Have you ever struggled to explain to the men and non-menstruators around you what you need in your menstrual month? Or why you might seem to be an entirely different personality week on week?
My friend Alyx Coble-Frakes did, and her experiences of frustration have resulted in what is to my knowledge, the first book about periods specifically written for cis-men. Don’t call it man-splaining, just call it menstruation for men.
Alyx Coble-Frakes is a passionate social entrepreneur. She has 10 years of experience in business and 8 years of experience working in health and wellness. When she returned from the Peace Corps in 2015, she felt out of touch with her own health, so she began a path of healing. This led her to launch a health coaching company and, subsequently, the app The Agenda Period . She has recently authored a book called “Manstruation” which is opening up conversations around periods with men.
We chatted about:
- What non-menstruators need to know about periods
- How they can support the people around them (and not just when they are menstruating!)
- How Alyx wrote her new book in just 6 weeks
- How Alyx discovered the power of cycle syncing
- The problem and lack of safety with most period tracking apps
- The surprising power of celebrating your first period in retrospect
- How Alyx shifted away from perfectionism to self-compassion
- And much more!
Free sign up for Manstruation a field guide
Two of the books Alyx refers to are:
Women’s Body Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup
Women Code by Alisa Vitti
Stay up to date with my goings-on at my Instagram @kate_codrington
Second Spring: the self-care guide to menopause is published by HarperCollins and available from your favourite bookshop
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Music
Trust Me (instrumental) by RYYZN
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
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Artwork
My portrait is by Lori Fitzdoodles
