The Soft Rebellion Podcast

Flurina Thali
  • 5.0 (1)
  • ALTERNATIVE HEALTH
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

A homecoming, a return, and a (re)discovery of the creative power of your female body. Our world uproots us from the gifts of the Feminine; the intuitive, the instinctual, the cyclical, the soft. What is the result? Patriarchal cultures of perfectionism, shame, and disconnect that leave us constantly running, never arriving.   Imagine a world of women softly rebelling; claiming our cyclicity, our weirdness, and our rest as we courageously cultivate a deep and delicious relationship to our female bodies.  My name is Flurina, I’m an Osteopath, dancer, writer and coach, I’ve been on my own journey sparked by an eating disorder to come home to the wild, poetic anatomy of my female body and awaken my creative power… and I invite you to join me and my guests, trailblazing teachers, healers and creatives as we each reclaim our own soft rebellion. flurinathali.substack.com

  1. Ep. 82: How Medical Herbalism can support your menstrual health and beyond with Melinda McDougall.

    4D AGO

    Ep. 82: How Medical Herbalism can support your menstrual health and beyond with Melinda McDougall.

    If you’re curious to explore natural approaches to support menstrual health challenges today’s episode is for you. My guest, Melinda McDougall, is a registered Medical Herbalist specialising in women's health and runs a busy online clinic seeing patients across the UK and beyond. She combines the latest scientific research into botanical medicines with the traditional knowledge women have used for centuries to manage their health. Melinda shares a treasure trove of herbal information about how to improve irregular periods, heavy and painful menstruation, endometriosis, as well as how to reduce stress, and help your body to feel better overall! In this conversation we explored: - Melinda`s story and what led her to become a medical herbalist and why she decided to specialise in the field of women’s health. - The roots of medical herbalism in indigenous practices and knowledge and how plants have always been “the people’s medicine”. - Why medical herbalism is such a profound and potent holistic model to understand health and support our female and menstruating bodies beyond symptom management. - Various menstrual health challenges as well as endometriosis and how medical herbalism can be of support in these situations. --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Melinda McDougall: You can find her webpage here Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 3m
  2. Ep. 81: Periods Aren’t Meant to Bloody Hurt: Reclaiming Menstrual Health with Gemma Barry

    FEB 25

    Ep. 81: Periods Aren’t Meant to Bloody Hurt: Reclaiming Menstrual Health with Gemma Barry

    Painful, heavy, chaotic periods have become so normalised that many women are told to simply “get on with it.” But what if that narrative is wrong? In this powerful conversation, I sit down with Gemma — former NHS nurse, herbalist and founder of The Well Woman Project — to challenge the deeply rooted cultural and medical narratives around menstrual pain. We explore why period pain has been normalised, how shame and silence have shaped menstrual health care, and what it really means to reclaim agency over your body. If you’ve ever been told your symptoms are “just part of being a woman,” this episode is for you. In this conversation … 💫 We name the historical — and present — menstrual landscape shaped by shame, silence and an illness-based narrative. We unpack how this narrative formed and why it needs dismantling. 💫 Gemma shares her own menstrual journey — how her experience of “chaotic cycles” and various diagnoses sparked a deep question: How can I support myself beyond the conventional allopathic route? That quest ultimately led her to specialise in menstrual health and write her book. 💫 We redefine menstrual health and examine why painful periods are not “normal.” Pain is a communication tool. When we understand the physiology behind it — particularly the role of inflammation — we begin to see what may worsen symptoms and what can genuinely help ease them. 💫 We discuss why and how menstrual health matters for vaginal health and overall mental wellbeing! 💫 Tracking your cycle isn’t just about fertility — it’s about gathering meaningful data. Gemma shares how women and menstruators can resist medical gaslighting, advocate for themselves and feel more confident in conversations with healthcare professionals. More about Gemma: Gemma is a former NHS nurse, herbalist and founder of The Well Woman Project. With over 20 years’ experience in health and wellbeing, she specialises in helping women decode painful, heavy and chaotic periods that have too often been dismissed or minimised. She is the author of Periods Aren’t Meant to Bloody Hurt and an outspoken advocate for better conversations around menstrual health and conditions such as endometriosis, adenomyosis and PMDD. Blending clinical insight with holistic practice, Gemma challenges medical gaslighting, empowers women to understand their bloodwork and symptoms, and teaches them how to reclaim agency over their bodies. Her work sits at the intersection of feminism, physiology and practical action. She is known for her grounded, straight-talking approach, depth of knowledge, and refusal to accept that debilitating periods are “just part of being a woman.” --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Gemma Barry: You can find her webpage here Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 8m
  3. Ep. 80: How to Transform Menstrual Shame and Reclaim Your Blood Mysteries - Jane Hardwicke Collings

    FEB 22

    Ep. 80: How to Transform Menstrual Shame and Reclaim Your Blood Mysteries - Jane Hardwicke Collings

    Yes, how do rites of passage shape women’s lives? In this episode, former homebirth midwife, teacher, writer, and menstrual, childbirth, and menopause educator Jane Hardwicke Collings joins me to explore how menstrual shame, birth trauma, and menopause have shaped women’s identities for generations — and how we can reclaim these rites of passage as sources of power rather than pain. Together we explored and talked about … 💫 Jane’s journey — the breadcrumbs she followed that led her to become the woman and leader she is today, and how “suddenly everything made sense” when her midwifery practice met the art of shamanism. 💫 A powerful teaching Jane shares: “How we move through our rites of passage directly influences how we live our lives.” She speaks in depth about the blood rites and the women’s mysteries, guiding us into a deeper understanding of these sacred transitions. 💫 We also explore the negative cultural narratives surrounding menstruation, childbirth, and menopause — the medicalisation and pathologising of the female body and its life phases. Jane shares what happens when we do not consciously honour our transitions — from menarche (our first bleed) to motherhood and menopause — and how these experiences silently teach us what our culture believes about women’s value and worth. 💫 As Jane says, “The menstrual cycle is running your life, whether you pay attention to it or not.” So we might as well turn toward it. We might as well listen. We might as well learn to move with it instead of against it — allowing it to guide us into deeper self-trust and embodied wisdom. Enjoy this episode. If you have ever felt disconnected from your cycle, confused about your transitions, or longing to reclaim the sacredness of your body, this conversation is for you. BIG LOVE and happy Sunday! Flurina This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 6m
  4. Ep. 79: Radical Care: Birth Work, Abortion & Reproductive Justice - with Sara Bakr.

    FEB 15

    Ep. 79: Radical Care: Birth Work, Abortion & Reproductive Justice - with Sara Bakr.

    In this grounded and liberating conversation, we speak about birth work, abortion, and reproductive justice through the lens of doula work, activism, inclusivity, and embodied experience. My guest, Sara Bakr invites us to rethink who birth support is for, what care can look like, and why bodily autonomy must be at the center of it all and a free Palestine. Sara is a Black, mixed, pro-abortion full spectrum doula. She created Ancestral Birth out of pure necessity as people need and deserve better support through all pregnancy outcomes. In short, she radically supports and gently nurtures individuals and families through life transition. Her personal mission is to improve sexual and reproductive health services as she believes in reproductive justice and bodily autonomy for all. In this conversation we talked about: 💫 Sara’s multicultural upbringing between Egypt, Norway, Sudan and now North London — and how learning to embrace change from a young age shaped her path into birth work. 💫 Living in a fat, mixed-ethnicity body and what it means resisting the somatic norms that teach us which bodies are acceptable and which are not. 💫 What a doula is, what full-spectrum support means, and why care must include all pregnancy outcomes. 💫 How continuous support and advocacy can impact safety, communication, pelvic health, and overall birth experiences. 💫 The financial privilege of accessing doula care and the systemic inequalities within maternity services. 💫 Abortion doula work, supporting loss without shame, and why reproductive justice and bodily autonomy are at the heart of Sara’s activism. I hope you enjoy this conversation! --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Sara Bakr: You can find her webpage here, follow Samara on Instagram here. Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 13m
  5. Ep. 78: How to reconnect to your body and heal pelvic pain through somatic movement, Part 2!

    FEB 8

    Ep. 78: How to reconnect to your body and heal pelvic pain through somatic movement, Part 2!

    Dearest listener, dear community, THANK YOU for all your feedbacks and messages for the health vagina project - it is my absolute pleasure! 💜 In this episode together with Dunya Ntinizi we continue and deepen the conversation about how somatic movement practices can support us in healing pelvic health challenges and reconnecting to the wisdom of the female body. Dunya shares her lived experience, professional insights, and spiritual journey, inviting us to explore the pelvic bowl as more than anatomy — as a place of memory, healing, and profound resourcefulness. In this conversation … 💫 We continue weaving the meaning of the pelvic bowl as a place of healing and resourcefulness. Dunya shares why this is the place in our female bodies where “we hold our stories,” how we can meet the pelvic bowl as a “patient listener,” and how to navigate the contrast between our inner experience and the outer world. 💫 Dunya speaks about her Congolese roots and Christian upbringing, which sparked an inner rebellion and led her to realize that her body is more than just a body — it is her most sacred textbook. 💫 She shares how the practice of Longo, a healing dance rooted in Congolese spirituality, guided her to uncover and create her unique somatic approach to working with the female body: Somapresence. 💫 We explore why and how somatic movement practices are an essential piece of the puzzle on the path to healing pelvic health challenges. 💫 Dunya explains what Somapresence is and facilitates a guided movement process rooted in the inherent expression of the pelvic bowl. 💫 We speak about why working with the female body is an ongoing process of opening to the unknown — and how pivotal life experiences led her to discover her own womanhood. I hope you enjoy this conversation. BIG LOVE, Flurina This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 5m
  6. Ep. 77: How to reconnect to your body and heal pelvic pain through somatic movement - with Samara Concepción.

    FEB 1

    Ep. 77: How to reconnect to your body and heal pelvic pain through somatic movement - with Samara Concepción.

    Welcome to the fourth conversation of The Healthy Vagina Project - through the lens of Somatic Movement and Birth Work! This conversation follows a golden thread woven through the landscapes of this project: the cyclical nature of the pelvis, sensation, movement, and life itself. The pelvis as a place of deep sensory intelligence. A place that holds grief and pleasure, descent and rising, birth and death. A place that remembers. Together we explore what becomes possible when we trust the body’s timing, allow sensation to guide us, and meet pain not as something to fix, but as something alive, relational, and meaningful. Samara Concepción is a holistic birth doula, a women’s health practitioner, and a social artist, based in London. She is devoted to elevating women’s experiences of womanhood, pregnancy, birth and motherhood through reacquainting them with their deepest source of truth and power, which is their innate body wisdom. Samara is the host of the Birth: A New Story podcast, which is a gathering place for visionary voices to explore what it means to be human and welcome new life into the world with reverence, and is the director of the emerging documentary film by the same name. In this conversation we explored: 💫  Descent and rising: In moments of pain and grief, descent is natural and doesn’t need to be fixed. It’s a rich, layered experience that fosters connection. Samara shares how she navigated these moments, especially when the descent feels endless, and highlights the importance of not descending in isolation — we need the presence of others. 💫  The pelvic bowl brings us into deep relationship with the earth, natural law, and creative cycles. The pelvis has the capacity to feel the deepest rivers of grief and pleasure, birth and death, and connects us to something eternal and intangible, if we dare to listen. 💫  Why it’s essential to begin listening and nurturing a relationship with our bodies if we are on a journey to heal pain and physical challenges. 💫  Samara shares how her dance training led her to somatic movement, feeling like a return to the initial desire to move for pure pleasure and joy, and how she learned to let her body lead again. 💫  What inspired Samara to become a guide and teacher in birth work and women’s health was her exploration of the question: “How would birth unfold if women were invited to meet their bodies’ innate wisdom through somatic movement?” 💫  We can all begin to inhabit our pelvic bowl physically by attuning to sensation and discovering resources of aliveness and pleasure — it’s a subtle and profound process. I hope you enjoy this conversation! --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: - Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com - My guest, Samara Concepción: You can find her webpage here, follow Samara on Instagram here. - Other sources mentioned: You can listen to my conversation with Carly Mountain here, and you can explore Samara`s podcast and her conversations with Carly here Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 3m
  7. Ep. 76: Speaking From the Pelvic Bowl: Touch, Grief, and Women’s Health - with Avni Trivedi

    JAN 25

    Ep. 76: Speaking From the Pelvic Bowl: Touch, Grief, and Women’s Health - with Avni Trivedi

    What does it mean to truly listen to the body — especially the pelvic bowl — rather than trying to fix it? In this conversation with Avni Trivedi, we explore women’s pelvic health through touch, osteopathy, grief, and embodiment. Together, we speak about how personal health journeys shape our work, how unprocessed experiences live in the body, and how practices of touch, movement, and self-care can gently support healing and transformation. Avni Trivedi is an experienced and intuitive practitioner using touch and movement to help people to connect with their bodily wisdom. She is a Women’s Health and Paediatric Osteopath, Birth Doula, Zero Balancer and Non-Linear Movement Teacher. Her podcast, Speak From the Body’ explores themes such as embodiment, stress, trauma, hormones and pleasure. Avni runs regular workshops called ‘Moving Through Loss’ to gently address grief in the body. I very much loved the daily live self care inputs Avni shared with us at the very end, so to stay with us or return if you take a break in between. In this conversation, we talked about: 💫  Avni’s path, and how her personal experiences and health challenges shaped her journey into becoming the women’s health practitioner and teacher she is today. She shares what bodywork means to her, and why touch is such a potent tool “to bring us back into our physical body” and to feel truly listened to. 💫  Avni’s way of practising osteopathy, and the other philosophies and healing modalities she weaves into her work with patients and women. 💫  The strangeness of learning about sacred yoni work through a Western lens, even though the language and inspiration come from Indian and Eastern traditions. We explore how to navigate these entanglements as practitioners, and the importance of naming them. 💫  Experiences of grief in and through the female body — such as early pregnancy loss or abortion — and how these may lie at the root of pelvic health issues. Avni shares about her grief workshops and how we can begin to meet these experiences and emotions in more resourced and supportive ways. 💫  Our shared fascination with the pelvic bowl as a place where we tend to store so much shame and pain, while it also holds the very medicine needed for healing and transformation. 💫 Avni’s daily self-care and pelvic bowl practices, and the “1%” she returns to in order to nurture her body and soul. I hope you enjoy this conversation! --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com My guest, Avni Trivedi: You can find her webpage here, listen to her podcast Speak From the Body podcast here and follow her on Instagram here. Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here, Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 11m
  8. Ep. 75: Yoga Through a Woman’s Lens: Soft Strength, Fluidity and Care - with Lynn Murphy.

    JAN 18

    Ep. 75: Yoga Through a Woman’s Lens: Soft Strength, Fluidity and Care - with Lynn Murphy.

    Have you ever wondered what it truly means to practice yoga through a woman’s lens — one that honors the body’s wisdom, its fluid nature, intuition and (hormonal) life transitions? In this episode, I’m joined by Lynn Murphy, an experienced practitioner and teacher in women’s yoga, the active birth movement and pelvic health. We explore how her personal journey — from menarche to menopause, activism to artistry — shaped a lifelong dedication to supporting women’s wellbeing through yoga informed by the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli. In this conversation, we talked about: 💫 Lynn’s personal journey as a woman and artist — from menarche to birth and postpartum and menopause — and how this has shaped her path into yoga, the birth world and women’s health. 💫 Why following our intuition, this deep inner voice of our true calling is part of a healthy vagina and pelvic bowl! 💫 What Lynn means with “Yoga through a women’s lens”; Lynn shared about the pioneering teaching of Vanda Scaravelli and how her teaching has (and continuously does) transformed Lynn`s yoga practice. 💫 What lies at the core of this approach to yoga, namely being present with gravity, the breath and a fluid spine so that we can cultivate a sense of soft strength, find more ease through less effort and reconnect with the body`s inherent intelligence. 💫 Lynn`s offer, Women’s Yoga; Lynn shared how she works with women of all ages and stages and how this practice can support pelvic health, nervous system regulation, and hormonal transitions … and why this is an important part of the pelvic health toolbox. 💫 How through these conversations we learn what The Healthy Vagina Project is truly about; Inclusion and awareness, to acknowledge that the whole body is healing the part - to be with the pelvic bowl is asking us to be with the whole body - as practitioners and patients, to name that  we know as much as we don’t know and through talking between practitioners we can weave a web of support for all women, that the alternative way of healing can exist next to the medical path, there is space for both / and … on all levels! More about Lynn: Lynn Murphy is a yoga teacher, trainer, and birth trauma recovery practitioner with over 30 years’ experience supporting women’s pelvic health. Her work is trauma-informed and pelvic-centred, helping women reconnect with their pelvis through embodied yoga, breath, and practical practices. She mentors women through life transitions and trains teachers and therapists in programmes such as Pelvic Love Sessions, Womb to World, and Mother Love. Lynn is deeply committed to helping women feel empowered, resourced, and at home in their bodies. I hope you enjoy this conversation! --- 🌟 Join my softly rebellious on Substack - subscribe here. 🌟 Sign up here to receive a copy of my free workshop about The wild and poetic anatomy of the female body. 🌟 Book a Holistic Pelvic Care session with me in person in London or online, find out more here. --- 💛 The Soft Rebellion Podcast is created and hosted by Flurina Dominique Thali. I love hearing from you. To contact me, email softrebellion@flurinathali.com. --- Links: Flurina Dominique Thali & The Soft Rebellion: @flurina.thali / www.flurinathali.com My guest, Lynn Murphy: Learn more about her work here and follow her on Instagram @herplacebylynn Credits: Intro/outro music – ‘Hymn for Jim’ by Aspyrian: Robin Porter – saxophone, Jack Gillen – guitar, Matt Parkinson – drums, composed by Robin Porter, listen to the full track here. Graphic: Annina Thali, for more information click here This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit flurinathali.substack.com

    1h 21m
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About

A homecoming, a return, and a (re)discovery of the creative power of your female body. Our world uproots us from the gifts of the Feminine; the intuitive, the instinctual, the cyclical, the soft. What is the result? Patriarchal cultures of perfectionism, shame, and disconnect that leave us constantly running, never arriving.   Imagine a world of women softly rebelling; claiming our cyclicity, our weirdness, and our rest as we courageously cultivate a deep and delicious relationship to our female bodies.  My name is Flurina, I’m an Osteopath, dancer, writer and coach, I’ve been on my own journey sparked by an eating disorder to come home to the wild, poetic anatomy of my female body and awaken my creative power… and I invite you to join me and my guests, trailblazing teachers, healers and creatives as we each reclaim our own soft rebellion. flurinathali.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Flurina Thali
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Flurina Thali
  • Show Website
    The Soft Rebellion Podcast

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