Get to Know Us
What is RED?
RED exists to help girls and women RECLAIM, EMPOWER and DEEPEN into the beauty and power of our menstrual cycles. Menstruation is known as the 5th vital sign. It is a central aspect to our embodied vitality. It’s time to fully inhabit the wisdom of our cyclical bodies.
RED stands for:
Reclaim our blood as a beautiful and healthy part of our embodied life.
Empower ourselves to understand our bodies’ wisdom and make choices that best serve our needs as cyclical beings.
Deepen our relationship to the cyclical rhythm of our periods, which carries us through 30-40 years of our lives.
Why We Exist:
We want to live in a world where girls, women and menstruating people LOVE their bodies and appreciate their menstrual cycles.
We want people to feel empowered and confident in the beauty of who they are as cyclical beings.
The menstrual cycle is a beautiful rhythm that mirrors the rhythms of the earth–the cycles of the moon, the tides of the ocean, the seasons of the year, and the rise and fall of every breath.
We want girls, women and menstruating people to feel connected through their own cyclical bodies to these beautiful cycles of life on our planet.
Education is power! And experiential learning transforms the way we experience life. The more we understand, the more appreciation and choice we have to live in a way that feels good in our bodies.
Our Vision:
Our Posture:
Welcoming Acceptance. We seek to welcome ourselves and each other as we are. We celebrate that every body is unique, and create space for the fullness of our human expression. We commit to hold ourselves and one another with nonjudgmental receptivity, acceptance and loving respect.
Body Wisdom. Our bodies and experience are our best teachers. Everything offered by the facilitators is an invitation to take or to leave. Your body knows best what you need. We honor the wisdom of taking care of one’s needs in the moment, such as using the restroom, opting out, taking a break, etc.
Experiential Learning. We learn best when the whole person is engaged. Our journeys are meant to equip you with more than just facts. They are embodied, creative, celebratory and soulful explorations held in a safe and loving container.
Compassionate Curiosity. We seek to move towards what is with compassionate curiosity, without needing to fix, control, or label.
Community. We believe in the power and support of loving community. We are stronger together as we seek to honor and respect each person’s unique contribution to the whole. We seek to strengthen the community you already have through creating a shared experience and learning environment. We especially center the parent/child relationship in the work we do with young people.
Honoring science and the sacred. Our RED journeys are rooted in modern physiology and in the belief that all life is sacred. Implementing the wisdom of science helps us to live in greater harmony with the wisdom of our bodies and the natural world.
The Four Seasons
The phases of the menstrual cycle mirror the seasons of the earth. This provides a helpful framework to help orient to the gifts and needs of each phase. Knowing how our bodies change over the course of our monthly cycle, empowers us to make choices aligned with our needs and energy.
Inner Spring
FSH stimulates the growth of follicles (eggs) in the ovaries. The rise in estrogen causes us to feel more energetic and creative. It’s a good time to try new things.
Inner Summer
Ovulation occurs, and brings us a peak in energy. We are fertile and our energy wants to bubble out into the world. We feel social, confident and excited about life. It’s a great time to express ourselves.
Inner Autumn
The uterine lining thickens, then thins (if pregnancy did not happen). We are extra sensitive, needing more boundaries and less stress in this season. It is a great time to practice saying no and making decisions to honor our own needs.
Inner Winter
A new cycle begins as the uterine lining from our previous cycle is shed. As we bleed, we have less energy and need to rest. This is a good time to connect to our bodies, dreams and visions.
Who We Are
Stephanie Jenkins
Stephanie has been a middle school teacher in the public schools for 20 years, and studied adolescent development and psychology in graduate school. She is a gifted educator and group facilitator, and has a passion for the wisdom of the body, a deep reverence for the earth, and a delight in the wonderful, wild and weird stage of human development that is the middle years. As a teen, her period seemed like a necessary evil. As a young adult, due to unexplained infertility, she saw it as a huge betrayal by her body. Now, through her own story of reclamation, Stephanie loves her period and wants others to love theirs too!
Rachel Mallasch
Rachel is a cycle awareness coach and doula, and is currently pursuing a masters in Marriage and Family Therapy at CSUN. In 2020, after many years of struggling with disembodiment, anxiety, and period pain, Rachel stumbled upon cycle awareness and it has been part of her embodiment and spiritual practice ever since. She wants everyone to love their period as much as she does and hopes to integrate cycle awareness and the inner seasons into her therapy practice in the future. Currently, Rachel is an intake specialist at a surrogacy agency and advocates for women as they carry babies for other families.
We are informed by:
Doula Training International
Brittany Blair
Qiddest Ashe
Gemma Lee
Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power by Alexandra Pope, Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer
Moon Time by Lucy Pearce
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
The Fifth Vital Sign by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack and Lara Brinden
Be in the know.
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a two free resources: Parent Conversations Cards and a Menstrual Wisdom Guidebook. Together we can change the story around menstruation.