Have you ever had the feeling something deep was missing, a connection, an intricate part of yourself? For me this feeling was intense, it was a desire to feel true freedom, to become a wild woman, connected to my soul nature and all that makes my heart sing. The desire to connect with my inner child was consuming my whole being.
The desire was not a desire for freedom from life’s responsibilities, but the kind of freedom and love you can offer yourself, which in turn enables your true path to emerge and peace to manifest deeply within. This peace ebbs and flows don’t get me wrong, but with practice this infinite happiness can exist on a daily basis and when it does you can connect with yourself in ways unimagined before you opened this door to holy forkballness.
For me personally without actually truly understanding why or what I was doing, I went to great lengths to create the space I needed to give myself the opportunity to truly find myself. This emotionally challenging time has for me, turned into one precious gift.
Contemplation, reflection, solitude and invaluable daily practices have enabled me to recognise habitual patterns I continued to play out again and again. Through recognising these patterns, becoming mindful of my actions and deepening the connection between my body, mind, soul and Mother Nature I have relearnt what it truly means to listen to your body, its guidance and the wisdom from within.
My search for peace and happiness through my twenties - endless yoga retreats, spiritual courses, books, self-help workshops, physical challenges – whilst they all supported me along the way, have finally gifted me with their insights – I am no longer going through the motions of life, I am awake and have looked within to create my own simple ritualistic life supported by many of the practices I’ve learned along the way and continue to learn from the amazing people surrounding me.
I’ve created and committed to daily rituals which help give my day purpose, meaning and structure. My dedication to these simple acts has enabled my spiritual needs to be fulfilled. This is only the beginning.
Physically I now feel, listen and read my body. I know when my menstrual cycle is about to occur via the moon and the way my body and head space feels. I welcome it as a time to be gentle, nurturing and loving to myself. To be softer physically and more open spiritually. This listening is very different for me; someone who never even knew when her bleed was due, let alone let it affect her mood or world in any way, shape or form. I actually love the fact I now get slight stomach discomfort again after all these years, and increasingly full breasts! It means I am a women, I am sensual, I am listening and I am part of a greater primal cycle of life and being.
A simple tool I used to help deepen my connection with my body and its cycles was to pay close attention to the patterns of the moon and to try and become one with the elements. For me this felt quiet natural as nature always feels like home to me. Growing up I was a bush kid, usually naked or in a tree.
Women in particular are apparently affected by the moon, and therefore the menstrual cycle is said by some, to be intimately linked to this spiritual body. How did I do this? I simply grabbed a moon calendar many years ago and started taking notes. I noticed emotions, energy levels, cravings, distractions, moments of peace, bloating, digestive discomfort… anything, everything, I wrote it on my calendar.
After as little as four months I began to see patterns, the week before I was due to bleed I would feel like eating cacao everything, breakfast, lunch and dinner! I noticed the weeks when I felt like my life was a magical movie and everything was flipping amazing, I also noticed greyer days which seemed to slow my vibe and inturn everything. These things along with my moon time seemed to have a special place each and every cycle that aligned itself like clockwork with the moon and its phases.
Various blog and websites are for and against this relationship and the power of the moon in regulating your menstrual cycle. For me however, I don’t need evidence or science to tell me as I can feel my own unique connection and know that that primitive link can help guide me. It helps me intuitively feel what is happening with my emotions, body and soul during the days, weeks and months.
For me just knowing about my deeper connection with the moon heightened, my love for its energy, beauty and cleansing capabilities. This knowing has supported me both physically and spiritually and helped me harness and ignite the ancient wisdom that lives inside us all.
Rituals are something I have always loved and can remember many little childhood practices played out in gum trees or around my little “cauldron”. Now as an adult they offer a spiritual dimension and sense of connection to something purposeful. They have supported my spiritual and personal growth alongside the use of Ayurvedic wisdom, meditation and yoga which aim to balance the mind and senses.
Allowing yourself to follow the rhythm of your own cycle and working towards re-syncing ourselves with nature’s cycles make so much sense. Also know we are all individuals and hence will sync differently and should create our own rituals drawn not only from what moon cycle guides and books suggest, but also modify these depending on when and where your unique cycle sits in the grand scheme of it all.
Ancient wisdom supports this position in so many ways. It is just now, in the West that we have manipulated our deep connection with pachamama so much, that we need to re-learn how to flow and live in harmonic balance again.
What can you take from this? Well here are a few ideas you may wish to start with:
- Create some space for daily reflection (Be it a moon or seasonal calendar or just mentally taking note of your feelings, what you are eating and how you respond to things)
- Create some simple rituals for you to celebrate you, menstruation, life and nature on a regular basis. (These could be cleansing rituals, wellness rituals, prayer, meditation, dancing, crystal cleansing, tree hugging, drawing or singing)
- Practice meditation, movement and pranayama daily
- Find at least 2 ways you can connect with nature each day (Simply eating and living with the seasons is an easy and effective way to start to develop this connection)
Enjoy getting to know yourself from a new perspective and welcome the guidance the moon can offer you in staying grounded and in flow on all levels of your being.