In the inner summer of the cycle (menstrual or lunar), life can tend to feel more simple. We often feel more robust, usually have more energy and therefore feel more buffered, which tends to make us feel more resilient, strong and capable.
This all means that we can live the life that this culture deems to be "normal". Our awareness of our own needs tends to be quieter, so it's much easier to put yourself aside and go above and beyond for others.
(Women are celebrated for this kind of inner summer power; giving, multitasking, caretaking. And, for a time, this is all good – we do need useful, conflict-free time in the cycle, where we're in the groove and have built up reserves!)
But then bam, around day 19 or 20 (or whenever you feel your inner proverbial leaves start to turn), the inner autumn enters the scene, reminding us that we can’t be all things to all people all the time. It's simply not sustainable, personally or collectively.
This is why the crossover into autumn can feel like a slap in the face, a wobble or feeling like we've hit a wall.
Today we want to honour and dignify what is going on with this inner autumn ‘gear change’, and how it is evolving us individually and within the culture at large.
We feel ourselves
In inner autumn, our internal life becomes illuminated - more of us comes ‘online’. We become aware of the parts of ourselves that we haven't been tending to, particularly the parts that have been too difficult to face, or too hard to listen to.
We see ourselves
A new kind of embodied intelligence and insight becomes available to us, a sense of knowing, without knowing how. It's animal in nature, like we are tracking something with our instincts. An inner compass can be activated that knows who we are, what we're about and what we're for.
As an Italian woman said in one of our workshops "I know without knowing, what I know".
(This can help make sense of painful premenstrual symptoms - something is calling from deep within us for our attention. The less we acknowledge the knowings, the louder the messages get, and they can be so darn uncompromising.)
We re-sensitise ourselves
We believe the core purpose of the premenstruum is to bring us into contact with our vulnerability. It re-sensitises us and calls us home to our humanness. We recover ourselves, and in doing so our hearts open up to the world.
(As I’m sure you’ve noticed - this level of sensitivity can feel incredibly challenging, which is why we’re offering this recontextualisation and honouring. If you find yourself bursting into tears on day 24, or feeling easily overwhelmed, or like you can't tolerate the same amount of noise or little things upset you, do not shame yourself. And do not diminish what you're experiencing. This sensitivity is restoring you to your connection to the world and to life.)
We understand ourselves (and our responsibility in the world)
The second half of the cycle wakes us up to the fact that we are more than our little old selves. We connect to the world around us in a different way, and to our responsibility to it (this has the great benefit of ensuring that we don't become narcissistic sh*ts!).
We hope this helps to offer a new way of understanding the challenges of the inner autumn - if you’re keen to hear more, you may enjoy this podcast episode where we expand on these ideas, as well as air the dirty laundry of our own premenstrual experiences: Episode 58: The Power of Your Premenstrual Phase. In next week’s article we look at how to awaken these powers more and more in your life.
If inner autumn is a hot spot in the cycle for you, or your inner autumn challenges are amplifying in your 40s, we invite you to join our new Cycle Power self-paced course.
You’ll be guided to honour and dignify your premenstrual rage, tenderness, frustration and grief, so that little by little you can feel more rooted into yourself and skilled in how to wield your power wisely.
You can join Cycle Power here.
