Acknowledgements
We express our deep respect and gratitude for the lineage of the work we present in our Menstrual Cycle Support Course and to all those who have input into the course content and assisted in its creation.
Special thanks to our film and production crew, John, Fionn and River at Crow Creative (and for the use of your beautiful Cornish studio & gardens); to our graphic designer James at Ikonika; and, to Lau Thiamkok for web development – you all understood and evolved our vision with grace, determination and style (and hopefully learned something about the menstrual cycle along the way!). Also thanks to the team at Data Privacy Advisory Service: Mel, Gary, Natalie, Karl & Kunbi. Thank you.
Menstrual Cycle Awareness
Our Menstrual Cycle Support course teaches a practice called Menstrual Cycle Awareness.
The practice of Menstrual Cycle Awareness was created and developed by Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlizer, co-Founders of Red School.
We teach the practice with the permission of Red School, applying and adapting it for use in a healthcare setting (on social prescription self/referral) so that it may further support those with a menstrual cycle. Read more about clinical and professional input into the course.
‘Menstrual Cycle Awareness’, the four phases as ‘Inner Seasons’, ‘Crossover days’, ‘Cycle Check In’, ‘hot spots & sweet spots’, ‘1% method’, ‘archetypal menstrual cycle’ and ‘the menstrual map’ are all concepts developed, and used with permission, by Red School. We have not renamed these processes in our course for the proliferation of and, out of respect for, their lineage.
Our Founder Kate Shepherd Cohen completed an Apprenticeship (now Menstruality Leadership Programme) with Red School in 2017 and Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlizer remain her steadfast mentors. We do not receive any financial endorsement from Red School.
Other alumni and students from the global Red School community and creating waves in the menstruality movement with Red School’s Menstrual Cycle Awareness teachings include world leaders in the field of menstrual literacy, Maisie Hill (best-selling author, ‘Period Power’), Lucy Peach (author, ‘Period Queen’), Lisa de Jong (Ireland’s first menstrual cycle coach), Claire Baker (author and period coach), Dr Elaine Rose Leela (mindfulness and the menstrual cycle expert), Amy McKeown (award-winning mental and women’s health strategist), Emily Stewart (Founder of Real Period Project), Kate Codrington (author ‘Second Spring’), Soraya Shiek (coach) and many more from all over the world.
Applied Analytical Psychology & acknowledgement of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour
The Red School teachings of Menstrual Cycle Awareness and the archetypal menstrual cycle with four phases are rooted in ethno biography and informed by post Jungian psychology e.g. Process Work, archetypal psychology, mindfulness and the embodied movement practice of Movement Medicine. (Red School co-Founders Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlizer have backgrounds in professional psychotherapy).
As such, the work – including experiencing life cyclically, with four distinct energies akin to the seasons of the year (and the elements) – undoubtedly has influences from indigenous, African/Middle/Eastern/Chinese – as well as Western – philosophy (and spirituality), which inspired, for example, some of Carl Jung’s research and theory.
Red School also recognise influences on their teachings from indigenous cultures, for example, retreat at menstruation; menstruation itself as a place of expanded consciousness, as a visionary time and reverence for the natural cycles.
To all ethnicities, cultures and traditions for inspiration in this work, we express our deep respect and gratitude.
Acknowledging the land & ancestors of Cornwall
We recognise and acknowledge the land and ancestors of Cornwall (where Menstrual Cycle Support HQ is based) and its indigenous Celtic (and pre-Celtic) wisdom, which deeply reveres the natural cycles and interconnectedness of life and which influence the understanding of the teachings in the Menstrual Cycle Support Course e.g. the four seasons, with the two poles: Winter Solstice (e.g. Menstruation), Summer Solstice (e.g. Ovulation) and the importance of acknowledging the cross-quarter transitions (‘crossover days’) of Imbolc (Winter/Spring e.g. Menstruation/Pre-ovulation), Beltaine (Spring/Summer e.g. Pre-ovulation/Ovulation), Lughnasa (Summer/Autumn e.g. Ovulation/Pre-menstruum) and Samhain (Autumn/Winter e.g. Pre-menstruum/menstruation).
Our Founder, Kate Shepherd Cohen, expresses deep gratitude to Mandy Adams (1970-2021), alumni of Red School, of Cornish birth, for introducing her in 2015 to her unique interpretation of Menstrual Cycle Awareness, in the wild landscape of Cornwall’s ancient Lizard Peninsula. Rest In Peace Mandy.