Menstruality is a woman’s inner Intelligence or organising principle leading her Home, to herSelf. It is a path that unfolds from menarche to menopause and into her post‐menopause life.

A woman’s awareness of her cycle and restoring the ecology of that cycle is healing and therefore medicine. It connects a woman to herSelf, her needs, reduces stress and puts a woman in the driving seat of her life. It builds inner kindness and self esteem, all of which naturally eases tension/stress and creates natural soothing. Cycle awareness is leading a woman home to her inner Self, it supports the unfolding of her Calling.

There is a built‐in imperative to the menstrual cycle that is endeavouring to deliver you ‘home’ to yourself and to your calling ‐ each menstrual month this imperative is trying to express or work itself out. And when this process is blocked or thwarted in anyway (personal, professional life, cultural pressures etc) it can cause a jolt or shock to the system.

Repeated shocks combined with an unconsciousness of the process causes what is now known as Menstrual Trauma ‐ a kind of trauma to the soul or Self of a woman. Much menstrual suffering can be seen as an expression of this trauma.

The emphasis of this talk and collaborative circle is on helping women to see their cycle as on their side, their Self in action, leading them back Home and to experience their challenges as part of this imperative. Retreating at menstruation to deeply rest can become a radical act of self-care providing a way to deeply listen to what is really going on in a woman's life. Men are warmly welcomed into this circle. I believe that together we can shift the collective amnesia around the power of the cycle expressing itself through women's bodies. Supporting women's mental health from the inside out.

Mandy Adams has worked within the field of women’s health in one way or another her entire life and is currently working as a Menstruality Mentor offering Online Mentoring and Rites of Passage as well as Women’s Workshops, Pregnancy Yoga classes and Well Woman Yoga classes. She is also founder of Red Tent Cornwall and is frequently asked to bring her grounded voice both as a speaker and a writer.

She has a background in education and holds a BA (Hons) in Steiner (Waldorf) Education and specialist diplomas in Counseling, Shadow Work Facilitation, Yoga Teacher Training and Advanced Aromatherapy. Having spent much of her working life in Asia she now lives back in Cornwall with her husband and three young sons in the small town in which she was born. Mandy is deeply passionate about championing the three major hormonal changes in a woman’s life – menarche, mothering and menopause – as rites of passage offering opportunities to directly awaken to a woman’s relationship with the Earth, her inner Self and her unique calling within her community.

You can find out more about Mandy's work on her website www.mandyadams.co.uk

Or visit her community page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mandyadamsmenstrualitymentor/

Or watch her speaking to the BBC about the importance of retreating at menstruation here:

https://mandyadams.co.uk/2019/05/08/feature-menstruation-mentors-promote-self-care-during-periods/