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Moon Phases & Feminine Power: Your Weekly Cycle Sync | The Biggest Misunderstanding About Full Moon Energy · Healing Her Story with Riva Jean-Paul

• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of the Healing Her Story Podcast.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you are new to our community, welcome.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is such an honor to have you here.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I am really celebrating your curiosity, your commitment, perhaps your dedication to uncover the feminine wisdom that I believe already lives within.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And what we're really doing here in this community in these episodes is what I like to call remembering.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of the things that I'm sharing, there is a very wise, intuitive part of you that already kind of has an idea around this, or maybe is already experiencing it, but just maybe hasn't had the language to articulate it.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you are returning, welcome back.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Truly such an honor to have you as well.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I really do not take your time and your energy and your focus for granted.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: We live in a world of so many choices, and it truly means a lot to me that you choose to spend your time with me here.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into today's themes and explorations.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: But before we do, I want to invite us into a moment of stillness.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're able to maybe actually coming to a place of stillness, I know that can be easier said than done, especially if you're doing chores or driving or got something going on in the background.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: However, I'll invite you to see what it would be like to just slow down, even if it's just one or two percent.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And in that slowing down, maybe you want to turn a bit of your focus inwards because, especially this time of the cycle, we can have so much of our focus outside of ourselves.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think sometimes we forget to turn that energy back towards ourselves.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So turning your energy back to you for just a moment and really meeting yourself here in this moment with whatever you may be feeling or experiencing without making it wrong or wanting it to go away, but simply connecting for the sake of connecting.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna give you some time to do that, and once our minute is up, I will return.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Which, interestingly enough, seems to align perfect with today's theme.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I just took a moment to really listen and to really feel that beat of my heart, that pulse of life within me.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: I had a microdosing session a few weeks ago where I had this moment as well, where I just sat there in stillness and silence and breathed and really tuned into that pulse, that beat of my heart.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a moment of awe, of wonder, and kind of thought, wow, wow, my heart is here, just pumping, beating, and it's really what's keeping me alive, it's what's keeping the whole system running and operating, in addition to other things as well, right?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: But our heart is the pulse, so I just found that to be really beautiful, and it aligns perfectly with our theme, our energy today, because in traditional Chinese medicine, the full moon is associated with the element of fire.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And when we're looking at the organs, the fire element is associated with the heart.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And here I was just listening to the beat, the pulse of my heart.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So really interesting how that all came full circle here.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you haven't gathered yet, this week we are tuning to the energy of the full moon.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Technically, we are not quite at the peak of the full moon as this episode is airing.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: But by the time we arrive on Wednesday, we will be in that peak.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: The energy of the full moon is much more like a light dimmer than a light switch.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say that, I simply mean that it doesn't just flicker on and off.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: There is a gradual build in the days leading up to the full moon and then a gradual release in the days that follow.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've been feeling an amplification of energy this week, we'll say that makes a lot of sense.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your emotions are heightened.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there are things unfolding in your life that feel like a lot, or maybe it's not even happening directly to you, but you're feeling the intensity in the people around you.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, we've been experiencing a collective intensity for quite some time now.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: What I really want to speak to today, though, is what I believe to be a misunderstanding of the full moon.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I've spoken to this before on the podcast, and I think it's always worth mentioning again.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: When I first started working with the moon phases, like many people, I started with the new moon and the full moon, with very little understanding of the phases in between.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And if we simplify the lunar cycle to these just to just these two points, it's understandable why so many people talk about the full moon as a time of release and letting go, because the new moon is a point of beginning and setting intentions.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: However, as I deepened in my own cyclical awareness and began working more intentionally with the rhythms of the natural world, I came to see the full moon differently.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: To me, the full moon is not primarily about release, it's about illumination.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: The full moon is when something becomes visible, something comes into the light.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes in that illumination, there may be something that naturally comes to completion.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: But the deeper imitation of the full moon, at least in my experience, is not just letting go.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's really a huge missed opportunity with the full moon.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And that missed opportunity is celebration.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we've talked about this before, but I'm talking about it again today, especially because we are in airy season and I'm tapping into my more courageous, fiery warrior energy right now.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something that gets me really fired up.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, when I see people constantly focusing on what they need to release, what they need to fix, what they need to improve, or what they need to let go of during the full moon, I find myself getting a little frustrated.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not because those things aren't real, they absolutely are.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: However, when our intention, excuse me, our attention is constantly focused on what's quote unquote broken, I'm putting air quotes here broken, because I don't think you're broken.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Or when we're constantly focused on what needs to change, we sometimes lose sight of something really important.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: We lose sight of what's already working.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: We lose sight of the ways in which we've already grown.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: On a healing journey, we cannot spend all our time in what we might call the mud, or what in trauma-informed work is sometimes referred to as the trauma vortex, that place where we stay stuck in the story, stuck in the pain.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And to be clear, the story and the pain are valid.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: They deserve space, they need space, they deserve compassion, they need compassion.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: They deserve to be witnessed and processed, they need to be witnessed and processed.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And we also need the capacity to stop out of the trauma vortex from time to time.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because we are not healing so that we can stay in a perpetual state of suffering.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: At least I don't, that's not why I'm doing this work.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: We're healing because we want to experience more connection, joy, peace, love, beauty.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: All of those things, excuse me, and if those things are the things we want to experience, then it only makes sense that we begin making space for them in the healing process, too.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Even biologically, this makes sense.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: In trauma healing, there are practices called pendulation and titration.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I talk about this with my clients, especially my clients who are doing really deep, deep, deep work from adverse childhood experiences.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: These practices help the nervous system move between states of discomfort and states of safety.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: We touch into the pain and then we come back to support, connection, and resource.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: If we stay in the trauma story for too long without accessing support, the nervous system can become overwhelmed.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: And instead of healing, it can actually become re-traumatizing.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So there is a dance, a movement between feeling the pain and recognizing the support is already here, even if it's small.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: So this full moon, I want to offer you a slightly different invitation.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of focusing only on what needs to be released, can you allow this moon to eliminate what is already working?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Can you celebrate how far you come, the woman you already are, the progress that has happened, even if it feels small?
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Because healing is not just about fixing what's broken.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's also about honoring what is growing.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: So this week, see what happens if you shift your focus.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of asking, what do I need to release?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Try asking what is already working?
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: What can I celebrate?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And notice what happens inside of your system.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you'd like support with this practice, I've linked a donation-based trauma-informed meditation for you in the show notes.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: And looking ahead, I'm looking forward to seeing you again this Friday for another fiery, airy season episode.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: This one is a solo episode, and honestly, I've been sitting on this one for quite some time.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm very, very, very, very excited to share it with you.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I look forward to connecting with you then.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if you need support this week, you can find a donation based trauma informed somatic meditation for you in the show notes.