Alice Browning, yoga facilitator and founder of The Fold is on a mission to empower women to honour their bodies and cycles.
Name: Alice Browning
Pronouns: She/Her
Day job: Mother. Yoga Facilitator and Founder of The Fold.
Location: Sydney
Describe your work in one sentence.
Alice Browning, yoga facilitator and founder of The Fold, is redefining wellness for women. Her platform offers empowering education, mindful movement, and meditative practices tailored to women’s shifting hormones and life seasons. Alice’s mission is simple: to help women feel balanced, supported, and empowered through every phase of life.
What inspired you to start The Fold Online and focus on women’s health?
Supporting women feels etched in my DNA. As a Yoga Teacher for over a decade, my classes, workshops, and retreats have always been filled with women. That’s where the magic happens - the dissolving, receiving, and connection.
The Fold was born from what we saw needing more conversations with women. They were being encouraged to move, eat, and self-care in ways that ignored their shifting hormones and life season, completely disregarding womanhood's natural ebb and flow.
What's your daily wellness routine? What keeps you grounded?
My daughter is young, so I prioritise nature and simplicity, and the ripple effect is powerful for both of us. Movement followed by a nap or Nidra while she naps is the ultimate combo, and I adjust everything according to my cycle, never beating myself up if there’s more or less.
How do you listen to your body and stay in tune with your cycle?
I adore tracking my cycle, so I tread carefully as I enter the second half of my luteal phase. I say no more often, ease up on Pilates and Vinyasa, watch my tendency to skip meals and stay mindful of my need for space. When my bleed arrives, I honour that craving for rest, stillness, and space as best I can.
Is there a connection between well-being and menstrual health?
Without a doubt. I’ve felt it in myself for decades. This needs to align, shift, deprioritise and reprioritise.
What lifestyle or mindset shifts help reduce period pain or PMS?
Track your cycle, and adjust your eating, movement, socializing, and work schedule (as best as possible) to align with your cycle phases. Make these shifts manageable, especially if you're a mum.
How does nutrition impact period symptoms, and what do you recommend?
A few minor shifts can make a big difference. Several women’s health practitioners on The Fold offer short videos on eating for your cycle. I always leave it to the experts!
Should movement change throughout the menstrual cycle?
I prefer complete rest on day one. As each day unfolds, I'll check in. From day 3 onwards, I'll take a few light walks and some mellow yoga movements to support circulation.
Can mindfulness or meditation help during your period?
I have found Nidra to be insanely beneficial for my frazzled nervous system, and it's the first tool I turn to when I'm bleeding.
It's period undies on, warm feet, warm womb space, slowed belly breaths and a Nidra from The Fold in my ears.
What's the biggest myth in healthcare, and how do we fix it?
Listen to women, believe in women, prioritise funding research on women's hormonal health, and show us that our stories, pain, and voices matter. Stop Prescribing the Pill or Pregnancy as the answer to women's pain!
Why do you think periods are STILL such a taboo topic?
The Patriarchy has a lot to answer for, which is high on my list. This outdated narrative that periods are dirty and that women should be ashamed and scurry around silently dealing with it is bullshit. Our ability to bleed illustrates our potential to grow life; how is one deemed so magical, and the other is not?
MY CYCLE
- My period in 3-words: Makes herself known.
- Period self-care toolkit: Rest, heat pack (try rae Heat Pad), magnesium oil (try Magnesium+ Spray) and Loco Love.
- On day 1, you'll find me: Horizontal.
