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

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!

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💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com.

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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

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