I used to have horrific period pain. The kind that means you have no choice than to stay in bed for two days dosed up on painkillers with a scorching hot water bottle strapped to your belly (or heaven forbid, lie down in public places if I happened to be out and about when I came on).
That was my life for 15 years, until I decided to do something about it. And I did a lot - I tried just about every type of treatment going!
At the time I was managing a rock bar in Soho and trying to find my path in life (having previously experimented with tattooing, music merchandise, and working in a parrot store in New York), so when I found the perfect combination of therapies that finally dealt with my period pain once and for all, I was inspired to train as a health practitioner.
I’ve been working in reproductive and hormonal health for over 15 years.
In that time, I’ve given thousands of treatments, been a doula to hundreds of women and their loved ones, and mentored dozens of other practitioners and doulas as they started their careers.
My qualifications include:
BSc Chinese Medicine Acupuncture which included a semester in the neurology department of a Chinese hospital.
Diplomas in Life Coaching, Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Massage, and the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT).
Post-graduate diploma in Paediatric Acupuncture.
I have also studied at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute, Red School, Nicole Jardim and Nurturing Birth. And because I am a geek that always wants to learn more, I’m currently training as a nutritional therapist at the College of Naturopathic Medicine.
But here’s what else has helped me to be so qualified:
Having a crap time on the pill as a young woman with depression and low libido, thank goodness I came off it when I did.
Tracking my menstrual cycle since the age of twenty, and predominantly relying on it as a form of birth control (and the answer is yes, it was highly effective).
Suffering from (and healing) extreme menstrual pain.
Experiencing a partial molar pregnancy which ended as a miscarriage (and labour) in the fifteenth week of pregnancy.
Followed by a very happy and healthy pregnancy, and a swift home birth.
Spending several years in therapy (CBT and psychotherapy) figuring out my own shit.
Debriefing the births and postnatal experiences of hundreds of women.
Deepening the way I track my cycle to include my emotional and spiritual wellbeing, and using the power of each phase of my cycle and specific days to plan my diary and make the most of life.
Working with hundreds of people in The Flow Collective, learning about their experiences and supporting them to improve their cycles.
Wanna know more?
I love going to bed early with a good book. I like to write early in the morning before anyone else is up. I’m obsessive about plucking my eyebrows. I believe in the healing power of cake and Violet is my favourite place to indulge. I have lived in Copenhagen and New York. I’m heavily tattooed. I love ceviche, Naomi Absalom’s yoga classes, Cos, long-distance walks, Maggie Smith in Downton, toasted buckwheat tea, anything from Aesop, NTS radio, G&Ts with lime not lemon, cosy blankets, cooking, tending to my plants from Mar Mar, and slurping the ramen from Tonkotsu. Really, I just love food and living quietly. When I’m up for being not-so-well-behaved, I make a cracking Dark & Stormy and like to get sweaty on the dance floor (admittedly a struggle since Plastic People closed its doors and I became a mum).