"THE RHYTHM OF THE BODY, THE MELODY OF THE MIND & THE HARMONY OF THE SOUL CREATE THE SYMPHONY OF LIFE "
BKS Iyengar
My phone rang last Friday morning as I was sitting at my desk. I saw it was one of my close girlfriends calling, so I quickly picked it up.
She asked how I was doing and how my day was going, like any friend would but there was an obvious tentativeness in her voice. “I am doing just fine today.” I said, “But how are you?” I asked. “You sound a little off.”
Before she could finish her exhale, I could hear her voice shimmer and tears begin to fall. “What’s going on?” I asked. Her gentle tears quickly turned into a deep cry.
She went on to explain to me that she was having her menstrual cycle. She had entertained a few meals of popcorn and chocolate (I know that one). She was emotional, exhausted, and finding it hard to keep on going at her normal pace.
“Have you been busy?” I asked. She responded with an exaggerated “YES!”
Now, I have known this particular friend for many, many years, and we have shared some similar patterns and healing processes. We have been of great support for each other, reminding the other to slow down, take time for ourselves, and prioritize our self-care.
Like many of us, she has a very full schedule, an active social life, a demanding career, and she has been trained to keep on going.
“Have you taken any downtime for yourself?” I asked. She predictably said “No”. “Hmm” I said. “Is there any way you could take a little time this weekend to rest, restore, reflect, and honor the quiet darkness of your menstrual cycle?”
Within just a few moments, her sigh of relief told me maybe we were on the right track. “Of course. How could I have forgotten?” she said. Within moments, she cleared some time in her schedule for an afternoon nap, some time to journal and rest and some time to just be. As soon as she granted herself permission, she sounded relieved.
This week there was a brilliant full moon rising over the Boulder sky. I have a monthly ritual of celebrating the full moon with a few of my close friends. We have discovered that our favorite way to celebrate is to find magnificent spots amidst the Boulder foothills to watch her rise.
This week the pink moon, the full moon of April, was stunning
The full moon reminds me to simply pause, and connect back in to the beauty of nature, the feminine, the ebb and flow of life, the moments of wonder around us and within us.
There are many ways to touch in with our feminine nature – creative, unique, personal, subtle and universal.
I wanted share these reminders for you here, because they are setting the table for you to unveil your deepest feminine longings, the strongest parts of yourself and your artistry of living a soulful, pleasurable, sensual life with your feminine forging a new way.
Our feminine rhythms and cycles are like the stepping-stones between the worldly aspects of ourselves, and the deep wisdom of the feminine that live in each of us – always. Ironically, most of us have been taught to ignore, override, and push through these natural rhythms.
What is your female wisdom asking of you?
I put together just a few anchors for you this week – some soft and gentle reminders to let your feminine guide you home.
When we gift ourselves this depth and connection, everything else in our lives begins to flow more smoothly. We know when to rest, we know what to eat, we know what to do to care for our unique selves, and we know when to expand. When we trust our intuition and female wisdom, we know how to nourish our bodies, minds, and souls.
1. Seasonal Synergy
The cycles of the season are a profound way to synch up with the rhythms of nature, remembering that we ARE nature. Each season has it’s own energetic flow, it’s own seasonal eating alignment, it’s own quality and its own vibration.
Nature goes through everything on the spectrum from full bloom, to death and decay.
The more we feel into this innate cycle around us, present for all life form on the planet, the more we can ride the waves and rhythms in ourselves. This knowing is embedded in our cells, our DNA and our innate animal wisdom.
The seasonal synergy is intuitive when we listen. Often, in our bustling culture and our busy day-to-day lives we tend to miss these intuitive cues in ourselves. Synching up with the season is medicine for the body, mind and soul.
Each season comes with its own unique quality and energy.
Winter: a time to pull inward, rebuild and restore. We hibernate to rejuvenate our bodies and souls.
Spring: a time to cleanse, clear, and open and wake up our senses.
Summer: the most expansive and heart centered celebration of life, play, and pleasure
Autumn: the season of letting go, composting the old and creating new rich and fertile ground to turn inward and tend to.
Each season reminds us of how to best take care of ourselves, feed ourselves, and nourish our hearts and minds.
2. Full Moon Majesty
In many cultures from all around the world, the sun represents the masculine and the moon, the feminine.
These two complimentary energies affect all of life on earth, including us humans. The masculine develops an outward expression of strength and power as the feminine reveals flexibility and grace in her natural physical display. We are always dancing between the two.
Our feminine cycles are like the stepping-stones between the worldly aspects of ourselves, and the deep wisdom of the feminine that lives in each of us – always. Ironically, most of us have been taught to ignore, override, and push through these cycles.
We have been taught that these feminine cycles might slow us down, make us more emotional, more chaotic, extremely tired and even a little crazy and chaotic if we surrender to them. Most of us have had a shameful relationship to our feminine cycles passed down to us from many generations and the lineage of women that have come before us. If not, we are considered a rarity in this day and age.
If you disconnect from your feminine cycles, you disconnect from your bodies wisdom.
Our female cycles are our road map to our own empowerment and the sacred feminine. The cycles of feminine offer us the energetics to synchronize the larger forces at play around us and within us. They illuminate our sensuality, our sexuality, and our pleasure potential – which are always shape shifting within the rhythms of our cycles.
We rest and restore during our menstrual cycle to then energize and expand during ovulation.
Can you give yourself permission to slow down for a few days a month?
*** If you don't have a cycle, or your cycle is a challenge (for various reasons) try slowing down on the new moon, going into the darkness within and expanding, opening and celebrating during the full moon.
Our moon (menstrual) cycle is our female compass, leading the way and forging the path for us to walk with grace. Our moon cycle is the most basic and earthly cycle we have. Our moon cycle is like a small microcosm for the changing seasons, the flowing tides, the waxing and waning moon, and the sacredness of the feminine in all her radiance.
3. Practice Radical Self-Care
It may sound simple, but many of us find ourselves at the bottom of our own priority list. Can you treat your inner GODDESS like a queen?
Sip some passion flower tea, run a warm aroma therapy bath, loose yourself in your favorite novel, take long walks amidst the spring cherry blossoms, or take a long over due goddess nap!
Self-Care comes in many variations and forms – we each have our go-to's. The common denominator is that we strive to deepen the nourishment for our whole selves – daily.
Just like the rhythms of nature and the feminine, the different aspects of how we incorporate self-care into our routine changes. With a little practice, we listen, we flow and we learn to follow out intuition for our self-care regiments.
Self-care makes us better people.
You know it, and I know it. When we operate from a place of our 'cup runneth over,' we have so much more to give back.
Think about those days when you can hardly muster making dinner, calling your friend back, or running that extra errand. Most of us don't feel like our best selves in those moments.
One important self-care secret is to implement simple and short and do-able self-care steps every day. Give yourself a little bit of extra love and attention. It's the little steps consistently that make all the difference.