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Raft of Bitches
A podcast about women supporting women. Like otters.
Raft of Bitches
Lucy Peach - We've got to shake some shit up before we die.
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Lucy Peach is devoted to raising cuntciousness using science, story, and songs.
She believes that embodying our cyclical nature is key to a thriving world.
With roots as a human biology teacher and sexual health educator, Lucy is also an award-winning performer, TEDx speaker, the author of bestselling book Period Queen and the creator of theatre show My Greatest Period Ever. Working with everyone from elite athletes to teenage girls, she has helped thousands fall in love with their cycles.
If you are an advocate for increased awareness of the menstrual cycle as a positive tool for power, pride, and self-care and would like to engage Lucy to educate and entertain your community, check out her website at lucypeach.com, or you can grab her bestselling book Period Queen here.
For centuries, we've been told that women are each other's worst enemies, but in reality we're more like otters than queen bees. Female otters, bitches, if you will, join hands with each other to create rafts that stop them from drifting apart and losing each other while they're asleep. Thriving women have one thing in common. They have a tight-knit circle of other women who help them get there by providing information and support. Join us each episode as we shine a light on an amazing woman and give her a platform to share with us her story, her passion, and the raft of bitches supporting her. Welcome to another episode. I am here with my co-host Jo Minnie and a fun asterisk. Yeah, with an asterisk next to it. Fun fact about Jo is that she first got her period in year two.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I was like five years before everyone else in my class, and it was real weird for my teachers. I felt so sorry for them because they were not prepared at all to have the period talk with year twos. So I'm really sorry, Mrs. Jones, if you're still alive anyway. And I am here with my co-host, Kate, and a fun fact about Kate is that sometimes she has meltdowns. And when she does, her guilty pleasure, her thing that she does to uh make herself feel a little bit better is Sanchuros. And specifically, she loves a good chocolate dipped strawberry. So sometimes we just door dash them to her when she's like in real bad places. It's important to have someone to, you know, door dash you Sanchuros.
SPEAKER_03Correct. And you can kind of trick yourself into feeling like there's a little bit of healthiness because it's fruit.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, it's basically a salad at that point. And we are joined today by Lucy Peach, and Lucy Peach is devoted to raising consciousness using science, story, and songs. She believes that embodying our cyclical nature is key to a thriving world. With roots as a human biology teacher and sexual health educator, so maybe you could have helped out Mrs. Jones. Yeah. She's also an award-winning performer, TEDx speaker, the author of best-selling book Period Queen, and the creator of theatre show My Greatest Period Ever. Working with everyone from elite athletes to teenage girls, she has helped thousands fall in love with their cycles. Welcome, Lucy.
SPEAKER_03Thank you so much. So excited to have you on the show. So we're going to chat a little bit about periods today, but also just a little bit more about how we can get in touch with our cycle and unlock a little bit of a little bit of magic. I believe that you've prepared an icebreaker for us, Lucy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So first of all, thank you so much for having me. And I just wanted to acknowledge that we're having this amazing chat on Wajak Noonga country. And you know, especially when we're talking about things that have been diminished or demeaned and bringing back some of that knowledge and freedom to talk about things, it's good to just acknowledge that that's you know happened en masse on this beautiful country. So it's a real privilege to be yeah, gathering with you here and just getting into the good stuff. Um the ice breakup activity is a cycle check-in. And I really just want to preface this by saying sometimes I say to people, oh, what day are you? And they're like, Oh, oh my god, Lucy P. Just asked me what day I don't know, she's gonna judge me. And just to be like, it doesn't matter. Do you know what I mean? Like it's just an invitation to be like, where are you? You know, what's the weather for you right now? What's going on? And yeah, so maybe we could just go around our circle and say what day we are or where we're at, or anything that relates to that that you want to share, and then just a couple of words for like how you feeling with that, what's what you're sitting with. Do you want me to go first? Sure. Okay, so I'm day three and I feel quite sparky, but a bit like you know, like a little deer that's just been born, and then it's like, I really want to run, but I'm a bit tired because I've just been born.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, just Lucy's doing the most adorable movement for anyone who's listening at home. Just that is not how a deer would move.
SPEAKER_05I don't I don't think having an epileptic fit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no fancy. Oh, maybe a sick deer. Uh yeah, a a meek little energetic, but um in Derpy deer. Derpy. Yeah, yes, that's it. That's derpy deer. Derpy deer, thank you. That's where I'm at. That's my cycle check-in. I feel like I want to be derp. A deer, a female deer, a jug of concern. Yeah, I like it.
SPEAKER_03I'm day nine, okay, which I was just saying to a friend of mine this morning. I'm like, oh my gosh, we're talking to Lucy Beach today. And I've got day nine, so hopefully that's gonna bring some like pre-ovulation energy to this conversation. But I don't feel like I've got day nine energy yet. So maybe we're gonna go on an upwards trajectory this afternoon. But I feel like it's a slow start.
SPEAKER_05Well, mine's a little bit complicated, just like me. You're for it. Yeah. Uh so I have the marina and as a result, I haven't had a regular period cycle. Actually, I've never had a regular period cycle. But a weird thing has happened since my best friend is now living with us. So having a housemate um has been very fun because I've basically just adopted her cycle now. She's the alpha. Yeah, yeah, she is, she definitely is. Hers finished a couple of days ago, so she's at that phase at the moment where um like her and my husband are cycling to the gym today. And you know, they're like making they're like, you know, they're they're prepping, they're food prepping. That's the phase that we're in at the moment. So that's my adopted phase.
SPEAKER_00And a couple of words for for how you're feeling right now. I don't know.
SPEAKER_05A little bit scared because I'm like, I don't know if I'm ready for all of this doing. Oh yeah, okay. Um no, I think it's always a very optimistic time in the household because uh when when there's three of us, we just kind of all we get a bit group thinking. And so it just takes two of us, and then the third one just kind of comes along for the ride. So at the moment it's like, cool, we're all in now. Apparently we're healthy people. Excellent. Cool. What about you, Ricky?
SPEAKER_04So I have like a three-week cycle, and that means that like the period prediction, you know, tracker app sort of stuff, they're like, oh, you're ovulating, but you're also having your period at the same time. I'm like, yeah, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they can't they can't handle that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So I don't, I don't really know. I'm kind of I suppose at the do phase. I don't know. Do you know it's it's hard to kind of it's kind of hard to judge for me.
SPEAKER_00So if you have a 21-day cycle, do you still have like how long is your actual period bit? Like six, seven days. That's a lot of bleeding. So badly. It must feel like a roller coaster. Yeah, it's terrible.
SPEAKER_04And the the really sad thing is, I mean, I shouldn't complain too much because this is actually a recent development. I think it's sort of perimenopausal, but I used to have a perfect cycle of like 28 days bang on the nose. It was so beautiful and it's been taken away from me. And I'm like, no.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay. So how long have you had the three-week scenario? Like, probably the last two years, I reckon. Right. How old are you? I am about to be 44. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03Mine's actually about the same. Um, so I'm somewhere between a 21 and 24-day cycle. Yeah. And it sucks. And my period's maybe five days out of that. And so I feel like you just get through that, and then you've got like a week of feeling okay, and then it's like, oh, and now we're back in this again. And it's been the last couple of years for me too, that this super short. And it's not quite short enough for like the medical society to be like, that's a problem short. It's still in the normal range, but it doesn't feel normal for what all of the literature says is a normal cycle.
SPEAKER_00Thanks so much for sharing all of that with me. And it's a good reminder that everyone, you know, we get sold this narrative of a cycle is 28 days and your period is five days, and off you go, have a good life. But actually, that's kind of unicornish, and lots of people don't fit into that circle box. Yeah. And so then it's like you can feel like, oh, there's something wrong with me. But actually, most people don't always fit into that. And just to yeah, have a bit more normalizing around the breadth and nuance of experiences.
SPEAKER_03I love like I've literally got your book right here, and I've been reading it the last uh couple of weeks. And I love I've been to your show. I love listening to the way that you talk about periods and celebrating the like the magic of it. But I'm really keen to understand for people who haven't felt that magic. Um how we kind of rewrite some of those stories. So the earliest story that I was told when I first got my period, I throw up. Um, and I went to a doctor when I was about 15, and he said, that's normal. It's normal for you to throw up, or it's normal for you to have pain. Everyone has pain. And I'm like, yeah, but I don't feel like it's normal that I throw up between one.
SPEAKER_00It's also like there's a big difference between common and normal. Correct. And so pain is common, it's not necessarily normal. Yeah. Throwing up might be common, but I don't think it is, and I don't think it's normal.
SPEAKER_03No, I was reading Dr. Lara Bryden's period of hair manual a few weeks ago, and I was literally on a plane, and I read a sentence saying no pain is normal, and I just burst into tears. And I'm like, I hope the guy sitting next to me doesn't think I'm completely crazy because I'm just sitting on a on a plane reading a book, sobbing quietly. But just that sentence of like, no pain is normal. And I'm 31 now, and so that's you know, 16 years I've been carrying that narrative of it's normal that you're in pain. So, my my question, I guess, for you is for any of our listeners who might be in a similar place, how can we change some of that story that they might have? Sorry, throwing you the hard questions right at the start.
SPEAKER_00I apologize. Um thank you so much for bringing that up at the beginning because often what people ask me is you know, tell me why you think what you think and how people can understand it. Oh, and by the way, what if it's not great? What do you do then? And I sort of think like it's actually really great to preface this whole conversation with you know, different kinds of cycles, different kinds of experiences. And also what you've just described to me feels like the epitome of how all of the imbalance in society kind of shows up inside your body. And you know, having a painful period or throwing up that doesn't happen in a vacuum. You know, we've got all of these things, you know, the the plastics, the hormone disruptors, all of these things that are just floating around in the ether, the sort of mechanical biological impacts on our body. Then you've got the cultural shit show, which has basically just canned women's bodies for, you know, thousands of years, thanks patriarchy. Um, where we're really conditioned from a young age to disown parts of our bodies and be disconnected from them. You know, in some cultures they have rites of passage that are really important that happened happen at around puberty for young people, to really acknowledge, like, yes, there is a lot going on in here and in here, you know, your brain, your body, your mind, the whole thing. And we're gonna carry you through that and we're gonna hold you through that, and we're gonna show you how to learn your body and this growing self that you have. We don't do anything like that in most Western countries, and certainly, you know, in Western Australia. You know, we really just sort of give people pads and tampons and just say good luck and you know, here's your Instagram account or whatever. And that's how we initiate people into their young adulthood. And there is just so much that isn't said, that isn't supported, particularly for girls, I think, um, to really acknowledge the emotional landscape of a cycle. It's just it's missing. And so all of this feeling stuff, then we internalize as being, you know, even just hearing you say, I'm sitting on the plane, I'm crying over this book. I hope the man next to me didn't think I was crazy. I mean, sorry, but fuck that guy. Do you know what I mean? You were sitting there having an epiphany. And actually, what would have been amazing if you'd have turned around and slapped him on the chest and said, Hey, dude, check this shit out. Did I just blow the mic then? Yeah. Warranted. Do you know what I mean? Like I just feel like we're at this really critical point of awareness and awakening. And the more we see, the more we see, and the more we see, the more we look, and the more we see, and the more horrifying it is that there's just these big swathes of our bodies that have been completely neglected, not just neglected, but actually demonized, weaponized, and used to keep women down and small. And for anyone who is, you know, navigating being a bleeding person in a world that, you know, really is a slave to the linear and then has to deal with extra pain or nausea or radically irregular cycles or PCOS or endo or PMDD, just take your pick from the party mix. Um I just want to give you a big hug and yeah, tell you that you're not alone and you're not imagining it and it's not in your head and that actually the world really needs to catch up because just because you don't have the same thing to offer all month long because of where you're at and what's going on for you, doesn't mean that what you have isn't worthy or isn't enough. And I think like we really get sold this lie that we're most useful when we're doing and we're giving and we're productive and we're busy and everything's like go, go, go, and yeah, oh you're amazing, oh look at you go. But you know, there are other times where you're more observant, you're more perceptive, you're more intuitive, you're more vulnerable. We need that. We can't just have everyone like trumping their way through life, you know, just supercharged and it's not real, you know. It's like yeah, so that's a really long answer. But I think just for for anyone who isn't having a good time with their period, just to yeah, really know that you're not alone and um you're not broken and you deserve support and understanding in all facets of your life, in your relationship, at home, at work, at the bus stop, on the plane. Amen.
SPEAKER_05A little part of me is like real mad at that guy, even though I've never met him and I don't know what his response was. Um, but I can just imagine him turning around and being like, oh, she's a bit emotional. I wonder if she's on a period at the moment.
SPEAKER_03Like And I was day two as well. Yeah. Literally.
SPEAKER_00It's in him. It's like it's hard because we have this narrative of, you know, all men think periods are gross and that you know we're a psycho when we're premenstrual. And we have proof of that. And then I think a lot of men, people without periods, they're like, Oh, I don't want to say anything because I don't want to get it wrong. And actually, like we just need a lot more curiosity and we need to understand bodies that aren't like ours, and whether that's being, you know, neurospicy or differently abled or having a period and being cyclical, like it's all good. It's just that we don't have language to have conversations about it. So everyone falls back into those stereotypes, and we're still, you know, when's the last time you saw someone with their period or premenstrual on TV or in media? It's just you don't see it. It's like it's just been eradicated.
SPEAKER_05So Or if you do, it's in a Exactly like a teenage girl getting really embarrassed because she bleeds through her pants or something like that. Like that's it. That's the only time you see it.
SPEAKER_00And it's not even interesting, it's just a device to then talk about some other horrible thing, which is just, yeah, really reductive and boring.
SPEAKER_05At what point, um, like what was sort of the impetus, I guess, for you to decide that this is what you wanted to do full-time? You've written a book now.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Um, you've got a stage show that um I went and saw with Ricky last year at the Fringe Festival. It was fantastic. We were in the front row. So what sort of made you take the leap to go and do that?
SPEAKER_00Um, I guess it was really about following momentum because it just felt like, you know, when you have like a special interest and you've been into it for a really long time, and then all of a sudden the world's like, hey, we're into this thing, and you're like, I've got this. Like, I'm ready.
SPEAKER_05This is my time. Hold my beer.
SPEAKER_00Yes, because you know, when I first learned about this approach to understanding the menstrual cycle, it was like 2008, and I was obsessed, and I really used it to, I guess, inform my creative practice. And it was really nice information to get at 27 because it really informed how I kind of understood myself, you know, Saturn Return and how I parented, and all these big kind of moments in your early-ish adulthood life. But no one was really that interested in talking about menstrual cycles in 2008. And then I happened to write the show on a bit of a whim at the suggestion of a random guy who was assisting on a music video and a friend. And I was like, Oh yeah, I'll just write a show. That'll be easy. It'll be like a sexual health education session, but kind of like a gig, but it will have songs and I'll have capes and I'll have chocolate and I'll give premenstrual women wine. And then three days before the show, my partner was I was practicing in front of him, and he was like, Oh, yeah, I mean, I got a lot of big ideas in there, Lucy. You could do with a sort of few diagrams. And I was like, Well, can't you draw me some? Like I'm you know, he's a creative director. And so anyway, one thing led to another, and I was like, Why don't you just be in it? 'Cause he had this iPad and you could draw on it. Yeah. Um so yeah, that was that just started it. And it and from there it just kind of kept flowing, pardon the pun. And yeah, I was invited to do TEDx talks and to publish a book. And do lots of speaking and workshops and things like that. And I just feel like there is a never-ending supply of places where you can apply this sort of approach and understanding and mending, you know. I really feel like it's sort of tending and mending a conversation about our bodies that's just not been had. And working in sexual health and and sort of being in that really um, I feel quite a hallowed space of talking in about things that are taboo. Just I mean, I blushed for a whole year when I worked in sexual health education. I was just constantly blushing because I was, you know, not used to talking about sexual health and pleasure and all of these kinds of things. But then I just sort of blushed my way out of it. And now I'm like, take me right to the pointy end. Like, I want to have this conversation. Like, I want to change things in a bigger, more systemic way. Because yeah, I'm nearly 45 and I'm just like, well, we've got to shake some shit up, you know, before we die. God, that got big details.
SPEAKER_03Did shake some shit up before I die. What a sentence. Yeah. Do you have a like a story that stands out that you want to share about like the impact that you've had on a on a on a young girl about her cycle?
SPEAKER_00This girl who sent me an email and this was years ago, when my book first came out, and she was like, Um, I'm writing to you because I used to feel really guilty when I would come home from school with my period and fall asleep on the couch. And I'd go to school, and all my friends would be like, Oh, well, last night I did my extension homework and I did this master chef exercise, and I was on the running machine, and la la la, and she'd be like, Oh, and then I'd feel even more guilty. And she was like, But now I know that when I've got my period, I need to rest, and I don't feel guilty, and I'm day two, and I'm having a cup of tea, and I'm writing you this email, and then I'm gonna go and have a nap. Yes, Queen. Yes, Queen. And you're 12 years old, and that's great. Done. Yeah. Love that.
SPEAKER_05So your husband part of your rough?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And and actually, just to circle back to your original question of doing this full-time, I couldn't do this work that is largely often unpaid if I didn't have the support of my partner. Um, and occasionally I'm like, oh, I hate this. I hate that I'm not contributing equally financially. I'm gonna go and, you know, do relief teaching or get a job in IKEA. And he just always is like, hey, you are contributing to the culture of our family, to our community. I really value your work. I think it's really important. And as a cis white guy, this is my bit to rectifying, you know, the privilege that I've had. And I just think, yeah, yeah, okay, cool, that's good.
SPEAKER_05It's it's good fun watching his drawings on stage. I think it definitely uh and it helps for those of us who struggle to focus just on the audible stuff as well, to have something to look at.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's a lot going on. There's songs, there's there's there's science, there's Richard's Doodles, yeah. And it's funny because I, you know, in the beginning I was like, oh yeah, he can just join me and help me and just be there while I'm, you know, prancing around giving out chocolate. But actually now I see how integral his presence is to the show, especially with young girls, because I can see them looking at me and like, oh yeah, she's like this lady singing and she's in a sparkly cape. And then like, oh, that man just he's like just drawing about periods. Oh, that's I guess that's normal. And I love that there's you know, six, seven, eight, nine, ten-year-old girls who are like, well, that's normal to see a you know a man be totally comfortable being a few. A man be totally comfortable, just you know, being a menstrual doodler, like more please, you know. What a sentence.
SPEAKER_03A menstrual doodler. I brought my partner to your show. Um, and I think for him, even more than me, he was like, I don't know any of this. Yeah. And understanding the different phases, and I do feel like sometimes he uses it against me when it's our dream phase. He's like, Kate, we're in our dream phase. We can't do anything. I'm like, we are not in our dream phase. I am. Yes. He's like, yes, we can't possibly do anything this weekend because you are in your dream phase, and we're all gonna dream together. Interesting. Um, but it's very cute. He's adopted all the language, and in the dream, he he he really wants to settle into the dream. That's his favorite phase.
SPEAKER_00And this is the thing, right? Men have all of these feelings just like we do. We're not, you know, it's not uh exclusive to us to feel extremely reflective and tired and slow or agitated and sparky and wanting to break things or you know, dynamic or connected or all of those things. It's just that we get a little bit more insight into how when we're gonna feel those things. And I think I feel like when I'm premenstrual, yeah, my Richard sometimes will just sort of, I don't know, he'll kind of like I I feel like my energy that I've been putting in and do and give, you know, before ovulation, after ovulation, and then I just get a bit like, oh, I'm kind of winding down. But then he might wind down, and I'm like, no. You can't wind, you're not, you've got to rise up and carry this ship. Like, I'm going down, you lift it, you know what I mean? Like, you know, and when I'm in that ovulatory phase, I will really make time to be like, tell me everything, what's going on? How are you? How's that thing at work? You know, tell me about your worm farm interest, like all of this, do you know, to really connect because I know like next week I won't. Yeah, next week I'm probably gonna be a bit of a bitch. Yeah. Well, I'm just I've got to, I've got to go in. Do you know what I mean? And that isn't a rejection of you, it's me rejecting the entire world. And if I don't do that, I can't connect with myself and kind of go to ground and be like, where's all the bits that I like and I care about again? And what am I coming out with? Like, I'll just get lost. Like, I need to kind of have that grace, you know. And it's not easy often for guys that you know things.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, you've got it so hard.
SPEAKER_00Well, no, they don't.
SPEAKER_05100%.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Who else is in your raft?
SPEAKER_00Who else is in my raft? Oh, do you know when I saw this question on the forum? I was like, oh, this really reminds me of like reading like The Woman's Day, you know, when there's some famous person and they're like, Who makes you who you are, Kylie Monogan? It's like, oh, my hairdresser and my therapist and my stylist, and you know, whatever. I love that your hairdresser was actually the first person on your list. I know. Well, I was just thinking about him. I've been seeing Matthew at Studio Lillet since I think maybe before my son was born, so like 20 years. And just how, you know, sometimes when you're like, oh God, I feel so sad and everything's crap, and then you go and get your fringe trimmed, and you're like, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. So just shout out to how people that really support your vision, you know, and have a vision for you. I think that's really um beautiful. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05All right. So we've got your hairdresser.
SPEAKER_00And my husband. Yeah, who else is on the right? Uh, my friend Taryn Gill, she is an amazing artist. Um so we're manifesting generators if that means anything to anyone. And it basically means that you just get really excited by things and you learn a little bit, and then you're like, yeah, I'm dumb. I don't need to do a whole degree in that. I'll just take a bit of that, and I'll take a bit of that, and then I'll just bounce off to the next thing. And it's really like, especially in the first half of your life, it's important if you're that person, just that you're gathering, you know, you got to gather things. And so, you know, when you have an idea and you're like, Oh, I really want to do this thing, and then you don't tell the right person, and you might tell someone and they're like, Oh, but yeah, but how will you do that? Because then you can't that thing there and that doesn't go there, and you won't be able to do that because, but then when you have that person that you call and they're like, Yeah, amazing, because then you could do this, and you're like, Yes, and then I could do that, and then it's just this yes and yes and yes and thing. And sometimes it doesn't even go anywhere. It's just that having that kind of freedom and that kind of conversation is really pivotal to the process of knowing where the hell we're supposed to be going. And so Taryn is just one of those people for me that she just always affirms what I'm doing and where I'm at and reminds me of like what I'm good at and just kind of holds that vision for me, you know?
SPEAKER_03You need them in your raft.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you need them just at the helm, you know, like yeah, for sure. We're so cute how you guys are all looking at each other. I know.
SPEAKER_05I was like, so I ages and ages ago, like they did this workshop with us and they were talking about yes and and yes but people. And my best friend, who is also my housemate now, is a yes and person. And so we bounce off each other a lot. My husband is a yes but person. Um and I feel like we rate a great. This is the ideal ratio, two yes ands, one yes but, because as someone to keep you from overcommitting yourself, right? Yeah, uh, it's dangerous having three yes ands. You have to have someone who brings you back down to earth occasionally and and can point out those flaws. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But you also need the optimism of the two yes ands together to keep things moving forward, especially at the kind of newness of an idea, because at that point you just need to follow that thread until it lands somewhere that feels true for you. And if you butt too early, then you don't even know where it could have gone.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then you don't get to decide if you want to stay there or you want to dig in or explore. You're just like, you've butted out, you know?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. I was also obsessed in your book. There's a sentence that you said when someone was talking about the show that you said, yes, I'm just so keen. Hang on, let me come back to you in a week, because I'm in my do phase right now. And let me just check if I still think pre-menstrual that this is a good idea to do this show.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And I think we all need a reminder if we're the especially if we're the yes and people, like yes and this week, but also maybe let's check in next week or the week after and see if we're still like 100% on board with the yes and.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think, and you know, you can't always take an entire cycle to think about things and run it through that filter, but maybe big stuff, you know, like moving house or I don't know, selling a kidney, like that kind of stuff. You want to be like, I need to really try this on through the different parts of who I am, you know. And I just think like even saying that, I can hear how some people might feel like, oh, that really sets us up, though, to be like, oh, we're so unpredictable and we're always changing and we're unreliable. And it's just not true. It's like you have this kernel of who you are, and then you take that through this rhythm, and each part of your cycle has wisdom to give you, you know, about when to go and when to slow and when to, you know, hold them and fold them.
SPEAKER_03I also really love that your two examples of big decisions are buy a house or sell a kidney.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Which honestly are not things I've had a lot of experience in. But um if you did, yes. Yeah, I would absolutely run it through a cycle for sure. And do you know what? If I was gonna sell a kidney, I would not be doing it. I would not be having the procedure when I was pre-menstrual. Like I did a workshop with a dental, a dental, I want to say dental artistry. I think that's what they're called. Sorry if that's not what you're called. So it was about awareness for their staff. They had a lot of female staff and a lot of not female staff and then a lot of clients, you know, they're constantly caring for people in quite an intimate way. And just the conversation around, hey, if people are going to come in and like get their jaw reconstructed or their wisdom teeth removed, ask them where they're gonna be in their cycle and props schedule it at a time where they're not going to have the lowest pain threshold, you know, of the month. Yeah, set them up to have an experience that is scaffolded. Yeah. You know, like it's honestly this, you could just, it's everywhere.
SPEAKER_05I truly wish that more men realized in particular, but not even just men, like people in general, because there are plenty of women out there who uh plenty of people who have periods who have a fairly standard period and don't experience some of the things that others of us unfortunately have to deal with on a regular basis. One of my good friends has two days a month where she can't leave the house. She has to be right near the toilet because she has to empty her menstrual cup at least once an hour. Because like, and they hold quite a lot, peeps. Like, I don't know if we've ever used one or not. Tampons is not even an option.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And having to like trying to do sport, trying to work from an office during those kinds of times, like those people who are, you know, making decisions about whether or not we should all go back into the office or whether it's okay to work from home a few days a month or something, like these are the kinds of conversations we need to be having in workplaces to make sure that people are aware that not everyone is having the same experiences. For sure.
SPEAKER_03Where's our LinkedIn post the other day where someone was like, Oh, we talk about periods too much. We need to stop talking about them. And it's so fascinating because like the week before I'd posted about my experience and my pain, and I got like nearly a hundred comments and messages and DMs of people being like, Oh my god, everything you just said is exactly how I feel. And I thought I was the only one. And then, like, a couple of weeks later, someone who has very similar symptoms to me, she messaged me and she's like, Oh, Kate, I just got my period again. I just threw up again. And like, she didn't want anything from me other than to share and experience and to like, then we were talking about doctors and things that we've tried. That exists, and then we still have some women who are like, Oh, no, no, no, we talk about it too much. Let's just stop talking about it. Like, but no, we we we need this because that girl on LinkedIn feels like she's alone. And I felt like I was alone.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's actually the bar is so low. We're not asking for very much, we're just asking to be able to have a conversation about what's actually happening to us while we exist in this world and interface with all of our senses and our bodies working in the way that they do, and like her just speaking with you and being able to say, This is what happened to me, and you saying, Yeah, that happened to me too, like that's it. It's just acknowledgement, it's just affirmation of like you exist, this is real, it's not in your head. And I think the fact that people don't like that happening on LinkedIn or wherever they don't like it, especially when they're women, is often an indication of this sort of internalized misogyny that they're they're maybe not able to have those conversations even with themselves. And I get it, not everyone is obsessed with the menstrual cycle like I am and wants to make a song and dance about it, and you know, but I just think it's kind of always happening to us. Do you know what I mean? Like it's pretty interesting that we move and ebb and flow like that, and it it's a lens, you know, that just it doesn't mean I don't have other interests. It's just that that's like checking the weather, you know, like and if you can't even check the weather, how are you supposed to just to keep dragging this metaphor out? How are you supposed to dress appropriately or plan your activities if you don't know that it's gonna be a code three thunderstorm? Do you know? Like, what are we supposed to do? Just all put our blinkers on and never, you know.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna have to use that in our group chat of like, sorry guys, it's a code three thunderstorm today. Torrential.
SPEAKER_00What's the next challenge for you? Um getting into the police force and the army in the AFL. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I kind of want to do that while I'm really deep in perimenopause because I feel like I'm, you know, learning it as I go through it. And you know, I'm I've sort of got a foot in both camps. Like I I think that no one should suffer and people should have the best of what is available to alleviate symptoms that can be crippling. And I also think there is an absolute lack of space to just experience what is a very powerful time in our lives. Yeah, so I'm really excited to kind of use that fire for good. I used to say at the end of my greatest period, I see you in a show for 10 years about menopause. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. And now I'm actually there and I'm like, oh my god, I don't want to do a show about menopause, I want to go and hide in a cave for ten years. But I just think, yeah, that clarity of really knowing, like, yeah, where the message needs to land and and how. I'm wanting to be useful. I ultimately want to be of service. You know, I enjoy doing this and I find it endlessly fascinating, but I I do want to be useful. I really want to be useful.
SPEAKER_05Who do you need to get you there?
SPEAKER_00Um, I need more men to give a shit. Um, if you could arrange that, that'd be great. I think I need people who like maybe if you're on a P and C Yeah to advocate because it's one of those things like people often message me and they're like, Oh, I need this in my school, I need it for my kids, and I, you know, I need this, and I'm like, Yes, great. And is there anyone someone pay me for it, please? Yeah, exactly. And you know, ultimately, I think in an ideal world, people would just do this themselves and it would be free. So I often have this sort of struggle because I'd I would like to make a living, but I would also like this to be something that you know, I'd like to do myself out of a job, you know what I mean? Yeah, but I'm really excited at the moment because I'm having some pretty cool conversations with girl schools in particular who are like, oh, we've just realized that we've got 700 menstruating girls and maybe you could help. And I'm like, Yes, yes, I am ready. I am so ready. So yeah, I think advocates and people who want to invest in it, and men who are like, yeah, I can see how it would be beneficial to my place of work to have more understanding, to have more open conversation, doesn't mean that you've got to clock on and say what day you are and your productivity is measured against your cycle or anything scary like that. It's just like, how do we treat people more humanely? How do we make them feel more like a whole person at work, at home? And it's happening in real time. It's like I'm doing stuff with girls, but I also know probably the first time their mums have had a conversation like this. You know?
SPEAKER_03And where can our listeners find you if they want to introduce you to the police or the AFL in the bar mostly no?
SPEAKER_00Relate what time of the month it is. Yeah. I was gonna say Instagram, but actually I now have this app called Clear Space, and it doesn't let me get into my app unless I do squats. So I'm actually less on social media, but I am on there a bit once I've done the squat. That is genius. I know, I know. And I when I first did it, I was like, oh, I'll just turn this off, it'll be so boring, or I'll find some other way to get in. But I you can't. You gamify it now. Yeah, I know. And then when I am on Instagram, I'm I'm I'm there and I'm like, oh, this is my reward, and my thighs are still tingling because I've done the work. So maybe Instagram Lucy's Peaches or my website, which is Lucypeeach.com, and you can message me there and tell me about how you want to change the world and we can collaborate and do something cool.
SPEAKER_03Unfortunately, once again, we are utterly out of time.
SPEAKER_05That's right. But if you have a story about how menstruation has impacted your life, or if you just want to cycle check in with us, we'd love to hear from you. And where can people reach us? We are on Instagram, no squats required, at raftpodcast, or you can email hello at raftpodcast.com.
SPEAKER_03And for previous episodes or to find out more, don't forget to check out our website, raftpodcast.com.
SPEAKER_05Thanks for listening, Rafters. Catch you next time.
SPEAKER_03Oh God. No. Love you, Kate. You're using this day nine energy on me, aren't you? Yeah. She's got due energy, she can pour water.