Amerley Ollennu

Considers the world of menstrual mentors

THE period is going through a rebrand. Formerly shrouded in mystery and negativity, there was a time when a woman’s menstrual cycle was barely acknowledged. Now, thanks to period acceptance campaigns on social media, the so-called tampon tax movement (a VAT law that categorised tampons and the like as non-essential luxury items) and tracking apps, the monthly bleed is out there in the mainstream.

Nowhere is this more celebrated than in the world of period coaches. Menstrual mentors are helping women take charge of their lives by better understanding their cycles. For over a decade pioneers of the movement have been writing books on how to do this. The Optimised Woman by y Miranda Gray, WomanCode by Alisa Vitti and Wild

Power by Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer and Alexandra Pope lay the foundations for today’s menstrual coaching strategies. They claim to be able to help women find a future filled with pain-free periods, improved confidence, stronger relationships, a better sex life, career success and improved health.

Lofty claims? They’re justified, argues Alexandra Pope, co-founder of the ‘radical women’s wellbeing centre’ the Red School (redschool.net).

‘If you ignore your circadian rhythm and pull a string of all-nighters, your physical and emotional health can become negatively affected,’ she says. ‘The same applies when women ignore their menstrual cycle.’

A former psychotherapist, Pope transitioned to period coaching almost ten years ago, believing that teaching wom women about their menstrual cycl cycle can be as profoundly pow powerful as traditional therapy. The coaching process begins with tra tracking your cycle in detail.

‘You start to see patterns in mood alterations, energy shifts, a change in physical strength s and even metabolism fluctuations,’ says Pope. ‘Once you know your pers personal patterns, you can organise your life around them, reducing overall stress levels, making life more enjoyable.’

Pope spends much of her time training a new generation of mentors to understand how to identify and ‘treat’ these shifts. Biohacking – the practice of using diet, lifestyle, movement and supplementation to enhance your health – features