Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | New Moon in Libra Season: Why You’re So Tired Right Now (And What to Do About It)

Transcript

Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | New Moon in Libra Season: Why You’re So Tired Right Now (And What to Do About It) · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Healing Her Story podcast.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: If this is your first time here, welcome.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I trust that you have found your way to today's episode in your perfect right time and way.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you are returning, welcome back.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's so lovely to be able to spend another week attuning to this feminine wisdom with you.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'll share that one of the things that we're doing here is really about this idea of remembering, remembering this feminine wisdom, this internal rhythm, this cyclical rhythm that already lives within you.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Many of us have been disconnected from this wisdom, from this rhythm, mostly from the overculture, sometimes from our childhoods.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I know from my own experience of being a biracial woman in a patriarchal world, there can be so much friction that we experience inside because of this disconnection.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: This disconnection from ourselves, this disconnection from our true nature.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: And part of our true nature is that we are cyclical.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: In spite of what we see in the world around us, that is constantly moving forward and producing and reaching and striving and working towards a goal and trying to make the most money and working for that promotion.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but I find it all so exhausting.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not to say that I don't desire or strive or reach, I do.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And what I've been remembering to do is doing it at the right time.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Doing it in a way that goes with the natural rhythm instead of going against it.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it might sound simple, it might sound woo-woo, it might sound easy, and yet if we get it right, it is truly profound.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what these episodes are here for.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're here to help you get it right.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: They're here to help you really attune to these natural rhythms and cycles that are happening within us and around us all of the time.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: If we could just unplug from the matrix a bit and come back to the earth, I'm going to give you a minute to begin exploring that within yourself.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you're new here, I'll share that each cycle sync episode begins with a minute of silence.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: And if you'll take it, a minute of stillness.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're driving, perhaps maybe not.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you're able to pull over, or maybe if you haven't left the parking lot yet, you can just hang out here for another minute.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: You have time.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And in today's Minute of Silence, I'm going to offer a I don't know if I would call it a somatic tool, more of a meditative mindfulness tool.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And what I'm going to invite you to do in honor of the new moon is to track the space.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Tracking, noticing the thoughts, or excuse me, the space between your thoughts.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Tracking the open physical space around you.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe tracking or noticing the spaces of sound, the moments of quiet.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: And just seeing what that's like.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll check in in a minute.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've got my timer set here.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna mute my mic and we will connect again in one minute.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Taking a moment to notice anything that may have stood out to you during that minute.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: I quite enjoyed that.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: I first started tracking and noticing the quiet.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I realized as I was doing that, it was actually quite quiet in my neighborhood, which isn't always the case, especially at this time of day.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: And then also really helped to quiet my mind, which was quite nice.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: I had almost no thoughts as I was really bringing my focus to the space and the quiet.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And after about I'd say 55 seconds, like I looked over at the timer and there was six seconds left.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: I yawned, and that yawn is a good sign.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes we can think like yawns are bad or like we've been conditioned to cover our mouth and to hide our yawns.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: I quite love yawning like openly for people to see me, even if you know you can see my double chin when I do it, because yawns are a sign that our systems are settling.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So when I see a client yawn in a session, or if I have a student yawning in my class, I'm like, yay, their system's settling.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So took a moment to celebrate that before coming back with you.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to spend too much time with personal updates.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I think I've shared quite enough in the last episode and we'll share some things as I feel inspired throughout today's episode.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but just really quickly, quick uh cycle check in here.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I am cycle day, I believe, 15.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm checking my Mira app right now.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, cycle day 16, excuse me.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's an interesting cycle day 16.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: I have a little bit of a headache today, which is not uncommon during this part of my cycle.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: I have not ovulated yet.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll see how the next 24 to 48 hours unfold.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: My Mira app is tracking that it will happen tomorrow.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: To confirm that I'm tracking my cervical mucus and have been seeing some sticky, a little less sticky because I've been um a little sick the past couple of weeks and been taking some cold medicine um which has antihistamine in it.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: And fun fact, antihistamines affect your cervical mucus.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I would say I'm not quite as juicy this cycle.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it seems my ovulation will be um delayed.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: I was also sick uh this past week, so I'm I'm not surprised.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: I know that my body can be quite sensitive to stress, so I'm staying open and curious and trying to prioritize as much space as I can during this time of my cycle because I know how these things have been going for me for the past year.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: So today I came home from work.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: I took a really nice yoga nidra nap, I took a nice walk, and then started preparing for today's episode.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: So excited to be here with you today.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I know coming in a little bit later in the day today, again, as I'm still finding my rhythm here in this new season.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: This week we are attuning to the energy of the new moon.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And we just had the new moon and Libra peak over the weekend here in Sacramento.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: It was on Saturday, and I'm curious to know how you've been feeling these past couple days.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: How has your mood been?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: What have your energy levels been like?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: What has your mind been like?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: What emotions, if any, have been standing out to you?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: If you're anything like me and a few women in my inner circle who I've spoken with over this last week, you might have been feeling a little tired or a lot tired.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's a reflection of a few things.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: One, it's almost halfway through October.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: We're in the season of autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and that means life is beginning to slow down, at least the natural world.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we can see leaves beginning to fall, which is a signal that nature is beginning this process of contracting into herself.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Two, chances are if you're a woman on a healing journey, or a human on a healing journey, or on some sort of personal development path, you have most likely, I'm kind of making an assumption here, but my assumption is that if you're here listening to these episodes every week, you're probably making some strides in your world.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you're probably starting to feel the effects of that.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I wonder if you are.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: When I say that, I mean all of the output that you've done.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: While that output may have landed you in a new version and a new season of your life, yay.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: And in that, there can be so much to be grateful for.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: And there can also sometimes be this sense of burnout slowly creeping in in the background.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that looks like reaching for a little more caffeine to get through your days, or a little bit more sugar.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you're having a harder time waking up in the morning, especially with the change of light.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you've been feeling more irritable or overwhelmed with the demands of your life.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And this can also be heightened right now because of the energy of the new moon, which is the lowest point of the lunar cycle.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: This is where energy is more at a standstill, less of a forward motion.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And for those of us who love to constantly be in forward motion, that's me.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: This can sometimes be challenging in a few ways.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: One, just being real and honest with ourselves about how tired we actually are.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Two, recognizing that even the things we love and that bring us joy and fulfillment and forward momentum, those things can also have a cumulative drain on our energy if we aren't supplementing with enough downtime and enough free space.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And three, our culture, and whatever our early childhood relationship with rest was, or what we saw, what we witnessed in our home, that can really influence our ability to choose rest.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that's not to say we don't have a choice because we definitely do, you do.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes, though, there are more internal hurdles to overcome, such as programming, childhood conditioning, trauma.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then once we choose rest, we then have to actually rest in the rest.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes we can believe that rest looks like putting on Netflix and laying on the couch all day.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: And yes, that can be restful.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And if you notice that afterward you're feeling more tired or like you haven't actually generated any energy, then it might be worth getting curious about what kind of rest you actually need.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Rest is definitely sleep, okay?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: And making sure that we're getting enough of it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: The female body is metabolically expensive.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: She needs more fuel and more rest in her constant ebbing and flowing.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: The minimum I think we all should be aiming for is seven to eight.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I've heard that the female body thrives best on closer to eight or nine.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to tell you, last weekend I slept 11 hours in one night.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: I rarely do that.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact that I slept that long really let me know that I had not been getting enough rest throughout the week.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: I also spoke to a friend who slept 11 hours over the same weekend.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's the new moon.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's pointing to something deeper.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: A real lack of the proper rest we need throughout our days and our weeks.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: Do we always have to wait until we're completely depleted to allow ourselves to actually rest?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Rest also matters because your body's natural healing and repair process requires us to be in the parasympathetic part of our nervous system.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's your rest and digest state.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: So something worth exploring this week: what actually brings you into that state?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: For me, time outside is always a certainty.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Walking or just sitting in nature, breath work.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And as I shared a couple weeks ago, sometimes going to the gym and being physically active actually brings me down into that parasympathetic nervous system before, or rather, more than trying to force myself to just sit and be still.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm curious, what is that activity for you?
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And can you prioritize it this week?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think what holds us back from prioritizing rest is this belief that other things are more important.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Work, deadlines, children, especially when they're little, time with friends and loved ones.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I understand why these things compete.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: However, if you're not able to show up in your fullness because you're not rested, how does that actually serve the people you love?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Beyond sleep, I want to offer the idea of regenerative activities.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: Things that not only bring us into a parasympathetic state, but actually give us more energy.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I think this is deeply personal and it shifts, it shifts with the season of our lives and with the different seasons themselves.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: For me, watching a really interesting documentary can sometimes do it.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And often I actually need to do something creative.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Excuse me, learning a new song on my guitar, or even just listening to music.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Art is one of those ways I allow my energy to regenerate.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Movement in general is regenerative for me too, even if it's not one of those strength training workouts.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: For the past couple of days, I've been doing just a five minutes of lymphatic exercises on YouTube.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And wow, the difference in my energy level has been quite surprising, actually.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: And spending time with someone who truly inspires me that can give me a lot of energy too.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: So this week, what are the things that allow you to actually rebuild your energy?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: And the third invitation for this week is to reflect and review.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: And with the season of autumn, which we're in right now.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: This is a wonderful time to reassess what is actually most important to you in the season of your life that you're in right now.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: As energy begins to wane, what can you cut back on or maybe let go of?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: What is the essence of what matters most?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: That discernment and distilling down to what's truly essential, that is one of the real superpowers of this phase.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where my intuitive power really starts to turn up.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm going to be creating and sharing more intuitively through the rest of Libra season and through Scorpio season.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be coming and sharing what I'm feeling most inspired to share each week based on the lunar rhythm.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And this is very much how I was doing the show before I started working so intentionally with the zodiac seasons.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: This is honestly a way that I'm managing my energy a little bit too.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: As I've shared, I'm starting my master's program in art therapy and counseling, and it's been quite an adjustment.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna lie.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still finding how everything that matters to me can fit into my life in a way that isn't too demanding.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: So the Monday cycle sync episodes will continue.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: That isn't changing.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: However, our Friday episodes will come as often as I feel inspired, let's say.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that's every other week or once a month, we'll just see how it goes.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'll also be weaving in some replays, some of my favorite guest episodes from this past year, because we have had so many genuinely rich conversations, and I know from the numbers that many of you haven't actually had the chance to hear them yet.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to give you the opportunity and I'll make sure that they're relevant to what we're exploring in our Monday episodes.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: As we move into winter, there might there may be some other shifts as well, but I'll share more about that when the time comes.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for being here.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: I do not take your time and your energy for granted.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: If today's episode was helpful or meaningful in some way, I'd love for you to leave a five star reading or review or share it over on Instagram and tag us at healing her story all one word.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: Take care.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: Bye for now.