There are many ways to learn about your menstrual cycle. One way is by reading or listening to a book. Code Red by Lisa Lister is a spicier version of a look at your menstrual cycle with a tagline that reads, “Know your flow, unlock your monthly super powers, and create a bloody amazing life. Period.” Let’s dive into Code Red for our period-focused book review this month!
Lisa’s culture is Romani, and she works in with the Goddess (SHE), as a Guidess, witch, storyteller, and illustrator. Her English accent is palpable through the pages, and it feels like you are nestling up to her. You’ll listen to her share her experience with an endometriosis diagnosis and how she went from hating her cycle to living in sync with it with an endometriosis remission. She wrote this book so you could create your map and relationship with your cycle in a deeply rooted, embodied, magickally feminine way.
At the start of her book, when helping you remember your first period, she says,
“Imagine if we had all known this, at that moment of our first bleed – how would it have been different.” (pg. 32). Throughout the book she invites you to reflect between questions, journal prompts and activities. One suggestion is wearing a special red something on your period to show you are in your power when bleeding. The way she writes invokes a longing to show up more authentically to yourself, even if it’s different from her.
There’s space for recognizing the hard within your cycle in her book; AND she pushes you to explore what is possible beyond your comfort zone. Each phase has an archetype for you to lean into, like your Wild and Wise Woman for your Pre-Menstrual stage. The Wild and Wise Woman is full of awareness, feisty energy, and a bone knowing of what’s what.
After acknowledging that during the eight or so days before you bleed that you have all the feelings and your bullshit meter is on point, and that it may come out sideways if you don’t work with it well, she says this:
“Lady, you become a super-charged power source for truth. Your intuition and psychic abilities heighten, making you a charmed and dangerous enchantress. Basically, you’re hot shit.” (pg. 134-135)
So, if you love her sassiness and like a bit of bite-and-say-it-like-it-is writing, you’ll enjoy Code Red.
Another perk is at the start of each phase section is a summary list of the basics for that phase. Pre-ovulation has the theme “Like a Virgin” with The Fool as the tarot card. Spring is the season, with an Air Element, crystal recommendations, and even a mantra of “I get shit done.” (pg. 81)
Lisa is also the creator of SHEFlow Yoga which is built for your menstrual cycle. She walks you through different poses throughout the book.
There has been pushback with how much womb talk is in her books. She is womb-focused, as she has one, so she writes about her personal experience. Her focus is specifically helping those with wombs tap into what’s possible for them using their cycle and their womb as an energy point. On her website, she shares this:
I often get asked, specifically in response to my books: ‘why SO MUCH womb talk? Am I less of a woman or witch without a uterus?’
https://www.lisalister.com/about
My response: Yes, I do talk about wombs a LOT.
You definitely DO NOT need a womb to be a witch or to be a woman, I celebrate the womb as a place of power, medicine + magic because doctors threatened to ‘whip mine out’ + I’ve worked really bloody hard to heal her + love her + to recognise the power I hold there + I want to support those who have had similar experiences to do the same. I only ever speak, teach + share from personal experience + wouldn’t DARE try to be a spokesperson for EVERYONE, but of COURSE you can be powerful, be a witch AND be a woman without a womb – abso-bloody-lutely.
FYI: You also NEVER need permission from me, or from anyone for that matter, to tell you whether you’re a witch, a woman and/or a powerhouse of a human. ACTUAL FACTUAL.
All in all, Code Red is fantastic, witty, and spiritual in the way 2 am conversations after a night watching burlesque and skinny dipping in the ocean makes you feel. This book overflows with ideas, prompts, and practices to bond more deeply with your full self, cycle, and the feminine flow.
If this feels like your vibe, check out her website at www.lisalister.com and all her offerings, or grab Code Red anywhere books are sold.
Want to go through the book and track your cycle at the same time? We’ve got you, open the Agenda App to do just that. Don’t have the app? Grab the App on Google Play here, or on the Apple Store here! Want another way to track and plan? Download our pdf planner of The Agenda. here!