Learning and honouring your cycle
As women we are cyclic beings. Just like the moon, we flow through a 28 (ish) day cycle. Our energy ebbs and flows, it rises and reaches it’s peak then it wanes. We wake every day with a slightly different hormonal makeup than the day before, in some ways we wake up a different woman.
Then we are expected to exist in a society, a system that does far from honour our cyclic nature. In fact, I would argue that it actually makes it very hard to live in a way that supports this most innate part of us. The societal expectation is that we wake up and go to work every day 9-5 or thereabouts, check off a certain number of tasks or duties that deem us “productive,” come home and cook dinner, sometimes for our whole family, go to bed, get eight hours sleep then wake up and do it all again. Not too mention, exercise, eat right, socialise, all this with only two days “off” to flow through the day as we need too. I could write a book on how the patriarchal system and energy the world runs on is obstructive to a woman’s cycle but that’s a conversation for another day.
So besides running off to the bush with our best girlfriends to live in peaceful harmonious community, how can we learn our cycles and live in a way that truly honours them? It’s actually a lot simpler than you may think.
Learning my cycle changed my life. Learning that I too, like the moon, go through many phases in a month. That I too, like nature, experience different seasons as part of my being, gave me so much more compassion for myself. And that by honouring these phases, these seasons with compassion and love I actually have more energy, I feel more aligned, I feel more at peace.
Our Dark Moon phase or Inner Winter is where our cycle begins, with menstruation, with bleeding. With release. Our energy is low, our estrogen and progesterone are literally at their lowest levels in our bodies. This dramatic hormonal drop triggers our wombs to shed their lining (menstruation). It’s no wonder we are tired, it’s no wonder we feel emotional, it’s no wonder our bodies and minds are calling out for retreat and quiet during this phase. We need to prioritise and honour rest during our bleed. Compassion and kindness for self during this time is actually a necessity. No, we don’t need to do that workout or go for that run. Think rest and nourishment. True deep rest and nourishment. Which honestly can be scary. We have been programmed to be “go go go” and “switched on” at all times that “switching off” can be scary, threatening even. And I’m not saying you need to quit your job every time you bleed and not leave your bed for 5 days (although how nice would that be!) But it does definitely require a shift in perspective: “how in this season of my life can I prioritise rest and nourishment when I am bleeding?” Maybe it looks like not working out while you’re bleeding or shifting to gentle yoga and walks instead of high intensity runs, maybe it looks like taking a work from home day on the first day of your bleed if that’s available to you, maybe it’s getting someone you love to cook you a juicy grass fed steak or warm slow cooked stew or soup on the first day or two of your bleed. Maybe it’s just allowing yourself 20 minutes of your day to lie down and rest.
The joy of being a cyclic woman is that after the low energy, the dark moon, she starts waxing - growing bigger and brighter in the sky with each new night, just like your own inner energy. Your estrogen begins to rise, you have more energy for socialising, exercising and working. This is the energy where you feel like you could work a 10 hour day (doing your soul work of course) and feeling so buzzed and excited and energised even still. THIS is the season for that high intensity workout, for that run, for organising that social event. Honour and channel this energy. Get creative, write, work on that side hustle. Channel that beautiful follicular energy into something that lights you up.
When, like the moon, our energy is “full” we ovulate. Estrogen is at its peak, signalling our body to release a massive amount of luteinizing hormone (LH), forcing the follicle on our ovary to burst and an egg to be released. Literally like the birth of a star, when the energy heats and rises, heats and rises until massive amounts of heat and light are released and the star is born (see how the cycles of the universe exist within you?!). With ovulation comes confidence, sexiness, creativity. Lean into this energy, celebrate it, honour it. Have a date night with someone you love, even if that someone is yourself. Have a goddess bath (think candles, crystals, bath salts, rose petals), spend time with people you love. Paint, draw, write, sing, make music, move your body.
And as this energy rises, it must too wane. Our luteal phase, like the waning moon sees the slowing down of our energy. Progesterone is more dominant during the luteal phase, calling out for more rest and calm. It’s the perfect signal to start slowing down. Wrapping up projects or things you have been working on, slowing our exercise down - think pilates, yoga, hiking, weightlifting. I think the luteal phase is definitely the most misunderstood phase of our cycle. Many of us struggle with the rapidly changing hormones and decreasing energy, and I get it. Ovulation is like peak party time, leaving the party is never fun right? But again, we must remember that we are cyclic beings. Like the tide, what must rise, must fall. What must wax, must also wane. It is by leaning into the phases of our wise beautiful bodies that we can begin to live in true alignment and harmony with our own being. Your body will crave more nourishment during the luteal phase, she will crave more sugar, more warming foods. And she’s actually perfectly designed to do so because she is preparing for a massive hormonal drop and to bleed. Honour that. Listen to what she is asking of you, she knows the way.
We all hold this knowledge within us. If we can get quiet enough and present enough with ourselves, our body will show us the way. The wisdom is within our womb spaces. And that is why I created Moon Womb. I needed a way to slow down and honour the season I was in, I needed a ritual, a moment of connection with myself, my womb. I needed a way to nourish and honour her in every phase. We are cyclic beings. The moon doesn’t fight or force her energy to stay bright and full all the time, she allows darkness to come and rests deeply in it. You, too, are like the moon. You are Nature and her seasons, the ocean and her tides, the moon and her phases. Learn them, honour them. Watch your life change.
Written by Danika Smith (Founder of Moon Womb)
