ABOUT PRETTY RIVER RED TENT
our cycle is a connection to who we are.
Pretty River Red Tent was created to provide a supportive space and community for women (and womb-havers) of all ages, to gather, share and connect to the Wisdom and Power of our cycles.
It aims to broaden the narrative around menstruation to inspire women and girls to be aware of the gifts and power that often go unnoticed. We believe practicing this awareness has the power to change the culture for our daughters (and sons!) and is the foundation for our relationship with them.
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We provide connection, support and education through the spiritual and psychological lens of Menstrual Cycle Awareness, as well as science and evidence based Fertility Education.
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Pretty River Red Tent is committed to building a community where Menstrual Cycle Awareness is the red thread that connects us to ourselves and each other.
Hello and welcome! I am Nikki Zavitz and I share this beautiful life with my partner and our 3 unschooled daughters who are 14, 12, and 10. I am an "early retired" teacher, a stay-at-home unschooling Momma, an artist, wife, daughter, friend, life long learner, empath, passionate hobby collector and of course, a menstrual activist.
I had my very first bleed when I was 13 years old. I hid it from my mother, I remember fear and shame and loneliness...such intense feelings for a young girl. The feelings were too heavy and I felt so unsure of myself. Six months before I got my period, I recall being in a circle of grade 8 girls listening to them share their pains of starting their bleeds, and then hearing the lie come out of my mouth saying that I too had my period and I knew exactly how they felt. I lied. I lied to feel like I belonged and then I hid my truth six months later when my blood did arrive.
This rocky beginning into young womanhood was the tone I set for the relationship I would have with myself through alot of my life..one of mistrust and searching. Then in my mid thirties, I came across the seeds of Menstrual Cycle Awareness through Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer (the pioneers of this practice) of Red School and I began to study Menstruality intensely, and in 2020 completed my Menstruality Leadership Course as a Mentor of Red School. I am always expanding my professional development and am currently being certified in FEMM, Fertility Education and Medical Management for women and teens, as well as FAMM, a Fertility Awareness Mastery Mentorship exploring the Sympto-thermal Method in depth.
Menstrual Cycle Awareness has become a compass for my life and I am so in love with this daily practice and all that it has unravelled in my life. It is continually evolving and changing with my own cyclical nature and it has become the map and lense that I now view my life through.
I am a true advocate for connection and community and I especially hold the relationship between mother and daughter near and dear to my heart, as well as the relationships among women in my community and the relationship I have with myself.
I believe our cycle is the red thread that connects us all to our highest selves and I am so grateful and excited to be able to do this necessary joyous work.
nikki zavitz
FOUNDER
the inner seasons.
As womb havers (spiritually or physically), in our bleeding years, each cycle we experience and move through four Inner Seasons that closely mimic the seasons of the year.
inner winter.
Menstration; the time of shedding and releasing.
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inner spring.
Pre-ovulation; the time of transition and becoming.
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inner summer.
Ovulation; the time of realization and power.
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inner fall.
Post-ovulation; the time of reflection and evolution.
