Advocacy without Burnout - How You Can Align Your Social Justice Work with Your Cycle with Vianney Leigh

If you have endo, you probably know what it feels like to be unseen, unheard and dismissed. The gender pain gap is a real thing, and that becomes even more difficult to overcome if you’re black or a person of colour, especially given that medicine has a history of believing back women can tolerate more pain. As a result, many of us in the endo community are doing hard work - we may be advocating for people of colour with endometriosis, like Lauren at ENDO BLACK or advocating for the LGBTQIA+ individuals, like Les at endoQueer, or perhaps you have your own awareness page, or you volunteer, or you fundraise for a charity, or perhaps you make sure you’re verbal about endo and share your story with others. Whatever it is you do, advocacy and simply spreading awareness or fighting for your rights in the doctor’s office, can be tiring work, add a chronic illness or two on top of it and the stage is set for burnout. I don’t know about you, but trying to support our community during the start of COVID19 and also trying to do my best to be a better ally in light of the recent Black Lives Matter events, on top of my regular endometriosis advocacy work, tipped my HPA axis dysfunction over the edge. So what can we do about it? How do we show up in the world how we want to, how do we fight for social change, whilst also navigating our health issues and respecting our boundaries for staying well? That’s where Vianney Leigh steps in. Vianney is a period coach, menstrual cycle alignment expert, hypnotherapist and success coach. She does the incredible work of supporting female entrepreneurs who live with period problems to align with their cycle so they no longer have to suffer with burnout and exhaustion. As a result of the recent Black Lives Matter movement, she witnessed so many black advocates experiencing sheer exhaustion. She saw a need to support those doing this work to do it not only to the best of their ability, but in a way that was sustainable and not at the sacrifice of their health, so she created Period Power Activism. A coaching programme that supports advocates of all backgrounds, to align with their cycle and create sustainable changed whilst allowing room for rest and sustained energy levels. In this episode, Vianney and I discuss: What cycle syncing is. Her approach to social activism and how she uses her cycle syncing approach for sustainable change. How we can create space for rest and recovery during our period or times of pain. How we can manage our energy in times when we feel good, so we don’t do too much and burn out. The first steps you can take to aligning your social justice work with your menstrual cycle. If this year has been a lot for you mentally and physically, but you still want to continue doing the work - this episode is the one for you! Let's get social! Come say hello on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook or sign up to my newsletter. If you feel like you need more support with managing endometriosis, you can join Your EndoLife Coaching Programme. A 1-to-1 three month health and life coaching programme to help you thrive with endometriosis. To find out more about the programme and to discuss whether it could be right for you, email me at [email protected] or visit my website. I am now offering one-off two hour sessions for those of you who aren’t quite ready for a 12 week coaching programme. This intensive deep dive session will kick start your journey to living and thriving with endometriosis and give you a plan that you can take forward and work on alone. Click here to find out more about the programme. My cookbook This EndoLife, It Starts with Breakfast is out now! Get 28 anti-inflammatory, hormone friendly recipes for living and thriving with endometriosis. Order your copy here. This episode is also sponsored by my free Endometriosis Diet Grocery List. This pdf list includes all the foods I buy on a monthly basis, categorised into easy sections. I share my personal endometriosis diet plan, free recipe resources, recommendations to help you get started with the endometriosis diet and nutrition tips. Download here. This episode is sponsored by The Pod Farm. Learn all about how to start your own podcast with the complete course from The Pod Farm. Aimed at beginners, this course takes a simple and straightforward approach to planning, equipment buying, setting up, recording, editing and hosting your own podcast. With hours of audio and video materials, and downloadable guides and useful links, this multimedia approach aims to have something for every kind of learner. From now until April 15, newsletter subscribers get 20% off the course price. Visit www.thepodfarm.com to enroll or find out more This episode is sponsored by BeYou. Soothe period cramps the natural way with these 100% natural and discreet menthol and eucalyptus oil stick on patches and CBD range. Click here to find out more and to shop: https://beyouonline.co.uk Show Notes Status Flow Collective Vianney’s instagram Period Power Activism Cheat Sheet