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Dearest Listener, I hope this message finds you well - in good health and spirit and that you are able to enjoy this gorgeous and heart-warming autumn sun today! I am sending you a new podcast episode. In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr Bee Hughes (they/them), an interdisciplinary artist and researcher and Senior Lecturer in Media, Culture, Communication at Liverpool John Moores University, to explore how art can make visible the diverse, complex, and often overlooked experiences of menstruation. Bee shares the unexpected journey that led from a PhD in illustration education to menstrual art, including their durational artwork Cycles, and reflects on how working with their menstrual body shaped their understanding of gender and non-binary identity. Together, we explore embodied knowledge, the power of creative practice, and how menstrual art can challenge stigma, question social norms, and open up new possibilities for understanding menstruation beyond conventional narratives. A conversation about staying curious, embracing complexity, and allowing our bodies and creative practices to change us. In this episode, we explore: * What menstrual art is and why it matters * The relationship between the menstrual cycle, creativity, and embodied knowledge * Menstruation, gender identity, and living beyond binaries * Why unfinished, cyclical creative practices can challenge ideas of productivity and success I hope you enjoy this conversation and I am looking forward hearing from you! 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

In this conversation, we follow loops and cycles: menstrual cycles, breath cycles, artistic processes, patterns we inherit, and the things that begin to unravel when we stay with discomfort rather than rushing to resolve it.  I’m joined by scholar, artist, musician and dancer Franziska Böhm, whose practice moves between sound, movement, somatics and embodied knowledge. To record this episode with Franzi felt like a dance – between inner relating and outer responding – instantly and continuously diving deeper into what it means to linger with what cannot yet be explained, and how the body can become a site of listening, knowing and creating.  Together we explored: - Franzi’s story from studying classical music and music pedagogy in Germany, the latter which opened a world of new possibilities, and eventually led her to the UK to study an MA in Creative Practice, where she encountered movement practices that have continued to reshape how she understands making, knowing, and being. - We spend time diving into Franzi`s recent doctoral research all about loops and looping: not simply as repetition, but as a phenomenon and a way of generating knowledge. - Franzi speaks about her relationship to the menstrual cycle and cycles more broadly within her artistic practice, and about Skinner Releasing Technique – “a rigorous yet playful practice” that taught her to let processes unfold in their own way and to practice being with that wordless territory where something can be sensed before it can be named. - We continue exploring (my favourite) question - what does it mean to know through the body? And what might embodied knowledge-making ask of us when we recognise the fact that our bodies are always already racialised and politicised? - And then there is the breath: its constant filling and emptying, its cycles, its relationship to voice. We explore why breath and voice cannot be separated, how the voice can become a way of accessing movement, and how Franzi approaches “the voice as connective tissue”. - We invite you to lean back, sense of your weight, notice your own breath and enjoy this conversation about cycles, stigma, discomfort and what we internalise - and about what can begin to move when we give ourselves permission to stay with what we don't yet have words for.   More about Franziska: Franziska (she/her) is a German-born, London-based artist and researcher working across dance, music, academia and hospitality. Continuously saying no to prescribed capitalist pathways of life has made her realise her values around slowing down, sensing, trusting and collaboration. This has led her to study and investigate modalities such as Skinner Releasing Technique and other movement practices for their capacity to help us sense into ourselves, each other, the environment and beyond. She is particularly interested in politicised somatics, exploring how we can apply these modalities to intentionally cultivate power in ourselves, in our communities and how doing the repair work can allow us to choose living our lives soulfully and experience collective transformation. Her methodology is collaborative, intuition based and about giving space to each other and to how the work unfolds. Her work often takes the form of interconnected pieces – albums, performances, and installations. Themes of lament run through her work, exploring vulnerability, connection, and the experience of breath and voice. More recently her research extends into the shared ground between pre-semantic bodily knowledge and machine learning, currently developing through a workshop series and new work with technologist Fiona Thendean as part of her fellowship at machinaloci space, London UK.  Webpage: https://boehmfranziska.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/franziskaboehm__/ 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 sexual freedom isn't about becoming someone new, but remembering who we've always been? In this episode, I sit down with author, activist, and cultural visionary Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah to explore pleasure as a form of resistance. Together, we discuss African wisdom traditions, the cyclical nature of women's bodies, decolonizing sexuality, and why reclaiming pleasure may be one of the most radical acts available to us today. Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is a groundbreaking voice and advocate for African and Afro descendant women's experiences of sex, sexuality, and pleasure. Her debut, The Sex Lives of African Women, was an instant classic, lauded by Publishers Weekly as "an astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation" and named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist. Sekyiamah is the celebrated co-founder of the popular website Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women. She is a renowned podcaster, a festival co-curator, and the Co-Founder of the Institute of Journalism and Social Change. Her transformative work has earned her international recognition, including a spot on the BBC's 100 inspirational and influential women list and New Africa magazine's list of 100 inspirational Africans. In this episode we explore: - Nana shared from her story and story behind her book “Sexual Freedom” and why so many women are longing to come home to their bodies and their pleasure. - The African traditions and rites that honour sexuality as a source of wisdom, the meaning of “Sankofa”, why remembering the past can create a freer future the role of elders, guides, and "wise sex aunties" in women's lives. - What it means to decolonize sexuality, how colonialism continues to live in our bodies and what we're really becoming free from when we talk about sexual freedom. - The cyclical body and sexual freedom; we explored the seasons of sexuality as expressed through the lifespan and the menstrual cycle. - Why pleasure isn't self-indulgence but a profound act of resistance! 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. 🌟 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 [email protected]. --- Find out more about Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah: - Follow her on Instagram @dfordarkoa - Visit her webpage 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, Welcome back to the Soft Rebellion. I hope this message and new episode finds you in a good health and spirit and I wish you a WONDERful week ahead. The conversation I share with you today was one of those rare, deeply honest, intuitive exchanges where each question opened another door, and together we unearthed something neither of us could have planned. My guest is the brilliant trauma-informed embodiment guide, facilitator, and heart activist Tanya Forgan, whose work is rooted in the profound understanding that our individual and collective wellbeing depends on the quality of our relationship with ourselves and with one another. Guided by the wisdom of Ubuntu - I am because we are - we continue our exploration of what it means to know with and through our bodies, our wombs, our menstrual cycles, and the greater cycles of life. Along the way, Tanya offers one of the most potent questions I have ever been asked: Where are your words coming from? It’s a conversation that embodies what podcasting means to me: meeting heart to heart, trusting what wants to emerge, and allowing truth to reveal itself through relationship. In this conversation we explored and talked about … * Tanya`s story and upbringing as a mixed-heritage woman of Dominican and British ancestry through which she brings a lived understanding of belonging, identity, and the search for home. * Tanya`s menopause journey and what the experience of this rite of passage taught Tanya about creating belonging through circles, particularly across differences in race, gender, sexuality, ability, and power. * The process of grief and its seasons; how we can work with and through it and why grief is where we can find ourselves most in our belonging. * Tanya`s ritual work, her inspirations and influences; rooted in African spiritual traditions that honour ancestry and communal healing, and the Celtic wheel of the year, which teaches us to listen to the wisdom of the seasons and to trust the cycles of life, death, and renewal and how to engage in rituals is pure nourishment for the soul. More about Tanya: Tanya Forgan is an Embodiment Guide, Circle Facilitator, Mentor, and Ritual Holder. She draws on Yoga Nidra, breathwork, somatic practice, grief tending, and conscious relating. Her approach is trauma-informed, rooted in a deep trust in what emerges when people gather with presence and care. She is the founder of Devoted, a six-month training for women called to hold Circles and create meaningful spaces for others. Through Devoted, she supports women to grow the presence, confidence, and embodied leadership needed to facilitate with integrity and skill. Enjoy! With so much 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

In this episode, I sit down with poet, essayist and academic Natalie Rose Dyer to explore the ideas behind her groundbreaking book The Menstrual Imaginary in Literature: Notes on a Wild Fluidity. We begin with Natalie's own journey into this work - what drew her to menstruation as a site of philosophical, political, and creative inquiry, and how her doctoral research evolved into a call to reimagine menstrual experience beyond pathology, shame, and silence. Together we explore the menstrual imaginary as a "wild zone of unacknowledged creativity," discussing menstrual knowledge, embodied knowing, feminist writing, and the cyclical body as a source of softly rebellious wisdom. We linger with writers such as Hélène Cixous and the tradition of women writing through and from the body, tracing how poetry, blood, creativity, and sexual difference intertwine. The conversation then turns toward Natalie's more recent work and the posthuman horizons emerging from her thinking. We explore what becomes possible when menstruation is understood not only as a bodily process, but as a site of connection with matter, ecosystems, non-human life, and new forms of becoming. A rich conversation on embodiment, creativity, feminist resistance, wildness, and the futures that become imaginable when we learn to listen to the wisdom of cyclical life. More about Natalie: Natalie teaches into the Creative Writing Program at The University of Melbourne where she is Honorary Research Fellow. Natalie is the recipient of The Peter Steele Poetry Award 2021, and was highly commended for the 2024 Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize. She is presently completing work on her first collection towards publication this year. Natalie’s poetry is widely published in literary journals including Meanjin Quarterly, Australian Poetry and Cordite Poetry Review. Her book Notes on a Wild Fluidity was published with Palgrave (2020). Nothing But a Fine Nerve Meter; New Maps at the Planetary Turn was recently published (2025) with Revolutionaries Press. Natalie issues a call to re-write ourselves as planetary players, tethered to place yet attuned to fault lines of poetic rupture, care, and resistance. 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. 🌟 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 [email protected]. --- Find out more about Natalia: - Follow her on Instagram @natalierosedyer - Visit her webpage 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

“Our bodies are made for pleasure”, yet we are tamed and shamed into cages that domesticate our sexuality and relationships. - Carly Mountain I am so excited, grateful and honoured to welcome Carly Mountain back to the Podcast! Since our last conversation a year ago, Carly has completed her second book Untamed Pleasure: Unleash Your True Erotic Nature which launches THIS FRIDAY! Huge congratulations dearest Carly! In this conversation, Carly shares the story behind her new book and invites us into the world of Untamed Pleasure - a deeply moving, gently stirring, and invigorating journey into embodiment, desire, aliveness, and the untamed wisdom that lives within us all. More about Carly - Carly is a writer, psychotherapist somatic sex therapist and sacred space holder. 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. Drawing on more than twenty years of embodied practice, training, and space-holding experience, Carly brings a trauma-informed approach to her work. In this conversation we talked about: ❤️‍🔥 Carly's new book, Untamed Pleasure: Unleash Your True Erotic Nature—what it means to alchemise (internalised) shame, meet our unique untamed energy, and enter a wider space where we can be more fully ourselves. ❤️‍🔥 How this work is both disruptive and reparative. We live in a culture in which sexuality is often taboo, shrouded in shame and silence. And just as work with the menstrual cycle challenges outdated narratives, Untamed Pleasure invites us to dismantle the systems that disconnect us from our bodies and our pleasure. ❤️‍🔥 The cages—cultural and personal—that domesticate women's pleasure, and how to begin finding the keys to rewild and reveal your untamed pleasure. ❤️‍🔥 What eros and eroticism actually mean, and why they are so much bigger than sex. The difference between sensual and sexual energy. ❤️‍🔥 The wild, poetic nature of female anatomy—the incredible body of our clitoris, which, as Carly writes so beautifully, “when she is aroused, spreads her wings into orgasmic flight.” ❤️‍🔥 The commitment, devotion, and soft discipline untamed pleasure asks of us, and how, if we dare to say yes, we unearth a multiverse of embodied knowledge and a fiercely authentic way of being ourselves. 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. 🌟 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 [email protected]. --- Links mentioned during the conversation: - Listen to our first conversation here. - Carly`s first book Descent & Rising: Women's Stories & the Embodiment of the Inanna Myth → you can find out more and buy it here. - Pre-order Untamed Pleasure: Unleash Your True Erotic Nature → grab your copy here. - The Untamed Pleasure Sanctuary Course → Visit Carly`s website here. - Find Carly on Instagram → @carly_mountain 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 if your body is speaking a language you’ve just never been taught how to understand? And what if your hormonal or pelvic health challenges were actually an invitation into deeper alignment with yourself? In today’s conversation - the final round of the Healthy Vagina Project - I am sitting down with Claire Dabreo. Claire is a Five Element acupuncturist and women’s health specialist with over 15 years of experience supporting fertility, hormonal balance, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and intimate wellbeing. Through the lens of Chinese medicine, she helps women better understand the rhythms of their bodies and restore balance with practical, holistic care. In this conversation we talked about: 💫 What led Claire to become the women’s health practitioner she is today; her first experience of Chinese Medicine when she experienced premenstrual tension as a teenager, and how acupuncture found her at a “transitioning threshold moment” in her life, supported her to “step out of the mess” and to unravel and find closer to her soul`s purpose and her creative flow. 💫 Chinese medicine and its map and principles “meridians”, what 5-Element Acupuncture is - which is Claire`s practice - and why it is such a potent holistic approach for vaginal and pelvic health. 💫 How physical symptoms are signals for something which is “disrupted” on deeper levels and how in acupuncture those symptoms can be seen as codes to find out where the energetic workings of the body need support - as ultimately this way of working is about creating conditions for the body to heal itself, not about fixing, it allows “everything to come into balance”, treating the whole person not just the symptoms. 💫 The importance to name the emotional aspect of health challenges, especially pelvic health, as much as the physical. Claire calls the the pelvic bowl and womb our “sacred witchy space”, which I love :-), and we talked about how pelvicchealth is about stepping into our creativity and yes to ourself and our soul s alignment. 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. 🌟 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 [email protected]. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Claire Dabreo, you can find her webpage here and here,  follow her on Instagram and Facebook @thelondonacupuncturist and @TheHarmonyPrinciple 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

Dear Listeners, The Healthy Vagina Project is gradually cycling itself to an end … but not quite! Today I have the great joy to introduce you to Natalie Meddings! She has been supporting women through birth for over twenty years as a mother, doula and active birth teacher. She is also the author of How to Have a Baby and Why Homebirth Matters. Natalie approaches birth with deep respect for the body’s innate intelligence and sees it as an ongoing journey of learning and trust. In this episode, we explore why birth support matters so deeply - not only for how we give birth, but for how we come to trust ourselves in the process. We talk about birth as an initiation: not just into motherhood for our babies, but into a deeper relationship with ourselves. We also touch on the very physical reality that the way we birth, and how we experience our births, can influence the health and state of our vaginas and pelvic bowls. In this conversation we explored: 💫 How modern life can leave us disconnected from our bodies - “heads on walking sticks”- and how this affects the way we approach birth. 💫 The tendency to theorise about birth while remaining disconnected from its true physicality and intensity. 💫 Natalie’s perspective that a healthy birth is in the mother’s gift, and that the mother’s body is designed to work on the baby’s behalf - giving women every reason to trust themselves completely. 💫 How to navigate the negative narratives surrounding childbirth today, and how understanding the anatomy and physiology of birth can help women and birthing people approach birth with confidence and common sense. 💫 A deeper (and delightfully geeky) dive into the science and mechanics of childbirth - from oxytocin and the brain–womb connection, to the importance of movement in labour, and how birth is a process of releasing tension so the baby can mould its way out of the mother’s body. 💫 The role of a doula, and how our respective work - doula support and holistic pelvic care- intersect and complement one another in supporting women through birth and beyond. Enjoy! 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

If you’re curious to explore natural approaches to support menstrual health challenges today’s episode is for you. My guest, Melinda McDougall, is a registered Medical Herbalist specialising in women's health and runs a busy online clinic seeing patients across the UK and beyond. She combines the latest scientific research into botanical medicines with the traditional knowledge women have used for centuries to manage their health. Melinda shares a treasure trove of herbal information about how to improve irregular periods, heavy and painful menstruation, endometriosis, as well as how to reduce stress, and help your body to feel better overall! In this conversation we explored: - Melinda`s story and what led her to become a medical herbalist and why she decided to specialise in the field of women’s health. - The roots of medical herbalism in indigenous practices and knowledge and how plants have always been “the people’s medicine”. - Why medical herbalism is such a profound and potent holistic model to understand health and support our female and menstruating bodies beyond symptom management. - Various menstrual health challenges as well as endometriosis and how medical herbalism can be of support in these situations. --- 🌟 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 [email protected]. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Melinda McDougall: You can find her webpage 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

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 [email protected]. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Gemma Barry: You can find her webpage 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

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 [email protected]. --- 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 [email protected]. --- 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 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 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 [email protected]. --- Links: Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com My 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