Women’s Circle, a women’s health and plant medicine retreat created by wellbeing platform Plantz, is set to hold its second gathering in Somerset on 10-11 October. The event will be limited to 25 attendees and focus on the menstrual cycle, bringing together expert talks, live question-and-answer sessions and wellbeing activities.
Organisers say the weekend will create space for conversations around periods, hormones, period pain, endometriosis and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), alongside nutrition, exercise and plant medicine education.
It follows the first Women’s Circle gathering in 2025. Plantz describes the series as a forum for women to share experiences of health and plant medicine, with its first event bringing together patients, clinicians and industry figures to discuss women’s access to medical cannabis and wider healthcare needs.
This year’s edition, themed “Women’s Health First”, will focus on how the body changes throughout the menstrual cycle and how people can better understand their own needs at different stages.
Sophie East, founder of The Women’s Circle and co-founder of Plantz, said: “I’m incredibly proud to be bringing the Women’s Circle back for its second gathering, creating a space where women can come together, learn more about their cycles, understand their bodies and feel empowered to support themselves better. We’re also continuing to challenge the stigma around medical cannabis and helping women see it for what it can be: another tool in our box.”
The programme will include sessions from Dr Shabnam Sarshar, Dr Callie Seaman and Charlotte “The Period Rebel”, covering hormonal and physiological changes across the cycle, nutrition and exercise, experiences of pain, and medical cannabis patient education.
Dr Sarshar will address the endocannabinoid system, a cell-signalling system in the body that researchers are still working to understand in relation to women’s health. “Pain, mood, sleep, thermoregulation – the endocannabinoid system touches all of it,” she said. “That makes it one of the most clinically relevant systems in women’s health, and one of the least discussed.”
Medical cannabis will form part of the educational programme, including information on routes of administration and how patients might make informed decisions about their wellbeing. Organisers say the event will not present cannabis as a universal answer to health concerns.
The question of whether cannabinoid medicine is being developed with women’s health in mind has become increasingly prominent. As leafie reported earlier this year, research and treatment pathways have often overlooked conditions that disproportionately affect women, including endometriosis, menopause symptoms and period pain.
Away from the talks, the Somerset retreat will offer yoga, sound therapy, wild swimming, sauna sessions, walks and an outdoor cinema. Aurora will support the event as headline sponsor, alongside Cantourage, Dr Dabber and PAX.
Plantz says future Women’s Circle events will explore other areas of women’s health, including menopause, sex and cannabis. Applications are open for women who want to join the weekend and the wider Women’s Circle community. To find out more and register your interest, visit https://thewomenscircle.uk/.
