Episode 53 - A Depth Psychological Approach to Menstruation with Dr. Roxanne Partridge

🐚 Topics covered

• How depth psychology differs from mainstream psychological approaches
• The menstrual cycle as a path to self-knowing and wholeness
• Meeting our cyclical experiences with curiosity rather than judgment
• Breaking free from rigid expectations about how our cycles "should" be
• The relationship between menstruation, dreaming, and indigenous wisdom
• Simple practices for developing a more imaginative relationship with our cycles
• How cultural conditioning has disconnected us from our cyclical wisdom
• The value of giving ourselves permission to explore the mystery of menstruation

About Dr. Roxanne Partridge
Dr. Roxanne Partridge, PhD, CHt, is the Creatrix of embodyperiod. With over 14 years of guiding women into their embodied wisdom and sovereignty, she approaches healing and empowerment dynamically as a healer, scholar, creative, and activist. Her work holds the menstrual experience, sexual experience, and embodied experience as deep thresholds of self-knowing and pathways into authentic expression.

Dr. Partridge holds both a Masters and PhD in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and is a clinical hypnotherapist and relational sexuality practitioner. She's studied with distinguished elders including Gina Ogden, Marion Woodman, James Hillman, and others who have shaped her eclectic approach.

Her practice weaves together post-Jungian approaches to the feminine, intersectional feminism, queer theory, archetypal psychology, liberational practices, somatic work, pleasure principles, arts-based healing, menstruality, and sacred rites of initiation into authentic personhood. She maintains her private practice and hosts intimate retreats at Aletis House in Hudson, New York, while also offering embodiment programs virtually and speaking at conferences for organizations including the Society of Menstrual Cycle Research.

Dr. Partridge envisions a world where women can fully embody their wild majesty, richly sourced and aligned with their true desires. Her work invites authentic embodiment of personhood—period—in allegiance with the menstrual body throughout the lifespan.

Where to find Roxanne
Website: https://embodyperiod.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embodyperiod/

About the Host

I’m Iris Josephina—functional hormone specialist, orthomolecular hormone coach, and entrepreneur. Through Cycle Seeds and The Inner Rhythms Podcast, I support people in reconnecting with their cyclical nature, deepening body literacy, and reclaiming hormonal harmony from a place of sovereignty and embodied knowledge. Most people know me from Instagram, where I share stories, tools, and inspiration on cyclical living, menstrual cycles, fertility, hormones and more. 

Let’s stay connected:

📸 Instagram: @cycleseeds

📧 Join my newsletter: https://www.cycleseeds.com/

💻 Visit the Cycle Seeds website: https://www.cycleseeds.com/

📝 Check out the blog: https://www.cycleseeds.com/blog

🎓 Holistic Hormone & Cycle Coaching Certification Training: https://www.cycleseeds.com/hhcc-training-2025-selfstudy-vip

📚Join my courses: https://www.cycleseeds.com/courses-masterclasses

Chapters

• 1:06 How Iris and Dr. Partridge met at the SMCR conference
• 4:34 Dr. Partridge introduces her work at Embody Period
• 8:25 What is depth psychology? How it differs from mainstream psychology
• 11:35 The menstrual cycle as a "body-soul phenomenon" where psyche and soma flow together
• 13:24 Historical pathologizing of menstruation and the wandering womb concept
• 18:22 How to approach your cycle with curiosity: "Who's here in this phase?"
• 21:11 Indigenous wisdom: "Men do ayahuasca and women menstruate" - cycles as natural visionary practice
• 25:12 Colombian indigenous ritual connecting first menstruation to dream wisdom
• 31:17 "Menstruation is ancestor. It is mystery. It is the collective. It is the earth."
• 33:46 Permission to break free from what you think your menstrual cycle is
• 36:04 Letting go of social media expectations about how cycle phases "should" feel
• 37:11 The "sneaky feminine ideal" and the trap of trying to perfect your cycle
• 41:08 Dr. Partridge shares her first conversation with her uterus during painful cramps
• 45:03 Discovering the "mourner" within her pain and honoring the mystery
• 46:46 Like "opening the door to Narnia" - entering a new dimension of understanding
• 50:45 Practice: Personifying cycle phases - "Who is this? What do they want?"
• 54:33 The cyclical journey continues from menarche through menopause
• 56:46 Connect with Dr. Partridge: @embodyperiod and embodyperiod.com

Transcript

[00:00:00] Iris Josephina: You are listening to the podcast of Iris Josephina. If you are passionate about exploring the menstrual cycle, cyclical living, body wisdom, personal growth, spirituality, and running a business in alignment with your natural cycles, you're in the right place. I'm Iris. I'm an entrepreneur, functional hormone specialist, trainer and coach, and I am on a mission.

[00:00:29] Iris Josephina: To share insights, fun facts, and inspiration I discover along the way as I run my business and walk my own path on earth. Here you'll hear my personal stories, guest interviews, and vulnerable shares from clients and students. Most people know me from Instagram where you can find me under at cycle seeds, or they have been a coaching client or student in one of my courses.

[00:00:52] Iris Josephina: I'm so grateful you're here. Let's dive into today's episode. 

[00:00:56] Iris Josephina: Hey Roxanne, welcome to the show. 

[00:01:01] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Hey, Iris. Thank you for having me. It's so good to reconnect. 

[00:01:06] Iris Josephina: It's so good to reconnect. I want to start by sharing with people how we met. I actually cannot remember the year. I can't remember what year it was that we met, but we met at the SMCR conference, which is a conference organized by the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, and it's basically a gathering of people who are obsessed with the menstrual cycle.

[00:01:36] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: I know I couldn't remember either. And I'd actually, before we jumped on, I went like into like my Facebook groups. 'cause there was a group that I think had been formed afterwards. 'cause I was like, when was that? I think it was 2015, so like almost 10 years ago. Oh wow. That was the one with like, Gloria Steinem, I think was the keynote.

[00:01:58] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: I don't know. I've conflated a lot of them in my head. They're all big one wonderful like event in which we're all there playing. So, that's how it exists in my, in my mind. 

[00:02:08] Iris Josephina: Yeah, just one big playground of people obsessed with the menstrual cycle. That's how it lives in my memory, always.

[00:02:18] Iris Josephina: Ah, but it was so nice to meet each other there and have our like little group of menstrual people. Yeah. And you know, for me it was actually the very first time in my life that I stepped into a space where people were as obsessed about the menstrual cycle as I was, and as interested and as intrigued.

[00:02:41] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah, I would say that's probably the same for me. It felt like such a wonderful homecoming, you know, to be with this group of people of all different backgrounds, all different disciplines, all different ways of relating to the menstrual throughout the lifespan. And to have this be like celebrated and passionately pursued in so many different ways.

[00:03:07] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: It was so joyous and encouraging to me, I think particularly at that place in my life. I don't know about you, but like, you know, I was like deep in my research at that time and I just to hear other people's ideas and see other people's ways of dancing with this cycle, it was just, so grateful to the Society of Menstrual Cycle research and all the work that they do and just the community, you know of, that we, you and I entered into all those years ago.

[00:03:38] Iris Josephina: Yeah, me too. For me, it was, it was really formative to be in that space and to also have all the mentors who had been walking this path for so long, who, who had been in this field like since the seventies. And I was there. I was really a baby. I was. You said it's almost 10 years ago. I'm 33 now. I was like a baby, early twenties baby.

[00:04:06] Iris Josephina: Yeah, that's a while ago. Mm-hmm. such good memories. And I also feel that your work really formed. Around the menstrual cycle and that you, you've gotten as inspired as I was. And before we dive into all the juicy stuff that we're gonna talk about today, could you start with sharing with people who you are and what your work entails?

[00:04:34] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah, absolutely. So I'm Dr. Roxanne Partridge and, my work is contained in this. Teos of Embodi, period. oh, what does my work entail? I mean, so much it, but really it, it, it holds the menstrual experience as well as sexual experience and embodied experience as these deep thresholds and really potent thresholds of, Self-knowing, you know, as these pathways into our authentic expression. and I host and facilitate and guide through like a very eclectic, collection of modalities and practices. my work is arts-based. It's archetypal, it's mythic, it, it weaves in various holistic, creative, indigenous, and liberational practices that come to me through various lineages of depth psychology and, you know, 'cause I, I really believe that.

[00:05:49] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: like in creative and wisdom based ways of, of both healing and discovery and, And expression, you know, that we are here to be fully alive and that our bodies and our cycles and our sexuality are a deep, like, rooted place of our creative energy and our life force. So it's kind of the, the essence, I would say of, of my work and the menstrual piece of that.

[00:06:20] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And that's, you know, when you and I met. At, S-M-C-R-O those years ago, you know, of like really kind of my work at that, at that moment had been, very much in conscious sexuality and the relationship to our sensei bodies and in relationship to. Our, our world and our planet. And it had just kind of taken this menstrual turn, that I hadn't been expecting.

[00:06:48] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Like once it got there, like I, I wasn't surprised, but it did take me by surprise at first. 'cause I was like, ah, like, I mean, so often when I meet, Other people in the menstrual field or when I, when I work with women too, it's almost as if the menstrual is this like last frontier of awareness and consciousness and, and then it's like, oh my God, how have we not already been considering this?

[00:07:12] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Because it is so, something that Chris Bobble who is, you know, one of the elders of the SMCR and she was, The external reader in my dissertation. You know, one thing that she says that sticks with me is that how the menstruation is part and parcel of our embodiment. You know, it is a part of our fullness and how the cycle really welcomes us home to the fullness of our embodied lives.

[00:07:42] Iris Josephina: Hmm. So beautiful. Yeah. Wow. Yes. All of this and weaving further onto this. And just going back a little bit, you mentioned depth psychology. 

[00:08:00] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:01] Iris Josephina: And, I'm curious how is this different from, from like more mainstream psychology as we know it, and why is it important that. We make this connection between.

[00:08:16] Iris Josephina: depth psychology and the menstrual cycle. And how are they like interweaved, interwoven. Interwoven.

[00:08:25] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. I love that question. So depth psychology is, I mean, like at its base, it's the study of the unconscious and the way that I hold it, the way that depth psychology has come to me is this kind of weave work of both or, Well, it's not just both 'cause it's so many more things than just two, but it's, it's, Jungian psychology.

[00:08:51] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: it is liberation psychology. It is somatic, it is, ecological, you know, it is this very soul centered and based approach to the psyche. And, and it's. It's a field that very much embraces the unconscious and also embraces the like. The creative, potential of the unconscious and also the autonomy of the unconscious.

[00:09:26] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I think this is something that mainstream psychology can struggle with, in trying to kind of, clean up or make neat or controllable the autonomy of the unconscious and, you know, and really seeing people as. truly intersectional beings that, you know, include not just the personal conscious and unconsciousness, but also the collective, the ancestral, the, the, the nature, and the, the, the, the anima moonie, the soul of the world that is living through.

[00:10:09] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Of us, you know, that it's this like very multi-layered view of the psyche and of what the human being is a part of. It's very systemic, you know, it, we are not. You know, sort of like individual sort of vacuums, you know, that our dilemmas or our problems are, are just locked in the individual, but rather like of a deep and wide community, of histories and relationships.

[00:10:38] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: So that's kind of a really broad, understanding of, of depth psychology and. And I, and I think, in depth psychology, kind of as a practice is in, is in relationship to. All of these layers and in relationship to in, in relationship to the unknown, you know, and relation, the unknown is like super uncomfortable, right?

[00:11:08] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And we try in our lives to like, you know, kind of. Shore up and buttress the ego as much as possible into the relationship to the unknown and reassure ourselves where depth psychology is like, nah. You know, like you gotta let go all of it. Yeah. It's like into the mystery, you know, the mystery is the way, and.

[00:11:35] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And so I, I feel like that kind of, bleeds into the menstrual piece here too. 'cause there there's something about that, where it there to recognize the more than, and the, other than the physiological in the menstrual cycle, you know that the menstrual cycle, as I see it, is a part of the, you know, it, it is this body, soul phenomenon.

[00:12:04] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, where Psyche and Soma, kind of, you know, flow together. You know, it's not a clean cut one or the other. It's not a clean cut, causal relationship that they're in a dance, that they're in communication. And so in that way, I see, menstrual events, cyclical events in a similar way as like dreams.

[00:12:31] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, that there, it's, it's arising that our symptomology, you know, which does, I mean that in a really neutral way. Like, you know, symptomology could just be like ovulation, you know, like it's not bad. but that like. You know, the way that the menstrual cycle manifests, whether it's a physiological manifestation, an emotional, a behavioral, that these are all communications of our wider selves and, and included in that are things we don't know.

[00:13:03] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And so, you know, there, menstrual menstruation has had such a hard time, I think, historically, you know, like starting from way back and like the ancient Greeks, you know, and, and beyond, but like. You know, of like hysteria in the wandering womb and, you know, we have a really hard time thinking about menstruation culturally.

[00:13:24] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Hmm. And welcoming menstruation into our lives without overly pathologizing it or, you know, trying to like perfect it in some way. And so what I like about the depth psychological approach or the depth psychological, kind of turning towards the menstrual cycle is, It's kind of allowing menstruation to have imaginal rights that it gets to participate in like the dreaming of our lives.

[00:13:58] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, that it's not just some reproductive thing, you know, that we can decide. If we want it or not, or something, you know, it, that it has a wider sort of, you know, I mean there's of course, as, as I know, you know, like, you know, that it's, we could see it as a vital sign in terms of our, our physical health.

[00:14:20] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: But I see it also as like this. you know, however it's happening in any one of our bodies, that it is a part of our larger embodied story. And, and so I think that the depth, psychological position of really listening into the unknown, listening into the mystery, really helps us to kind of stay close to, menstruation without trying to.

[00:14:53] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: nail it down, you know what I mean? Without trying to like, make it any one particular thing, you know, to be in the multiplicity of, the really dynamic experience that is cycling, like, you know, throughout the lifespan, man. Hmm. 

[00:15:15] Iris Josephina: I love this approach so much. And I love it because I can feel it on a visceral level, but not on a physi, physiological, visceral level, but like a truth.

[00:15:27] Iris Josephina: Mm-hmm. Like when you speak like this, I'm like, this is the truth of. The entirety of what the menstrual experience can be. This is the, the, actually, I have to say it differently. This is the potential where we often don't go, like, that's what I feel when you describe it in this way. Like what we currently do is, as you say, pathologizing and trying to rationalize our way into and out of the menstrual cycle.

[00:15:59] Iris Josephina: But then we miss all the things that you just mentioned. So I love this approach and I think and feel that this cultivating this practice of approaching the menstrual cycle from this mystery perspective and, and allowing, allowing for mystery to have a seat at the table. When it comes to the menstrual cycle that this can open up like so much for so many people.

[00:16:31] Iris Josephina: Thank you so much for taking us into that pathway to look from this perspective. 

[00:16:41] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. Yeah. And that's, I love that the way that you just put that for mystery to have a seat at the table with the menstrual cycle. Mm. Yeah. Yeah. So, so key. 

[00:16:55] Iris Josephina: Yeah. 'cause I feel when we, when we forget that, or when we don't allow this mystery to happen, we also miss out on part of the beauty that we can experience and the wisdom that comes to us and from us and through us.

[00:17:14] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:15] Iris Josephina: Yeah. 

[00:17:16] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:19] Iris Josephina: And so. How I feel it when you explain it like this, the menstrual cycle is really also a path towards self knowing. 

[00:17:31] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:32] Iris Josephina: How can, how can we cultivate that path towards self knowing and also wholeness through our cyclical experience, according to your, like, your vision and, and what you believe and know.

[00:17:47] Iris Josephina: Yeah. Yeah. So, 

[00:17:50] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: hmm.

[00:17:54] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: So, like, I have so many ideas at one time. to begin, like going back to what you were saying about the mystery, having a seat at the table, you know, so when we, turn towards menstruation in that way. You know, and, and what do we mean by a path towards self knowing, right? It's, it's like to know, what's in the depths to know beyond what we already know, right?

[00:18:22] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Is to further know ourselves and wholeness of like our fullness beyond the conscious situation, beyond the conscious ego, you know, of whatever story we happen to be living in. And, and so. And straight like, attuning to our cycle in a depth psychological way might look like. you know, really getting curious about your menstrual experience in, in any of the phases, you know, premenstrually, menstrually and your follicular phase, ovulating, you know, all, all of it, all of the days, and, and being curious who's here.

[00:19:09] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, in the feeling, in the emotion, in the sensation, even, you know, in any of the discomfort, in any of the joy, in any of the excitement, in any of the, like, flesh of energy. You know, like all of, all of the many, many, many, many ways that the cycle shows itself to us. And to turn towards it in a similar way that we would if we were going on a vision quest, you know?

[00:19:42] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Or if we were seeking counsel in some wise elder to turn towards our cyclical experience and greet it as a guest, as a figure, as a guide. You know, who is unknown, who is mysterious, who is I, I, have referred to these at like, these sort of autonomous images of our menstrual experience as bloody others, you know, of these, as these sort of, you know, of, of welcoming them, giving them all a seat at the table.

[00:20:26] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Who is this in my luteal phase? Who shows up? Who is this in my follicular phase? And that it can be different any cycle, right? No two cycles are exactly the same and that we are constantly living, you know, we're not static beings and so where our cycle is living with us and dreaming with us and revealing things.

[00:20:50] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: From our own depths, from our own mystery all of the time. It's such an incredible resource. It's, and I'm, right now I'm thinking about, something that, Samantha Spora, is that how you pronounce her last name, had shared with me once. I know the two of you know each. Mm-hmm. Yes, too. She was in the, Hudson Valley.

[00:21:11] Iris Josephina: Yeah. 

[00:21:12] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: This past fall and I had the great opportunity to sit in circle with her and she shared something that a Peruvian, shamanist had shared with her. You know, that, I think it was something, the way that I remember it is like, yeah, the men do the ayahuasca and the women. They menstruate, you know, they have menstrual cycles and like, you know, and it, it's that kind of spirit that I'm touching on here in terms of the, the, this menstruation as a path to self knowing that we have, I love that.

[00:21:46] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, and it's right here happening all of the time. And to just turn to it with a different awareness of like, ah, like all of this wisdom and all, you know, and it might be super particular and nuanced and personal. It might be more collective, it could be so many things you have no idea. You know, it's, it's a mystery and, and that there are these invitations into a wider.

[00:22:13] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Deeper knowing of our own inner ecology and our collective, our families, our community, our careers, like, you know, that it's, it's showing up. Through Psyche and through our, our menstrual cycle and just where those two, you know, for me, as I said earlier, you know, it's, it's, it's a form of dreaming and, and there's a, a kind of, you know, just going off the what, Samantha had shared that, You know, it's, it's, it's a simple attunement of attention, you know, it, it, it doesn't take that much, you know, we don't need to necessarily, like, of course, you always can go into the cave or go into the medicine journey, or, or whatever the case may be, or, and also, you know, a. A menstrual experience happening through the body, happening through the heart, happening through a thought can similarly.

[00:23:29] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Initiate us into a new understanding, a new perspective, a new vision of ourselves, and also point us forward. And I just think that, potential is, is so exciting to me and, and witnessing women. Kind of tune into their cycles and realize, and, and begin to, to really be in conversa, like an active conversation and to know like, wow, I've got this like partner here.

[00:24:05] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: That's a part of my every day. You know, if you're a cyclical body, you know, and you're cycling that like there's this constant wisdom keeper. And it may show up like a 

[00:24:18] Iris Josephina: really gnarly, oh, can you hear me? Yes. Now I can hear you. Can you repeat the last two sentences that you said? 

[00:24:26] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. Let's see, what was I saying?

[00:24:29] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: oh, that we have this constant wisdom keeper sitting next to us. Hmm. I love that, even if it shows up as like a really gnarly mood, you know, like it's, it's, it's like turning to, you know, my, sometimes it, it may feel like turning towards a nightmare, you know? but that it is an image, you know, it is a dream.

[00:24:54] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: It is a symbol. It is an archetype. You know, it is this other, it is this mystery. That is inviting us further into ourselves and wider into our wholeness. 

[00:25:11] Iris Josephina: Hmm. I love that. And I also really love the dreaming part. It actually reminds me of an experience I was honored to have when I was 21. I had the honor to visit, an indigenous community in Colombia and I remembered when.

[00:25:32] Iris Josephina: I remember when the women there told me that when a girl has her first period, she has to go to a special place where she needs to. Have her experience with the dream world, and then when she comes back to community, she has to report the wisdom that she received from Dream World to share with the community so that they can grow and move forward.

[00:26:05] Iris Josephina: So I feel that these, these images and these understandings, they're so human. Like the, the way of looking at a menstrual cycle, like a state of dreaming that provides wisdom, mystery, that can provide wisdom. the comparison with the ayahuasca and then we having this very potent internal ayahuasca that is our menstrual cycle is so human.

[00:26:36] Iris Josephina: It's such a human blueprint to look and experience and perceive the menstrual cycle like that, and it's just, it humbles me to my knees. It's so beautiful and it's so, I feel so honored to remember this with you today, and I hope that people listening also feel like viscerally in their bodies that this remembering is happening.

[00:27:07] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm. Yeah. Oh, thank you for sharing that memory, that experience of yours, Iris. 

[00:27:17] Iris Josephina: Yeah, it was, it was really beautiful. I was really young. I wasn't even fully in this work yet. I was 21 years old. But it's like a, it's a core memory, like learning about this. I think it really helped me walk this path. Yeah. And I didn't realize until later that that moment had been so crucial in this journey.

[00:27:40] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:27:41] Iris Josephina: Yeah. Mm

[00:27:46] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: mm Oh, that's so beautiful. That just like. Oh my heart just like melted right there. Oh, what a beautiful My heart did when I heard it. So it's, yeah, I love thinking of that. Like the 21-year-old, you, you know, having that experience and then, you know, I, I don't know. I. And then the work that you've dreamed forward into, into the world, you know, and brought into your communities and share is Oh, so, so gorgeous.

[00:28:23] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: yeah. Mm-hmm. 

[00:28:27] Iris Josephina: Yeah. When I, when I share about it like that, and when I hear your story and how our stories weave together, like it feels so right to be on this path and it feels so right to do all of this. Do and experience and feel all of this remembrance together with people who have like walked their own path in a different way.

[00:28:50] Iris Josephina: But we're all like, how I'm seeing it is that we're all part of like sitting around the campfire where there's, there is this big pot of soup of mystery and we're all like. With our faces towards the same pot of soup where the mystery is brewing from. You know, that's the image that I get. 

[00:29:15] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. Oh yeah.

[00:29:17] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah, it's so rich and so flavorful, you know, and I just riffing off that image, you know, if we all have like these big ladles in our hands and we're taking scoop and tasting it and like we all have like such rich and different descriptions and they're all a part of a soup, you know? Yeah. So, and because I think like there's.

[00:29:43] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: It's such a, it's, there's such complexity, you know, that's something that I'm reminded of again and again and again. Like this, it, it's like, yeah, I, I, I often think of, You know, our sexual ecology and our cycle, like in this ecological sort of metaphor of like an estuary and you know, these, like this really fertile landscape.

[00:30:16] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: and, and it's so dense with life, you know, and it's, and there's everything happening at one. You know, it's life, it's death. It's the life, death, rebirth cycle. It's, Creativity. It's just like humming with so much and, and it has its tides and it has, its, you know, like all, all of those watery metaphors, you know?

[00:30:44] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And, and I just, I'm coming to that place of like, it, it doesn't for me, it, it doesn't wanna be contained, you know, it doesn't want to be contained in like a single. Meaning, you know, it doesn't wanna be like menstruation is X, you know? Mm-hmm. like stamped, but rather like, menstruation is like, you know, menstruation is all of these things.

[00:31:17] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, we're, it's the menstrual. Menstrual cycle is ancestor. It is mystery. It is the collective. It is the earth. It is our hormones, it is our childhood trauma. It is the future that we're dreaming. It is, you know, it's all of it, you know, and I think that's the most. Powerful, place. Like for me, that's where like, it just, it feels like this really gorgeous humming, beautiful, healthy, and healthy, I mean like vibrant ecology, you know?

[00:32:01] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: when it gets to flow with all of its multiplicity. 

[00:32:07] Iris Josephina: Yeah, and I, I really resonate with the. Like the unbound ness, like the non-con containment of it. Like it's so vast, like it's almost like a landscape. When you were saying it, I saw like this vast, expansive landscape that kept expanding endlessly in every single direction with all of its like flowers and trees and animals and expressions and waters, and.

[00:32:40] Iris Josephina: Everything.

[00:32:44] Iris Josephina: Oh yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. And I think it's very healing. I mean, it feels, just talking to you about this feels healing to me and I feel it's, it's healing for us when we are allowed to imagine. And we are allowed to go there because I feel that's where so many of us get lost. You know, we're, we must contain, we must fit the narrative, we must follow the protocol.

[00:33:16] Iris Josephina: And this is where, where all the mystery and magic fall away. 

[00:33:20] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. Because 

[00:33:21] Iris Josephina: we we're, we're not going beyond the confinements of, of what we're told, what we believe, what we think. Yeah, so I think, I feel what I want to do right now is just mention that this is your permission slip to break free, like out of the confinements of what you think your menstrual cycle is.

[00:33:46] Iris Josephina: Everything that it is. Like this is your permission slip to go beyond what you think is possible. Yes. Yeah. 

[00:34:00] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. Oh, totally. It is. And listening to you say that. And I love that invitation of, oh, everyone listening, please take up that slip. You know, 'cause it, it is this, it's so non dogmatic. I wanna say like, when we attune to our cycle from the place of mystery.

[00:34:31] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: I it like for me, the potential then is this cyclical month to month. Day-to-day practice. Yeah. Of reverence to the here and the now as opposed to psalm some prescribed, you know, way of being some identity. Of, or some, you know, of what my life should look like, how I'm supposed to behave, who I'm supposed to be in the world, how, you know, what I'm supposed to do, what is successful, what is this, you know, like where the cycle, you know, as this practice of, revelation.

[00:35:15] Iris Josephina: Yeah. 

[00:35:17] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, is this, is is just, you know, of, of like, okay, this now, you know, now, now follow the, like, it's, it's. It's a living, moving practice as opposed to, you know, a rule-based, you know, this is, or, you know, dogma of how one should be who one should be. Do you know what I mean? 

[00:35:48] Iris Josephina: Yeah. I know exactly what you mean. And what also comes up for me is letting go of. The anticipation of what the next cycle phase is going to be like. 

[00:36:04] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Hmm. 

[00:36:04] Iris Josephina: I feel that that is like a whole thing with this new social media stuff going on.

[00:36:09] Iris Josephina: Like this is what your ovulation phase is supposed to be like. It's like, no, like don't confine yourself again. Like leave it open and step into it and experience. Embody what is as you said in the moment here now? Yeah. 

[00:36:31] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. 'cause we are not the same every day. You know, we're, and we are not the same every month.

[00:36:36] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And, and the cycle is happening with us. Right. And, and, and I think that you're exactly like tuning into this thing that I see too of like where. It there, it's so sneaky, you know, that it's, it's the, the lurking feminine ideal. It's so sneaky, you know, it's like, ah, like let me now perfect. You know, my, my cycle and, and that anticipation and, and how it's, you know, in all of the forms of how it should show up.

[00:37:10] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And, you know, rather of the, how do you know of cycling with yourself, and with your cycle and, and what is it showing you ref, you know, it's a convers if it, if it were an ongoing conversation between you and an intimate front, you know, of. What is it revealing to you about your life today?

[00:37:40] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, that being that, you know, permission slip to be in like, I don't know, you know, this is, it's new, this is discovery. You know, and I think that's a great interruption, to that pressure and that narrative of, it should be. 

[00:38:03] Iris Josephina: I think you were mentioning, to look at the menstrual cycle as an ongoing conversation and cycling with someone.

[00:38:19] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Hmm, yeah. you know, to see it as, you know, that the cycle just as we are is, is living right in the present moment. it's, it's not an artifact of the past. It's not a goal of the future, you know, it's, it's right here with, of us, and, and it may give us glimpses, you know, it might bring us information about the past or the future.

[00:39:00] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, but it's bringing us that information into our here and now, and I just, I just feel like it's such, that's such a radically different orientation to the cycle than what we are offered culturally. Mm. Yes. You know, and, and I think it, it takes time. And I wanna offer that to people listening too, that this to like the real generosity of time to, in turning towards if you want, you know, to, to shift your relationship with your cycle like.

[00:39:45] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: To really give yourself time because it is, it is the undoing of so much, you know, that is not just our lifetime. Yeah. But like thousands of years.

[00:40:04] Iris Josephina: Yeah. Yeah. And the, the what you just mentioned, that it's such a radical. Different way to how most of us are raised with the menstrual cycle. I feel many people are raised with the menstrual cycles as if it's something outside of themselves happening to them, right? Instead of something that is with them and growing and being and embodying with them.

[00:40:40] Iris Josephina: So. Having a lot of grace and patience and understanding with shifting and navigating the narrative. Really? 

[00:40:52] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Mm-hmm. 

[00:40:52] Iris Josephina: It can take time. Like I remember when I started, I don't know, do you remember how you started with all of this?

[00:41:08] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: I started, during a very painful menstrual cramp. One night I was on my bed with a heating pad and tea and candles, and my feet raised. And space for my partner at the time. And I was like, I'm doing all the right things,

[00:41:44] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: you know, and I'm just gonna like, but I was in so much pain and, and I realized like, okay, like externally, like yeah, I'm taking care of myself in these certain self-care ways. Check, check, check. Great, great, great. And I was like, but. I realized, 'cause I was laying there for quite some time and I had a lot of time to think.

[00:42:05] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: I was like, oh. It finally dawned on me like I'm not doing what I would do if like something else in my life was happening. Like if I was having some other kind of challenge that wasn't related to my menstrual cycle, I would be approaching this differently. You know, and I would be approaching it from this like depth psychological lens, but I'm not doing that now.

[00:42:30] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I was like, well, what if I did that? Now I've got time laying here in pain. What if I did something else? And so I decided to have a conversation with my uterus.

[00:42:45] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I it, and it took a lot of courage. I realized, and it was very surprising to turn my attention to my uterus and be like, Hey, what's going on? You know, who's here? You know, like, what's happening? What's what? Who's here and all of this pain? What do you need me to know? What do you need? Mm-hmm. What do you wanna tell me?

[00:43:14] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: What do I need to be shown? And even to get to that question, like I, there was so much like physical resistance to engage in. 'cause I just wanted to be like, I'm gonna take some painkillers and drink more raspberry leaf tea and like, I just want this pain to go away and get on with it. And, you know, to drop in and, and have this conversation.

[00:43:42] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Took me a long time to get there that night, but at the second I was able to address my uterus in this way and, and say, I'm listening. I'm here, I am, I, I I can handle it. Like, what, what do you wanna show me? Like, what is it? I'm here, I'm listening to you. And it's that thing that we've probably have heard in many different ways.

[00:44:07] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: You know, that the body is just like. You know, an eager dog or pet that is just like waiting for, you know, I have never heard that before.

[00:44:23] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: It's like, oh, yeah, I'm right here. I'm your bff. Like, please, let's play. It was like so happy to get the attention. It was like, oh my God, yes, thank you. you know, and but the, so it was immediately responsive. And it was so interesting 'cause the, Ima like, it was a felt image. It, there wasn't a visual, but there was this sense that in that pain was someone, something deeply in mourning.

[00:45:03] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I was like, wow. Huh. I never would've guessed, I have no idea what this means. I have no, and, and it was so like, important, I think that there wasn't an image, like a visual image, 'cause it made it even more mysterious. It was just this feeling of just deep, deep mourning. And I, and I knew, I was like, I have to sit next to this mourner.

[00:45:34] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I just have to sit for as long as it takes and I can't go in there and pat it on the back and tell it it's gonna be okay. I can't go in there and decide what it's morning is. I don't know what its grief is. I have no idea who am I to decide what this morning is about. I have no clue. And that night I knew I was like preparing, like I had been doing years of study and research and exploration in tantra and conscious sexuality and I knew that night all of my research was changing direction.

[00:46:19] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I was like, I, this, this is it. This, I don't know what this is, and I'm always up for a challenge. And so I was like,

[00:46:31] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: this, I, I need to pursue this inquiry of sitting alongside this mourner. And that was the beginning of my menstrual research.

[00:46:46] Iris Josephina: Hmm.

[00:46:49] Iris Josephina: Wow, that's beautiful. I feel we all had an experience like that. Like that we somehow received this little message like, Hey, maybe you should like connect, maybe. And then mm-hmm. We do it. And then there is this entire world unlocking as if you're like opening the door to Narnia and you're like, whoa. What?

[00:47:16] Iris Josephina: Okay. Yeah.

[00:47:22] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Oh yeah. It really is. It's a total unlock to. You know, Narnia, the underworld, you know, the, like, the dream, you know, it, it is, it's like you are entering a, the whole new dimension and realm of the imagination of consciousness and oh my God, what a path it took me on. And, and that's how, you know, I, I come back to these, imagine the autonomy I.

[00:47:56] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Of the unconscious, you know, and, you know, and to practice unknowing and to give menstrual experience the right to be unknown. We want to know what menstruation is so badly, right? We wanna, we wanna track it and like, I do all these things. I track my cycle, I do all these things, but we want to like, you know, drain it and we, and we're, we, we're the same right?

[00:48:28] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: With our personalities that, you know, we, we wish our egos wanna drain the unconscious. So badly so that we can feel safe and in control. And menstruation is this wonderful rebel to all of that. We, we want to do this with all parts of life, right? We want to control, want to pin things down. We want to empty the unconscious of its contents, you know?

[00:48:58] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And And across the board in all categories of life like that just can't be so, you know, the unknown persists.

[00:49:09] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: The unconscious is the unconscious, and menstruation is this wonderful reminder of that, you know, and mm-hmm. It's a way, it's an embodied way. To, to, you know, this built in embodied practice that's already happening to be in relationship with our fullness and our mystery. 

[00:49:37] Iris Josephina: Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful.

[00:49:43] Iris Josephina: I can really literally talk for hours with you. 

[00:49:49] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Same. This feels so good. Thank you so much for inviting me into this conversation and it's been, it's always such a joy to see like what you are up to, on your side of the fire in the soup.

[00:50:11] Iris Josephina: Well, same. I love like witnessing your work and how it has unfolded over the years. And in line of that, is there any wisdom or any encouragement or invitation or practice that you'd like to share with people? who are already on their menstrual cycle awareness journey, or people who are just like peeking around the corner and are listening to this and are getting really curious.

[00:50:44] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. Hmm. Well, I mean, what's coming to me right now is I, I feel something we've been talking around, in this conversation, which is, you know, wherever you may be. In your journey, whether, you know, if you're starting out or you know, have been moving with your cycle in various ways for a while. this piece around turning to your cycle with curiosity and, you know, Iris, you said earlier, you know, many of us in our culture are taught, To experience our cycle is something that is happening to us. You know, something that's outside of that. And so I wanna like lean into that actually for a second because it can help you know, if, if we. from an arche, like if we, it, it kind of helps with this sort of archetypal depth psychological move where we're personifying it, you know, so just to kinda like play with that.

[00:51:53] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: you know, if we embrace that of like, okay, let's, let's take that, just, let's just like adjust that like an inch by saying, okay, the cycle is happening to me. My PMS or my luteal phase is happening to me. And, and to get creative and curious of like, okay, well who is it? You know, we're already doing it, right?

[00:52:16] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: We're already othering it. So I'm gonna invite you to take it even a step further of like, who is this? You know, what's, what's their name? What do they look like? What do they want? What's their attitude like if you were to embody like the whole attitude. Of this thing that has come in and like changed your life for a day, you know, what's its story?

[00:52:46] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: And I think that can be a path to like, you know, so going through the cultural conditioning of like the cycle is something happening to me as outside of me and other. And then embracing that creatively imaginally and kind of turning it up and getting to know. Who's here and I think that that can turn, that will turn the ego or the waking consciousness towards the menstrual experience in a different way towards, rather than like pushing it away.

[00:53:22] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: It's a turning towards with some playful curiosity. 

[00:53:28] Iris Josephina: Yeah, that's beautiful. And I feel it may also be accessible 

[00:53:33] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: mm-hmm. 

[00:53:34] Iris Josephina: To people in this way. because the menstrual cycle is this big, big thing that we often do not move towards. So thank you for that. I think that's very helpful and encouraging. For people because it also triggers curiosity, and I feel curiosity is always a good pathway to approach things.

[00:53:59] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Yeah. And staying with, you know, and welcoming in exactly where you are and what's happening. Right. Not trying to make it anything else, but rather just getting more information, you know, like what's happening right here and right now. And just be like, tell me more. Tell me more. And that will, and that turning towards what's where exactly where you're at, opens up so many unexpected doors and then you are on your way.

[00:54:32] Iris Josephina: Yeah. And then the doors just keep opening forever.

[00:54:40] Iris Josephina: Oh.

[00:54:43] Iris Josephina: Yeah, I'm, I'm imagining like I'm, I'm like on the preconception path and the things that I'm witnessing right now. I'm like, oh my God, there is more. There is even so much more. And then I haven't even like. Walk through a full pregnancy. I haven't even stood on the threshold of birth. I haven't even experienced postpartum, I haven't even, you know, experienced a transition towards menopause.

[00:55:10] Iris Josephina: Like there is so much, it never stops. Like how exciting, you know?

[00:55:16] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Wow. Yes. How exciting. I love that. Yeah. Your full life. 

[00:55:23] Iris Josephina: Yeah. Every day is a new opportunity. Mm-hmm. To get to know a cyclical part. Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much for coming on. I want to like sit with you for hours and talk and be in this space, but we are also doing a podcast, so we have to end somewhere.

[00:55:49] Iris Josephina: Yes. but I just want to really thank you from. The bottom of my womb that you came here today and that you shared your wisdom with us and that you stepped into this space with me. Really, like I had no idea what was gonna happen for this podcast. And I love, I love how it turned out and things that we touched upon and uncovered.

[00:56:20] Iris Josephina: Yeah. 

[00:56:23] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Thank you. Thank you. From, from my womb to your womb. Thank you. Thank you. This feels really good and such a joy and so nourishing to have this conversation and to share it with everyone here listening. Thank you everyone for being curious. 

[00:56:45] Iris Josephina: Yeah. And if people want to learn more about you, what's the, what's the best way to find you?

[00:56:52] Iris Josephina: Where can people find you? 

[00:56:54] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Hmm. good ways of finding me. you can follow me on Instagram at embody period, and you can also check out my website, which is embody period.com. And there's some more, description around depth psychology and different practices. If any of those things have been curious.

[00:57:19] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: To you while listening. I've got some resources there and, And yeah, those are the best ways. Occasionally I'll send out newsletters, but Instagram is probably the place where I am most active these days as a way to connect. and of course if you're looking to deepen into any of this work and curious to work with me, the website is a great place to connect that way as well.

[00:57:51] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: So yeah. Thanks. 

[00:57:53] Iris Josephina: Hmm. I'll make sure to paste all of that in a show notes so people know where to find you. Thank you. Thank you again, so, so much for today. 

[00:58:03] Dr. Roxanne Partridge: Thank you, Harris. 

[00:58:06] Iris Josephina: Okay, this wraps up today's episode. Thank you so much for listening. Want to know more about me? The best way to reach me is via at Cycles Seeds on Instagram.

[00:58:16] Iris Josephina: And if you heard something today and you think, oh my God, wow, I learned something new, feel free to share the podcast on your social media and tag me or leave a review of rating in this way. You help me reach more people like you. Thank you so much.