When you read the word “feminine power”, what is the first thing that come up to your mind?
Recently in July during our Museflower Soul Sharing Circle with Sarah Walton, we posed this question to the group and went around the circle. The topic of our circle was about stepping into our feminine power.
It was interesting how the answers varied within our group of 8 women.
Lotus flower. Heart. Womb. Vagina. Subtle voice. Wonder woman. Goddess.
I was someone who never thought much about feminine power until a few months ago when I stumbled upon Jim Kwik’s podcast with Alisa Vitti, a functional nutrition and women’s hormone expert. That’s when I learned about her book called “In the Flo” and how us women can optimize our lives by learning how each phase of our monthly cycle works.
Before that, I have read a bit about how our monthly menstrual cycle is related to the lunar cycle, and how each phase of the lunar cycle is connected to a feminine archetype, season, element and certain qualities.
And I also know that menstruation is not a curse or something annoying to deal with every month. It is a sacred gift and blessing just for us women. But that’s about it. That’s all I knew about this topic then.
I didn’t feel called to explore this topic until the beginning of this year. For one week of every month, I experienced a dull pain around my uterus and ovaries region. This had never happened to me before, though I have had different pre-menstrual symptoms. I was pregnant and I was breastfeeding for the past couple years, so I didn’t really experience any menstrual symptoms.
I’m not sure if the dull pain is related to the laparoscopic surgery that I had before from removing a dermoid cyst from my right ovary, or if it was related to the c-section giving birth to my son, or it could be anything else.
The dull pain would come one week before my period arrives, and it was an on-and-off pain. It was not so painful till the point I couldn’t function. Yet there was just this discomfort that drained my energy and blurred my focus. One week later it would be gone, and then one week after that my period would begin.
I was intrigued when I heard Alisa Vitti’s talk from the podcast. I thought to myself, maybe that could be something interesting to learn about and that might help reduce the dull pain. I knew the dull pain must be connected to my monthly cycle since it only came once a month.
This is the beginning of my journey to explore deeper into understanding my inner sacred feminine and to improve my relationship with my monthly cycle and my body.
It is still an ongoing process. Once the gateway is open, the Universe has responded to my call for help. Synchronicities and opportunities flow to my life to allow me to delve deeper into connecting with my inner sacred feminine. This is also how the idea of our first Soul Bliss online course Harness Your Feminine Power began.
In this blog today I want to share with you my number one tip on getting started on harnessing your feminine power, and that is to live with the flow and the rhythm of your monthly cycle.
One of my biggest revelations from reading Alisa’s book “In the Flo” is that women do not need to experience pre-menstrual symptoms and period pain when their hormones are balanced.
Depending on our culture and what society tells us, women are usually ashamed of their menstruation and it is something that is not spoken about publicly. Women just endure the pain and struggle silently, that somehow having pre-menstrual symptoms become an abnormal yet acceptable norm.
When I was studying in a Chinese primary school in Hong Kong, there was one class back in sixth grade where the teachers separated the boys and the girls, and the girls’ group talked about menstruation. Then later when I was studying in an American school, I remembered there was another class in nineth grade that talked about safe sex. Everyone just giggled and laughed throughout the class.
My mom never talked to me about menstruation or sex either. It is still a very hush-hush topic in Chinese society today. So it was up to me to explore myself, and the only reference I had was from my two elder sisters and from reading magazines like Cosmogirl.
Twenty-two years later after my first period began at the age of 12, I finally got to learn more about my unique female biology. Needlessly to say, it was extremely empowering and eye-opening.
Now I understand that it is okay not to compare myself to people who seem to be “on” and have so much energy all the time.
Why is it sometimes that I can practice what male teachers share (like taking a cold shower every day), and why is sometimes I just can’t get myself to do it? And when I couldn’t do the wellness practices that these male teachers shared, I felt like I failed. I felt like maybe I was just not as great as these teachers, so I should just stop practicing.
I now realize that men and women have different brains and live with different levels of hormones. Women who menstruate usually between the age of 12 to 55 live with two cycles – a daily cycle and a monthly cycle, whereas men only live with a daily cycle.
Our monthly cycle can be divided into four phases similar to the lunar cycle. During each phase of our cycle, our hormones are working differently to prepare the body for pregnancy or menstruation. That means we are bound to feel differently during each phase.
Instead of working against our female biology because we think we should just “get it together” like men, I’ve learned that we really should tune into our body and listen to HER guidance.
Allowing our female body and monthly cycle to guide us is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned to start harnessing my unique feminine power.
Based on Alisa’s book “In the Flo”, below is a quick overview of what each phase feels like. Obviously, every woman may feel slightly different than what I share below. Your body is unique to you. Please note that this is only a general overview.
If you are post menopause, you can still tune in with the rhythm of the lunar cycle. And to all the men out there, understanding how the female cycle works can help to improve your relationship with the women in your lives and your own inner sacred feminine as well.
Source: In the Flo by Alisa Vitti
Since after I finished reading the book, I have started to track each phase of my cycle, along with my physical, emotional, mental and energetic state during each phase. This allows me to understand my own body better, and learn to work with my cycle instead of against it. I have also started to schedule and prioritize tasks that are most compatible to each phase of my cycle whenever possible.
For example, I am now in my ovulatory phase and this week I feel really inspired to create. I have written two blog articles, some website content for my new website, and filmed the vision mandala class that I will later share online.
Next week I’ll be entering my luteal phase. So I’ll get onto completing more administration tasks, updating the website, doing some accounting work, etc. You get the picture.
As for the dull pain around my uterus region, I couldn’t say that it is completely gone yet since I have just started working with my cycle a few months ago. I’ve added seed cycling where I eat certain seeds during each phase of my cycle to help balance my hormones and evening primrose oil to my diet.
By being more attentive to my body’s needs and signs, I notice the pain has lessened and my mood is more stable during the pre-menstrual and menstrual phase.
I’ve really enjoyed riding on the wave of each phase of my cycle, and cultivating and healing my relationship with my female body. I feel that I am finally honoring myself as a woman.
I highly recommend reading Alisa Vitti’s book “In the Flo” or other books to learn more about our monthly cycle. For a more comprehensive reading list on understanding and connecting with your inner sacred feminine, I refer you to this blog by Rising Woman: “16 Book Suggestions for the Empowered Woman”
If you are interested to learn more about seed cycling, check out this article from The Chalkboard Mag.
What a gift and blessing, to be a woman in these times!
Knowledge itself is not enough. Knowledge + Action is true power.
It’s great to read and educate ourselves about our monthly cycle.
But do you want to take action and delve deeper into connecting with your inner sacred feminine?
If so, I invite you to embark on a heroine journey together this October and be empowered by your inner female wisdom.
My friend Sarah Walton and I have created our first Soul Bliss online programme called Harness Your Feminine Power from October 2 – 31, 2020. It is a 30-day journey where we will explore each of the four feminine archetypes similar to the four phases of our monthly cycle: the Maiden, the Mother, the Wild Wise Woman, and the Crone.
Every week we get together with like-minded women to connect with one aspect of our inner sacred feminine through Soul Writing, meditation, chanting and intuitive healing exercises.
If you are interested to learn more about this transformative journey, please visit our course website here: https://soulblissretreat.thinkific.com/
What a gift and blessing, to be a woman in these times!
