Protecting My Deepest Desires™

In Week 1, we come together as a group for the first time to get to know one another and explore the “why” behind what brought each of us here. This session is an invitation to share your past experiences, your current struggles and the hopes you hold for shifting your relationship with your cycle and finding relief from PMDD. There is immense power in being witnessed in your story - and in modern life, we’re rarely offered spaces where we can speak openly, without judgement and be met with understanding. Week 1 creates that space, setting the foundation for bravery, connection and transformation.

You will also cover: 

• an introduction to my menstrual dial cycle charting method 
• understanding the key hormonal phases (or inner seasons)
• a trauma-informed approach to menstrual cycle awareness

In Week 2, we gently open to the idea that PMDD is not fixed, permanent or inevitable. In a world that often frames PMDD as incurable or something you must simply “manage,” and where mainstream support frequently centres on medication or hormonal contraception as the only option, this programme offers a different perspective: that your body is not broken...and that another path is possible. 

Together, we explore the broader context that PMDD exists within: the long history of menstrual cycles, premenstrual experiences and women’s health being dismissed, pathologised or stigmatised. Understanding this landscape helps you see that your symptoms are not personal failings or random suffering - they are part of a much bigger cultural story. This week is about expanding your sense of possibility, reconnecting with hope and beginning to believe that a different experience of your cycle is available to you. 

Building awareness of your nervous system is also a key part of this week. You’ll learn how stress, overwhelm and constant activation can intensify PMDD experiences, how to recognise the signals your body gives you and how to respond. 

You will also cover: 

• an introduction to the endocrine system
• how to support the stress-sensitive nature of your menstrual cycle
• understanding your female nervous system 
• how women's bodies have been pathologised from witch-hunts to hysteria 
• the epigenetic impact of misogyny

In Week 3, we deepen your knowledge of the menstrual cycle so you can understand exactly what your body is communicating each month. We explore the hormonal phases (or inner seasons) of your cycle in-depth and how your energy, emotions, physical symptoms and needs naturally shift throughout each one. We explore your hormones and we also look at the balance - and imbalance - between masculine (linear, structured) and feminine (cyclical, intuitive) energies, and how living in a chronically “linear” society can amplify premenstrual sensitivity and PMDD symptoms.

Guest Session with Arabella Saucell – Nutrition & Hormone Support

This week you’ll also be joined by Nutritional Therapist Arabella, who will guide you through how nutrition can support the different phases of the menstrual cycle and help ease PMDD symptoms. Building on what you’ve learned about your hormones, Arabella will explore practical ways to nourish your body across the month, including:

• foods that support hormonal balance
• nutrition for each phase of the cycle
• exploring insulin resistance 
• exploring the gut-brain connection 
• lifestyle practices that reduce hormonal stress
• supportive supplements where appropriate
   

She will also share insights from homeopathy and holistic practice, which looks at the whole person rather than focusing solely on the diagnosis. Her approach helps you understand how nutrition, lifestyle and nervous system support work together to create a more stable internal environment across the cycle.

By the end of this week, you’ll have both the knowledge of what is happening hormonally and practical tools to begin supporting your body more intentionally.

In Week 4, you are invited to get even more curious about your cycle experiences and explore practical tools and strategies to get to the root of what these PMDD symptoms are trying to tell you. This may involve tracing the history of menstrual cycle related experiences in your family or looking at cultural beliefs you inherited, to spot patterns and generational stories that still impact your relationship with your body, your womb and your cycle. You will also examine lifestyle factors, as well as where you may be overgiving of your time and energy and not receiving enough in return. 

Guest Session with Lizzie Minchener - Emotions, Energy and the Menstrual Cycle

This week you’ll be joined by holistic practitioner Lizzie, who will guide you through an exploration of menstrual health through an energetic and emotional lens.

Drawing on wisdom from Vedic, Buddhist and Taoist traditions alongside principles from energy healing systems, Lizzie will explore how emotional experiences, nervous system patterns and somatic holding in the body can influence menstrual cycle health and contribute to symptoms such as PMDD.

During this session you will explore:

• The chakra system and how imbalances in the root, sacral and solar plexus centres can affect safety, emotional expression, self-worth and boundaries. 
• How stress, suppressed emotions and trauma may be held in the body and reflected in menstrual cycle symptoms
• The energetic relationship between the womb, nervous system and emotional wellbeing
• The balance between feminine and masculine energies within the body and how these energies naturally shift throughout the menstrual cycle

Lizzie will also guide you through gentle practices designed to help you reconnect with your body and inner awareness, which may include:

• a guided body scan to notice where tension or emotional holding may be present
• breathwork to connect with the womb space and intuitive wisdom of the body
• a guided Reiki meditation to support energetic balance and emotional release

By the end of this week, you will have a deeper understanding of how your emotional world, nervous system and energetic patterns may be influencing your cycle - and how bringing awareness and compassion to these layers can support greater balance over time.

In Week 5, we begin to explore what it means to create a new, more loving and compassionate relationship with your menstrual cycle. This is the week where you are invited to meet your cycle with fresh eyes.

We gently return to the moment of menarche, the beginning of your first bleed. You may remember it clearly or you may not remember it at all. Either way is completely valid. What matters is the energetic imprint of how you were welcomed into this chapter of your life. That early experience often shapes how you continue to relate to your cycle today.

This week is an opportunity to rewrite that story as an adult. You are invited to give yourself the understanding, celebration and support you needed then. You get to offer yourself the guidance, reassurance and reverence that may not have been available to you at the time. To hold this work, we create our own virtual Red Tent or Temple. Through creative and healing arts practices, this is a space where we honour the wisdom of our cyclical nature, acknowledge the power we carry and recognise the challenges we have faced both individually and collectively. It becomes a place to feel seen, held and connected as you reshape your relationship with your cycle in a grounded and empowered way.

You will also cover: 

• Inner Child and parts work 
• Exploring the Inner Critic and how to meet this with compassion
• Meeting your shadow self and getting curious about your premenstrual time 
• Relationships, boundaries and shifting people-pleasing/"good-girl" conditioning

In our final week, Week 6, you are supported to integrate everything you have gained throughout the programme. This is where the insights from each week begin to settle into your daily life. You get to bring together all the pieces of menstrual cycle awareness you have been building and let them form something steady, practical and personal to you.

This week is about creating your own toolkit. A set of practices, habits and reminders that help you move through each phase of your cycle with more clarity and compassion. You will explore what truly supports you, what you want to keep nurturing and what feels ready to be released.

It is also a moment to acknowledge the progress you have already made. The shifts in understanding, the small wins, the new language you have developed for your own experience. Integration is not about perfection. It is about recognising what is working, tending to what still needs time and committing to honouring yourself in a deeper, more consistent way.

By the end of this week, you leave with guidance you can return to again and again. A living toolkit that grows with you and supports you far beyond the programme.

You will also cover: 

• Recognising your personal early warning signs and support strategies
• Setting intentions for how you want to honour and work with your cycle going forward
• A final sharing and closing circle to celebrate the end of the programme