How to Connect to Your Purpose at Menstruation (or at the new moon)

As you probably know by now, we believe there’s a hidden agenda to the menstrual cycle and menopause process—helping us to live a life full of purpose, a life where we have a direct line to what we most love and care about,  knowing and living our calling.

This revealed itself to be true for me (Alexandra) over a lifetime of intimately tracking my cycle - well, at least since my 30s, when my cycle called me to heal intense menstrual pain. And now, looking back, from postmenopause life, I can see the beautifully intelligent pattern at work.

The more I rested and made space for menstruation, the more I felt plugged into myself, rooted down into my deep being, the more I felt a sense of “this is who I am”.

Not that I could put this into words. This wasn’t a rational experience. None of this was coming from my logical, clear, left brain (a faculty which I love, and is very strong in me!). It was a feeling state, an embodied, unspoken gift given to me each month by my bleed.

And boy, was it a gift, because - like many of us - I carried a lot of shame, which left me somehow outside of myself for much of the time. And menstruation would pull me back into myself.

So, next time you sense you are heading towards your bleed - or the dark moon if you’re working with the lunar cycle - see if you can track this process.

You may well notice that your energies and reserves have been used up towards the end of your cycle. You’re at your most vulnerable at this point, and it can feel like the rug is being pulled out from underneath you.

Your inner winter then lowers you down and into yourself. It brings you into the deep well of your being. It's a cocooning process. It shuts the world out.

(The more you can drop your bundle here and have time and space to follow the impulses of your body, the more profound this experience will be. However, do not be dismayed if you can only get a small amount of the rest you desire - remember, even 1% more rest is potent and can open up amazing, unexpected doors).

It's like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia. Or becoming Alice and falling down the rabbit hole. A whole new cosmos can open up for you, you are discovering yourself again, and your calling has more space to speak to you - you can get feelings, knowings and messages.

Here’s the advice I’d give to you when your calling starts to speak to you in inner winter

• Don't argue with it.
• Let yourself take dictation from the universe, just pick up a pen and write it down - it doesn’t have to make sense.
• Do not even begin to think about how you are going to make real the vision you're receiving, that will stop it in its tracks.
• Don't tell anybody about it. Keep it close to you. One day you'll be ready to say things about it, but not yet.
• As you move on into your inner spring, remember it's okay if you forget the magnitude of whatever download you received, because wonderfully, it will come back in a future bleed. Your cycle is holding it, and your cycle is holding you.
• All you need to do is show up each day with cycle awareness, honouring the pacing and timing of your cycle, and keep on trucking along!

The process of connecting to your purpose throughout the cycle month, and especially in inner winter is a vital thread in our Menstruality Leadership Programme.

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