literally fulfil my calling and bring it out into the world, through the creation of Red School.
Menstruation holds us to ourselves
Learning to listen to the call of my body to rest at menstruation was the vital key that helped me to heal my menstrual pain. And it was also exactly this practice that awakened feelings of profound love and belonging that have held me through the trials and tribulations of my leadership journey, along with an extraordinary affirmation of myself, and a deep alignment with what I would call the ‘soul of the world’.
We can receive visions to guide our leadership
I would also have extraordinary visions at menstruation – it would feel like a firework display in my brain. And it was staying connected to my own unique rhythm and flow of my cycle throughout the following month that would help me to keep faith in these visions, and find my way of leading, fuelled by the visions, in service to them.
Each month, I would receive a clear knowing about who I am, what is mine to do, and my personal gifts and talents. And interestingly, the closer I got to menopause, the louder this knowing became. It was the great initiation of menopause that put the cherry on the cake of my understanding of my particular leadership in the world.
The leadership powers within the cycle
Intimacy with my cycle also gave me access to a wide variety of different powers or leadership skills, which had their final proving through the menopause process. It is these powers that give me the fortitude to lead each day, as we take care of the complex array of tasks and challenges that come with running an ever-growing organisation (as well as managing the geyser of the creative ideas that never seem to stop!).
What does this look like in the day-to-day living out of my leadership?
Well, frankly, my day can look bonkers sometimes; the amount of hats I have to wear, and what each hat demands of me and asks me to face. I'm especially thinking of when we were writing our menopause book here, which, in a way, felt like going through menopause all over again!
Of course, guided by my years of cycle awareness, I’m very diligent about taking rest – I have a body that needs caring for, and this is a vital part of leadership for me. I am fierce about self-care.
And the truth is that, yes, I could give this all up. But I know that would be a betrayal of my calling. And I have real gratitude for how this calling - that my cycle guided me home to - continues to feed me. It never stops speaking to me. It is a constant source of soul nourishment.
So, to wrap up… Leadership demands that we step out, and take a stand for what we love, which is necessarily challenging. Blessedly, our menstrual cycle can serve as an ally, a tutor, a mentor in that evolutionary stretch, and Menstrual Cycle Awareness gives us connection to a sense of profound meaning that can feed our leadership in endless ways.
