Goddess Feminism: Menstrual Survival

Goddess Feminism, by Nic and Sam from Aluna Moon invite you to take part in an engaging and uncensored chat about the menstrual cycle through the lens of goddess archetypes. Lets heal our collective female consciousness and blast the taboo of periods together as a sisterhood. We greet the four sacred stages: Warrior, Creator, Sorceress and Oracle and learn more about how to reach our full potential as cyclic modern day women. This podcast ends with a relaxing PMS (Pre Menstrual Syndrome / Tension) meditation. Enjoy ....

Transcript

Welcome to Goddess Feminism.

Feminism being the root of Goddess spirituality.

It's raw,

Uncut and unapologetic.

What do we mean by spiritual feminism?

Women looking out for each other,

Rising against the patriarchy,

The genuine concern for justice and knowing deeply our sacred were.

If you like listening,

Please positively rate each episode so we can reach the hearts and minds of as many women as possible.

Hello and welcome to Goddess Feminism.

This is our third episode and today it's all about menstrual survival because that is how it feels that we're just trying to get through.

And it's a very unexplored area.

So today we want to blast the taboo of this subject.

So if you didn't know already,

I'm Sam and we've got Nick here.

Hello.

Hello.

So together we basically have a chat about these feminist issues from a spiritual perspective and at the end we have a meditation to,

How would you put it,

To sort of fortify what we've learned.

Yeah,

Definitely.

Something related to what we've been talking about.

Yeah.

Cool.

So we recently published a free talk on the different stages of our female cycle in the incite timer and it went down so well.

It was so well received.

Amazing.

Really surprisingly.

Yeah.

And it was just something that I did off the cuff on my phone,

Probably without even thinking too much about it.

And it just shows how much women are in need of this information.

So we talk about the menstrual cycle through the lens of goddess archetypes,

Because we're all about the goddess.

We are.

We are.

And these four stages of the menstrual cycle are the warrior,

The creator,

The sorceress,

And the oracle.

Many modern day women have come to dread their cycle.

And I know I was a bit like this before I had this information.

And we completely understand how the pressures of today's overwhelming responsibilities,

It can just feel stifling,

Crushing.

And we want to help women remember the potential within and the gifts within.

So today it's all about creating a sacred space of sisterhood to talk about these feminist issues.

So we can reclaim our power.

And at the end of the podcast,

We've got a meditation for PMS.

That's also like a snippet from our goddess awakening course.

Yeah,

It is.

Yeah.

So Nick,

Why do you think that,

You know,

The lead up to our period is so difficult?

I think it's because we're completely disconnected from our true,

You know,

Cyclic nature.

We are as females,

We go in cycles,

We're not the same all month through.

We change,

We have ups,

We have downs.

And I think when we're disconnected from that,

We tend to feel very overwhelmed.

We kind of expect ourselves to feel the same all the way through,

Have the same energy.

Because,

You know,

We'll begin with the warrior.

And this is the stage.

So once bleeding has finished,

And it's a new cycle,

And we come into the warrior energy,

And we're strong,

We're useful,

We're reborn,

It's like a feeling of rebirth.

So the old cycle has gone.

And yeah,

We feel reborn once again.

So we're full of energy,

Plenty of ambition.

So this is the stage when we feel like we really can take on the world.

And we can.

In this stage,

We can burn the candle at both ends without feeling,

You know,

Too bad,

We can have the late nights,

We can do all the work,

We can socialize.

This is like a brilliant time to plan lots of socializing and things like that,

Because we naturally have that energy there.

So this is like a favorable phase,

I think,

For most women,

Because we feel we've got all of that energy there.

Now the other side of this phase,

If this phase isn't in balance,

If our warrior is not in check,

We can actually become perfectionists.

So we can become really ambitious,

To the point that we're pushing ourselves,

We're trying to force things,

We're striving for perfection.

And you know,

This can then knock us out of sync too.

And,

You know,

Even because I have personally experienced,

You know,

Long cycles,

And I'm sure that,

You know,

The warrior phase of my cycle has been particularly long,

Because it's like a desire in me to just hold on to that ambitious energy.

But,

You know,

Since I've been doing all of this,

That's much more,

You know,

Balanced than as it,

You know,

As it should be,

Really.

And this is the phase of the cycle we associate with spring.

It's the waxing moon,

As we go from new to full,

So it's the bit in between the new moon and the full moon,

It's the waxing moon.

And it was just a springtime,

Yeah,

We just,

We have that little spring in our step,

If you like.

Yeah,

So I guess in this capitalist culture,

Where women,

And men,

Obviously,

Are encouraged to achieve and to do,

And there's much more emphasis on doing than being,

I can understand why women do connect with this energy more than any other phase in their cycle.

But yeah,

I guess it's all about learning which phase you're in,

And if you are in the warrior,

Then yes,

Go for it,

Because your body can take it.

But then when we move into the ovulation stage,

And,

You know,

We don't want to be in any way exclusive here,

By the way,

If there are women that don't bleed,

That don't have menstrual cycles,

That have polycystic ovaries,

Then it can still be a way to get to know your body and your life cycle.

So,

You know,

Please do listen,

Whoever you are,

Wherever you are.

But yeah,

In the creator phase,

We move from the outer world to our inner world,

And it can be a really magical time if we allow.

So this is the time of giving birth to something.

So perhaps allowing the goals the warrior set in the spring phase to come to fruition.

It's a very potent phase.

The creator is represented in our life cycle when we connect literally with our mother energies,

But obviously we understand that not all women choose to have children or want children.

It's very much a fullness,

A fullness of the summer,

A fullness of the moon.

And it's a good time to show our compassion,

Perhaps to do something thoughtful.

The warrior,

She doesn't have too much patience.

So this is the time to do those thoughtful little things that might help someone,

That might enhance someone's life in some way,

And also to harness our inner creativity.

And that doesn't have to mean,

You know,

You have to be this excellent painter.

It can be anything at all.

It can be,

You know,

Gardening,

Dancing,

And it doesn't have to be good.

It can be something more,

You know,

Drawing,

Painting,

Coloring,

Gardening,

Creating a space at home or at work that feels more like a home.

So it's a good time for stimulating.

However it may appear.

But yeah,

I was very much connected to those energies in my late twenties or just before having children.

And now I guess I'm moving into,

Now they're a little bit more self-reliant.

I guess I'm moving into the wild woman,

The sorceress phase.

Yeah,

And this is one of my favorite phases.

Is it?

You love a bit of wild woman.

I love a bit of wild woman.

But this is the phase that is kind of the most misunderstood.

It's the most misunderstood phase of life,

But phase of the cycle,

Because she is a sorceress.

And this is a time of ups and downs.

And I think that's what,

As women,

We can find difficult because our energy can be up,

Then it can be down.

We can feel,

You know,

Really like we want to be out in the world.

We want to be dancing,

Expressing that wild woman energy.

But then we may towards the latter stages of this particular part,

You know,

Want to be more withdrawn.

And yes,

She is the wild woman.

It's when we really journey to the inner world and we go deeper within.

And it is the,

You know,

The sorceress,

That it's that magical goddess energy where we can really connect within.

And we can feel more erotic at this stage.

It's different for everyone,

But this is the stage where women will experience PMS.

And I have come to experience just personally from,

You know,

What I've discovered with myself,

Is that if I don't,

If I don't focus on the self care throughout the cycle,

Or if I'm pressing emotions,

If I've got anything that I've not really paid attention to,

It will come up here in this phase.

So,

Yeah,

PMS,

It might come up as,

You know,

Anger,

Or we might get really tearful,

Or just physically feel really exhausted.

I think it's the perfection of the cycle,

You know,

Whatever is there,

He's ready to come up and then be released in the next phase with bleeding.

But I have found that when we allow ourselves to,

To listen to our body and listen to our body and listen to what we want,

Then especially in this,

This phase of the sorceress and the wild woman,

You know,

Listen to your body,

If you're tired,

Take more time for resting.

And just listen to the signs of your body and what they're telling you as well.

So I think where we're told that PMS is just normal.

And even like when it's really severe,

The physical symptoms,

The emotional symptoms,

But it doesn't have to be that way.

I think the more connected to our natural cycles that we are,

The more we can let go and surrender.

The easier we find this stage.

And actually,

I love this stage.

I really do.

I do.

I really,

Really love it now,

Because I feel kind of once ovulation has passed and I first enter into that,

You know,

Wild woman energy,

I feel,

I feel just that for wild.

I want to,

I want to dance free,

Really free.

Yeah,

Free.

It is,

It's a freedom.

And then as it,

You know,

As my energy dips and I start to feel more tired,

I find myself starting to prepare for the time of bleeding.

So I start slowing down and just retreating a little bit more or journaling.

I always find in this stage,

I like to journey within.

So it might be playing some,

Um,

Some of my music,

My meditation music,

Or something more.

Um,

I'm not sure,

Just something that really takes me to that place within.

So for me,

That,

That's,

That's what I've come to really love before we meet the Oracle.

Yeah.

So I guess it's just really getting to know your cycle,

Isn't it?

And then when we journey through the sorceress phase into the Oracle,

Which is the time of bleeding,

This is a time that women have sort of very much come to resist.

It's not,

I guess,

Practical,

Is it?

To,

To bleed.

Um,

It's still enormously taboo and it still really gets on my nerves when I see,

Uh,

An advert on the television,

Uh,

With,

You know,

Advertising a sanitary towel or a tampon with blue liquid.

I mean,

That just,

I mean,

Is the,

Why,

Why,

Why are we still having to cover up what's so sacred?

And I mean,

This is a gift that this really is.

And I didn't always believe this,

Trust me,

But,

Um,

What a pleasure that we get to renew in each month.

Um,

So the Oracle,

If we allow,

If we let go,

And we so get,

We so get what it's like to be women in this modern day.

So we've both got kids,

We both run a business,

We get it.

Um,

But when you can just tweaking things,

Just getting to know things.

So if you're approaching bleeding or if you are bleeding,

Then this is the time to let go and retreat,

Even if it's a few minutes a day at work,

Even if it's when the,

Uh,

The child is sleeping,

Napping,

Just fitting it in,

Fitting that sacred time in.

Uh,

She is the goddess of spiritual visions.

Um,

Normally we talk about goddess,

Don't we,

In each episode,

But obviously today,

This is all about the,

All of them,

The goddess archetype.

Um,

She's full of wisdom and in the past,

She has sort of been relegated,

Uh,

To the chrome,

The hag.

Um,

And actually she isn't the,

Um,

Judgmental,

Bitter,

Old persecutory figure in fairy tales.

She's actually the wisdom that emanates from the crown chakra.

Um,

And when the oracle goddess greets us,

Usually during bleeding,

Sometimes it can happen for me,

It happens slightly before,

You know,

Before bleeding finishes,

I sort of enter that catharsis slightly before,

Um,

We're at one,

We're at one with the earth,

The universe.

And if we allow ourselves to give into the process,

We can absolutely connect with that intuition that comes with this phase.

And this is another thing,

Fucking patriarchy have managed to succeed in making,

Um,

So taboo and repressed.

So as a collective,

We need to talk about our moon time.

We need to talk about periods.

We need to talk about our menstrual cycle.

This is what we're doing today.

Um,

And they can,

As I think as well,

Do you think that potentially periods can be especially painful if we are so resistant to them?

Absolutely.

Completely.

I have zero pain now.

It was D really amazing.

Definitely not all that way.

I have really regular cycles,

Really painful.

I did not know where I was from one moment to the next,

Because I had not been taught about my body and the signs of my body and ovulation when you ovulate and the signs.

And so I had no clue where I was at all was now I know exactly where I am.

Um,

At every stage,

Because I,

I kind of,

I mean,

I track my cycle in the sense of,

You know,

I practically track it.

So I know when the last one was,

I keep check on the dates.

Um,

But for me,

It's about staying so connected.

Like I can feel before they're even,

Uh,

Physical signs of ovulation,

I feel myself now go into that more,

Uh,

Mothering,

Nurturing,

Creative energy.

And I can feel that now.

And this takes time,

Obviously.

Yeah.

This is something that we're learning.

This is taking me a long time.

Yeah.

Some months,

It's just a disaster.

God's sake.

Like where this I have,

How have I still managed to get caught up in the unhelpful,

But we're learning with you.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

And especially for me,

Because my cycles have always been irregular and I've managed to shorten them now between,

You know,

Four or five weeks,

So 28,

35 days.

And I know a lot of it is because I'm,

I'm,

I'm,

I'm seeing,

I'm seeing things.

I'm,

I'm taking notice of what my body is telling me.

Um,

So yeah,

Tracking your cycle,

Just getting in touch with yourself,

Just learning first,

You know,

The first step is obviously the more you learn about this,

Then the more you notice and you start to awaken to,

Wow,

Actually,

This is,

You know,

This is what,

This is the,

Oh,

God,

This is such a gift actually.

I truly,

Truly feel that now.

And even,

You know,

During my oracle phase,

Bleeding,

Even if I'm still busy or because I have to be,

Like I moved house.

Oh my God.

I moved house and I literally started bleeding the day after and I was thinking,

Oh my God,

How am I going to do this?

Yeah.

I thought,

No,

Okay,

Just calm,

Look after yourself how you can.

It was actually fine because I did what I could,

But because I'd also looked after myself the whole cycle.

Previously.

Yeah.

Previously.

The bleeding wasn't an issue.

I didn't have the pain.

I've got a nice shawl that I like to wear around me.

That just makes me feel like comforted.

So even if I can't physically lay down with a cover and rest,

If I just put that around me,

It's it,

For me,

It just reminds me of like,

Okay,

This is a time of retreat and to share things and to teach.

Like I'm,

You know,

I've talked my partner about this.

So he knows now he understands the phases and he understands where I am and,

You know,

What that means.

So everything is just so much more harmonious because also I,

I do organize things in my life around my cycle.

So I'm not going to arrange a big party.

If I know I'm going to be heading towards bleeding,

You know,

The oracle phase,

It's just the last thing I would want to do.

So if the things that we do have control over,

If we plan them around that cycle,

You find it's just so much more harmony and balance there.

That's what I've found.

Yeah.

So we've got a meditation coming up,

Haven't we?

Yeah,

We have.

So we're,

Yes,

We are,

We've got the PMS healing meditation for you.

So this is really lovely to listen to if you do have PMS,

Even if you don't,

Even if you just want to listen.

Yeah,

It's lovely anyway.

It's relaxing anyway.

Yeah.

But it's just something that if you do,

And if you are,

If you are struggling and finding the,

The sorceress stage of your cycle difficult,

You've either emotionally or physically,

Then it can just bring some healing and some balance to you.

So yeah,

Just get yourself really nice and comfortable.

Retreat,

Take yourself somewhere safe and,

And join within.

Yeah,

So just make sure,

Yeah,

So just make sure that it's safe for you to relax.

Just to let you know,

This is a snippet from our upcoming course,

Goddess Awakening,

The Power of the Menstrual Cycle,

That we're just waiting for Insight Timer to release it.

It's also available on our website already.

And from the 1st of March,

You can access that from Audible.

We've got lots of other audios on women's health.

So please check out www.

Alunamoon.

Com.

And if you haven't got the Insight Timer app,

Please do download it because it's just the most amazing free meditation app.

It really is.

They're just fantastic.

It's such a fantastic,

Fantastic app.

They're just so lovely to talk to.

Like they just be a part of.

And they've just got tons of content on there,

Thousands and thousands of meditations,

It's completely free.

So there's definitely will be something on there for you.

And we are so incredibly grateful to be in the top 20 of those teachers.

And this course is just,

You know,

Hopefully an enriching course.

It's very comprehensive.

It really goes into wonderful detail how to reach your full potential and get to grips with your menstrual cycle through rituals,

Meditation,

Strategies,

Insights.

But for now,

Relax and we will speak to you next time.

Speak to you next time.

Just allow yourself to relax now.

Perhaps find a blanket or a shawl to drape across your body.

Just rest back,

Close your eyes and give yourself permission to let go.

It's okay to rest.

It's safe to let go.

Give yourself permission to connect with your vulnerability,

Your sensitivity.

When we experience uncomfortable and sometimes intense feelings,

Such as anger,

Frustration,

Sadness and grief,

There's always a deeper message,

Something for us to see,

Feel and know.

We don't need to resist or change these feelings.

Because when we allow them to have a voice and we listen to what they have to say,

They naturally dissolve.

And we reconnect with feelings of peace,

Balance and harmony.

And I invite you to imagine yourself in a sacred garden now.

It's autumn time and it's a beautiful evening.

The sun is setting and you rest gently in a large hammock that cocoons your body so beautifully.

It's as if this hammock was made just for you.

You have a blanket or a shawl draped across your body.

Giving you a sense of comfort and security.

You feel safe and at home here.

Warm and cosy.

Comfortable and at ease.

You bring your awareness to your body,

Moving through your body softly.

Releasing tension.

Softening your muscles and just allowing yourself to let go.

Your face softens.

Your neck and shoulders release and let go.

Every inch of your body relaxes more and more with every exhale.

As you journey deeper,

Deeper within to a safe,

Quiet,

Gentle place.

There is nothing to do here.

There are no expectations.

Just simply a chance to be.

Truly,

Deeply,

Authentically you.

Silently ask yourself,

How am I right now?

Just notice what comes to you.

Go with the flow of your experience.

Let go of the expectations,

Judgement.

Just let it all go.

How am I right now?

How am I right now?

How am I right now?

And next,

Just ask yourself,

What do I need right now?

What do I need right now?

What do I need right now?

What do I need right now?

What does the voice within tell you?

What is your body,

Mind,

Soul crying out for?

What's really behind the tension that you've been feeling?

What are you ready to let go of?

What do you need to invite into your life for balance and harmony?

What do you need right now?

What do you need right now?

Listening to the ancient and wise sorceress within allows uncomfortable feelings to transform,

To dissolve.

Because when you listen within and acknowledge what you need and then act upon it,

You experience peace,

Harmony and a deep and beautiful connection with the self.

What do you need right now?

What do I need right now?

What do I need right now?

Bring your attention back to your body,

How it's embraced by the hammock and how it almost feels as though you are being held by the great mother goddess herself.

She reminds you that it's safe to embrace your sensitivity,

To accept your vulnerability,

That it's safe to let go and trust the voice within.

And you can slowly bring yourself back now,

Opening your eyes gently,

Feeling centred,

Balanced and harmonious.

Welcome back.

Reviews

Incredible and powerful. Thank you for making this such an acceptable subject❤️

I came across this at the exact right time 💛 I've always struggled embracing cycles and rituals, but this feels like a great place to start from.

Just what I needed right now 💖

This was AWESOME! Thanks so much for talking about this openly and encouraging women to love their bodies more! The meditation was amazing 🥰💗

Really good! That what I needed! thank you!!!

Really excellent meditation, very well timed with pauses for reflection. Talk was very interesting too. Bang on for my PMT!

The meditation ended a little abruptly. Wonder if you can add some trailing out music to soften our reentry?

LOVED the meditation at the end and the sense of understanding our physical changes and how they represent themselves outwardly.

So refreshing to hear our cycle talked about with such open honesty, wisdom and reverence. Thank you gorgeous women 💜x

Very relaxing meditation & interesting talk as always! Thank you ladies, blessings.

Loved it, thank you!