The Soft Rebellion Podcast

Painful, heavy, chaotic periods have become so normalised that many women are told to simply “get on with it.” But what if that narrative is wrong?In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Gemma — former NHS nurse, herbalist and founder of The Well Woman Project — to challenge the deeply rooted cultural and medical narratives around menstrual pain. We explore why period pain has been normalised, how shame and silence have shaped menstrual health care, and what it really means to reclaim agency over your body.If you’ve ever been told your symptoms are “just part of being a woman,” this episode is for you.In this conversation …💫 We name the historical — and present — menstrual landscape shaped by shame, silence and an illness-based narrative. We unpack how this narrative formed and why it needs dismantling.💫 Gemma shares her own menstrual journey — how her experience of “chaotic cycles” and various diagnoses sparked a deep question: How can I support myself beyond the conventional allopathic route? That quest ultimately led her to specialise in menstrual health and write her book.💫 We redefine menstrual health and examine why painful periods are not “normal.” Pain is a communication tool. When we understand the physiology behind it — particularly the role of inflammation — we begin to see what may worsen symptoms and what can genuinely help ease them.💫 We discuss why and how menstrual health matters for vaginal health and overall mental wellbeing!💫 Tracking your cycle isn’t just about fertility — it’s about gathering meaningful data. Gemma shares how women and menstruators can resist medical gaslighting, advocate for themselves and feel more confident in conversations with healthcare professionals.More about Gemma:Gemma is a former NHS nurse, herbalist and founder of The Well Woman Project. With over 20 years’ experience in health and wellbeing, she specialises in helping women decode painful, heavy and chaotic periods that have too often been dismissed or minimised.She is the author of Periods Aren’t Meant to Bloody Hurt and an outspoken advocate for better conversations around menstrual health and conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and PMDD.Blending clinical insight with holistic practice, Gemma challenges medical gaslighting, empowers women to understand their bloodwork and symptoms, and teaches them how to reclaim agency over their bodies.Her work sits at the intersection of feminism, physiology and practical action. She is known for her grounded, straight-talking approach, depth of knowledge, and refusal to accept that debilitating periods are “just part of being a woman.”---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Gemma Barry: You can find her webpage hereCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

Yes, how do rites of passage shape women’s lives?In this episode, former homebirth midwife, teacher, writer, and menstrual, childbirth, and menopause educator Jane Hardwicke Collings joins me to explore how menstrual shame, birth trauma, and menopause have shaped women’s identities for generations — and how we can reclaim these rites of passage as sources of power rather than pain.Together we explored and talked about … 💫 Jane’s journey — the breadcrumbs she followed that led her to become the woman and leader she is today, and how “suddenly everything made sense” when her midwifery practice met the art of shamanism.💫 A powerful teaching Jane shares: “How we move through our rites of passage directly influences how we live our lives.” She speaks in depth about the blood rites and the women’s mysteries, guiding us into a deeper understanding of these sacred transitions.💫 We also explore the negative cultural narratives surrounding menstruation, childbirth, and menopause — the medicalisation and pathologising of the female body and its life phases. Jane shares what happens when we do not consciously honour our transitions — from menarche (our first bleed) to motherhood and menopause — and how these experiences silently teach us what our culture believes about women’s value and worth.💫 As Jane says, “The menstrual cycle is running your life, whether you pay attention to it or not.” So we might as well turn toward it. We might as well listen. We might as well learn to move with it instead of against it — allowing it to guide us into deeper self-trust and embodied wisdom.Enjoy this episode. If you have ever felt disconnected from your cycle, confused about your transitions, or longing to reclaim the sacredness of your body, this conversation is for you.BIG LOVE and happy Sunday!Flurina This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

In this grounded and liberating conversation, we speak about birth work, abortion, and reproductive justice through the lens of doula work, activism, inclusivity, and embodied experience. My guest, Sara Bakr invites us to rethink who birth support is for, what care can look like, and why bodily autonomy must be at the center of it all and a free Palestine.Sara is a Black, mixed, pro-abortion full spectrum doula. She created Ancestral Birth out of pure necessity as people need and deserve better support through all pregnancy outcomes. In short, she radically supports and gently nurtures individuals and families through life transition. Her personal mission is to improve sexual and reproductive health services as she believes in reproductive justice and bodily autonomy for all.In this conversation we talked about:💫 Sara’s multicultural upbringing between Egypt, Norway, Sudan and now North London — and how learning to embrace change from a young age shaped her path into birth work.💫 Living in a fat, mixed-ethnicity body and what it means resisting the somatic norms that teach us which bodies are acceptable and which are not.💫 What a doula is, what full-spectrum support means, and why care must include all pregnancy outcomes.💫 How continuous support and advocacy can impact safety, communication, pelvic health, and overall birth experiences.💫 The financial privilege of accessing doula care and the systemic inequalities within maternity services.💫 Abortion doula work, supporting loss without shame, and why reproductive justice and bodily autonomy are at the heart of Sara’s activism.I hope you enjoy this conversation!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Sara Bakr: You can find her webpage here, follow Samara on Instagram here.Credits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

Dearest listener, dear community, THANK YOU for all your feedbacks and messages for the health vagina project - it is my absolute pleasure! 💜In this episode together with Dunya Ntinizi we continue and deepen the conversation about how somatic movement practices can support us in healing pelvic health challenges and reconnecting to the wisdom of the female body.Dunya shares her lived experience, professional insights, and spiritual journey, inviting us to explore the pelvic bowl as more than anatomy — as a place of memory, healing, and profound resourcefulness.In this conversation …💫 We continue weaving the meaning of the pelvic bowl as a place of healing and resourcefulness. Dunya shares why this is the place in our female bodies where “we hold our stories,” how we can meet the pelvic bowl as a “patient listener,” and how to navigate the contrast between our inner experience and the outer world.💫 Dunya speaks about her Congolese roots and Christian upbringing, which sparked an inner rebellion and led her to realize that her body is more than just a body — it is her most sacred textbook.💫 She shares how the practice of Longo, a healing dance rooted in Congolese spirituality, guided her to uncover and create her unique somatic approach to working with the female body: Somapresence.💫 We explore why and how somatic movement practices are an essential piece of the puzzle on the path to healing pelvic health challenges.💫 Dunya explains what Somapresence is and facilitates a guided movement process rooted in the inherent expression of the pelvic bowl.💫 We speak about why working with the female body is an ongoing process of opening to the unknown — and how pivotal life experiences led her to discover her own womanhood.I hope you enjoy this conversation. BIG LOVE,Flurina This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

Welcome to the fourth conversation of The Healthy Vagina Project - through the lens of Somatic Movement and Birth Work!This conversation follows a golden thread woven through the landscapes of this project: the cyclical nature of the pelvis, sensation, movement, and life itself. The pelvis as a place of deep sensory intelligence. A place that holds grief and pleasure, descent and rising, birth and death. A place that remembers.Together we explore what becomes possible when we trust the body’s timing, allow sensation to guide us, and meet pain not as something to fix, but as something alive, relational, and meaningful.Samara Concepción is a holistic birth doula, a women’s health practitioner, and a social artist, based in London. She is devoted to elevating women’s experiences of womanhood, pregnancy, birth and motherhood through reacquainting them with their deepest source of truth and power, which is their innate body wisdom. Samara is the host of the Birth: A New Story podcast, which is a gathering place for visionary voices to explore what it means to be human and welcome new life into the world with reverence, and is the director of the emerging documentary film by the same name.In this conversation we explored:💫  Descent and rising: In moments of pain and grief, descent is natural and doesn’t need to be fixed. It’s a rich, layered experience that fosters connection. Samara shares how she navigated these moments, especially when the descent feels endless, and highlights the importance of not descending in isolation — we need the presence of others.💫  The pelvic bowl brings us into deep relationship with the earth, natural law, and creative cycles. The pelvis has the capacity to feel the deepest rivers of grief and pleasure, birth and death, and connects us to something eternal and intangible, if we dare to listen.💫  Why it’s essential to begin listening and nurturing a relationship with our bodies if we are on a journey to heal pain and physical challenges.💫  Samara shares how her dance training led her to somatic movement, feeling like a return to the initial desire to move for pure pleasure and joy, and how she learned to let her body lead again.💫  What inspired Samara to become a guide and teacher in birth work and women’s health was her exploration of the question: “How would birth unfold if women were invited to meet their bodies’ innate wisdom through somatic movement?”💫  We can all begin to inhabit our pelvic bowl physically by attuning to sensation and discovering resources of aliveness and pleasure — it’s a subtle and profound process.I hope you enjoy this conversation!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Samara Concepción: You can find her webpage here, follow Samara on Instagram here.- Other sources mentioned: You can listen to my conversation with Carly Mountain here, and you can explore Samara`s podcast and her conversations with Carly hereCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What does it mean to truly listen to the body — especially the pelvic bowl — rather than trying to fix it? In this conversation with Avni Trivedi, we explore women’s pelvic health through touch, osteopathy, grief, and embodiment. Together, we speak about how personal health journeys shape our work, how unprocessed experiences live in the body, and how practices of touch, movement, and self-care can gently support healing and transformation.Avni Trivedi is an experienced and intuitive practitioner using touch and movement to help people to connect with their bodily wisdom. She is a Women’s Health and Paediatric Osteopath, Birth Doula, Zero Balancer and Non-Linear Movement Teacher. Her podcast, Speak From the Body’ explores themes such as embodiment, stress, trauma, hormones and pleasure. Avni runs regular workshops called ‘Moving Through Loss’ to gently address grief in the body.I very much loved the daily live self care inputs Avni shared with us at the very end, so to stay with us or return if you take a break in between.In this conversation, we talked about:💫  Avni’s path, and how her personal experiences and health challenges shaped her journey into becoming the women’s health practitioner and teacher she is today. She shares what bodywork means to her, and why touch is such a potent tool “to bring us back into our physical body” and to feel truly listened to.💫  Avni’s way of practising osteopathy, and the other philosophies and healing modalities she weaves into her work with patients and women.💫  The strangeness of learning about sacred yoni work through a Western lens, even though the language and inspiration come from Indian and Eastern traditions. We explore how to navigate these entanglements as practitioners, and the importance of naming them.💫  Experiences of grief in and through the female body — such as early pregnancy loss or abortion — and how these may lie at the root of pelvic health issues. Avni shares about her grief workshops and how we can begin to meet these experiences and emotions in more resourced and supportive ways.💫  Our shared fascination with the pelvic bowl as a place where we tend to store so much shame and pain, while it also holds the very medicine needed for healing and transformation.💫 Avni’s daily self-care and pelvic bowl practices, and the “1%” she returns to in order to nurture her body and soul.I hope you enjoy this conversation!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Avni Trivedi: You can find her webpage here, listen to her podcast Speak From the Body podcast here and follow her on Instagram here.Credits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

Have you ever wondered what it truly means to practice yoga through a woman’s lens — one that honors the body’s wisdom, its fluid nature, intuition and (hormonal) life transitions?In this episode, I’m joined by Lynn Murphy, an experienced practitioner and teacher in women’s yoga, the active birth movement and pelvic health. We explore how her personal journey — from menarche to menopause, activism to artistry — shaped a lifelong dedication to supporting women’s wellbeing through yoga informed by the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli.In this conversation, we talked about:💫 Lynn’s personal journey as a woman and artist — from menarche to birth and postpartum and menopause — and how this has shaped her path into yoga, the birth world and women’s health.💫 Why following our intuition, this deep inner voice of our true calling is part of a healthy vagina and pelvic bowl!💫 What Lynn means with “Yoga through a women’s lens”; Lynn shared about the pioneering teaching of Vanda Scaravelli and how her teaching has (and continuously does) transformed Lynn`s yoga practice.💫 What lies at the core of this approach to yoga, namely being present with gravity, the breath and a fluid spine so that we can cultivate a sense of soft strength, find more ease through less effort and reconnect with the body`s inherent intelligence.💫 Lynn`s offer, Women’s Yoga; Lynn shared how she works with women of all ages and stages and how this practice can support pelvic health, nervous system regulation, and hormonal transitions … and why this is an important part of the pelvic health toolbox.💫 How through these conversations we learn what The Healthy Vagina Project is truly about; Inclusion and awareness, to acknowledge that the whole body is healing the part - to be with the pelvic bowl is asking us to be with the whole body - as practitioners and patients, to name that  we know as much as we don’t know and through talking between practitioners we can weave a web of support for all women, that the alternative way of healing can exist next to the medical path, there is space for both / and … on all levels!More about Lynn:Lynn Murphy is a yoga teacher, trainer, and birth trauma recovery practitioner with over 30 years’ experience supporting women’s pelvic health. Her work is trauma-informed and pelvic-centred, helping women reconnect with their pelvis through embodied yoga, breath, and practical practices. She mentors women through life transitions and trains teachers and therapists in programmes such as Pelvic Love Sessions, Womb to World, and Mother Love. Lynn is deeply committed to helping women feel empowered, resourced, and at home in their bodies.I hope you enjoy this conversation!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Lynn Murphy: Learn more about her work here and follow her on Instagram @herplacebylynnCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

I am so excited and deeply grateful to be launching The Healthy Vagina Project with this conversation.This project has been living in my body and heart for a long time, and it feels incredibly meaningful to begin it with a topic that is so often unnamed, misunderstood, or shamed: Intimacy, sexuality, and sexual energy as a vital part of pelvic and vaginal health.In this episode, I’m joined by Daven Lee, an integrative craniosacral therapist and intimacy coach for women who feel a deep, unmet sexual longing.After over a decade of working with women, she recognizes this longing is not just about sex, but is actually a coming from what she calls the Sexual Soul - our essential life force energy that expresses in everything we do. Through her 1:1 work, as well as workshops and online programs, she helps women trust their desire, heal their sexual past, and embody their feminine power so they can blossom into their full expression sexually - and in everything they do.In this conversation, we explore why intimacy and sexuality are not optional extras when it comes to pelvic health, but rather core expressions of this part of our body - and why they are so often the most silenced.In this episode we talked about:💫 What led Daven to this work, including her own lived experience of longing, desire, and the moment she realised that turning away from intimacy would mean turning away from life itself.💫 How intimacy coaching supports women on their healing journeys - emotionally, energetically, and physically.💫 Why sexual energy is not about performance or orgasm, but about cultivating life force, presence, and deep listening.💫 Insights from Sacred Tao teachings, including Yin and Yang, polarity, and feminine cultivation beyond gender.💫 Why intimacy and sexual energy are a crucial missing piece of pelvic and vaginal health - and a foundational pillar of The Healthy Vagina Project.💫 A powerful guided practice to connect with your pelvic bowl, sexual energy, and the subtle rise of Yin and Yang.💫 How to meet sexual trauma and abuse with gentleness, resourcing, and pathways toward healing.This conversation invites us to slow down, listen deeply, and reconnect with the wisdom held in our pelvis—the place where truth lives, and where healing can begin.---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Daven Lee: Learn more about her work here and follow her on Instagram @hellosexualsoulCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

In this end-of-year (and Christmas 🧑‍🎄) conversation, I’m joined by Asha Frost for a deeply grounding and timely exploration of cyclical wisdom, rest, and healing. As we move toward winter solstice and the intensity of the holiday season, we speak about slowing down, honouring ancestral knowledge, and remembering that our worth is not tied to productivity. This episode invites you into the deep medicine of inner wintering — in the body, the creative process, and life itself.Asha Frost is an Indigenous (Ojibwa) healer, best-selling author of the book You Are The Medicine, speaker and guide. Drawing on her ancestral knowledge and innate gifts, Asha has become a prominent figure in the field of Indigenous healing, garnering recognition on both local and international platforms.She has created transformative experiences for thousands with heart, profound wisdom and unwavering dedication to her heritage.In this episode we talked about:💫 The origins of The Inner Winter: Asha shares what led her to write the book, emerging from a deep place of survival and her own resistance to rest, shaped by oppressive systems that equate worth with productivity.💫 Writing as decolonial healing: She reflects on how creating the book became a personal journey of unwinding colonial harm and internalised narratives around doing, striving, and earning rest.💫 Living with chronic illness: Drawing from her lived experience with lupus, Asha speaks honestly about illness, rest, and healing, challenging the shame and blame often attached to diagnosis and the belief that being unwell is our fault.💫 The gifts of the Inner Winter: The Inner Winter invites us to release productivity-based self-worth and recognise wintering as a powerful phase of intuition, connection, learning, and deep inner evolution.💫 Wintering in a fast, capitalist world: Asha explores how to honour rest and wintering in a culture that values speed and output, emphasising trust in our inherent enoughness simply as we are.💫 Illness, healing, and deep medicine: The Inner Winter speaks to those navigating chronic illness, mental health challenges, postpartum seasons, or feeling unseen and left behind—offering illness as an invitation to go deeper, where profound healing and creative medicine can emerge, even if cure is not possible.💫 The power of Spirit Animals: We spoke about spirit animals and explored the symbolism of the bear and the butterfly, and how spirit animals can support us through different phases of healing, transformation, and rest.Enjoy!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Asha Frost: Find out more about her work through her website here. Follow Asha on Instagram here.Credits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Chris Bobel, one of the most influential (scholarly) voices in menstrual activism and critical menstruation studies. For more than twenty years, Chris has been pushing the boundaries of how we understand menstruation - not just as a biological event, but as a powerful lens into culture, politics, and social justice. Our conversation explores how menstrual health sits at the intersection of human rights, feminist activism, and collective liberation, and why examining the systems and stories that surround our bodies matters more than ever.Chris Bobel is a Professor of Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Since 2003, Chris has been a pathbreaking scholar of menstrual activism, exploring how menstrual health is a matter of both human rights and reproductive justice. As past president of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research and frequent media consultant on menstrual activism, Chris unites feminist thinking with feminist doing. Her major publications in this area include New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation and The Managed Body: Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South. Her co-edited open-access Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies has been downloaded over 3 million times worldwide. In this conversation we talked about:💫 Chris’s personal journey into menstrual activism and how her early research, including New Blood, led her to map the menstrual movement and identify its core activist groups.💫 What surprised her during that research—especially the points of resistance she encountered—and why critically examining the movements we love is essential.💫 The concept of cultural inscription and what it reveals about how society shapes our understanding of bodies, menstruation, and belonging.💫 How privilege shows up within menstrual activism and why awareness is necessary to create more inclusive, justice-centered work.💫 Why menstrual advocacy must extend beyond individual self-improvement into collective action and broader social change - and how menstrual literacy becomes a tool of resistance.💫 How menstrual stigma sits at the root of so many challenges in this field and why naming it openly is key to transforming the narrative.Enjoy!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Dr Chris Bobel: Dr Chris Bobel is working at the University of Massachusetts Boston, you can find her contacts here, you can find direct free access to the Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies here, you can find her book New Blood here.Credits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What might change if we treated menstruation not as something to hide, but as a source of knowledge - about ourselves, our society, and the systems we live in? What if the way we relate to the menstrual cycle could teach us how to build a more humane world? Could paying attention to menstruation be a way of paying attention to what our culture has forgotten — care, rest, and integrity?In this episode I have the great honour to talk to Dr. Lara Owen. Lara is recognised internationally for her pioneering and continuing work on menstruation. She is the author of Her Blood Is Gold, first published by HarperCollins in 1993, and Reorganizing Menstruation, published by Oxford University Press in 2024. She holds a PhD in menstrual organisation from Monash Business School and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of St Andrews. Lara teaches a Master’s level course in Contemporary Menstrual Studies that attracts students globally and consults with organisations worldwide on menstrual policies and practices.In this episode, Lara shares generously from both her academic and spiritual paths — the “both/and” of menstruality: holding intellect and embodiment, activism and inner work, courage and stillness. We talk about how her life’s work evolved from a dream and a deep listening to the soul, to becoming a leading global voice on menstruation and menstrual organisation.Together we explored:🌙 How Lara followed and follows her soul path - from acupuncture to writing Her Blood Is Gold and pursuing groundbreaking menstrual research …❤️ … and ow living and working from the heart — even in humble, small ways — nurtures both the individual and the collective.🩸 Why menstruation is the “canary in the coal mine” of capitalism — and what it reveals about our economic and social systems.💡 The idea that our lives are activism — that living with integrity and wholeness is a radical act of resistance.🧘 The importance of slowing down, trusting timing, and avoiding shortcuts in a world obsessed with productivity and profit.🔬 The need for nuanced, empirical research in menstruality — and Lara’s vision for bridging the embodied and the academic.📚 Her latest book Reorganising Menstruation, and how menstruation offers us a model for reorganising society toward care, commons, and wholeness.🌏 The rise of menstrual literacy and the revolutionary potential of women reclaiming their cycles.This is a conversation about embodiment, integrity, and imagination — about how deep trust and alignment can become the quiet revolution our world needs.Enjoy!🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Lara Owen: www.laraowen.com - you can find all informations about her course on her webpage, follow Lara on instagram @drlaraowenCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What if descent wasn’t something to fear, but a sacred invitation — to soften, to surrender, to remember who we truly are beneath the noise? This conversation with Carly Mountain felt like sitting beside a fire, slowly warming the parts of ourselves we’ve hidden away. With tenderness and deep wisdom, Carly guides us into the mythic, sensual, and often-forgotten terrain of the body, of feminine cycles, of descent and rising. This is a conversation about remembering — not just with the mind, but with the whole body. It stayed with me long after we stopped recording. I hope it touches you, too.Carly Mountain is a writer, author of the book Descent and Rising, psychotherapist and initiatory guide. She facilitates women and the people who love them, to remember, reclaim and reconnect with their sensual, emotional, embodied aliveness and instinctual knowing that is rooted in the earth. She draws on twenty years of embodied practice, training and space holding and has a trauma informed approach.In this conversation we explored:💫 Carly`s story and what she rebelled against and is softy rebelling for! Yes, coming home to your body is an act of rebellion. But don’t do it for that. Do it for you. For your body. For your sensuality. For your creativity. For your relationship with yourself and all things.💫 The myth of Inanna and her descent into the underworld …💫 Carly shares how this myth mirrored her own personal journey and why it continues to speak to modern women facing burnout, identity shifts, or creative rebirth.💫 How women’s bodies are encoded for this ancient map and the journey of descent and rising in a special and powerful way. Woman, you are made to descend and rise!💫 How our culture medicalises the experience of a “break down” when in fact to fail is to birth - a break down invites us to descent, to embrace what we have abandoned in our (earlier) life and it’s the beginning of a healing journey. We descent into wounding to raise into healing!💫 We explore the myths call to reclaim erotic intelligence, surrender, and embodied wisdom. Carly reframes surrender not as weakness but as the courage to meet what’s real - and sees descent not as failure, but as the doorway to collective healing.Enjoy!🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Carly Mountain: www.carlymountain.com, follow Carly on instagram @carly_mountainCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What if the act of creating — a book, a poem, a life — is also an act of soul retrieval? In this tender and powerful conversation, Coco invites us into the deep terrain of trauma, healing, and divine remembrance. Her voice carries the wisdom of one who has walked through fire and returned with medicine: the sacred feminine, the regenerative force of the body, and the healing power of creative expression. This is a conversation about truth-telling, about birthing the self, and about trusting that our bodies are living libraries of ancient, sacred knowing.Coco is a UK-based mother, grandmother, creative, mystic, soul guide and writer. Her creativity is informed by her journey as a devotee of the Tantric path (an embodied path of self-liberation) and her personal journey with trauma. She has always felt a call to channel the Voice of the Divine Feminine and is published in several bestselling anthologies. Often thought provoking, yet always heartfelt her work speaks of the sacred wisdom stored in the body, the non-linear nature of trauma and the embodiment of soul. She believes that our innate connection to the natural world can heal humanity.In this conversation we explore:- The inspiration and medicine behind Coco’s recently published book, Digging for Mother’s Bones.- The story that shaped the book — beginning in abuse and mental illness, and unfolding through a spontaneous Kundalini awakening, a near-death experience, and a long journey of integration.- How the process of writing the book became a path of healing: reclaiming sacred body wisdom, releasing trauma, and embodying the divine feminine.- The thresholds Coco crossed — from inner resistance to cultural conditioning — and how the creative process initiated her into a new expression of self.- Practical insights on how creativity can guide us through fear, resistance, and transformation.- A deep dive into the archetype of the Mother and the Great Mother — the regenerative, feminine force of creation — and how we can unearth the body’s wisdom as a living, sacred library.Enjoy!🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Coco Oya: www.creativelycoco.com, follow Coco on instagram @creativelycocoCredits:- Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.- Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What if motherhood isn’t just a role we step into — but a rite of passage that invites us to heal, transform, and reconnect with the cycles of life?In this rich and nourishing conversation, Naomi Glass shares her journey from disconnection to deep embodiment, from inner patriarchy to cyclical living. Together, we explore the sacred messiness of motherhood, the healing power of nature, and the quiet revolution that begins when we learn to listen — to the earth, to our bodies, and to the wisdom passed down through generations.Naomi Glass is a conception, birth, baby loss, and postpartum doula, as well as a Matrescence Coach and Birth Story Specialist. Through her practice and space Embracing the Waves, she supports people in navigating the deep rite of passage into parenthood - helping them feel heard, anchored, and empowered.She offers one-to-one sessions, circles, and workshops (both online and in-person), and is also co-Director of the Real Health Collective CIC, a community project focused on holistic wellbeing for families. Based in West Wales, Naomi is a home-educating parent, smallholder, and writer, committed to healing ancestral legacies and reconnecting with the earthIn this conversation we explore:💫  Naomi’s story - from an urban upbringing marked by disconnection and struggle, to a soft rebellion that led her toward light, meaning, and healing.💫  How rediscovering nature and growing her own food helped her heal from disordered eating and find a sense of place in the world.💫  Her involvement in environmental activism, and how learning about the cycles of nature helped her come home to the cycles within dismantling inner hierarchies and patriarchal conditioning.💫  Why reconnecting with the rhythms of nature is key to reconnecting with ourselves.💫  The ongoing, often unspoken rite of passage that is motherhood - and how birthing and parenting her daughters launched her into the transformational process of Matrescence.Enjoy!🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:- Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com- My guest, Naomi Glass Find out more about all her offers on her webpage www.embracingthewaves.comCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

In today`s episode I`m talking to Dr. Cacky Mellor who invites us to reframe shame as a sacred space - a place where healing begins, stories are reclaimed, and the body becomes a source of power rather than pain. We explore how trauma, illness, and cultural conditioning shape our inner narratives - and how somatic work can help us come home to ourselves.Dr. Cacky Mellor is a teacher, healer, and community builder whose work blends art therapy, somatics, complementary medicine, and depth psychology to support trauma resilience and healing on both personal and community levels. She specializes in women and femme empowerment, helping people reclaim their bodies and stories through her remote practice, Somatic Reclamation.With a background in art therapy and holistic psychology, Cacky holds a Master's in art-based activism and social entrepreneurship, is a Master Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, yoga teacher, and Reiki master. She also earned her Ph.D. in Depth Psychology with a focus on Somatic Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. Her work is deeply rooted in community, social justice, and the transformative power of the arts and embodied healing.This is such a deep, generous and raw conversation about the essence of life - this gentle meeting of who we are on a deepest soul level. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

Have you ever wondered what it really means to be female? Do you sometimes resent being female in a man’s world? Do you feel like something is missing in your experience and don’t know what it is?Today’s guest, Dr. Sharon Moloney, has spent a lifetime exploring and writing about exactly these questions — and the body of work she has created is pure healing. She says, “I’m a proud and passionate ambassador for the female state of being. It’s the one thing that lights me up just thinking about it, and for which I want to be remembered after I’m gone.”I am so deeply grateful and happy to have had Sharon on the podcast!Dr. Sharon Moloney is an author, speaker, women’s health therapist, and bodyworker who guides women to find, reclaim, and embody their sacred female power. Her mission is to restore the sacredness of the female body, which she believes has a crucial role to play in restoring male/female balance on the planet. Her work is informed by her PhD, which explored menstruation and birth as female spiritual experiences. Sharon believes that our female bodies are our most intimate connection with Nature, and her book Activate Your Female Power is a guided journey into that intimacy.In this conversation, we explored:- Sharon’s personal story of growing up as the fourth daughter of a mother who desperately wanted a son, and how she experienced her first period as an extraordinary spiritual awakening that led her on a path to uncover and teach about the sacredness and power of the female body.- The incredibleness of the female body and the menstrual cycle as an invitation to turn inward, connect with spirit, and unfold our truest and greatest potential.- The negative hypnotic trance of menstrual shame, and why it is a core patriarchal organizing principle that predisposes women to approach birth feeling fearful, disempowered, and vulnerable to intervention.- And so much more!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Dr. Sharon Moloney: www.sharonmoloney.com, you can email her at sharon@sharonmoloney.comHer book Activate Your Female Power, is available here on Amazon or here in Australia.Her online video program can be found here.Credits:- Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.- Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

What is our Second Spring? Who are we after menopause? How can we harness the wisdom we’ve gained from previous cycles and transitions to navigate this shift? AND how can the wisdom of menopause plug us deeper into our cyclical summer years too?This is what I talk about in today’s episode with guest Kate Codrington. Kate is a mentor, speaker, facilitator, artist and podcaster. She is also the author of Second Spring: The self-care guide to menopause, one of the seven best books on menopause according to the New York Times. Kate mentors professionals and people in perimenopause and beyond, is a nature-based Yoga Nidra meditation guide, hosts Life - An Inside Job podcast, has been a therapist for over 30 years and creates multi-level art textile projects.In this liberating and permission-giving conversation we explored:* Kate`s “homecoming journey” and how the tough experience of navigating kids and perimenopause led her to the depth of her cycle (just as she lost it!) and initiated her into becoming a trailblazing teacher and mentor in the field of (peri)menopause.* The seasons and cycles of a woman’s life, from menarche, to our cyclical years, menopause and beyond.* Why in the summer season she needs her spirit recognised, is invited to plant the seeds of her dreams - and if at times we give ourselves away too much it’s NOT a mistake!* How menopause is a beginning as this season asks us, very intensely, to come into relationship with ourselves and shows us where we need to put our attention to.* Why we deeply need to re-write the menopause narrative, and colour in the vibrant, creative life that happens in our Second Spring.* How learning about menopause can plug us youngsters ever deeper into our creative summers!---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Kate Codrington: www.katecodrington.co.uk, follow Kate on instagram @Kate_codringtonCredits:Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here.Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

You are never not embodied. You are a body — a treasure trove of wisdom and native intelligence. There’s a bubbling abundance of insight within you, but it’s not something you can access through the mind alone. That’s why we’re called to give authority back to the body — to let her know she can be trusted, and to rewild our experience which is the sacred return to our true nature.But what does it really mean to live in our body again — to stop outsourcing truth to the mind and remember the language of sensation, instinct, and pleasure?In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Michaela Boehm. Michaela teaches and counsels internationally as an expert in intimacy and relationships. Born and raised in Austria, she combines a background in psychology and extensive clinical counseling experience with deep training in the yogic arts. Her unique body of work sits at the intersection of embodiment and intimacy. Michaela is the author of The Wild Woman’s Way and the founder of The Non-Linear Movement Method®, a powerful somatic release practice.Together, we explore:- Michaela’s journey from effortless embodiment in childhood, to a period of disconnection and being “stuck in her head,” and finally to discovering profound embodiment practices that now shape her life’s work.- What embodiment really means: giving authority back to the body, cultivating interoceptive awareness, and deeply listening to the messages the body constantly sends us.- How we can rewild ourselves — returning to the body, to pleasure, and to the art of being rather than always doing— even in the busyness of modern life. Michaela shares powerful embodiment practices that allow us to live a wildly creative life without burning out.- Why so many of us end up as “thinking heads on sticks” — and how we can reconnect with the lower body to awaken intimacy, pleasure, and aliveness. We also discuss how to meet the shame that can arise in this reconnection, especially around the lower body.---🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack: Subscribe here.🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body.🌟 Work with me 1:1 online or in person, find out more here.---💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.---Links:Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.comMy guest, Michaela Boehm: www.michaelaboehm.com, follow Michaela Boehm on instagram @micboehm77 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

The Sacred Feminine is about your power, my power, and the deep, ancient wisdom that guides us toward authenticity, healing, and transformation. Herstory and mythology - often erased or forgotten - reveal that women have always been undeniable forces of nature. These stories offer us new frameworks for leadership, creativity, and courage in a world crying out for change. If we allow Her to lead, the Sacred Feminine offers a roadmap to the most powerful, embodied version of ourselves.In this episode, I`m talking to Liz Childs Kelly, a writer, award-winning researcher, educator, community builder, and host of the popular Home to Her podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices of the Sacred Feminine. She is also the author of Home to Her: Walking the Transformative Path of the Sacred Feminine, a 2023 Nautilus Gold award winner.I can still feel my soul shimmer and my heart take flight when I think back to my conversation with Liz. Thank you, dearest Liz, for your work, your courage, and your truth-telling. It’s real, it’s urgent, and it’s so deeply needed.This conversation is a wake-up call—a power talk urging us to release what no longer aligns, even when it's terrifying. Especially when it's terrifying. Sometimes, we have to leap into the unknown to reclaim our power and remember our strength.In this conversation we explored:* Liz’s journey back home to herself and to the Sacred Feminine—how she has always been a seeker, and how the Sacred Feminine gifted her with the profound realization: “I am not crazy. The system is.”* The nature of female power, and how to reclaim it in a world built around entirely different paradigms. Liz explains why stepping into the unknown is essential to awakening our creative potential and bathing in the cosmic womb.* Liz shared about the 5 ancient secrets of female power and we can embrace and live them now!* The power of darkness—the place everything emerges from, the place we are born from. In the darkness, divinity unfolds. It’s where we begin to hear Her.* The importance of honoring liminality in our lives. We are cyclical beings, and the liminal is not just a transitional space—it is life-affirming, sustainable, and necessary.Take a rest, lean into darkness and enjoy this wonderful conversation. I`m looking forward hearing from you and what your greatest takeaways are. BIG LOVE, Flurina xxx This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

We all come from the feminine — from the mother. You and I have unfolded from bodies within bodies. (Did you know the egg that created you was already in your mother’s ovaries when she was still a fetus in your grandmother’s womb?) And yet, we often take her — the mother — and her story for granted. We forget our greatest source, Mother Earth, and our maternal lineage, which is often tangled with shame, grief, and silence.In this episode, I speak with Pippa Grace — a socially engaged artist, writer, sculptor, and author of Mother in the Mother. This powerful anthology brings together stories from over fifty women, exploring the many layers of motherhood — particularly through the lens of the three-way relationship between grandmother, mother, and child.Pippa’s work is devoted to amplifying quiet, everyday stories that are often overlooked or forgotten. Where voices have been silenced, her practice helps them find expression through creative means. A lifelong feminist, she specializes in working with women to explore themes like motherhood, grand-motherhood, menarche, the female body, and trauma.In this conversation, we explore:* Pippa’s personal journey and what inspired her to write Mother in the Mother. She shares from her experience of estrangement from her birth family, how she felt the lack of mother, and how giving birth became a portal to reconnecting with her maternal lineage and the power of her female ancestors.* The themes of maternal lineage and women's experiences when they themselves became a mother. We touch on what are some of the challenges or joys women often encounter in their own relationships when they themselves become a mother, how becoming a mother in itself, can be healing for some women, and we look at how Pippa explored the role of being both a mother and a daughter in the same body.* Her work as an arts therapist, using creative methodologies that help participants rediscover their creative voice, share their stories, and connect more deeply with themselves, their communities, and their environments.* Practical and inspiring ways we can begin to explore our own maternal lineage for both personal and collective healing.Enjoy listening! BIG LOVE, Flurina xx This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com