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Welcome to "No F**ks Given," where we redefine menopause as a superpower. Hosted by Holly Lamb, a women's health coach, who is navigating early menopause. This podcast offers empowering guidance on women's health and navigating perimenopause with confidence. From nutrition tips to fitness advice and mindfulness practices, we cover it all. But here's the twist: it's all about embracing your most authentic, unapologetic self. We're here to help you reclaim your power, say goodbye to societal norms, and live life on your own terms—no f**ks given. Welcome to the revolution!
Holly Lamb (00:00.854)
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the No Fucks Given podcast with me, your host Holly Lamb. This week's episode is all about healing from period shame. Now this can be quite a big issue for a lot of women. They have struggles accepting and loving their cycle and how our
bleed is seen as something dirty, something to be ashamed of, and how we need to try and change the societal stigma around that. Because actually, when we start to deep dive into our cycle, there's so much beauty, empowerment, wisdom held within it, that this has been hidden from us for so long, that it's
a time that we need to start taking that power and we need to heal from this period shame in order to be able to do that. period shame goes back, you know, hundreds and hundreds of years, you know, the societal taboos, cultural myths, the way the media portrays it. So I just want to deep dive into that a little bit and have a look where this comes from.
So if we look back to, you know, societal taboos, for example, for centuries, menstruation has been shrouded in secrecy. It was treated as a subject to avoid and many cultures have framed it as something unclean or impure. And then that's led to us feeling isolated when we were menstruating and even been restricted.
from certain activities like for years and years we're told don't exercise on your period, don't do anything. When actually sometimes that can be the cure to help women who are experiencing period cramps. So, you know, these taboos not only create a sense of shame, but also silence. And there's no open conversations about menstruation. It's getting better.
Holly Lamb (02:24.726)
but there's still this stigma and this shame around our bleed when actually it's a time where you're going to step into these most expansive states of consciousness. If you are able to practice menstrual cycle awareness and honor each phase of your cycle. So, you know, when people, when women are made to feel that their natural bodily functions are shameful and dirty,
then that just makes the stigma worse and it makes it harder for women to seek support or to actually understand what's going on in their bodies. And there's so many myths surrounding menstruation and that's just contributing to the period shame that so many women feel. And it's often portrayed as a sort of curse or an affliction, something that we should be ashamed of. And some...
cultures actually historically believe that menstrual blood could harm crops and animals and others thought that menstruating women could spoil food. Like it's crazy to think what was happening to women just because of a natural bodily function.
Holly Lamb (03:46.764)
So all these myths have done is reinforce the idea that menstruation is something dangerous or something to be feared. And that's had a lasting psychological impact, especially when that's passed down through generations. So obviously it's not like that now in regards to we think that it's going to spoil food or crops, but there's still this deep rooted psychological impact that is having on women that's
been passed down through generations, generations, the lineage that's held within our body that we are still experiencing now. And the media even now has played a significant role in reinforcing period shame by treating menstruation as something embarrassing, something as disgusting. You know, a lot of adverts up until recently for any kind of menstrual products, they
frequently avoided anything that resembled blood and they would show blue liquid instead. It's like, why? Like it's a completely natural thing that women go through on a monthly basis and you're showing it as a blue liquid and that's just making it seem to the world that this natural process is alien or abnormal, which it's not. It's completely not. It's actually...
our power and that's what they're scared of. They're scared of women realizing their power that's held within them. And if they're able to tap into this and explain this to other women, then they're fucked. know, the top down system is fucked because once women step into their power, there's no stopping us. So getting back to the media, as I was saying before I went on my run.
You know, it's, it's never depicted in anything that's positive or even neutral, especially in movies or TV shows. If you think back, especially like things from the nineties that it's, it's that time of the month or, you know, things like that are derogatory. And, you know, when it's mentioned, it's often in the context of humor or disgust, or it's just reinforcing those negative perceptions and making it feel like something.
Holly Lamb (06:10.646)
that we must hide from the world or apologize for. know, in these societal taboos and the myths and the way the media portrays women bleeding collectively, it fosters a culture where menstruation is viewed as something to be concealed. You know, the discourage, open conversation.
and perpetuate complete misinformation, making it so difficult for everybody to understand and embrace the power of the menstrual cycle because it's a completely normal and empowering aspect of life. So confronting these factors, we need to start with education and that starts with our children, girls and boys to understand.
What the menstrual cycle is, what the power is, how women's hormones fluctuate and how they will feel different at different points in their cycle because of the change in the hormones and that's okay and about honoring each phase. And we need those open conversations and the willingness to challenge these narratives that has shaped these perceptions about how we menstruate for so, so, so many years.
It really comes down to the individual healing their period shame first. And then that's going to ripple out to the people around you, the younger generation, even the older generation, even if you're not menstruating anymore, you can still go back to that first bleed, that menarche moment and think, what was it like? Because that's probably shaped how your bleed journey, your cycle journey.
has happened and that's how you're feeling because of that one instance. So if it was a negative thing, if it was something that you didn't talk about, something that your mom didn't really discuss with you, you were just giving a pad or a tampon and kind of told to get on with it, then that is gonna shape how you feel about your cycle and that's where it needs to start and that's where the healing needs to start.
Holly Lamb (08:40.588)
So period shame isn't just gonna be affecting your self-esteem, it can also affect your body image and your mental health. Because like I said, if you've grown up with this stigma around it, or if you came from quite a conservative background, then you're probably not gonna have open conversations about periods. So...
This is where self-esteem issues might come in. This is where body image problems may come in and even down to mental health issues. Because if you're carrying that with you each and every cycle and you're not able to move through that, your body is holding onto that. And this is where, you know, heavy periods, extremely painful periods, anything that is not the norm in your cycle, this is where this could be coming from. And this is why...
healing this period shame is so, so, important. You know, internalizing the shame around your menstruation can lead to such a disconnect from your menstrual cycle. And with menstrual cycle awareness, you are able to bring that back into some sort of harmony because the more we are disconnected from our cycle,
the more we're disconnected from our body. And then again, this is where the symptoms start to come up. If you've been to the doctors and they're like, we can't find anything wrong, just take the pill and kind of get on with it. They're not deep diving into the connection that you have with your cycle. And most women struggle with symptoms, menstrual issues, because they are so disconnected from their bodies and their cycle.
So in order to bring this back into alignment, in order to bring this back into harmony, you need to connect back to your cycle, which in turn connects you back to your body. Practice in menstrual cycle awareness, understanding the four seasons, understanding how you can honor each phase in order to bring more awareness back to your body, which in turn helps to heal the symptoms that you're experiencing.
Holly Lamb (11:10.046)
I want women to realise that understanding your menstrual cycle can shift your perspective with a lot of things in your life. And it's going to bring back a sense of pride and such a massive self-awareness because this is what in this society we are lacking. Self-awareness. Awareness of ourselves, how we react to things.
things that are happening in our body and rather than just going to a doctor and asking for a pill or them just putting you on a pill, take a step back and think, what can I do for me? When did this start? What are the things that keep coming up again and again? And this can be quite uncomfortable for a lot of women because especially in the world we live in, we want the quick fix. We want everything done. We want...
to just kind of get on with our lives. But in order to be able to grow as a person and tap into your cycle and use this as the tool to grow, we need to connect back to it. And you do this by honoring the four phases. And each phase has its strengths and its insights and it's about listening.
to your body's natural rhythms and embracing each phase as an opportunity for personal growth, creativity and just empowerment because the cycle holds so much power and wisdom. And if you are perimenopausal or menopausal or just before, or even in your twenties, if you're listening to this and even if you're in your twenties, you can start practising this at any age.
and you will start to see a complete change in your external reality once you start to focus on the internal. Because we know everything that we see in this world came from thought and it came from the internal before it was created in the external. So in order for us to be able to heal things that are happening to our body, we first need to create
Holly Lamb (13:30.132)
a loving space within our body. And the cycle helps you do this. It helps you moves with the ebbs and flows, the natural rhythms of your body in order to bring harmony back to everything.
Holly Lamb (13:53.056)
So we need to start to transform this shame into empowerment. We need to be educating ourselves. We need to understand the cycle, understand why we feel this way about our bodies. And this is what I offer in my four week menstrual cycle awareness coaching. We deep dive into
the cycle awareness. So it's about the education, self acceptance, having the open conversation, doing guided practices to take you into your cycle in order for you to understand why you're experiencing it in a certain way. Because this is what I did and this is has helped me overcome all the obstacles that I had with my cycle and my early menopause diagnosis. This has been the missing piece of the puzzle.
So absolutely, we need to be doing all the lifestyle things. We need to be exercising, eating well, know, prioritizing sleep, but the missing piece of the puzzle, and this is what I found for so many women, is this menstrual cycle awareness work, because this is how we turn the shame of our bleed into empowerment. And then it's about having open conversations with friends and family as well. And especially if you are struggling with your cycle,
Even in relation to like libido and things, especially when you start going through perimenopause, your libido can drop off a cliff and then your partner thinks it's their fault, which it isn't. It's the hormones that are happening and the transitions that are happening and sitting down and having those open conversations with your partner is going to help to heal that. And this is what happened with me explaining that it wasn't him and that it was something that was happening for me.
not to me, because everything happens for us for a reason to show us where we're lacking in certain areas. And it helped me connect deeply back to my cycle in order to realize that through the spring and the summer, that's when sexual energies are going to be rising. And this is where I lean into those rather than fighting those. So there's so much power within the cycle that you can start to sink your whole life to it. But if you really do have that shame, that
Holly Lamb (16:18.078)
shame around your period, then booking in and doing this four week course with me would be the perfect solution because it's gonna help you get to the root cause of that and heal that in order to fall back in love with your cycle. You we need to discuss the power of reclaiming language and using positive words when we're talking about menstruation and not been like, period, and been quiet or have you got a pad, you know.
No, be open, be honest. I am bleeding, I am menstruating, this is how I'm feeling, I need time on my own. And being confident in that and taking back that negative connotations that happen around menstruation. So sometimes it can help to create little rituals, self-care practices, to help you step into
your bleed. So if you've got a piece of jewelry that you love, maybe you just wear that when you bleed or you manage to take a couple of days off from your life. If you know when you're going to bleed, if you can just carve out a couple of days where you are able to move at the pace of your being and not at the pace of the go-go world that we live in, then this is where big insights come in this is what happened with me. This is where the expansive states of consciousness came in and
I embrace every aspect of my cycle, the light and the shade in order to move and grow as a person. And when you start to do that, this is when these expansive states start to happen in your menstruation. And it's quite enlightening. And this is why I'm focusing more on the cycle because this is where my true passion is. And this is what came to me in my bleed in order to show women the power.
Because once they understand this power and they start stepping into it, then everything else starts slotting into place. And that is exactly why I'm doing this cyclical power program, this four week program. There's some women in it already and they're absolutely loving it. And it is one to one. We get four calls and it's all about you and you understanding your cycle and understanding how to honor each phase.
Holly Lamb (18:44.002)
So what I encourage you to do is be the ally for the other women in your life by promoting open conversations and celebrating each other. So we may not all be bleeding at the same time, but when we have open conversations around it, then this helps to ripple that out and other women will start to do that. And it may take time.
but you can make a change. I know you're only one person, but you can make that change. I'm only one person and I'm making that change. So why can't you? You don't have to be doing what I'm doing. You don't have to be coaching other women. You can just have a conversation with your daughter, your sister, your mother, your friend, whoever it is, and just plant that seed of your cycle is something beautiful. Your cycle is something amazing.
that you are able to embody each and every single month. And that is all I want. I want to show women the power that is within their cycle and truly connect back to their bodies. So if you're interested in working with me in this four week program, then all the information's in the show notes, or you can message me on Instagram, Hormone Harmony Coach. And as always,
I love to hear your biggest takeaways and if anything's moved you, there's been any light bulb moments. My DMs are always open and I love chatting to you. So thank you so much for joining me this week and I'll see you all next week.