Holistic Menstrual Health Education in Schools

I share my current processes and ponderings in regards to what is taught in schools about the menstrual cycle, as well as the education I received when I was in school.

I'm in the process of exploring a course on being a Menstrual Health Coach.

Yep, it exists! I remember sitting in the car in a random parking lot back in 2021 having just purchased a few books from a local bookstore about holistic women's health, the menstrual cycle and healing menstrual struggles (such as period pain), and looking on my phone to see if I could study this and be able to make a career out of it.

If you are new to my journey in regards to my menstrual cycle, here is a brief overview:

I began my menarche (first bleed/first period) when I was 10 years old. This means I've been bleeding for nearly 17 years. Seventeen! Nearly two decades of living in this cyclical way and I'm only still scraping the surface when it comes to learning and connecting to my cycle.

The last two decades has been filled with a lot of regular discomforts, disconnection, and fear; I would go through these monthly loops of hating my period, feeling ashamed and gross, feeling despair and alone, and being in constant anxiety about my next period. There were moments, usually around mid-cycle (ovulation time) when life felt somewhat better.

The last five years has been a roller-coaster ride with re-learning about what the menstrual cycle actually is, and continually shedding what I thought it was. The realisation there could be another experience to the one I'd been having has brought up a lot of anger, grief and hope.

"What's the big deal about the menstrual cycle"?

I'm aware there are women and menstruators out there who experience very little discomfort with their periods; who feel quite at ease about their relationship with their menstrual cycle.

My experience has been almost the opposite, and I've heard lots of stories that have reflected my own, whether in parts or in parallel likeness.

Stories of believing period pain is just a normal part of having a period.

Experiences where the menstrual cycle is seen as inconvenient or gross or a nuisance.

Hearing over and over again the disconnection between emotions, creativity, libido, physical energy and mental capacities and the menstrual cycle.

Learning and hearing what I have, I'm beginning to see the connections between a sense of disassociation, disempowerment, and the dis-ease in my fellow sisters and menstruators, and the absence of grounded and holistic relationship with our cycles.

Why the path of becoming a Menstrual Cycle Coach?

In total transparency: I'm uncertain how this path will unfold.

I've applied for a grant to help fund my tuition; I've taken the first step in the course application process; I've been practicing noticing any fears, limiting beliefs and releasing them when they arise.

And yet, those fears of this 'not working out' is very much alive within me. Perhaps because I care about the outcome. It's definitely a practice of tending to the hope, while also letting go of any expectations; in trusting if this is the path for me, the parts will align in order to support this decision and vision.

All I know, is that I came across this program two years ago - the year it was initially launched, as I recently discovered - and it wasn't the time then. This, and the fact that I'm slowly, yet surely, coming to realise I need a much more sustainable approach to life if I wish to actually thrive, and to not just be getting by pay check to pay check, from destination to destination.

Studying to become a Menstrual Cycle Coach will combine a few things:

1. My passion for holistic women's health and a more in depth learning of the menstrual cycle

2. Learning how to guide others in deepening their relationship to their own cycles

3. Having the opportunity to create a cyclical-based business where I can support my menstrual cycle and cyclical ways and not feel I need to sacrifice my health and values

So, what is the vision? What's the link to school menstrual cycle education?

As of right now, in July 2023, the vision is:

Upon completion of the course (if/when I get in), I hope to begin a research study in what is currently being taught in schools - primary, secondary, college and universities - about the menstrual cycle, and to explore what students would want to learn more about, and in what form would they wish to learn it in (ie online, in person, one on one coaching, group activities).

This will hopefully then translate into a holistic menstrual health program I can begin implementing into local and interested schools.

At the basis of it: I hope to offer safe, fun, approachable and accessible ways young girls and menstuators can learn about the menstrual cycle and guide them into connecting with it's gifts and powers.

Why have a holistic menstrual health program in schools?

All I remember from the menstrual cycle education I received from school are these:

1. I officially learnt about the menstrual cycle, outside of my family and home, in high school. As someone who started bleeding at the age of 10, it was a confusing, somewhat scary and lonely time of my life in regards to entering womanhood.

2. What I did learn in high school was very clinical and physiological based ("the egg is released from the ovaries, travels through the fallopian tube...") and it was uncomfortable to learn about it. At one point was even taught by a male teacher who basically read out what was in the subject curriculum.

3. Periods were barely spoken about, even between friends. Occasionally I may receive a sense of shy comradery when a period unexpectedly arrives and you need a pad or a tampon and end up asking someone in the bathroom if they have one for you to use.

4. Shyness, embarrassment, shame, dislike were very much linked to experiencing periods .

5. Periods were seen as the 'menstrual cycle', and not just a part of it.

6. Showing anything outside of the likeable, nice, friendly, demeanour (such as crankiness, inwardness, slowness) was either seen as 'PMS-y', 'hormonal', 'being on their period', or even weak.

I could probably list more, and yet, this probably gives you an idea of the approach, environment and education I received in school about the menstrual cycle.

I'm curious to explore what they are teaching these days, being nearly a decade since I graduated college. From what I hear, little has changed in certain places, while also noticing certain folks bringing to attention certain needs that may not be met in regards to learning about our cycles.

And so my journey begins (and continues)...

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I'm curious.

1. What has your experience been with learning about the menstrual cycle?

2. Do you feel you have a healthy relationship to your cycle and/or period? Why or why not?

3. Are you experiencing pain and discomforts and struggle to find support?

4. If you are on a similar path to me in regards to feeling passionate about menstrual health education, what would you have appreciated learning about your cycle when you were in school?

I'd love to hear your answers!

If you would like to share them, please email me at sproutingroots@proton.me with your age, and geographical location of the school you attended (city & country). Subject line "Menstrual Health Education: answers to qns".