Eclipse season is here, ready to dive into the mystery? 🌑
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If you are completely freaked out that I am talking about my period on the internet… or very confused as to why I seem excited about it… you DEFINITELY need to read this note.
But first, Happy Moonday (if you’re confused as to why I call it Moonday, click here). How are you? This is going to be such an incredible week for you, can you feel it? Say this with me, “It’s going to be a great week!”
And I have a really fun thing for you to think on this week…
So, I got my period!! After not having it for almost 2 years because of being pregnant and nursing Hazel, I got it again and I was so so so excited.
I’ve had a love / hate relationship with my period.
The love came from my Mother, who took me to the Ritz for high tea when I first got my period to honor my transition to womanhood. She was a champion for me to never go on birth control. Even though I had a chapter on the nuva ring and copper IUD (both messed me up big time), I feel so grateful that my hormones were able to express themselves to the fullest! She even taught me to call in “my moon” because of its relationship to the moon (I get into this more below). Go Mom!
The hate came from my tampons leaking and ruining so many outfits and underwear and the cramps and bloating was just a pain in the ass. Not to mention the intense cultural programming that having your period is embarrassing, gross and something to hide from everyone including your kids and partner. WTF!?
So I ignored and was annoyed by my period my whole life until I didn’t have it for 3 and a half years while I was pregnant and nursing Marshall and Annabelle (I got pregnant with Annabelle on my first ovulation before I could even bleed for the first time, you can imagine my surprise!). And I started to miss it. I couldn’t quite explain why, I thought I’d be relieved, but I realize that getting my periods was more about avoiding white clothes and taking advil. I was missing an energy. I was missing part of me.
When I got my period again, I cried with joy. I felt relief, I felt a release of all of this stuff I was holding, I felt like myself again.
From then on, I wanted to be friends with my period, to honor it and learn about it. I reached out to and learned from many teachers such as Elayne Kalilia Doughty, Jenn Racioppi, Kate Northrup, Christiane Northrup, Achintya Devi, Alisa Vitti and LiYana Silver. I have so much gratitude to these women for being my teachers of this collective wisdom.
Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years that I want to share with you…
First, let’s just talk about the “essence” of your period.
The moon has 4 phases: Waxing, Full, Waning and Dark.
Which are similar energies of the Seasons: Spring (growth), summer (connection), fall (release) and winter (rest) in that order.
Now, here’s the cool part, our menstrual cycle also has 4 phases: Follicular, Ovulation, Luteal and Bleeding.
AND OUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE IS THE SAME LENGTH AS THE MOON CYCLE! If this isn’t magic, I don’t know what is.
And this is the cool part: Our hormones create the energy of the moon phases and seasons during each menstrual phase.
When we are in our follicular phase, we have a lot of energy for growth.
When we are in our ovulation phase, we are magnetic.
When we are in our luteal phase we are able to get super organized (like back to school energy) and discern what works and what doesn’t. Some people call this PMS but it’s actually just clarity and not giving a $hi+.
When we are bleeding we have access to wisdom from our own life experience because our right and left hemispheres are connected during that time and I believe we are connected to the wisdom of our ancestors and our soul.
We literally have the wisdom of the moon and the seasons in our bodies, we are the same!!
In my work in Whole Woman, we use this knowledge to remind us that our essence is to change, and to change often. It gives us permission to rest, to be ambitious, to be sensual and to be fierce with our boundaries. It allows us to really OWN who we are as women.
How to work with your period.
I will never forget the day I called Kate Northrup in tears because I had no idea what direction I wanted to take my business and I needed to make a serious amount of cash, fast. She told me to wait until I was bleeding and then ask my intuition. Up until that point, I had never aligned my work with my cycle and I was skeptical.
But I waited 10 days, starting bleeding, and BAM! Got so much clarity! I then used each phase of my cycle to project manage my first retreat at Hawthorn Farm which was a huge success.
Kate has an incredible program called Origin that teaches women how to create a new relationship with working by aligning with your period. It’s changed my life, check it out.
Since then I’ve used my cycle to tap into my workflow and it’s been a game changer.
Our period and the Sacred Feminine
Beloved, I know there is a part of you who has not forgotten that you are a sacred being. That your blood holds the building blocks of life. It is a potential life’s first nourishment. It holds your DNA and the DNA of all of the women who have come before you. Your blood is a symbol of you as a life giver, as the holder of creation. And when you bleed, you are connected to deep wisdom.
When women lived in community, most women bled at the same time as it was aligned with the circadian rhythm of the moon. So on the New Moon, when most of the women of age were bleeding, they would gather in the Moon Lodge to share wisdom. This is why I named my Temple at Hawthorn Farm The Moon Lodge, a place where women gather and share wisdom.
But, my dear, you have not been taught about the sacredness of your blood because when you are taught that your period is dirty, you will in turn believe that you are dirty.
You have not been taught about the power of your cycle because when your energy source is hidden from you, you will not know how to take over the world.
You have not been taught that you change every few days because if you think you are crazy then you will hold yourself back.
And that’s what they want. They want a population of women who feel wrong, overwhelmed and crazy… and we’ll be pliable and just do what everyone else wants us to do.
However, when we know that when are sacred, powerful and have incredible range, we are unstoppable, and that is going to turn the world on its head.
My invitation is to worship your cycle and your period. Worship this magic.
This week:
Honor the power by knowing where you are in your cycle.
Honor your bleeding time by wearing a special necklace or underwear.
Maybe you want to switch a menstrual cup, I use the saalt cup.
Or buy some Thinx.
I have a practice of offering my blood to the land (remember, you’ve been taught your blood is dirty, it isn’t actually dirty, it’s sacred) by collecting it in my menstrual cup and putting it on the ground in ceremony.
There is a Native American proverb that says that when all women offer their blood to the land, there will be world peace.
Another fun fact, if you have a vegetable garden and put your blood in the dirt around your plants, the plants will create the nutrients you need by taking the information from your blood. WHAT!? Yes, magic is real. We are so interconnected.
Take a minute to consider how detrimental it is to your system and soul by rejecting and being annoyed by something that makes you so special, that happens every month!
Your blood is a symbol of what makes you a woman, honor it, worship it, and you will remember how sacred you are.
Not bleeding? No problem! A few thoughts and resources:
When I wasn’t bleeding, I felt so connected to the Moon, which is a feminine symbol we all have. Not having a period does not make you less of a woman or less sacred. Bleeding is a symbol of our sacredness, just as the moon is. My friend Jenn Racioppi who had a hysterectomy at 19 talks about this all the time.
If you have questions about menopause, check out Christiane Northrup. In my opinion, Menopause is like having all of the superpowers at one time, and since you are not tied into the innate need to “create life” there is a real freedom and independence.
Want to get off birth control or have terrible periods? Check out my friend Nicole Jardim. She was just a guest teacher on Whole Woman and she is so knowledgeable.
On this beautiful Moonday, I invite you to tune into where you are in your cycle and pick on activity that is in alignment with that energy (refer to them above) and find one special thing you can do honor yourself the next time you bleed.
Have I convinced you to love your period? Leave me a comment below and let me know.
All the love,
Sarah
Simple actions to take your life back, know your worth & feel alive no matter how drained, overwhelmed and far gone you feel.