034: Finding Period Pain Relief with Vianney Leigh

Kate Kordsmeier 0:00

Hello, hello,

I'm your host, Kate Kordsmeier. I can't wait to get my period said no woman ever right? But what if that was different? What if we actually embraced our menstrual cycles and recognize the power and beauty that exists within them? What if we no longer had to struggle with painful period symptoms and PMS? And what if we could finally awaken to our powerful feminine energy and our natural leadership and authority by aligning to our cycles so that we can move away from exhaustion and burnout and stop hustling but instead improve our health increase our impact and influence and find success in our business and in our life? Well, today's guest Vianney Leigh is going to help us do exactly that. She is a life and success coach, a menstrual cycle, alignment expert and host of the periods and power moves podcast. If all of this talk of periods is making you feel uncomfortable, you especially need to listen to this episode. I promise Your mind is going to be blown wide open and your life changed forever. Vianney is going to tell us today all about how we can become the most aligned versions of ourselves and shine our light feel abundant and in flow. Let's do it. You're listening to the Success with Soul podcast with Kate Kordsmeier x journalists turned CEO of a multi six figure blog and online business. But it wasn't that long ago that Kate was a struggling entrepreneur who lacked confidence, clarity and let's be honest money. But all those failures, experiments and lessons learned helped Kate create a thriving business that impacts thousands and brings freedom, flexibility and fulfillment to her life. If you're ready to do the same and make something happen with holistic, soulful, step by step strategies from Kate and other experts, you're in the right place. Here's your host writer, educator, Mom, recovering perfectionist, bookworm and sushi connoisseur, Kate Kordsmeier. Vianney, thank you so much for being here. I am so stoked to chat with you.

Vianney Leigh 2:23

Thanks so much for having me. I'm super excited to talk to you.

Kate Kordsmeier 2:26

Yeah, and I feel like it was Kismet that we connected because I found your work a few months ago. And then my mentor Kate Northrup had you on her Instagram the other day and I was like,

Vianney Leigh 2:39

Oh my gosh, I'm chatting with her next week. All the stars align divine. Right?

Kate Kordsmeier 2:47

I know. So for any of you who don't know Vianney, I want to just introduce you to her. I think what is so cool is that this is even a thing. You are a menstrual cycle alignment expert. What does that mean?

Vianney Leigh 3:05

So yeah, I help people with periods to realign to their cycles. So really helping them to eliminate PMS, really helping them to find that love within helping them to stop hustling, find more flow and balance in their lives by really thinking their lifestyle, their business, their relationships, and everything in between to their menstrual cycle so they can have more flow more ease more success by using their energy in the right way.

Kate Kordsmeier 3:36

I love this so much. And I already mentioned Kate Northrup once, but I learned about this Well, I guess really I learned about it, like maybe five or six years ago, not really from a lifestyle or especially a work in business perspective. But from Elisa vidhi. I came across her work when I was diagnosed with pcls. Back in 2014, I want to say and so I she was kind of my first introduction into this idea of like cycle sinking. And that was much more for managing my pcls. And then I learned about Kate's work, maybe two years ago. And I was just like, totally blown away by everything and went down the rabbit hole, which is how I found you. And I just think this is such a revolutionary way for women to manage their lives and like thrive in a way that we've never really been able to before because I'm sure you're so used to talking about periods or you know, gross in our society. And women don't even want to have them and God forbid you talk about them. And so I love that you're bringing this to the forefront and really helping women harness their superpowers of their feminine energy and their flow.

Vianney Leigh 4:57

Absolutely. You've just summed up everything I wanted to say And I'm okay, tell

Kate Kordsmeier 5:07

me how did you get into this work of supporting women with their menstrual cycle.

Vianney Leigh 5:13

So I always say I never thought I'd end up being the period girl. Because it wasn't anything that I, you know, when I was younger one day when I grew up, I want to be talking about periods, no, not at all actually came into this line of work because I used to suffer really badly from PMS. And it was something that you know, when you know that there's a pattern repeats in every single month, but you would never link your mental health to your mental health. And I basically was driving around in circles literally every single month, just experiencing the worst PMS really severe PMS, excruciating mental pain, and just a complete disruption to my life, I would isolate myself from friends family, I couldn't really keep the momentum going in certain products in my life. And I got married in 2018. And three months after I got married, I had like the night of the dark. So I like to call it now actually, which turned out to be a breakthrough. But essentially, it was a breakdown. And a couple of months after that, I was diagnosed with something called pmdd. So that's pretty much sure dysphoric disorder, and it's a hormone based disorder to my base mood disorder. And I didn't know anything about it, I had no idea what it was. And the only reason why I found out about it is because the night that I had my breakdown, and a couple of days after that my mother came down to London to kind of like try and like fix things and help and support. And I was just trying to understand where it came from. And I just asked her like, did you ever have severe PMS or periods because we've never had that conversation. It's another thing in today's world, you know that the mentor conversation is now being widely accepted, but it wasn't men. And she said to me, I suppose my PMS was quite severe. And because I've never really used the word severe before. It kind of struck a chord. So I went online and just typed in severe PMS and came across pmdd. And I didn't self diagnose. But I came across all these women that were experiencing the same thing that I was experiencing every single month. And there was a whole community of them, and they will support systems. And I could see what the symptoms were and I was hearing women were being misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder, which I thought I had as well. And basically the the advice from the International Board of premenstrual disorders was to track your cycle for two to three cycles. Take it to your GP. And I did do that. And the first time I was dismissed, the second time I went back with my husband, what a world we live in. Right, right. And maybe he'll listen to him. Yeah. And they did. Even if the doctor didn't actually know what it was, he had to Google it, which was very interesting. But yeah, I was sent to a medical specialist and was diagnosed with pmdd, and five months after diagnosis after being told that it was incurable. And I would have to just manage my symptoms for the rest of my life. And there were options to you know, some women were having hysterectomy, some women will go on antidepressants and all these things. And I just thought I'm, I know, there's another way I know, there's a way that I can heal, I know that my body can heal itself, I know that my body works perfectly. This is just a message of signal. And so I set about trying to, you know, heal my pmdd. And five months later, I had no symptoms, and I still continued to have zero pmdd symptoms to this day. So that's how I kind of fell into this line of work. And I was like, why doesn't everybody know about this? Let's do something, let's shake it up. And that's why my company is called status quo collective really about dismantling the status quo around periods of menstrual cycles. And having this as an open conversation where women can start seeing their periods, not just women, but people can start seeing their periods as a force of good and something that's empowering and that you can use to your advantage.

Kate Kordsmeier 9:06

Yeah, I love that so much. And what a powerful story. I feel like we always, you know, teach what we need to learn and you've been through this and now are out on the other side, sharing that there is another way, and that is so I mean, so many parallels to my own journey of getting diagnosed with PCs, being dismissed by doctors being told it was something else completely unrelated. being told, well, you're getting older and you know, you're just going to have to eat less and exercise more if you want to.

Well, I mean,

and women are telling me this, right? It's like female doctors. Yeah, even female gynecologists don't know and it's so crazy to me. So tell me what did you do to Kind of reverse this pmdd. And what can other women do if they're struggling with severe PMS or other you know, what's the term like menstrual disorders?

Vianney Leigh 10:10

Yeah. Oh, well, it's not just one thing, obviously, as a full holistic approach. But some of the things I can talk about completely changed my life was first of all, Well, the first thing that I actually did was, I cut back on alcohol and caffeine. Mm hmm. And, you know, before actually, you know, coming into the world of coaching, I actually worked as like an educator and a coach before but in the makeup industry. And I had multiple jobs that involve me traveling a law and being on set for lots of hours and things like that. And, you know, celebrations after that is to go out for a drink, or the next morning, really early, cool time for a shoot or a show would be coffee, right. So those were like my clutches and realizing the impact that my hormones were having because of alcohol and caffeine, that was one thing that definitely had to go. So just making a slight tweak to the amount of consumption with that was definitely one thing that really helped me. And then I'm headed out Sorry to interrupt you did you cut it out entirely, or just kind of reducing your cut out entirely to begin with. So back when I first got a diagnosis, I cut out entirely, which completely changed my lifestyle, the people I hung out with the things I did, how I spent my time and all of these things. But nowadays, I drink more. So if I want to have an alcoholic drink in my ovulation phase, and I will have, like, much of which has got ill feeling and that which you know, is going to be more common and relaxing or have mushroom coffees that have caffeine. But yes, I did that. And then I really got into this mind body connection. So I really find it a lot of personal development work. I'm really committed to a non negotiable spiritual practice. So I've always been a spiritual type person really like being aware of my my thoughts and being present. But I've really dug deep in that. So I started practicing yoga, which is a really powerful way to like unlock that feminine energy anyway. So it was clearly unbalanced. I was way too much in my masculine energy. And I actually had some hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy for me was completely game changing. So much so that I, I trained to be a clinical hypnotherapist. So that's something that offer my clients now, because it is all about the way that you think, right? And the beliefs and the values that you hold, which ultimately give you the results and the behaviors that you that you do day to day. So yeah, hypnotherapy is just game changing. And what else did I do? I did a lot of walking. And I gave myself permission to rest and really learn that Mastering the Art of slowing down is a skill.

Kate Kordsmeier 12:57

Totally.

Vianney Leigh 12:59

We're working on it. Yeah, I think we're also working on it. Um, but yeah, I think the main thing I would say was, which was the catalyst which completely changed. The trajectory of my healing was hypnotherapy and really uncovering a lot of my subconscious mind beliefs and values, which is a huge part of my practice now.

Kate Kordsmeier 13:17

That is awesome. I'm gonna have to book a session with you. I just did therapy for the first time, I've been wanting to do it forever. I actually read this book by an Australian author called the hypnotist love story. It's the same author that wrote Big Little Lies, and the main character was just a hypnotist or hypnotherapist. And so it wasn't really about that. And it was a novel, right. And it's like this love story, whatever. But I got so into just learning about it through that. And then I had a fairly traumatic birth with my first and was recommended to do some hypnotherapy to kind of heal from that. And it was crazy powerful. I mean, one session was like, just so game changing. I'm like speechless trying to even put into words. how crazy it is. And yeah, so that's, that's really cool. If you're a side hustling, blogger, or aspiring blogger looking to make more money by working less, then you probably already know that you need to improve your blogging strategy, or create one from scratch. But why would you start from zero when I have a proven method that works not just for me, but for so many students in my six figure blog Academy as well. Look, I'm gonna guess that you're feeling totally overwhelmed by all the things you need to do and you have no idea where to start. I've been there I get it, and I got you. What if you had a roadmap that told you exactly what you need to do step by step, minute by minute to create a six Figure blog, my free 99 step checklist will get you from overwhelmed to profitable blog in no time. I should know following it is how I was able to grow my blog to $150,000 in revenue in just three years, get the only roadmap you need to make money blogging about what you love at successwithsoul.co/roadmap. It's free, what do you have to lose? That's successwithsoul.co/roadmap.

So when you talk about

getting into this full holistic approach this mind body connection, I think a lot of that comes back to really understanding your cycle too. And what's happening in your body and how you can kind of work with that. Right?

Vianney Leigh 15:53

Yeah, absolutely. And that's why it's so important to start being aware of your cycle. Like, I heard Jim, quick say, on his podcast, quick brain, he said, your self awareness is your superpower, the minute you become aware of something is the gateway to you know, you start getting the answers that you need the teacher start appearing in your life, you start getting the messages that you need. So just developing that awareness around your cycle. And you know, really being able to look and see those, those rhythms, those patterns, those those crossover days, those days, where you're not feeling your best those days that you know that you can show up and you can communicate really well. That is all wisdom. Those are all little pearls of wisdom, like every single piece of information that you get from your cycle is data, so to speak, right? Yeah, what we choose to do with that is up to you. But if you choose to use it to every single cycle is an opportunity for you to gain more wisdom, get clear on what you want to do. So yeah, I just started really paying attention to myself or writing down everything. created my own trackers got all of the apps This is right at the beginning where I was just like consumed and obsessed thinking Why wasn't I taught any of this a school? Right, which everyone is just outraged.

Kate Kordsmeier 17:12

But yeah, so do you have a favorite app? Or did you have to go and create your own. Um,

Vianney Leigh 17:18

I'm, I'm really a pen to paper type person. Anyway, I'm like, always scroll in. But I created my own tracker, which you can download. But I like there's a couple of apps that I really liked. So I like the moody month. And I like clue. And I also like my flow, which has a list of bitties app as well. Yeah. So they've all got their own little special moments from them. I always say like, there's no point download an app, if you're not going to engage with it. It's like, it's like having a subscription of Netflix and never watching any shows. What's the point? Right, right, you have to engage with them. The clarity comes from engaging with the actual process.

Kate Kordsmeier 17:58

Right? So for people who are brand new to this concept, even like many women myself, you know, a few years ago, it's like, wait, what their sight? I mean, I guess there are cycles, but like all I really know is that I get my period around once a month. And so can you kind of give us just like a primer on the four different cycles and

Vianney Leigh 18:22

what what women can look for and expect and that kind of thing. Absolutely. So first of all your peer, if anyone's listening, and this is brand new information for you, I just want you to know that this is not your fault leader know this information. But I'm really glad that you're listening because it's going to change your life. So your period isn't your cycles. So your period is one phase of your menstrual cycle. And your menstrual cycle is broken into four different phases. And I'm going to just explain them in the best way that I think most people resonate with. And that is to let you know that we are just like nature. So just like nature, we have these seasons, we have spring, summer, autumn and winter, our menstrual cycles actually replicate and align with those seasons. So the first phase of your cycle if we're going to talk about let's talk about the bleed first, right? So your actual period is your menstrual phase. And you can actually align this to winter the actual season. So when you're thinking about winter, you're thinking about slowing down hibernating, resting, restoring, and that's exact same with your menstrual phase of your period you've got that time is like an inbuilt time for you to stop, like drop all responsibility and rest. And I find a lot of women or people who have trouble with their periods where they had the most type of pain and like disruption is because they're not allowing themselves to rest then they're resisting the surrender right. And then obviously, I'm giving you this in a quick little nutshell but also you have your follicular phase. So that comes after your blood And this is a liking to the springs and the spring season. So when you think of spring you're thinking of brand new beginning, you're thinking about, you know, growth, detox, brand new energy, and you do suddenly have a bit more pep in your step because you've come out of your metaphorical period cave. And this is a really great time for you to plan for your month ahead, right or plan for your next cycle. I like to plan cycle by cycle to be fair, but you can really use this time to you know, brainstorm, research and, you know, you're you're, you're much more quicker in your, in your connections during this time, you can do a lot more creative thinking. And then we go into your summer phase. So this is the time that you're ovulating. So this is like the big event. And it's the shortest time of your cycle as well. It's only about three to four days. But this is the time where you when you think about summer, you're thinking about abundance and energy and time and patience and motivation and stamina, right? You can do all of the things during this time. Just because you can it doesn't mean you have to, though, right? And you've got so much more energy during this time. So I would say that this is a really great time for you to if you're in if you're what's your audience? Are they mainly business owners and bloggers and Yeah, exactly. Online owners. Yeah. So it's a really great time for you to start thinking about whether you want to or not start thinking about what to launch something, right. It's a great time for you to show up and to serve your community and to nurture them and share value and give great tips and just be visible, right. And then we go into your premenstrual phase, which is your luteal phase. And you can liken this to your autumn. So when you think about autumn, you're thinking about grounding down slowing down, preparing yourself getting ready for winter or brand new year, right. And this is exactly the same when you look at your menstrual cycle. And because you can really use this time to turn off turn off that that outwardly energy and start focusing more in words. And I like what Elizabeth he says in the in the flow book where she's changed the acronym of PMS or premenstrual syndrome to prioritizing myself. And I know that isn't that goes because it's that time where you do need to start focusing in once again, but it's also a time that you can really focus on doing some creation, right, I like to say this time is focused creativity. But a lot of people experience PMS during this time, which is super common, but it's avoidable, right, you don't have to experience that. So once you get your hormones in checking, you thought, you know, balancing those out of whack hormones and stuff, you can really use this time to create amazing things or create projects and launches and programs during my luteal phase, which used to be a time where I would like the world to just enter me I would just wouldn't be available, I wouldn't show up. And it would be a really disruptive time. But now it's my favorite phase of my cycle. So I really like to say like you can turn that phase of your cycles is powerful. Just know that you can turn that pain into power so he can start working for you. And then he played again. So it's a brand new cycle and a brand new time.

Kate Kordsmeier 23:27

Yeah, and we start all over. So I love that just turning your pain into power and just really being recognizing that our periods are powerful. I mean, I told my girlfriends the other day, so I had my son and September 2018. Yeah. And then I just had my daughter in May 2020. So I have had one period in like, four and a half years, okay, and I miss it. And I said I miss it. Because I've gotten really into cycle sinking and tracking. And you know, I can still kind of, I almost like when I am doing my tracking. I will say like, I would be in this phase right now according to like, what's going on with the moon and my environment and how I'm feeling. But I miss it. And when I said that to my girlfriends the other day, they all just looked at me with these like, You're crazy.

Like, wait, no, I

understand like, and I didn't care and where it's not our fault. This is how we are conditioned. Yeah, that there is so much light on the other side.

Vianney Leigh 24:34

There's so much power there when you know that when you know what's possible for you. Right? Yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 24:40

So when I first started trying to cycle sink, I'll admit like I got kind of overwhelmed because it felt like, well, I can't just completely give up all responsibility just because I'm on my period for a week. You know, like how do I actually do this and practice so can you kind of talk about how you recommend people get started with this concept. I think once you get into it, you start becoming so naturally aligned that like, the universe just sort of starts giving you what you want and what you need during those times. But in the beginning, when it's so new, it can feel overwhelming.

Vianney Leigh 25:17

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I've been there. And I know that is a great concern for a lot of women who do want to start, but they feel like it's just one of the things to add to the list, right? I would say the first thing that is really going to be helpful is the minute you say yes to yourself that you're going to do this, you instantly become more intuitive, right? You suddenly start realizing that you fancy sweet potatoes when you're in your luteal phase, which is a food that will support you during that phase, you suddenly start realizing that you are more confident during your ovulation phase. So you suddenly start making plans to make sure that you've got things in your diary for that time, right. But I would say to get yourself started. I like how she's actually one of my mentors, Alexandra Pope from the red school, she talks about giving yourself this 1%. Right, we you know, as highly driven, people with businesses and you know, a lot of ambition, we always try and go for 100%. But let's How about if we were able to give ourselves just that 1% of being sample centric. So that could be not necessarily writing an entire journal every single day of how you're feeling, but just writing down one word that came up at the end of the day, right, or choosing to just rotate the vegetables that you use within the way that you're eating. So just focus in on what vegetables, you're going to switch out between each phase, because you're not the same person week on week, you're not going to want the same thing. So you need to be able to one thing that we all need to realize is that we're different people every single week, and that's a good thing, right? Another thing I would say is focus on what your actual goal is. So is it that you want to, I don't know, use your cycle to, let's say, use cycle to launch a program, right? What is your goal. So once you know what your goal is, then you're able to move towards that goal. If you're just thinking, I'm just going to start cycles thinking and, you know, let's just hope for the best, you're kind of like throwing spaghetti at the wall, you need to be really, really clear on what it is that you want. And I actually just put a post yesterday, and I said, it was just a quote. And it said, every single cycle or every cycle was an opportunity for growth, wisdom and to sharpen your intuition. So just know that whatever you're learning in each phase of your cycle, or each cycle, so it the next time around, you're going to get better with it, you're going to get better with it, you're going to learn something new. So I would just say just give yourself 1% if you're going to change the food that you ate, just so the vegetables, if you're going to start, you know using it with your business, just focus on what you can do that's going to benefit you maybe in your follicular phase. If you're worried about not having time to rest during your during your menstruation when you're bleeding. How can you give yourself 20 minutes right 20 minutes is a game changer. Like I call myself a nap Queen because I take naps all the time. And if you lay down for 20 minutes during your bleed instead of thinking I need to get this done. This needs to get done that 20 minutes is a moment of rest and it's safe to rest. That's why whenever woody tonight

Kate Kordsmeier 28:40

Yes, that's so important. And exactly. I mean, I think maybe you can get there one day maybe that's not even the actual goal is to be like 100% synched up so that you never like you know, doing a Facebook Live during your bleeding phase. That's, you know, maybe unrealistic. Absolutely. What you could do is exactly what you said, Okay, I'm menstruating this week, so I'm going to take a nap or I'm going to go to bed early or take a bath or make five minutes for a meditation or just

Vianney Leigh 29:15

just come up with one way to incorporate more rest into that day. Absolutely. And like during your ovulation you can batch cook your foods for your mental phase so you don't have to spend any time in the kitchen whilst you're bleeding right nobody wants to be standing up in the kitchen when they're bleeding they want to have food ready so that is that's a really good way to you know you to utilize your time better and you're absolutely right is never going to be spot on perfect. So for example, when I did Kate's takeover, Kate Northrop's takeover. It was two days before my bleed and I normally wouldn't schedule things like that, but you know, it came up at a time and sometimes we have to just kind of roll with it. But when you have that awareness is, this is the thing when you have that awareness and you know, okay, I might be feeling this way this day. How is that going to change the way that I go into my day? Instead of you confusing yourself thinking, why am I feeling like this? beating yourself up over, you know, an emotion or a way that you're feeling? Oh, behave in, you can just give yourself a bit more grace, give yourself a bit more compassion, be kinder to yourself, right? Yes, yes. so

Kate Kordsmeier 30:27

important. What about for women who maybe don't have a period, whether it's due to a medical reason, or you know, like me, I'm nursing or pregnant, or you're in menopause, how do you recommend they can, they can do stuff like this as well,

Vianney Leigh 30:44

this, this is kind of like a two pronged approach, because I've had women who have come to me that said, their periods have just gone AWOL, they've just disappeared, and they really want them back. And some women are either on hormonal birth control, or they're nursing like you and they're not having a period. So it's for the woman who or for the person who wants their periods to come back. And they don't know what's happened to it, or it's super irregular. And one thing that I really recommend that they do is to surrender, right, get more sleep, go to bed earlier. And then also, you know, book in for a session with me, but it's like, what happened in your cycle, three months ago, or what happened in your life three months ago, was affecting your cycle today. So fino a lot of people have had, you know, really disrupted cycles, since we've gone into this pandemic, right? People are bleeding for longer, and people are having shorter cycles, lighter cycles. And so stress is one thing that I think you should always look at first, because stress is really disruptive to your cycle. If your core soul levels are out of whack, or they're too high or too low, then that can really affect your menstrual cycle. And what you said earlier about thinking to the moon, that's one thing I would definitely recommend just so you can start finding a natural rhythm. You know, everything in this world works in cycles, we have day, we have night. And if the sun the moon inhalation exhalation, right, and sinking with the moon is a really great way for you to just get into that rhythm. Because what we're trying to do here is not about micromanaging, the experience is really about just finding a rhythm. So I would say just start sinking with the moon. If you don't know what that means, then download. There's an incredible app called the moon calendar, which I love, v2. Every day, I love that app. It's brilliant. And so you just know what position the moon is in, and you're able to, you know, sink each phase of your cycles, there is a full moon, you're in ovulation. If you're if it's a new moon, then you're bleeding. If it's a waxing moon, then you're in your autumn. And if it's a waning moon, then you're in your spring, and just finding a way to kind of sync up to the moon. Or if you don't even have a cycle. You can just start by eating foods that are phase specific with your cycle as well. Yeah, yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 33:08

I love that. And I think there's that. I mean, I know so many people listening, myself included, have this perfectionist tendency where we feel like that and it's this black or white thinking like I'm either go all the way in and do this and everything's going to be perfectly aligned. Or I'm not going to do it at all. And like or you get started and you go Oh, well, you know, my cycles are still irregular, or it's the new moon and I actually have, I'm actually ovulating right now instead and just like just start slow. Except that 1%. Yeah, than where you were before. I love that concept. And it's something Bjork, oh, strum, who is from food blogger pro? And obviously, he's a man. And it's not about cycle sinking. But he talks about the concept of 1% infinity, and it's like, every day just tried to be 1% better than you were the day before.

Vianney Leigh 34:02

Absolutely.

Kate Kordsmeier 34:05

Yeah, it applies to everything. So if you're a blogger, just what could you do today? That would be 1% better than the day before? You know, whatever it is. And yeah, I think approaching cycles thinking that way, is so much more liberating than trying to feel like in your first cycle of being aware, everything's supposed to line up.

Vianney Leigh 34:25

Yeah. Oh, you're meant to do all of the things it's not even about. It's about Brandon, when is the right time to do it and you know, what you want to focus on, you have to focus on it all. So long as you're taking that little bit of 1% action, you're going to get yourself then you're going to see amazing results so

Kate Kordsmeier 34:42

quickly as well. Like you said that awareness is like the gateway to all of this where you'll be amazed that even if you change nothing except just paying attention, how crazy things start to like they start to align and They start like you start to see all these patterns and it's like all you did is just pay attention. You didn't do anything.

Vianney Leigh 35:07

Exactly I have, like women who send me dm say, I haven't, you know, started doing any of your programs or anything yet, but I've rested on my on my blades, I took guilt free rest, or I lay down like you did Vianney for 20 minutes. And I feel so much better and I don't feel guilty. And it's changed their cycle just by having an awareness that their mood might shift that they might feel different. Also, we look a little bit different. We smell a bit different during each phase of our cycle. That chemistry is unreal. But yeah, just having that awareness is definitely a great way to start. Yeah, for sure.

Kate Kordsmeier 35:51

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So you have a course on this subject. And obviously it's always timely, but especially now can tell us about how we can use the power of our monthly cycles for activism and social change.

Vianney Leigh 36:37

Yeah, so this, this is a really interesting story, because how it came to me was just so divine. So my course period power activism is a mini course. It's a three module course. And it came to me during the time of the Floyd, the sorry, the George Floyd murder. And it was a really difficult time for you know, myself, my family, every single friend, member of my community that was a person of color or black. And, and I was I was really troubled during that time, I wasn't sleeping very well at all. And it came to me one night, too. I could just sense basically, I could sense how everybody in the coaching industry, right, or anyone that had a service based business was hella stressed, there's no way I could describe it. super stressed. And I'm a projector and Human Design. I don't know if you know anything about that. Yeah, generator, your generator. So I can just I can just, I don't know, I've just sense when people are about to burn out, or if they're doing things that are going to burn the energy out. Mm hmm. And I just wanted to find a way for myself as well to continue to create awareness. Because, you know, the work that I do now is period activism anyway, like making periods, and a topic of conversation and just breaking the stigma. That's activism in itself. But when it came to the Black Lives Matter thing, because it was so close to my heart, I felt like I needed to find a way that you continue to raise awareness and also for other people to do so the same. And it came to me one night to create a guide of how you can use your cycle to continue with your activism efforts. And you know, use the seasons as a as a guideline. And I went to bed and just forgot about it. And then the middle of the night I was woken up and it came to me again, like might write this down, you need to do something with it. So the next morning, I got up and it came to me again, and I was okay, I should do something about this. So I just created a guide on Instagram, just a carousel post and it went bananas like, it went absolutely crazy. And I realized that people this is something that people really wanted, because they wanted to do the work. They wanted to create change. They wanted to support and be an ally or to have more anti racist work within their businesses. But they didn't know how to they didn't have a sustainable long term plan. And I know because I use my cycles for my business that this is sustainable ways to work. The way that I was working before wasn't working for me. It caused a breakdown. And I could see that that could potentially happen for other people. So yes, I created that. And then I created the mini course and it was a live masterclass that I taught and basically I help you to really activate your inner season so you're able to create these social initiatives within your business as a plan, right, a plan that you're using phase by phase, and the people who are enrolled in the course also they walk away with an actual cycle activism plan that you can use search after said that they can now They actually walk away with a cycle activism plan that they can use for each phase of their cycle. So it allows them to build, create and execute the plan in a way that doesn't burn them out right in a way that still allows them to have the most impact and show up in the most authentic way. And allows them to give themselves permission to learn relearn, and learn all the things that are going on right now. But doing it from a place of power, right, and doing it from a place that allows them to feel free, but also free other people, small, beautiful, yeah,

Kate Kordsmeier 40:36

an incredible thing. And I love that it's like, you know, you're on the right path when it's waking you up in the middle of the night, right? And you're like, I can't stop thinking about this even when I'm unconscious.

Vianney Leigh 40:47

Exactly. It was crazy. But it's an incredible program. And I what I've actually realized is that there's a need for women who practice the same work that I do, to come together as a community. So we can have a great impact on all of the changes that needs to happen in the world, whether that be social justice, climate change, racial justice, all of these things were better together, we're more powerful together. And that's something that I know that is one of the reasons why I'm here on this planet, to bring people together to create better change.

Kate Kordsmeier 41:24

I love that. So much. so grateful for all of the work that you're doing. Vianney, I mean, just beautiful and so powerful. And I hope that anybody listening, if your mind has just been completely blown wide open, go check out Vianney, tell us where we can find you.

Vianney Leigh 41:43

Instagram. So my Instagram is at status, Flo Ko, because my business is called status flow collective. And then there's a link in my bio, and you can find me all the ways there. So I've got a YouTube channel, I've got a podcast, obviously, you can join period power activism. And I've got other courses and lots of free resources. But yeah, I would love for everyone to just come on over and say hi, if they listen to this podcast and say that they listen to me on your podcast, Kate.

Kate Kordsmeier 42:15

Yeah, thank

you for being here. Before I let you go, I have my lightning round of five questions that I ask everybody. So we'll just do these real quick. Okay. Okay. What is your favorite way to make time for self care?

Vianney Leigh 42:33

By favorite way to make to make

time for self care is

Using my cycle?

Kate Kordsmeier 42:42

Yeah, I mean, I was thinking some of these questions are like, Well, I know what your answer is going to be. Because the next one is what's one tool that you use to help with time management?

Vianney Leigh 42:54

using my cycle

Kate Kordsmeier 42:58

when you are using your cycle, which I think you said you like naps, right? So is that one ways to to practice self care?

Vianney Leigh 43:06

Yeah, I love naps. And I love spending time in the bath. Like, last night you have been the boss like three hours and just reminded me to sometimes I'm like, this is cold, like freezing, like trying to talk myself. And being in the bar. Yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 43:29

What's one of the best mindset or business books that you've read lately?

Vianney Leigh 43:33

Ooh, I love books. Well, I've got in front of me. Oh, okay. So, two things I'd love to recommend, if possible. So Joe dispenza. Supernatural. If you're into the work of the subconscious mind, which is what I live in breathe. Joe dispenza. supernatural. And also, what I've picked back up off my shelf recently, it's been calling me is like the new black by Rebecca Campbell.

Kate Kordsmeier 44:04

Yeah, okay, I have that book. And it's been on my shelf, and I need to read it.

Vianney Leigh 44:07

So there you go.

Kate Kordsmeier 44:12

how about a mantra, you have a good mantra that you're using these days?

Vianney Leigh 44:17

I'm looking at my vision board now. This is just what I'm gonna actually share a quote if that's Yeah, yeah. So and this is one that I share everywhere I go, because it just really changed my life when I was able to heal from pmdd. And it's by Nelson Mandela. And he says, free yourself, free others and serve every day. And that is just something that I now it's like, it's like a walk in prayer for me. I got myself from Yeah, you know, pain and heartbreak and disruption, and not being connected to myself actually not being connected to who I am. And yeah, being able to free others by doing the same and that's my way of serving every day. Yeah.

Kate Kordsmeier 45:04

Oh, chills. Okay, last question, What does Success with Soul mean to you?

Vianney Leigh 45:09

By the way, I love the name of your podcast. Thank you brilliant and it's, it's so aligned to who I am anyway. So Success with so for me is really tuning into your heart and listening to those messages of your soul, the messages of your soul that is trying to communicate with you. So you can take that next step forward in alignment with who you are. I think that's success. So I talk a lot about using your menstrual cycle for success, ease and flow. But what I actually talking about is living life on your terms in alignment with who you are not following anyone else's cycles or schedules and just really saying in your zone of genius resign in your flow zone.

Kate Kordsmeier 45:59

Yeah, Love it. Love it. Cool. Thank you so much.

Vianney Leigh 45:59

Thanks so much for having me. I really enjoyed it.

Kate Kordsmeier 46:06

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Transcribed by https://otter.ai