In 2020, Tammy sat in her first women's circle - and that moment changed everything. After nearly a decade on hormonal birth control, including years working in the Super Yacht industry, she made the decision to come off contraception and restore her cycle naturally. When her bleed returned, she describes it as bleeding for the first time - only this time, with reverence.

Fast forward to today, Tammy is a Certified Menstrual Cycle Coach and Natural Fertility Awareness Educator based in the Northern Rivers with a love for slow mornings, books and bowls of tea.

In the lead up to our Essense Workshop with Tammy, we sat down to talk cycles, plants, rhythm and the wisdom our bodies have been holding all along.

Tell us a little about yourself and the work you do.

I am a lover of books and bowls of tea, slow mornings, being by the ocean and time spent wandering in nature. I find so much joy in the simplicity. I am also a passionate Certified Menstrual Cycle Coach & Natural Fertility Awareness Educator, based in the Northern Rivers NSW. My work weaves together education, embodiment, breath and cyclical wisdom to guide women into deeper self-understanding and connection.

What drew you to this path - was there a moment that changed everything?

For nearly a decade, I lived with the deep disconnection that came from being on hormonal birth control. During this time I also spent years working at sea in the Super Yacht industry. Beneath the adventure and travel, I slowly drifted from a life anchored in deep connection to my inner world and sense of Self. 

In 2020, I sat in my first women’s circle which completely changed my perspective on the importance of cultivating a connection with my own body and with other women in a safe space. I felt inspired, curious and called to explore what it might mean to be in right-relationship with my menstrual cycle.

At that moment, I decided to come off hormonal contraception and I began the journey to restore my cycle naturally. When my bleed returned, it felt like I was bleeding for the first time, only this time with reverence. My body felt lighter and clearer, like a veil had lifted. I knew that this journey was not just about healing my body, but to reclaim the wisdom I was never taught as a young woman.

Over the years I dived deep into the world of menstrual cycle awareness, natural fertility, women’s circles, movement therapy and facilitation ~ these passions slowly emerged as my life’s work.

How would you describe your relationship with your own cycle?

My relationship with my cycle is an ongoing conversation, one that is continuing to remind me of my ever changing, dynamic nature. No one cycle is the same as the last, each is shaped and influenced by the ways I ebb and flow through life. I find great comfort in my relationship with my cycle, it is something so intimate that only I have direct access to. It has become my greatest teacher, affirming me when I have been in alignment with my body’s needs and reminding me when I have perhaps drifted from my center.  It is there to bring light to my blind spots, even when it feels uncomfortable. I have come to understand and have reverence for its role in shaping me to move towards becoming a better version of myself.

What do you wish you had known about your cycle earlier in life? 

The list is endless ~ I wish I knew that no one part of my menstrual cycle is a weakness.  That my menstrual cycle is a microcosm that echoes the dynamic and diverse rhythm of the seasons, the moon and larger cycles of life. That my cyclical nature holds a wisdom so precious, connecting me forwards and backwards in time. That to be a woman means to be part of the mystery and the magic of womb life. I wish I knew that it is a privilege and a power to bleed.

How has understanding your cycle changed the way you show up - in work, relationships, creativity?

This work has truly changed and shaped me in the most meaningful ways. As someone who was always crippled by comparison, cultivating a practice of cycle awareness has meant that I meet myself and others with so much more compassion, kindness and care. For me it has built inner trust and safety, which in turn empowers me to hold healthy boundaries and ask for support when I need it. This has strengthened my relationships in all areas of my life, especially with my husband, who embraces and honours my cyclicity wholeheartedly. 

Cycle awareness teaches me that I cannot go about life or creativity with the same gear, to trust in the rhythm of expansion and contraction. In order to access this guidance, I must pause to listen, check in with my energy and allow for space to integrate.

What does cycle syncing or cycle awareness look like in your everyday life? OR What does coming back to your rhythm look like for you?

For me, cycle awareness is a daily practice of pacing my body and my being. In a culture that demands so much of us, this practice is coming home to myself, again and again.

Coming back into rhythm isn’t so much about being ‘calm’ all the time, but rather how I can stay with the activations in my body and my emotions, then tend to my changing needs from this place of awareness. My cycle experience is not perfect by any means, I sometimes find myself out of balance or harmony. However, I have cultivated the capacity to notice what this imbalance feels like in my body and to listen to what my body is communicating to me. It feels so empowering to be able to come back into rhythm by the choices or boundaries I choose to make. Cycle awareness is deeply integrated into my relationship with my husband, family, friends and colleagues, where I can articulate my needs or speak to where I am at, in a way that feels so normal, healthy and supported.

What is the biggest misconception you see women holding about their bodies or their cycles?

When women see their bodies as something to ‘fix’, or that their menstrual cycle is a burden that we have to ‘put up with’ for several decades. Women have been conditioned to hide or suppress their bodily functions in order to ‘fit in’ to the system. As a culture, we were not taught to honour and celebrate women’s cyclical nature and that we all come in different shapes and sizes.  I believe it is at menarche where dissociation with our body can begin if we are not initiated in an empowering or inspiring way. My dream is to live in a world where we all acknowledge, honour and celebrate the cycles of womb life, along with the different transitions that women move through in  a lifetime ~ menarche, birth, menopause and beyond!

What’s your relationship with herbal medicine or plants? What role do they play in your life?

I have a deep respect and reverence for the role that herbal medicine and our plant allies play in our life. I am always curious to explore and try different blends through various teas and tinctures. Nettle has been a long standing favourite for its many beautiful benefits. Over the years I have been working with cycle supportive herbs for the nourishing ritual of yoni steaming, a practice that has helped me restore a balanced and regular cycle. I have also been recently working with bush flower essences, which I am thoroughly enjoying on a more subtle level.

What are you currently learning or exploring?

I have always been a curious soul and a lover of learning. I will often be immersed in at least two books at the same time! I am currently reading ‘Braiding Sweetgrass’ by Robin Wall Kimmerer, which beautifully bridges indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and plant intelligence. It is inspiring me to pay closer attention to the ways in which plant life all around me is part of a bigger intelligence, and how the act of reciprocity between humans and plant life is essential to cultivate a thriving ecosystem. Another body of work I am currently exploring is with Linda Hartley’s ‘Wisdom of the Body Moving’ which offers an introduction to body-mind centering and somatic movement therapy. Her philosophy sees the body as a living, sensing whole rather than an object to be managed from the outside.