When Penny was fourteen, she vividly remembers standing in her kitchen looking in desperation for a therapist because she knew her menstrual cycle was making her depressed. No one would listen and no one would help.
She experienced decades of life defining menstrual ill health (including mood disorders, endometriosis, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids) before discovering Red School in 2010 and embarking on an extraordinary journey of healing, self discovery and transformation.
Over time, her physical symptoms began to shift as she came to understand that most of her challenges were as a result of denying her true nature and continually overriding her body’s needs. Now in menopause, she acknowledges that whilst she never reached the point of having a perfect cycle, this helps her stand alongside others who haven’t been able to fully resolve their menstrual pain or complexities, offering the possibility of permission, acceptance and relief.
A born introvert, Penny’s inner summers were understated, but autumn and winter were where she thrived. The second half of her cycle felt like home, the place where magic and creativity flowed – an experience that has amplified beautifully now that she is held in the menopause dynamic. In a world that doesn’t honour the potent, nuanced qualities of the Via Negativa, she especially enjoys guiding those with more liminal gifts whose cycles are a-typical and non conformist.
As a highly sensitive empath, she strongly appreciates the importance of feeling safe in order to develop and grow, and so prioritises safety and compassion in her own facilitation style. Her personal experience of depression, alongside years of spiritual practice and sacred space holding for individuals, groups and sharing circles, allows her to meet emotionally difficult experiences in others with delicacy and care. Her capacity to leave preconceptions at the door and welcome people exactly as they are allows her to support those living with trauma, pain and other complex challenges.
As a Yoga Instructor and Somatic Movement Therapist, her teaching has been deeply informed by her menstrual experience. As intimacy with her cycle grew, she began to modify and slow down classical yoga practices, learning to teach in alignment with her body’s ever-changing cyclical expressions. The popularity of her classes grew noticeably as a result and she is now developing her passion for softer approaches to movement that follow the promptings of the body - a perfect companion to menstrual cycle awareness.
As a child, Penny loved the idea of magic and was always out in nature in pursuit of mystery and awe. Now, as an adult she lives embedded in nature’s rhythms and enjoys conjuring up gentle natural magic of her own through ceremony and ritual. Currently embracing the liberation and revelation of menopause, she relies on earth wisdom and the natural world as a reference, allowing it to guide her in exploring more intuitive, sacred ways of being.