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Transcript

Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync - Waning Moon & Premenstrum : SLOW THE FUCK DOWN · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to this week's Moon Phases and Feminine Power, your weekly cycle sync episode.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: This week we're talking about the week of June 16th and we are attuning to the energy of the waning moon.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Before we begin today's episode, sharing a little bit more about the opportunities that this part of the cycle has to offer, let's take our minute of silence to check in.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: During this minute of silence, you are lovingly and gently invited to come into more presence with yourself, whatever that may look like, whether you are driving or perhaps doing some chores around the home, or maybe you are in a place where you can be seated and be in a place of stillness where you can really connect with your breath and bring all of your energy back to yourself, even if it's just for a moment, to just check in and notice.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: How are you feeling today, how is your body feeling today, how is your heart feeling today, how is your mind today?
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: And perhaps, as you do that check-in, you can also begin to attune to where you might be in your own rhythm, because while we are attuning to these larger cycles of the natural world through the moon and through the seasons, there is also your own creative rhythm, your own unique and creative rhythm that is happening inside of you, which may or may not align with where we are now, and if it doesn't, that's perfectly okay.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Our minute of silence will begin now.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: You, you Thank you.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: That concludes our minute of silence for today.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: I hope that you found that helpful and perhaps insightful.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: When I'm in this part of the cycle, in my premenstrual time, which aligns with this part of the cycle, and in my premenstrual time, which aligns with this part of the cycle, I find these minutes of silence and stillness to be just divine.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: I can almost kind of get lost in them for a little bit, because they feel so good to my system to really allow that space to just be.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: And as I just be with myself and my body, I notice some areas of tension and pain that are slowly starting to bubble up, which is something that can happen during the pre-mentioned part of the cycle, as our nervous system becomes a bit more raw and become a bit more sensitive and the more deeper layers of the subconscious start to sometimes creep their way up towards the surface, and that can sometimes be expressed through sensations and feelings.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: So, noticing that today and also noticing this desire to finish things up and to prepare for this next part of my cycle where I'll go into my inner winter.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: I know it'll be here quickly, and this time of year I'm also gearing up for my summer programs, which do require a bit more of me, and so I really want to use the opportunities of this week to set myself up for success during the upcoming weeks of balancing being in my inner winter with also running a summer camp program with kiddos, so that will be an interesting dance.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: I'm actually getting a little bit of a head start on today's episode recording, about two weeks ahead of time.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Because of that, I know it's coming, and so I'm doing my best to take care of what needs to be taken care of now, so that I have less to take care of them and feeling really good, as I've been slowing down here in Colorado, it's given me lots of space to do that and to get that extra rest that I know I need during this time.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: This is one of my favorite parts of the cycle.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: This waning moon, as I've mentioned, is associated with the premenstruum of the menstrual cycle.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: It's also associated with the season of autumn, and when we're talking about traditional Chinese medicine, the element associated with this time is the element of metal.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: This waning moon time of the moon cycle and of the menstrual cycle can be a magical time, I find, where we are able to connect with and attune to the more subtle layers of life and of ourselves.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: If you try to carry on for this part of the cycle with the same assertiveness and performance and action-oriented energy of the full moon and the late waxing moon, I find this is where we can experience the distress that sometimes arises with this part of the cycle.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: As I shared last week, the moon affects the tides of the oceans and she also affects the tides of our inner world, and now the tides are starting to change.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: They're slowing down, they're becoming more gentle and moving away from the big waves and crashes of the more active seas.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: This is a part of the cycle that isn't always celebrated and appreciated, and I think that's reflected in our fast-paced patriarchal society that keeps us in a constant go-go-go mode.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: As the light in the moon decreases, as the energy begins to wane, as the estrogen begins to drop, during this part of the menstrual cycle we are invited to slow the fuck down and to deeply listen to anything that might be emerging in the slowing down.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: I think that's why so many of us are afraid to slow down, because we're avoiding the discomfort, the pain, the grief and sometimes the fear that is underneath the need to be busy all of the time.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: It's easier to stay overscheduled and overstimulated because it keeps us from really feeling what's here.
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: And if you're a human, especially a woman, especially a black or brown woman or a trans woman in this modern world, there's a lot there, because the waters that we're swimming in don't exactly welcome our authentic and whole selves, for some it doesn't feel safe to slow down, because slowing down means you don't eat or you get caught or, worse, you die.
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: So I understand the struggle to slow down.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: It's been a huge part of my healing process and journey, and it wasn't until I really started tending to some of those oldest and deepest wounds did slowing down finally start to get a little bit easier, did slowing down finally start to get a little bit easier?
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: And now, when I find myself caught in the go, go, go energy again, I find that it feels really good to my system, as I've already named here, to slow down like I've been doing here in Colorado over the last week.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Slowing down for me looks like sleeping in, taking my time making a nourishing morning beverage, doing my meditation in bed, taking all the time and space I want to journal my thoughts.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Doing a yin yoga practice, taking a long hot bath, listening to some relaxing music, washing my hair, straightening my hair at a slow and leisurely pace, going on a long walk.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: Slowing down might look differently for you.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: Maybe slowing down is taking a seat on the couch for five minutes when you get home from work before starting your second shift.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: At home.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: Slowing down might be putting your phone down during your lunch break and taking your time to chew your food.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Slowing down might look like taking an afternoon nap, even if it's a short one, or maybe there's just less social plans on your calendar, or perhaps there's an afternoon or a morning where you can disconnect from your phone and spend some time out in nature.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: You'll have to feel into what slowing down is for you, and I invite you to do that in a way that feels safe and sustainable for you.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: Maybe you start slowing down just a little bit at a time, and I find that as we begin to slow down, that this part of the cycle becomes much easier.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: This part of the cycle becomes much easier, and it's because we're working with the energy instead of working against the energy.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: To help you do that this week, I'm offering some trauma-informed somatic meditations that you'll find in the show notes.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: We'll be taking this Friday off, so there will not be any solo episodes or guest episodes airing on Friday as I begin to transition into my inner winter and I do that to allow not just myself time and space to rest, it also allows you time and space to integrate any of the information or insights or takeaways that you've had over the last month.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: As we've been working with the energy of Gemini season Over the past few weeks, I've invited in a couple of shifts in your perspectives.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: First, with Yoga Nidra.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: If you haven't had the chance to listen to that episode, I invite you to give it a listen.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Then, with this idea of both and thinking that's a really short episode and a really powerful episode.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: So if you're pressed for time, that might be a good one to check out.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: That might be a good one to check out.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: And last, we concluded with the guest episode from Mari, where she talked about writing and poetry and how it's been an essential part of her healing process from her traumatic brain injury, and writing is a theme of Gemini.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: So over the next week I encourage you and invite you to take some time either catching up or reflecting on your takeaways from Gemini season, and when we meet again for our next cycle check-in, we will be preparing for a new cycle again and we'll also be entering into cancer season, where we will be focusing on care, and I've got some really incredible guests coming up for you and I'm very excited to share them.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: I look forward to connecting with you in the next episode.