Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | New Moon & The Element of Water: Emotional Healing + Nervous System Regulation

Transcript

Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | New Moon & The Element of Water: Emotional Healing + Nervous System Regulation · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Healing Her Story Podcast.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I am so delighted to be here with you today.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you are returning, welcome back.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So nice to be able to spend a little bit of time with you.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are just joining us, I trust that you have found your way to today's episode in your perfect right timing and way.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm extra excited for our focus that's going to be starting here as we are again at the beginning of a new cycle.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to be exploring something that we haven't really talked about too much on the show before.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: We have touched on it, not in a while.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited to be offering some fresh reflections and perspectives.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Before we do, let's begin with our moment of stillness and perhaps of silence.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And in this moment of stillness, or maybe silence, you're invited to come into a place of more presence with yourself.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever that may look like for you today.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're driving, maybe you're doing chores or got something going on in the background, seeing what it would be like to slow down and to bring more awareness into your senses.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So starting to look around the environment that you find yourself in and noticing five things you see.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then beginning to tune into four things that you are touching or feeling in this moment.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the air on your skin, the surface underneath you.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then beginning to tune in to three things that you can hear.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And you'll notice as we continue to go, things get a bit more subtle.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: It requires a bit more of your presence.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then beginning to tune in and notice anything that you might taste in your mouth.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'll invite you to begin tuning your awareness inside and bringing all of this sensory awareness to your insights as well.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna give you a moment to explore and to connect within yourself, and we'll meet again in a minute.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: It might have been a little bit longer.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: I was really enjoying that.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was feeling a nice wave of the sensation.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's really hard to articulate.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The best I can do is that it's it's not quite like goosebumps, it's like softer and more subtle.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's more like sparkly soda.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's the only way I can really think of describe it.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it's a really lovely sensation and it's quite resourcing for me.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like it gives me that sense of feeling good, feeling connected to something, feeling like there's a resonance here.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So there's definitely a lot of energy flowing behind today's conversation.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And interestingly enough, and also not surprising, that I am on cycle day three or four today.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I think four, three or four, and I'm right in the energy of what we're gonna be tuning into today.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I really love when that happens, especially when I'm court recording ahead of time.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder if in some roundabout way my menstrual cycle has started to tap into this because it seems to happen more often than not now.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: So really just enjoying that beautiful alignment and synchronicity here.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: This week we are tuning to excuse me, the new moon.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the beginning of a new focus for Taurus season.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: The sun just moved into Taurus on the 19th, and so today, the day that the episode is airing, we are officially in Taurus season.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: And when I look at my Magic of the Eye digital calendar, which I highly recommend.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely love Magic of the Eyes product products.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, I'm not an affiliate, but I'll go ahead and link their digital calendar for you in the show notes today.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: The digital calendar is something that you can integrate into your Google Calendar so that you have all of the moon phases and the transits with all of the planets and also the transitions of the seasons directly into your Google Calendar.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's really lovely.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And as I'm looking at the tab that says Sun enters Taurus, it says Taurus season is a great time to establish values, focus on comfort, and to luxury more.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I might add it's also a beautiful time to tap into our senses, which is why I had us tap into our senses to start today.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this Friday, I'm gonna be doing a solo episode on senses and how important and instrumental they are for our healing process.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, really looking forward to sharing that with you.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: In our cycle check-ins for the next several weeks, we're entering into a mini-series on the elements because the elements are not just something that's out there, they are also within us, and they are also deeply related to cyclical living.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: We are made of the same elements that shape Earth.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And when we begin to consciously work with them, just like we work with the moon phases, the menstrual cycle, and the seasons, we can start to access a deeper kind of intelligence.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: An intelligence that goes far beyond the mind, an intelligence that also lives within the body.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I hear people say, I'm not a nature person, and it always makes me giggle because we are nature.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Biologically speaking, the human body is made up of about 60% water, and our internal systems, our blood, our lymph, our cellular fluid, are constantly moving and regulating and communicating.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: And chances are if you're here listening to this podcast and especially this episode, you are likely a nature person.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not talking about you.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: I am talking about other people that I have genuinely heard say this.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it's, you know, it is what it is.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: I think culturally we have a big disconnection from nature.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: We don't necessarily value it.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And without going off into another episode about how problematic that is, it's it's really what I see, it's a disconnection from ourselves as well.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're not just disconnected from nature, we're disconnected to our own bodies, our own internal systems.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: So there really is a big opportunity here for everyone to reconnect with nature or to connect with nature in a deeper way, if you already have that connection established.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: There are also corresponding elements with each of the different phases.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the season of winter, which is associated with the season of the season of winter, which is associated with the phase of the menstrual cycle, which is the um, excuse me, the menstruating, which is the bleeding time.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's also associated with the new moon.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so winter, menstruation, and new moon are all associated with the element of water.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: So today, as we begin the series, as we're attuning to the new moon, we're going to be exploring the element of water today.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Water to me is an element of rest, of release, of emotional depth, and it can have this invitation inward as well, into stillness, into sensation, into what is beneath the surface.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: There is a lot of research that shows how water environments regulate the nervous system.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: It helps to increase our parasympathetic activity, which is our rest and digest state, where we naturally heal and repair.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're in this state of our nervous system, our bodies are able to heal and restore and emotionally process.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why being near water, or perhaps being in water, it can feel so calming and soothing and so regulating.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you've you've experienced that before.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: And interestingly enough, as we were forming in the womb, we were also in water.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's also that connection as well.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Life starts in the water, and in regards to the cycle, the seeds germinate in the darkness, right?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: In the new moon in the winter time.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: I also am really excited to share a more personal reflection today around water.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the timing, I can't make this stuff up sometimes.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: The timing worked out really lovely because I may have mentioned in our last cycle check-in that I recently went on a hot springs trip, and this is one of my favorite places in the world, but specifically here where I live in Northern California.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And clearly I spent a lot of time in the water while I was there.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing a lot of soaking, as much soaking as I possibly could in the pools, and the pools are in nature, and so I can look out and completely be surrounded by the mountains and the trees and the birds and the bugs.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Even became my friends by the end of that weekend.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: And while I was there, I was also reading The Power of Now.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I was practicing presence and tuning into my senses, tuning into the moment, the present moment.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it I couldn't help but bring that awareness into the water as well.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I also camped by a creek, and at night I could hear the sound of water.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: I heard it as I went to bed each night, and I heard it as I woke each morning, and it was so soothing and so relaxing.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And even as I'm tuning into it, I can kind of hear that that creak in my sort of imaginative ear right now.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like my body could really, not even just my body, but my nervous system could really relax and and drop in in a way that I am not always able to do in the city, in the busy day-to-day of things.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the weekend, I could really sense something shifting, specifically while I was in the water.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: I started to become a bit more playful in the water and more fluid rather than sitting there super still.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I couldn't help it.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was just kind of like moving from side to side in a very relaxed sort of way, feeling quite weightless.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And there was this gentle rocking, and it was like my body was being held and being soothed.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of like being a baby and just being gently rocked, and just how soothing that is to our systems.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's so natural, it's so inherent.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really interesting to see how my body started to mirror that.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And even as I'm talking about it, I can sense it now.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's that gentle sway and rock side to side.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something I see a lot in somatic work as well.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you notice yourself do that in a moment of activation or feeling uncomfortable.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you kind of like gently rock a little side to side, right?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's because rhythm is regulating, rhythmic, repetitive movement, like rocking, it helps to regulate the nervous system.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it can gently sort of bring us back into the sense of safety, bringing us back into the body.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I also had some body work while I was there.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And after one of my massages, it was a deep tissue massage, and it was like the most gentle, sweet, deep tissue massage I've ever had.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And afterwards, I experienced a pretty big emotional release.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I was quite surprised actually.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a moment of just laying on the table and just let it out and let myself cry, and was able to contain myself a bit to get checked out and was speaking with the therapist afterwards, and I was letting her know that I had a big emotional release, and she definitely had noticed.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, she mentioned how powerful the water was and recommended and encouraged me to just listen to the rhythm of my body.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so afterwards, I went and laid in the grass and I cried for probably about another 30 minutes.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I didn't even really realize how much I was holding on to.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it was interesting to see not only how soothing the water was, but how clearing it was for my system.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: It really moved a lot of things, it moved a lot of emotions for me while I was there.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we'll say things like, I'm overwhelmed, I'm flooded, or I need to let it out or let it let it flow.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think our emotional world can be deeply connected to the element of water as well.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I love most about water is that it always finds the path of least resistance.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't force, it doesn't push.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: You'll never see water trying to go up a hill.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: It flows downhill, it allows the gravity to support it, and it really follows the direction, the natural direction that it's being pulled.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that's something that we can all really learn from, especially for those of us who have been conditioned to push and to strive and to perform and to override our bodies, which is probably hopefully why you're here tuning in.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And water can remind us that we don't have to force our way through life, that there can be another way, a way with of more ease, of more allowing, a more of going with the flow, not in a giving up sort of way, but in um working with sort of way.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And you can find my information in the show notes.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, even with this peace on the surface, underneath, when I really slow down and tap in and go really deep, I can really tap into deep grief and tension that is really sort of hanging out in those in those depths.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And both can exist at the same time.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: So here is your invitation this week.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Your invitation is to explore your relationship with water, and not as an idea, like not like thinking about it in your head, because I feel we do enough of that.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: And as a somatic therapist, I'm interested in the experience of water.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also important because it's not ideas or like sometimes our thoughts that alone can create change, or insight alone doesn't create change, it's really the embodiment piece that does.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So, some ways you might play with this this week.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: You might take a warm bath or an Epsom salt soak.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: I really love to prioritize those during my bleeding time and also during the new moon.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: You might visit a river or a lake or ocean if you happen to be near a body of water.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: You might sit by some water, maybe there's like a fountain or something at a park and just listen.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: You also might explore moving your body like water in a sort of slow, fluid, swaying way.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or you might just explore inwardly and sort of tap into that fluidity within you as well, because we are made of over 60% water.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Water is such a beautiful teacher, and it can be a beautiful teacher at any time.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't always have to be just with the new moon and your bleeding time, it can be any time.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: So know that water is available as a teacher to you whenever you feel like you need it.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: And remember that it's also not just out there, it's it's also within you as well.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: As we move through tour season, we'll continue exploring the elements and how they can support us in coming back into our own unique rhythms and expressions of our bodies, of our cycles, and of the natural world.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm looking forward to another episode on Friday, and we'll be exploring our senses a little bit deeper and talking about how important they are for our healing process.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to connecting with you then.