Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | Three New Moon & Bleeding Rituals to Close Out Your Cycle (Including One Nobody Talks About)

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Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | Three New Moon & Bleeding Rituals to Close Out Your Cycle (Including One Nobody Talks About) · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to today's episode of Healing Her Story Podcast.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Today we are gathering for our weekly cycle sync episode.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And this week we are about to begin a new cycle.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: And we're going to talk a little bit more about how we can prepare for that.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: And before we do, I'm going to invite us into a minute of silence, or perhaps a minute of stillness.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Taking some time here to come into a place of more presence with yourself, whatever that may look like for you today.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: And taking this time to look within, to notice how you're feeling, to notice where your energy is at, to notice where your head is at, and to really honor your female body.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: The female body's nervous system is constantly moving through these cycles of expansion and contraction, and when we try to stay in that constant expansion, the constant doing, the outward energy, that more sympathetic active energy, this can really wreak havoc on the female body because this isn't the way our systems operate.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: So living in a female body, one of the best things that you could do is to give yourself these moments of contraction, of down regulation, of pausing, of so I've built that in to every episode for you.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope that you take it.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: Taking a moment here to note anything that may have stood out to you.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm actually recording this a little bit ahead of time, and I'm on the same cycle day that I was in the last cycle sync episode.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: So not much else to report here other than really enjoying that moment to just pause and slow down, even as I'm in a flow of creating episodes.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still taking these moments in between each episode to pause, to reset, to come back to myself.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that to me makes the whole process much more sustainable, much more enjoyable.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it seems like things move at a slower pace.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: However, when I actually step back, it's all happening in its perfect right time and way.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: And there's plenty of time for me to pause and slow down in between each episode.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope that gives you some inspiration for you and your own life as well.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: This week we are tuning to the energy of the new moon.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Technically, as this episode is dropping on Monday, we are still in the dark moon phase.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: But we will be moving into new moon energy within the next day or two.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: The new moon itself lands on Thursday, depending on where you are in the world, it might be Wednesday.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: But wherever you are, by the end of the week, we will be getting a new cycle.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: We will be beginning a new cycle.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Eclipse season.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a really beautiful moment to pause, to check in, to reflect on what the past several weeks may have stirred up for you.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Noticing what themes or patterns maybe came into your awareness, what information was revealed.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that reflection aligns perfectly, of course, with the energy of the new moon, which is a time to rest, restore, regenerate, and prepare for the coming cycle.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: If you've been following along for the past couple of weeks, you'll know that we've been exploring embodiment and ritual throughout Virgo season.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: And this episode is gonna close out that focus for us.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: The timing is also working in your favor this week because you'll have a little bit more time to prepare for your new moon rituals before the peak arrives.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if you've heard that eclipses aren't the ideal time for manifesting and setting intentions, I think it's really whatever you want to do.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: And if that's what you've heard, that window has now passed.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So we're now at a point where we can move forward with our desires, with our intentions, and whatever unfolded for you over the past few weeks can most likely inform where you place your focus in this coming cycle.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: We're also reaching the end of summer here in the northern hemisphere.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And by the end of the month, we'll actually be in the season of fall, which feels a little surreal, honestly.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: This year has gone by really quickly.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, all of that to say, this is a really prime moment to reset and begin again.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: The new moon is associated with the bleeding time of the menstrual cycle.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's also associated with the season of winter, which is the lowest point in the cycle.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: You might be experiencing low energy, little motivation, or maybe just not feeling like you want to do a whole lot.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: And that makes complete sense because that is exactly what the new moon is asking of us.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: We really want to honor that decrease in energy if that's where you are right now.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And you can let that awareness inform which of these rituals actually feel right and accessible for you this week.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: The first ritual is setting intentions.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Intentions are so powerful because where energy, because, excuse me, let me back that up.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Energy flows where focus goes.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: And wherever we direct our attention, that becomes a kind of north star that begins to quietly guide our choices and our priorities.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: What I find so beautiful about intention setting is that, excuse me, because our energy is genuinely powerful, intentions can begin to unfold in the most mysterious and unexpected ways.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I also find that life begins to reorganize itself around what we've committed to.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: I see this with my clients constantly.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: At the start of each session, I always invite them to set a specific intention or focus for our time together.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: And it's quite beautiful and miraculous to watch those intentions manifest, sometimes within the session itself or sometimes over the course of a care package.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: For this practice, I'm going to invite you to not only set your intention from your mind, our minds are powerful and wise, yes.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they don't always make decisions rooted in our deepest values and truest desires.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Rather than going with the first thought that arises, I invite you to slow down, to sit with your heart, to sit with your body, to take a few breaths and allow the deeper, quieter, more subtle intelligence within you to offer you something.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe this something is might feel more true.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: This is one of the most beautiful opportunities we have with the new moon, because the new moon is associated with the subterranean, the deepest parts of the psyche and the soma.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And with that missing light in the sky, we can actually see into the darkness a little more easily.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: There's some research on our default mode network activity and the brain state during rest and inward reflection.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Studies show that when we slow down and move out of task-focused thinking, that the brain activates regions associated with self-referential processing, creativity, and deeper insight.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: New moon, in a very real way, is the perfect condition for that kind of knowing to emerge.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: To support you with this, I'm leaving one of my older New Moon meditations on Insight Timer in the show notes.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be honest, it needs a bit of an update, but I'm going to leave it there for you in case you need something to support you in slowing down and dropping into those deeper layers of yourself.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Your intention can be written in a journal, on a piece of paper, or simply spoken out loud.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: There really is no right or wrong way to do this.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: The second ritual is smoke cleansing or smudging.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you have a spiritual practice, and if you're listening to the show, chances are that you have at least a small one.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: You may have heard or seen people smudging or smoke cleansing their spaces, or sometimes themselves.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is done by lighting herbs and allowing the smoke to move through a space with intention.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the more common herbs I see are white sage and rosemary and lavender.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure there's some other ones out there that you've seen.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: I actually picked up some lavender while I was in New Mexico recently.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Palo Santo is another one you might see.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is a wood, not so much an herb.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Whichever herb or wood you choose, what I hope that you understand is that this is an ancient indigenous practice used to cleanse and clear on an energetic level.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I do want to speak to cultural appropriation here because I think it's important.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: Using these practices without understanding the history, the meaning, and the intention behind them, and without being thoughtful about where we source our materials is something I think we can do better around.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: What I've learned from women whose work is deeply rooted in Indigenous practices is that one of the best things we could do is to source consciously.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: If you walk into a crystal shop and see a large, perfectly uniform bundle of white sage stacked with a bunch of other ones just like it, that eformity is a pretty clear sign that it's been mass-produced and likely not ethically sourced.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: So where possible, you can grow your own herbs, you can find them at local farmers market and dry them yourself, or you can source from local practitioners who make their own bundles.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: There are so many more options beyond the mass-produced versions that don't honor the indigenous peoples and traditions this practice comes from.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'll leave a couple of resources for you in the show notes to support you with this.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: For this practice itself, I usually begin at the front door.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: I light my stage or smoke bundle.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: I will open up all the windows and I'll begin to walk mindfully through every room in the home.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: As I move through the space, I'm holding an intention in my heart, letting go of the previous cycle, resetting for the one ahead, and inviting in the energy of something greater than myself to support that clearing.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: The third ritual is one I haven't spoken about much on the show, and that is working with and honoring the blood.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: I want to invite you as I share this to just notice what arises in you.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Are you uncomfortable?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Does it feel strange?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: That reaction, if it's there, is actually a really good piece of information because it is a reflection of how deeply conditioned we have been by our culture to believe our blood is something to hide or something to be grossed out or embarrassed by.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_01: We've got some really wonderful guest conversations coming ahead.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you're not already following the show, please hit subscribe so you're notified when new episodes drop.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And if these episodes have been supporting you, again, the best thing you can do to support this work is to leave a rating review or share it with a friend who might need it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Bye for now.