Latest / Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul / Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync - You Can't Have the Full Moon Without the Waning Moon

Transcript

Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync - You Can't Have the Full Moon Without the Waning Moon · 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 honored and delighted to be here with you again today for another weekly moon phases feminine power and cycle sync episode.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your first time here, welcome.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Such a perfect time to be tuning in, to be remembering this feminine wisdom that I truly believe already lives deep inside of you.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are returning, welcome back.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Such an honor to walk this path and do this work alongside with you.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: This week we are attuning to the energy of the waning moon.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And before we explore this week's opportunities and invitations a bit more, I'll invite us to begin with a minute of silence.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And in this minute of silence, you are invited to come into a place of more presence with yourself, whatever that looks like.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're driving or doing some chores or got some things that you're working on in the background.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's okay.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing what it would be like to slow down, even if it's just a little bit.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: And notice where you're at.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Notice how you're feeling.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Notice how your energy is feeling.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe sensing into your unique rhythm and where you might be in this cycle.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll give you a minute to do that, and we'll reconnect here shortly.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll share a little bit about where I'm at today.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I am cycle day 20, and I am definitely feeling a big drop in my energy, physically, mentally, energetically, feeling the need to really begin slowing down and preparing for what I know is coming in about a week or so.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's part of what I'm doing here today is batching a few episodes so that I can get them scheduled for my bleeding time, so that when the bleeding times arrive, I can just rest, knowing that what I've intended to do here is taken care of.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And it really kind of gives me that permission to just unplug and give my energy back to myself.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm preparing for that today, and that's very on theme with what we'll be exploring today.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's been very interesting to see how my cycle has aligned with these episodes.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't always record them in real time.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I do.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and sometimes like this week, I'm recording them a little bit ahead.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's interesting as I am recording ahead.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: I am my inner rhythm is a reflection of the rhythm of the moon in which we are attuning to.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: So what I'm sharing today at the time that I'm being that I'm recording this is it's very much alive in my body.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you really are receiving this waning moon wisdom through the vessel of mine that is is currently in this phase.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll remind you, we're still in an eclipse portal.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we have another eclipse arriving by the end of the week.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so this might be a time to be extra gentle with yourself, um, to really open up to the opportunities and the lessons that are offered with this waning moon time.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think this waning moon time goes so nicely with this eclipse energy, because the waning moon really does offer us a chance to slow down, to catch our breath, to refill our cups as we prepare for the next cycle.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's also a natural invitation to reflect, not just on the past weeks, but even on the year so far, because we're officially in the last quarter of the calendar year, and the fall equinox is less than a week away, which just kind of blows my mind sometimes.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not just in the natural rhythms and cycles of the natural world, it's also reflected in the menstrual cycle as well.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: There is a shift that happens in the brain that invites us to be more discerning and to be more focused inward.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a really interesting opportunity to explore, to lean into.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And interestingly enough, the top downloads of these cycle sync episodes are all about the full moon, which I just find so fascinating.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it really speaks to the collective challenge we face as a society.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: We love the full moon, the full expression, the peak energy, the blooming of the cycle, if you will.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think many of us try to live in that energy all of the time.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just as guilty as the next person.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And what I've learned through my own menstrual cycle tracking is that we can't fully experience the fullness of the peak of the cycle if we're also not honoring the other half of the cycle.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And for me, this looks like my ovulation time sometimes feeling overwhelming or uh like it's too much, or what I've really been experiencing has been this sort of flatness that comes around this time.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: This time when there is this peak energy, this peak level of estrogen.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not necessarily a right or wrong way to experience this time.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: I just find it interesting as I feel this also speaks to the rest that I have not always been getting during my bleeding time.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And everything kind of builds on itself.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Each cycle feeds into the next cycle.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so if I'm not getting enough rest during my bleeding time, then it makes sense that I would be feeling a little flat around this peak time.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I know I've talked about this in a couple of these episodes, at least a few of these episodes, because this is an ongoing thing for me.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: And even after years of being deeply committed to this work, I still find it challenging.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that validates and maybe normalize, normalizes any of the challenges that you may also be experiencing around these themes and around this time of the month, and around this time of your cycle.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is, we can't have the full moon without the waning moon.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And there is so much wisdom and beauty and opportunity in this part of the cycle, too.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And as a society, we just don't value it.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: I can think of an example of flowers.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: We love those beautiful, freshly bloomed flowers.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And what do we do with flowers as they start to lose their bloom, their flowers, their petals, excuse me, start to wilt.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: We'll usually throw them out because they're no longer at their peak beauty, so they must not have any value or any place.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that I've started doing is making flowers arranged flower arrangements of my wilted flowers.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I do this usually as I'm transitioning into my inner autumn to really honor this wilting period for all that it is.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: We can also see this in the way we treat the elderly as people age, especially women.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they're put away in a community where they live with other elderly people, and maybe family members come to visit them, maybe they don't.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And they're not necessarily receiving all of the support and the nourishment that they need through food and people and relationships and enrichment.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: We kind of cast these people out of society and deem them as unimportant.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so we can see this thread through so many facets of life.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, there again is so much wisdom here.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so today I really want to highlight some of the joys and the gifts that this waning moon, this waning energy, this waning phase of your menstrual cycle can offer.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: The first that I'll offer is gratitude.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I touched on this last week, but it carries through here.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: This can be a time to really sit back and savor and appreciate the fruits of your labor.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: A moment to pause and recognize all that you already have, all that you have already become.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: And as I said last week, this isn't to bypass the things that are maybe hard or difficult or uncomfortable.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: This is about acknowledging the wholeness of your experience, the wholeness of your life.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I know if you are here, if you're listening to this episode, there's got to be something that has manifested, that has bloomed, that has unfolded for you.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And what would it be like to just give yourself a moment here to really honor that, to really drink that in and enjoy it?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: We also see this theme in the season of autumn, which is associated with this time of the moon, and typically around Thanksgiving, we gather and we give gratitude.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we can use that same opportunity here with the waning moon and during the pre-menstrual part of the menstrual cycle.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Another thing that it offers is space to rest.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: As your energy naturally declines, the challenge is often in resisting it.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: When it's actually just a really natural part of the cycle.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: So when we can accept that and work with it, this can become a deeply nourishing time to slow down, to simplify, and to do less.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is also a really beautiful time for refinement.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: With your energy beginning to turn inward, clarity can come more easily.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's a time where old layers can be shed and the truth can begin to surface, which also plays into discernment.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: Because your energy is more limited, you're invited to be more selective.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: What is truly important?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: What can wait?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is when you can learn to give your energy to what matters to you most.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: A time to what I like to call set yourself up for success in the next cycle.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically with the menstrual cycle.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you know your bleed is coming, what would it look like to prepare some meals?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: To tidy your space.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: That way, when your bleed arrives, you can truly rest because things have been taken care of.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that you can see that the waning moon is just as essential as the full.