If you are in the horrors with menstrual cycle issues or you want to learn how to harness your hormones then you are in the right place.

Welcome to the Period Power podcast. I’m your host Maisie Hill menstrual health expert, acupuncturist, certified life coach and author of Period Power. I’m on a mission to help you get your cycle working for you so that you can use it to get what you want out of life. Are you ready? Let’s go.

Okay folks, a big day today because today is my birthday. Well, today that I’m recording isn’t actually my birthday. But the day that this episode comes out will be my 41st birthday. And I have to say I am feeling my age at the moment. My son has had this slight illness, thankfully not COVID but it’s been really affecting his sleep for kind of an extended period. So for about 10 days in a row he has been waking up on average three times a night. And then there was one night where I think he must have woken up at least 10 times.

So Paul and I are both feeling really tired at the moment. But last night he finally slept through all night so I’m taking this opportunity to record the podcast for you. And today’s one is slightly different from usual because I’m answering your questions and I know I’ve done Q&A episodes before on the podcast but this one is all about my life. Because I often receive questions on Instagram and by email and from my clients in the membership who they just have these questions about my life, why I’ve chosen to do certain things. How I manage running a business and being a mum, all the things basically.

So I just decided that as it’s may birthday a fun way to celebrate would be to get around to those questions. And you have submitted some great ones. I’ve put up a post on Instagram asking for questions to answer. And as I was reviewing the questions that you all submitted it occurred to me that this episode is going to be peppered with insights and tips that I don’t think I’ve touched on yet. Just because your questions have kind of helped me to reflect on things and describe things maybe in a way that I wouldn’t do on my own because I’m in my brain and I’m used to it.

So sometimes prompts from other people help me to explore other areas that maybe I wouldn’t automatically go to. So thank you for those. But before we dive in, if you would like to celebrate my birthday with me, I’m not inviting you to an event, I’d love to but I’m not. What I would really love the most is for you to rate and review the podcast. That would be an amazing present to receive from you because every time someone rates and reviews the podcast it really helps more people to discover the podcast and benefit from it in the way that you have too. So that’s what I would love if you would like to.

Alright, let’s get to these questions. They are all really interesting. Some have been quite tough. I’ve had to kind of reflect on them a little bit. And there’s one that I’m not sure I can even bring myself to answer in full detail. So we’ll just see what happens.

Okay, the first question is from Kirstin, one of my clients from The Flow Collective. And she asked, what led you to traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture? Well, at the time when I started thinking about it I was working as a doula and as a therapist. So I was doing massage of various kinds, and reflexology, and aromatherapy. And I really loved it, but I was also feeling a bit bored. And kind of feeling the limitations of what I could do. In terms of what I was physically capable of in a week, and what I was able to earn, and also what could be achieved with those therapies.

And that’s not to say that they aren’t effective and useful because my thought is that they work wonders. And that’s been my experience of receiving them personally and professionally using them. So they absolutely can. But I wanted to get more into the diagnostic side of things. And my brain just wanted more to work with.

And it was kind of around the time that I was contemplating this I was speaking with another practitioner who had been in the game longer than me. And they had said, “Look, Maisie, if you want to be in this for the long run then make sure you train in something now that doesn’t require you to use their hands.” Because many therapists who do massage and treatments along those lines, even when they’re taking care of their bodies as they perform those treatments, it can take a toll.

And I certainly know practitioners who have been doing it for 20 years and they have issues with their hands and things, and they can’t really practice anymore, at least to the extent that they once did. So that was really helpful advice to receive from someone. So I started looking at nutrition, and acupuncture, and I was actually looking at physiotherapy as well. And luckily I knew people who did all of those things because I was working in a clinic, so I got to speak with them all.

And I just, I remember with the acupuncture, just my sense was that I could never be bored with it. It’s thousands of years old, there’s so many texts and ways of working with it. I just knew that I would never stop learning if that’s the route that I went down. So that’s kind of what took me in that direction. And I’m really glad it did.

Okay, Louise Brigg said, I’d love to know more about your doula journey. How did you become one, the training etc? And why did you move on from it? So for this story we have to go all the way back to my early 20s when I was living in New York. And a friend of mine was pregnant. And she was spending some time in New York and kind of going back and forth between the UK and America. And because she was pregnant, I was just fascinated by it I think. So I started reading books and kind of following her journey alongside with her and she was sharing what was going on with her.

And in the process, I heard about doulas. And she actually asked if I would be there for her birth with her partner. And I thought, well, I should do a training in this. That would be helpful. So I looked at doing doula training in America, but I was told that as I wasn’t a mother myself that I couldn’t do the training which was such bullshit. But wasn’t able to do it and then as it turned out she was induced early. And I wasn’t able to get to the UK in time to support her birth. So I didn’t do that one.

But then when she was pregnant for the second time I was living back in the UK, and she asked if I would be her doula. And I was so excited at the idea of that. But again I looked at doing training and some training organisations was still saying, “You need to have had kids yourself.” But I found one, Nurturing Birth, who said, “No, you can come and train with us.” So I did a three-day training I think it was.

And at the time I was the manager of a bar in Soho called The Crowbar. And that closed at three in the morning or stopped serving at three in the morning. Everyone’s out by four and then everyone’s there cleaning till five so I was doing night shifts in The Crowbar till five in the morning and then starting my doula training at nine. And so I just remember these three days being amazing and also completely exhausting. But I went on to support her birth. And then I was just hooked. I remember it went on for three days, but I remember walking home at four in the morning after that first birth.

And I was living in South London at the time, and I could have got the bus home, but I just felt like getting the bus home at that time in the morning felt like such a normal thing to do. And after seeing this amazing thing happen when my friend gave birth it just felt – I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense to me. So instead I just walked along the Thames and saw the sun come up and just really got to revel in the experience that I had just witnessed basically. So I was hooked, and I did it for over 10 years. And I loved it, but I think once I had Nelson, things shifted for me.

And of course we moved to Margate, we moved out of London, and I think it was just more challenging practically to be going off to births. And you don’t know when it’s going to happen. And I was breastfeeding him. And usually you’re called out in the night, and it was just the unpredictability of it. I just didn’t feel it was a match for what was going on in my life personally. And I think it just felt complete and really the last birth I did, that was the final one. And I knew it was the final one because a very close friend of mine, Natalie, and I am Goddaughter to her daughter Rumi.

And that was the last birth, and I knew it was the last one and it was really special that it was a friend, which is not really something I did as a doula to support friends. But I made an exception because I really wanted to support Nat.

Pelvic Princess, this is kind of a bit similar. And I really love this question. So you asked, how do you know when to call things a day? You have achieved so much and so many different roles. How do you know when to move on? Well, I’m always thinking what are my reasons for this and do I like them? So sometimes my reasons for wanting to move on might be I’m just not so interested in this anymore or it’s too hard. And I just don’t think they’re good reasons so I couldn’t spot them.

And then I can use thought work to shift my mindset because that’s all optional. And it’s really easy for me now to be interested, and curious, and motivated, and inspired. And so that’s kind of the first step, I just look at what are my reasons, do I like them? Is there something here that I’m in control of that I can change? But then I’m also thinking, is this how I can create the most impact? And is this, whatever it is, in alignment with my values and my growth?

But actually I think a good example of this is with being an acupuncturist. So I thought that was me for life. It was a four-year full-time degree that was extremely challenging. I’ve spoken before about how it has a really high dropout rate because it is so challenging. A lot of student loans. And I loved it, and I loved practicing it, and I loved the people that I got to work with and the results that they would get from it. But it just became this ineffective use of my time. So it was effective in terms of the treatment and in terms of my clients experiencing improvements to their health.

But I had to be willing to give that up in order to help more people. And that means now that I can help hundreds of people on group calls in The Flow Collective. And I can help thousands of you through the podcast. So I just started thinking about is this the most effective use of my time? Is this how I can have the most impact? So they’re the things that I tend to reflect on. But I will also say that being neurodiverse, means that I have special interests and sometimes I can just get to the point where I’m done with them.

But thankfully my main ones which are menstrual and reproductive health and being an entrepreneur, they’ve been around for a long time. And I think they will be for a long time. They feel like a fundamental part of me. But within that I also give myself permission to pivot and to work in different ways and for my work to evolve. Which those of you who have read my books, Period Power and Perimenopause Power and now you listen to the podcast you can probably get a sense of how my work has evolved since writing those books.

And certainly that will be true for those of you who are in the membership as well, you will see the result of that there. So I think what that comes down to is that I give myself that permission to pivot and that I trust my sense of direction. And I’m just willing to go for it and to see what happens.

Alright, this next one. I’m not sure I’ve entirely understood the question properly but I’m going to give it a go. So Birchwood Body said, at what point in your life and career did you know your worth? So I think I’m going to actually do a whole episode, a podcast episode about worth. And as I said, I’m not entirely sure if I’m interpreting this question correctly. So my apologies if I’m not, but I know that often when people say this, when they talk about worth what they mean is knowing what you deserve and your value.

And I have thoughts on this. And one of them is that this can come from a defensive needing to prove something place. At least that’s my experience of thinking this kind of thing. And I’m going to be talking about this actually next week in The Flow Collective because we’re doing our boundaries webinar to start December off. What I will share with you here is that thinking about these things is an improvement on not feeling worthy and thinking that you don’t deserve things in the world. But it can also be a limiting place to operate from.

But as I said, I’m not entirely sure if that’s what Birchwood Body meant. Worth is a big topic and I want to return to it to do it some justice. So thank you for prompting that in me.

Okay, Ella-Louise, you said, did you have any fears professionally about being open about being recently diagnosed autistic? I didn’t actually. It was very simple for me, and I think what’s helpful for you all to hear is that I just decided I wouldn’t feel fear because I think feeling fear would be very understandable but it’s also optional. So I just decided not to think thoughts that would entertain feeling fearful. So for me it was liberating and exciting to share it. I was desperate to share it with the world. So of course that’s the experience I’ve then had.

Okay, I get a lot of questions about this next one. Emily said, you’re so busy, how do you juggle everything in your professional and personal life without burning yourself out? So I know a lot of you want to know this. And what’s interesting is the assumption that I’m busy. I’m fascinated by that. And those of you who are in The Flow Collective will have heard my sermon about being busy, that is in the about time webinar. But busy is a thought. It’s not factual. And I don’t think it’s helpful to think, it’s not helpful for me to think that I’m busy.

So that’s just not a story that I let my brain run. And I also don’t juggle things because again that’s not helpful. I have had extended periods in my life where I’ve been thinking about how busy I am. I’ve thought about that all throughout a day for multiple months, I’m so busy, I’m so busy. And I’ve also been thinking, it’s so hard to juggle everything. How am I going to manage? I can tell you all that resulted in was stress, panic, overwhelm and not getting things done in a sustainable way. They still got done, most of them. But they came at a cost.

So I just don’t like to think about things that way. And I do get a lot done and I work hard but that doesn’t mean that I slog it out all day long. I’m very focused with my time. And I use thought work to make the most out of the time I have. And I really manage my mind using all the tools that I teach you on the podcast and in The Flow Collective and that’s how I get it all done. I also have some help. Kim is my wonderful virtual assistant. And Rebecca is our community manager in The Flow Collective so I’m not doing it alone.

And Paul and I have a great partnership, a great relationship where things are, I think really in balance for both of us in terms of what we do parenting wise, what we do around the home, how we support one another. So I think that makes a big difference too. And we’re also about to hire a cleaner, which is a huge step for me to take. It’s something that I’ve needed a significant amount of coaching on in order to get to this step.

And I think this is something that I want to lean into more is that personal support in terms of home life because I think what often happens is when women are running businesses and they’re leading these professional lives in any kind of way really. We tend to go to getting professional support and then we’re still doing all the stuff at home which is why having these important conversations with our family members, with our partners and hiring help there is of benefit too.

But the other thing that I want to say here is that I also decided not to burn myself out. So sometimes it does just come down to making a decision for yourself, that that’s not an option. And this is something that I use as a filter when I’m making decisions. And it’s actually one of my company’s values that we do epic shit without burning ourselves out. So I’m continually reflecting on what my capacity is and also checking in on where my team are at as well.

And just thinking, well, if we do this, are we able to do this? Does this feel like we’re kind of hustling to get it done? If we are, what needs to change? Do we need to take it off the table entirely? And sometimes we do and then sometimes it just requires a different approach either in terms of strategy, or mindset, or both.

So similarly to that, my client, Rachel, Root Care on Instagram said, you have created incredibly helpful and much needed resources and took on an important leadership role. How do you handle times of overwhelm and what practices do you have in place to affirm your self-worth? So this won’t surprise you, I coach myself a lot. I do a lot of self-coaching. And when I’m feeling overwhelmed I really like to understand why and to get to the bottom of that. So I actually spoke about this recently on the podcast. I can’t remember which episode it was.

But I was talking about how – was it in October? Yeah, it was in October. My son had been ill on a previous occasion. So he’d been ill and then it was the half term and he had other days off as well. And then we were opening the doors to The Flow Collective and there was just kind of this month of stuff happening that not all of it could have been anticipated. And there was a period in that where I did get overwhelmed. So I spent a long time asking myself, how did I get here? How did I get to the place where I’m feeling overwhelmed? And I just answered it in great detail.

So really going back, I don’t know if it’s chronologically if you go back, but you know what I mean. So okay, how am I feeling overwhelmed, today, how did that happen? What happened yesterday that contributed to that, and the day before, and the week before, and then the months before back? And just finding how did all this get started? What are the points in which I could have created a different experience and changed things? And often I’ll end up uncovering beliefs from childhood and things that I have absorbed from society.

And as I said, I did this recently and it was really beneficial because I was like, “When Nelson was ill I didn’t really account for that for the following week of work. I was just in a rush to jump back in and to try and catch up.” Whereas this time he’s been ill and because I did all this work to explore how I got overwhelmed in October, now I am able to use that information to adjust things.

So I’m reducing my expectation of what I will get done at work. And seeing if timelines need to move and does my work need to adjust? Do I need extra help in order to make things happen and all of these things? But it also comes down to, I think for me, when I feel overwhelmed, it always comes down to overcommitting myself, forgetting to communicate with others, whether it’s my team or with Paul. And I think also thinking that I have to do something when I really don’t.

And Rachel, you’re in The Flow Collective so I think you’ll get it when I say that I’m living on my A-line, living on my action line. But for everyone else I can explain it as just getting lost in doing things, in taking action or not actually taking them as the case may be. Instead of focusing on who I need to be, how I need to think, what I need to be feeling in order to create a desired result. And so that’s something I notice if I’m in a stress response, if I’m feeling activated then I’m in this, well, I’ve just got to do stuff. And I’ve just got to catch up. And let me just do this. And there’s this and this.

And it just kind of perpetuates that cycle. So really, it’s about pausing and taking a step back and re-evaluating things and moving from there. I’m also not afraid to cancel or change things. And I recently went on the IOA podcast, so that should be coming out soon. And I actually cancelled that recording twice because I needed to take care of myself. And I wanted to prioritize that rather than, I’ve got this podcast recording, it’s going to be so fun to do, it’s going to be so helpful, blah, blah, blah.

I was like, no, I need to slow down and take care of me and so I cancelled it. So I’m just up for doing that. And sometimes I do start to feel burnt out but really what I do is just get to bed without apology or explanation and without any guilt or anything like that and just really take care of me. And as for practices to affirm my self-worth I don’t think I actually have any. I couldn’t think of anything. There are times for me of course when feeling unworthy shows up because I’m human.

But I do have a high regard for myself, and I’ve done a lot of work on this over the years. So it’s not particularly necessary for me to do but really it all comes down to thought work.

Alright, Alice asked, how did you survive the new-born phase as a new mum, cluster feedings, growth spurts and all that jazz? I think I’m going to need to do a podcast episode all about this as well and kind of some stuff on pregnancy for all of you as well. I would say I just had very low expectations of myself and what life would be like. And of course as a doula I was really well informed as to what I could expect that stage of parenting to be like. So I had these very low expectations.

I also was very clear in instructing and training others as to what I wanted to happen. And what I mean by that is being very clear. I’m not fussed about presents, just bring me food. And if you’re coming to visit, do the dishes or hang out some laundry whilst you’re here please and thank you. And so I just really took that time during pregnancy to train everyone up in what I wanted. And people were delighted to do that.

I think we often hold back from doing that, thinking I can’t tell people, they’re going to have thoughts about that but actually people generally respond really positively to that. And I think it also helps to retrain society that actually what we really need is support and food, and to be looked after rather than another bunch of flowers. And I think because I was clued up on what I could expect, I didn’t spend time arguing with reality. I just accepted things for what they were, and I was just thinking, yeah, of course this is happening.

I have a new-born, of course he wants to be fed all night. Of course I’m tired. And that just helped me to settle into it. There were some things at the beginning that were particularly tough. He had a tongue tie and I also had Raynaud’s syndrome in my breasts, so a circulatory issue that causes excruciating pain that thankfully I was able to get medication for privately because I couldn’t get it through the NHS. And I was able to continue breastfeeding for a long time. But those early days were rough, and our midwife team were incredible with the level of support that they had.

So I think so much of our experience as new parents is about how we’re cared for throughout all of the childbirth year, our experience in pregnancy, how we’re cared for during birth and the postpartum, all of that come through. I spent a lot of time just lying around, just going on gentle walks and I did a lot of baby wearing. And I just, I have to say, I really loved it. It’s pretty intense at times but I did really love it. I definitely found it more challenging once he could move and required food other than milk.

Victoria asked, how do you sync exercise to your cycle? Do you use your Peloton all through the cycle? So I don’t particularly adjust things according to my cycle. And the reason for that is I don’t really feel like I need to. So I mean with my personal trainer, Emily, we do make adjustments according to my cycle. But that’s often more to do with the sensory side of things. So in the second half of my cycle there are things that I just find a bit harder and I kind of have to wrap my brain around them.

Often things that are to do with jumping I really struggle with, and I just need a moment to convince my brain that it’s a reasonable thing to do. So jumping rope, skipping, there are times when I’m just like, “I’m just not up for jumping.” But I have kind of increased my capacity to be able to do that. But often there are just things I’m like, “Oh, it’s a windy day”, I think that also affects me as well. I’m trying to think of examples of this. But the adjustments are less to do with optimizing my cycle and more just taking care of my sensory needs.

It’s also I think more to do with just how I feel day-to-day and the context of other things. So I’ve barely gone on my Peloton bike the last two weeks just because I’ve been so tired. Nelson’s been up all night and when I’m tired I tend to feel dizzy. So I don’t think that’s the best time to be clipped into a bike. So I just opt not to. I do find it really helpful premenstrually for mood and energy.

And I also found exercise, and I spoke about this in the pregnancy loss episodes I did a while back. That I found exercise helpful after my miscarriage. And I’m kind of reminded of this because I recently had a memory pop up on Facebook, reminding me of the 30 day yoga challenge that I did a couple of months after I had my miscarriage. And I did yoga every day for 30 days. But that wasn’t physically challenging yoga. Some of it was but a lot of it was restorative yoga and me adapting things to suit me.

It was less about the exercise and more about me having a place to fall apart every day. And I only did it when I felt physically able to, physically ready to. And I think I’m pretty good at reading my body and if I’m feeling depleted or if I’m feeling nourished and strong and able to do things. And Victoria, you also mentioned doing the low intensity rides. And I haven’t explored them at all interestingly, but you’ve inspired me to check them out so I’m going to go and do that. But yes, I do use my Peloton all through the cycle.

I feel physically able to do that. But as I said, if there’s times when I’m feeling tired or a bit depleted then I’d maybe do a shorter ride or kind of change the type of ride that I do.

Mia asked, what was the turning point, if any, or biggest lessons learned on your journey with PMDD? Well, so many I would say. But if I’m going to put it in bullet points I think for me the relationship between PMDD and histamine intolerance in me. That was a big one when I started adjusting my diet to account for histamine intolerance, then that really improved the premenustrual phase of my cycle. Noticing my sensory sensitivities. I mean they were sky high a few years ago, debilitatingly so. And they would result in intrusive thoughts.

So really, I think discovering that I’m autistic shown a light on that, and I was able to understand it and then start making adjustments from there, that made a big difference. And I would say just really learning to work with my nervous system and learning to sit with my emotions and really feel them and just let them be there, whichever emotions would come up for me. Just being able to experience them instead of kind of bottle them down and stay in a stress cycle. And not have a particularly pleasant experience of the second half of my cycle.

So I think they were the key things really. On the whole I’m in a really good place with it now. But I do want to caveat that with that’s what’s worked for me. And I think a lot of those things would help a lot of people. But there are other things that also help including medication, sometimes surgery. So I just want to be mindful in how I’m talking about things, that I’m just sharing my experience. And I certainly have clients who do, do this and they do other things as well. So I just think it’s really important that you do what works for you.

Alright, this is the tough question. Okay, Mummy’s Gin Fund, kind of hate you for asking this. Mummy’s Gin Fund said, I want to know about the tats, which one was first and any special stories. So I am heavily tattooed. I find it really funny because some of you were recently commenting that you didn’t know I was heavily tattooed. I suppose the pictures I’ve been putting up on Instagram, I’m wearing more clothing. But I have full sleeves on both my arms, my back piece is like a Japanese back piece that goes from the top of my neck to my thighs.

And I have stuff on my legs, I have stuff on my shoulders, on my chest, all across my lower abdomen. I’ve got a lot of tattoos. I haven’t been tattooed in a long time. And I don’t really have stories with my tattoos. I just like the artwork and I was training as an apprentice in a tattoo shop when lived in New York. And I’ve worked in tattoo studios in the UK, some amazing ones. And I took advantage of that and got a lot of tattoos.

The one that has a story is I have a feather behind one of my ears. And the story from that is that a very dear friend of mine, Christine Hall died many years ago now. And I feel quite emotional about it. And she died when I was in China as part of my acupuncture degree. And it hit me really hard. And when I came back to the UK, I was doing a yoga class with my dear friend and amazing teacher, Naomi Absalom and I had a history of struggling to get into crow which is one of the yoga postures. And I just thought, right, I’m going to do this today for Christine.

And I was just so, I just decided that in my brain and I did it. And I remember Naomi being amazed that I was doing it. And I was amazed and balancing on my hands trying not to freak out. But I just decided, I’m going to get a feather to signify getting into crow and I think really just the impact that Christine had on my life. So that’s really the only story. Now, I’m not cringing about telling that one of course. But the first tattoos I had I no longer have, and I had them partially removed with lasers and then covered up with other stuff.

The first one, I don’t think I can even say it but it’s very cringey and it was above my pubic bone bikini area. And I think that’s as much as I’m going to tell you, but it wouldn’t be what I would choose if I had my time again.

Okay, Beth Park, you asked, how do you feel about having an only child? I have found it empowering but I know it isn’t always a choice. Yeah, it’s not always a choice. And for us it was a decision, I thought after we had Nelson that we would have more just because I think I had such a positive experience of pregnancy, and birth, and postpartum, I was up for more. But then as he got older and kind of required more, I think reality sunk in and the haze of hormones diminished. And of course then I wrote my books. And I think my focus shifted in terms of my work and my ambition really grew.

And I think we just decided that we were in the one and done camp. And I think for me now knowing I’m autistic and the sensory stuff, I’m not willing to do it again. And I feel really good about that. That feels really solid in me. It can be tough sometimes because Nelson would really like a sibling. And so recently he asked if we could go to an orphanage so he can get a brother or a sister. And I was like, “Oh mate.” I was like, “You know.” Well, I don’t know. I was just like no, basically. And I’ve told him this and I’ve explained to him.

“But you know that means you have to share me, and you have to share dad.” And I don’t know if that would be great for him anyway. So I’m kind of – I don’t know, maybe I’m telling myself stuff that isn’t true. But that is my sense. I think we are a three-person family, and we will stick with that.

Alright, Hannah asked, do you have any regrets or things you’d do differently if you had your time again? Not really. And when I think of this there is one thing that I feel regret about. And it’s interesting because this is actually relevant to my birthday. So we had a family friend who was a hairdresser, and he actually took care of my mum when she was pregnant with me. And he used to see her walking down the road kind of heavily pregnant, at the stage where she would struggle to wash her own hair and he’d pull her in and do her hair for her.

And he kind of, you know, he wasn’t a close family friend, but we would see him from time to time. And in my teenage years I think – I can’t remember how old I was, I think I must have been 15, maybe my 15th birthday or 16th birthday, he actually died on my birthday. I remember getting that phone call from the hospice that he was in because he died of AIDS related illnesses. And I had been visiting him in the final months and that had a huge impact on my life because I went on to work for an HIV and AIDS charity and to do work in that respect.

And I think that was one of the things that got me started on that path, because I sat on an advisory board for the sexual health of young people at a really young age. And I think that’s one of the things that got me started in this direction. But the thing that I regret is that when he was ill I had written him this poem and I’d taken it to the hospice to share with him and he loved it. He was probably being very kind, it was a teenage poem, I’ve got no idea what it actually said. But he was, yeah, probably being really kind.

But I remember going to his funeral and saying to my mum, “Why is no one speaking up?” No one was talking about him. At funerals people usually get up and talk about the person who’s died, and no one did. It was just the priest and the priest said very little. And I just couldn’t understand it. And my mum explained, “Well, he was a gay man with AIDS, and he came from a family who’s Catholic and didn’t agree with his sexuality.” And she explained all that after, but I remember being at the funeral and I had taken the poem with me.

And I just wanted to stand up and to read the poem and to acknowledge his life in some way. But I didn’t know his family and I was a teenager. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was thinking, I can’t do that. And I just wish I had. So that’s my, I think, only regret really that I would do differently if I had that time again.

Lucienne asked, what is your proudest achievement to date? This is the final question. So I found this really tough because there is so much that I’m proud of and I love celebrating successes of all kinds. You will have heard Mars and I talking on the podcast recently about this. Actually I don’t know if we spoke about it in the episode, but we have a daily brag thing that we do where every day on WhatsApp we share a brag. And we just do it as a kind of practice of celebrating ourselves. So this was tough one to answer just because there’s a lot to pick from.

But I think really raising an emotionally aware kid. That’s huge for me. So I feel very proud of that. And I’m also hugely proud of The Flow Collective. That is my legacy I think even more than my books. And I am so proud of everything I have created within that. And so proud of all the achievements and successes of all of my clients who are in there. So yeah, it’s those two, it’s The Flow Collective. We just celebrated our second birthday, my former assistant, Beck, very kindly reminded me. So yeah, raising an emotionally aware kid and The Flow Collective. They are my top two.

Okay, that was fun. Thank you all so much for your questions. I hope it’s been interesting and helpful for you to listen to my answers on some of these things. Enjoy the rest of your week and I will catch you next time. Bye.

Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of the Period Power podcast. If you enjoyed learning how to make your cycle work for you, head over to maisiehill.com for more.