As a long-time champion of the menstrual cycle, listening to her body and being mindful of its flow, is Lucy Peach’s everyday goal. She is well-educated on the cyclical nature of periods and uses this to guide how she expends her energy throughout the week.
Peach is a period preacher working to shift the period narrative in our culture from one of shame to one of pride.
“We are the way we are for a reason and what the world needs most right now is women and people with periods who deeply know and trust themselves,” says Peach.
An advocate for self-love and positive body literacy, Peach is also the author of “Period Queen”, a practical and humorous guide to understanding what you need most at the different stages of your cycle.
She’s spent the past two decades studying human biology, women’s health & wellbeing and menstruality leadership, receiving a bachelor of science in human biology and biomedicine with honours in medicine and a graduate diploma of education in human biology.
Starting her career as a human biology teacher and sexual health educator while building a parallel career as a stadium-folk-pop singer song-writer, Peach now uses her knowledge of women’s health and performance to empower thousands with theatre, shows and workshops around Australia about the power of the menstrual cycle.
She launched her theatre show, My Greatest Period Ever, in 2017, touring Australia and the UK. This led her win the Martin Sims Fringe World 2017 award and both the Brighton and Sydney Fringe World Winner 2018 award. In 2018, Peach followed up with an award-winning youth version of the show called, How to Period Like a Unicorn.
“The best time to learn about your cycle is before it begins, but the second best time is now,” says Peach.
Her TED talk– The Power of the Period– has received over 75,000 views and has led to her being a featured guest at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018 and Perth’s Disrupted festival in 2021, as well as numerous podcast collaborations.
As part of our weekly health series looking at how dynamic women of different career backgrounds maintain their physical and mental health, Peach shares more on her daily routine. Read her full ‘how I manage my health’ profile below.
**********
Get Women’s Health News in your inbox. Subscribe here.
In the morning I…
My goal this year was to be more present and I’ve started saying this little proverb before I get out of bed and I love how it sets me up for the day; “Divine spirit within me, guide me to my highest good today, with my words, thoughts and actions.” No matter what I’m doing or how big or small my day is, it’s a gentle reminder that feels good to carry with me. I’m enough.
I like to meditate for 20 minutes before everyone gets up while it’s still quiet. If I have time I journal afterwards and then have a cup of tea with my son before he leaves for school.
My exercise routine includes…
Variation! I get bored with the same thing every day and ideally I like to mix friendship and exercise, a gym buddy or walking together with someone at a pace that is vigorous but still conducive to conversation!
I’m 42 soon and want to maintain my bone density and overall strength. I’m so inspired by strong older women and I really want to be one. I like doing different workouts on YouTube with weights and how smug I feel after doing a “thirty minute full body dumbbell workout.” I also like to squeeze in tiny bits of movement like doing a squat to get a baking tray or skipping while the kettle boils or parking a bit further away for a little walk.
My favourite workout is…
One with weights and some good music that has no repetition and someone yelling affirmative support!
I find balance in…
The little things, breathing, checking in with my body regularly. Am I holding tension, anger, anything? Where? What is it asking of me? How can I be more compassionate with myself? Batch cooking and listening to audio books, spending time with my family and rituals like saying grace before dinner help me to remember that doing less and doing it more mindfully is a never ending quest but one that always pays off.
I am very anchored to my body through my menstrual cycle and I factor which phase I am in when I am planning my week, my day and how I will spend my energy. I love the reset of my period and using it as a time to reflect, I call it the Dream phase because this is when I really take extra care of myself and make time to Dream for the month ahead and the big ideas I’m working through.
On health, I encourage women to…
Explore their cycle. The world would have you reaching beyond yourself every day and forgetting your cyclical nature. Many people only learn about their cycle as though it’s something to be managed. While it is important that everyone has something to bleed into, there’s so much more to a cycle than just a period. The more you understand your cycle, the more you will support yourself and scaffold when you need to, and ultimately harness your hormonal changes.
Knowing your body and respecting it can look different for everyone but it helps anyone to be more in tune with their emotional selves, to have more effective boundaries, to communicate your needs and to feel that you are enough, on any day and in any phase.
The best time to learn about your cycle is before it begins, but the second best time is now. You
We are the way we are for a reason and what the world needs most right now is women and people with periods who deeply know and trust themselves. deserve the full picture and if you need support, there are many books and courses available, including mine. Find someone that you resonate with and once you’ve discovered this way of tracking your cycle and planning your life (where possible), you’ll never look back.
Ready to start tracking your cycle? Download my free cycle tracking chart here