{Why our obsession with how much we PRODUCE is inhibiting our ability to REPRODUCE}
‘Moon cave’ is what I affectionately refer to as my bleeding days where I intentionally withdraw from the world and activities as much as my schedule allows me.
Honouring my cycles religiously over the last few years has meant they are like clockwork – so normally I have a sense of when I’ll be bleeding and reduce my commitments at those times …
I ritualise this time by creating a special altar of all things red (My favourite colour ever!) and I be as still and quiet as I can be, listening to the whispers of my womb and letting my blood flow as my womb sheds that which held the possibility of a new life.
My body is letting go at this time, so I surrender into it and consciously participate in the process.
Last week I sat for a couple of days in my moon cave when I was bleeding heavily … this time is raw and profound so I create a “cave” so that I can enter the depths that call me without interruption.
I disconnected from the online world for 24 hours -but had to log on briefly after that for a couple of essential communications – and at this time I found myself possessed, scrolling through my social media feeds, struck with fear as a barrage of “shoulds” assaulted my sensitive psychic field. Yep – I got slurped straight back into the matrix.
“I should be doing this”..
“I should be doing that”…
“Look at what she is doing” ..
“I’m getting left behind”…
“I’m missing out”..
blah, blah, blah….
I suddenly felt overwhelmed with shame… no doubt a deeply embedded shame of being woman in a world where our monthly bleeds are disregarded as a time where we are naturally being called to go within.
Thankfully, I have spent enough time cultivating my connection with my womb that she chirped in and was like “Hey sister… unplug. Honour this time – all you need to do right now is to be. Trust me.”
I trust her!
In that moment I recognised just how deeply we are programmed in this world to PRODUCE – and to base our value and worth on this….
… and I saw clearly that this is exactly why so many women – even young, healthy women are struggling to REPRODUCE…
I’ve been really shocked to hear so many reports of twenty-something women taking the IVF path before taking the time to harmonise with their natural rhythms – because most of us were not educated about this.
Our fertility as women is compromised by this constant strive to produce and “keep up” –
… women are CYCLICAL! Not linear.
And this is a GIFT!!!
We are not like the sun that rises and sets every day – we are like the moon that waxes and wanes and is different every single day!
So as women we must reclaim our monthly cycles… we must honour our times for rest … we must have these conversations with the women (and the men!) in our lives.
We must grant ourselves and each other permission to honour the cycles of non-doing – for from these deep and dark fertile places our most inspired action and creativity arises.
This is one reason I feel so intent on being an entrepreneur and not working for the system…..
Each monthly bleed is a death of sorts, and what follows is a rebirth – only if we give space and enter fully the “death” phase! We are simply coming into alignment with the intelligence of our bodies – rather than resisting or denying it.
When I honour this time which is often intense and incredibly purifying … the other side I am completely rejuvenated and energised … so I am full powered this week leading up to my ovulation.
My creativity is ENORMOUS since honouring these cycles… it just means that at some times of the month I’ll have a lot more output than others.
I often grieve that it has only been in my thirties that this connection with my cycle has been present in my life … 10 years felt “stolen” by the contraceptive pill which I was prescribed at the age of 15… and then years of journeying to regulate my cycle after that again, with lots of disturbances.
That’s a story for another time. I certainly feel a lot of fire about this topic.
