Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs
Transforming the lives of college and university women across the United States
What is a Cycle Mindfulness® Club?
Natural Womanhood’s Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs program is a peer-led university campus initiative designed to create a supportive community for young women to learn the science and truth of their God-given fertility and womanhood. It is a powerful defense of the dignity of women and their bodies amidst an aggressive contraceptive culture.
Why we created Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs
Young women lack knowledge of their cycles, and how to care for their bodies and themselves. Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs are here to help.
At Natural Womanhood, we know that young women are often ill-informed about the basic science of their cycles and fertility. Because of this lack of knowledge, they are often unaware of issues with their cycles, and don’t practice good fertility and cycle health management. This also leads to stigma around periods and fertility, and the reality that young women rarely have positive and fruitful discussions with their peers about these essential subjects.
How Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs help young women care for their bodies, minds, and hearts
Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs give young women the space to gather together to learn about and discuss personal questions about their fertility and cycle health in a safe, peer-led context. Together, young women learn to chart their cycles, practice good cycle health, and live out the embodied reality of their natural womanhood, all from a trained peer leader.
Which colleges and universities have a Cycle Mindfulness® Club?
For the Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs’ pilot year (2022-2023), we started with three clubs. The most successful club was undoubtedly at Texas A&M University. We also had another club at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a third club took place at Michigan Tech University.
In planning the second year, we invested significant time towards recruiting and carefully selecting students from all over the US. We also expanded the in-person training from a one day session to a three-day retreat (see below for where you can find more information on applying to lead a Club). Our hard work paid off: we were able to start 10 clubs in the fall of 2023. Eight of the clubs were on US college campuses, one was for young adults in San Antonio, and one took place in Kampala, Uganda!
The map pictured shows the locations of the 17 Clubs we’re currently conducting for the third year of the Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs program (academic year 2024-2025). We will begin recruiting leaders for AY 2025-2026 at the end of 2024. Stay tuned!
What Cycle Mindfulness® Club participants have to say about the program
“It deepened my knowledge of myself and women around it. It made me proud of my body and my [fertility] and able to discuss feminine health issues with much greater openness. It was a very positive, empowering year!”
“I learned more about things in my life that may have an effect, either positive or negative, on my cycle and overall health. I also met some incredible women to grow with in creating healthy habits and lifestyles.”
“It’s been a great experience to further understand the “why’s” behind my cycle. And to learn safe / healthy remedies for symptoms.”
“I learned significantly about my cycle and to consider what phase I am in more into the things I do and what I expect about myself. To not be afraid to speak up about my health towards medical providers with regards to what kind of treatment I want.
What kind of impact do Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs have?
To measure the impact of the clubs, we conducted a survey at the beginning and at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year. At the beginning of the year, 15% of participants reported charting their cycle daily. By the end, 67% were charting daily, and another 30% were charting “sometimes.” When we asked participants “When thinking of your period and your cycle, how much peace and control do you feel?” the rate of positive answers went from 18% at the beginning to 78% at the end of the year.
Click here to access the webpage where you can download the full Report and learn even more about this incredible program and our plans for its future!
How to get involved with the Cycle Mindfulness® Clubs program
Want to lead a Club?
You can read more about our Leadership Team here.
Want to hear more about what it’s like to lead a Cycle Mindfulness® Club? Be sure to listen to The Natural Womanhood Podcast episode with former Texas A&M University Cycle Mindfulness® Club leader, Erin Dewey (airing December 2024).
Want to access our Leadership Team application?
Click here to access the Leadership Team application and click here to access our recommendations form letter.
Want to sponsor the training of a Cycle Mindfulness® Club leader?
Click here to make a donation to support the training of a new Cycle Mindfulness® Club leader. Training costs are completely covered for each leader!
Cycle Mindfulness® is a Natural Womanhood program.
Natural Womanhood is a global nonprofit 501c3 and the publisher of the online Magazine of Fertility Awareness and Women’s Health. We believe that fertility is not a disease in need of a cure, and promote alternatives to contraception and IVF. Our vision is that all women will learn to claim their natural fertility as beautiful, powerful, and healthy. We empower women to know and love their bodies through fertility awareness, body literacy, and authentic women’s health. Read more at www.naturalwomanhood.org.