This is part two of episode 32, where I talk about how when you are living in alignment with the cyclical nature of your menstrual cycle, with how you eat, exercise and socialize you are stepping into your greatness, ripping the benefits of living in accordance with the body’s natural flow and embodying womanhood fully.
This way of living allows you to move through your life in a gentler way, where you are not as harsh with yourself as so many of us are. And I think we all know what I mean by that, right?
As women and mothers, we feel guilty all the time and about everything.
We should ourselves all day long, we should have done that, said that, bought that, or didn’t buy that, went there, stayed home, and this list just goes on and on and on…
Today I am going to teach you how to live in alignment with your cyclical nature, how to capitalize on the different stages of each phase and how, as a result, you can be kinder and gentler to yourself throughout your days, weeks, months and years. By the way, I learned this system from Kate Northrup, so if you’re interested in more of this you should definitely check her out. She talks about sustainable success in motherhood and how to have more by doing less.
In part one I talked about how our menstrual cycle is our base point for everything, and how our food, exercise and the way we socialize should change during each phase of the cycle. So, if you didn’t listen to it, please go back and listen, you can find this training over at my website, healthbeginswithmom.com/ep-32.
Today I am going to talk about the last piece, which is how we should change and adapt, not only how we eat, exercise and socialize, but also how we work, study and just in general move through our days. This is super important to know and understand because we are human beings living on planet earth in a body that is connected to nature. Knowing this gives you the power to say yes (or no) to things at the right time because this is what right for you. This gives you the feeling that you have control over your life so that you are able to be proactive about the things that matter to you as opposed to being reactive to other people’s schedules, your never-ending to-do list, your kids activities, spending time with the people you love, etc. You are the queen and you get to design your life in accordance with this system. When you master this, you will feel like you’re ruling the world.
So, there are four phases to anything you do or create, whether it is a project you are working on at work, organizing a birthday party for your child, or literally giving birth. We all move through these four phases, which are also known as the four cycles of success, and they are:
Visibility – this phase has the energy of the full moon, summer, ovulation, peak fertility, rebirth, and receptivity. This is when things can be brought into manifestation. This is when you are allowing yourself to be seen, heard, present. If you think of yourself as a flower, then this is the time to blossom!
In the framework of a day, this would start at 7 am and go until 11 am, which is when the sun is already high in the sky and your day has officially started. Everyone is waking up, you’re packing kids lunches, backpacks are all set, hair is being brushed and everyone is rushing out the door. It’s a new day!
In the framework of a week, this would be early to mid-week (Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday), which is when you are well into the week, into a project, into whatever you are working on that particular week.
In terms of your monthly cycle, this would be the time of ovulation. This is when you are most fertile and your hormones are all geared towards accepting a sperm and create life. Whether if you are planning on getting pregnant or not, use this energy of the month to bring something you are working on to life. This is a great time to spread the word about what you’re working on, to press send, to publish, to launch. This is a great time to start new things. This is also when you might feel most chatty and most magnetic, so it’s a great time to socialize, go out on dates, play with the kids, go out with your girlfriends, do sales calls, sell. You’ll notice that this is when people will tell you that you look really good, and this is because biologically you are super fertile which is needed in order to attract a mate. Capitalize on this energy! Since this is when you are most fertile, again whether if you are planning on getting pregnant or not, this is the time of the month to have sex.
Make this day of the month special, luscious and magnetic. Have fun Since you have lots of energy during this time of the month, enjoy dancing, bouncing off the walls, singing, and wear something that makes you feel good. And please, note that there is a difference between wearing something that makes you look sexy and something that makes you feel sexy.
So we spoke about this energy that happens daily at 6 am, weekly at about mid-week (Tuesday-Wednesday), Monthly (once a month on the day of your ovulation), and in a context of a year, this would be summertime. It would be the longest day of the year during the summer solstice, so stay outside as long as you can in order to honor the energy of visibility as much as you possible.
Culmination – If visibility has the energy of starting new things, the energy of culmination is bringing things into completion. This is important, especially for those of us who like to start new things but never finish them. The energy of this time in a day, week, month and a year is all geared toward culminating something you’ve worked on during visibility. Just to give you an example, and since we’re all moms here, let’s say that during visibility you were researching about a swim school for your kids. You asked friends, you made phone calls, you’ve seen a few schools. Now it’s time to take action, choose a school and make the payment. This is what I mean by culminating something, bringing it to an end, instead of leaving something hanging in the air forever. Incomplete tasks, projects, to-dos are huge energy leaks which you want to eliminate as much as possible from your life. This is why it is important to say ‘NO’ to most things, especially if they are not aligned with your life’s vision and purpose (more on that in a later episode).
In a day, the energy of would start at 6 am and go until 12 pm, then at 12 pm, this is when the energy of culmination begins and ends at about 6 pm. This is when you are most productive at work, getting stuff done, and finishing up and getting ready to go home. This is when you feel like your energy for the day is almost gone, you are getting tired, craving coffee, or a mid-day sugary snack or a pick-me-up.
In a week this would be the time of almost end of the week, starting at Thursday and ending on Friday night.
In terms of your menstrual cycle, culmination would occur during the luteal phase, which biologically is designed to be longer than ovulation, which is a great signal and reminder from the universe that it takes much more time to complete something than start it. There are times for new beginnings but now is not for that. This is when you will have the extra energy you need to complete, finish and culminate things. Whether it is a friendship you are waning down, weaning your baby off of a pacifier or a boob or sleep training your baby, this is time to GSD. Which stand for getting s.h.i.t done! Track your menstrual cycle and use the energy of the luteal phase to complete projects. If you are not menstruating, align yourself with the lunar cycle, and use the energy of the waning moon to wrap things up. I love this quote by Kate Northrup: “When you honor the gifts of the phase of creation you’re in, you get a lot more done in a lot less time.”
Looking at a year, this would be the time of fall, when leafs are falling and the earth is getting ready to go inward for winter.
Fertile Void – I love this expression because it embodies the polarity of two forces that seem to not have anything to do with one another. On the one hand, it is void, empty, as though nothing is happening, and on the other it is fertile. How can that be? Let’s see what is going on here. The energy during this time of the day, week, month and year pertains to rest, pausing, replenishing, and taking a breath. This is one of the most important phases of creation as this is actually when it all starts. This is the time to re-evaluate, recentre and refocus.
In terms of a day, this is the time when you are asleep when your body’s energy is being replenished and your mind is quiet. This is why you keep hearing that sleep is so crucial as you cannot function without it. As mothers, so many of us are sleep deprived, and I believe that for a period of time, we sort of lose our sense of security and safety because of this loss of sleep, because we lose what is supposed to ground us for the whole day, week, month and year.
In terms of the week, this would be on Saturday. We all know what the bible says about the 7th day of the week, which is the day of rest. You are not supposed to work, to do any “productive” activities. Only rest. Spend time with family, kids, play board games and just give yourself permission to slow down and lay fallow.
It’s the same energy as the season of winter, the new moon, and the time of the month when we bleed (aka our menstrual cycle).
I love this quote by Kate Northrup: “Deep, true creativity doesn’t emerge despite the deep pause; it emerges because of it.”
I think in order to thrive in our lives we need to learn how to pause, sit in silence, quite our minds. Stop the chatter and tune into what matters. This is where the feeling of grounding is coming from.
Emergence – this phase is the beginning of anything. The energy of the spring, where everything is just beginning to bloom, you see tiny buds coming out from the branches of the trees, you can smell renewal and newness in the air.
Looking at a day, emergence would be early in the morning, right before the sun is rising, when your body will be moving a lot as to signify that you’ve had enough to sleep, it’s time to wake up. This is also the energy of Sunday, where the week starts anew and we get to start all over again. This is the time to plant seeds and get started.
If you are like me this time in the cycle of creation would feel really good, since it is much easier to start something rather than finishing it. So in order to thrive in your life, it is important to embrace the energy of culmination and the fertile void in order to complete what you set your attention to without burning yourself out.
Let’s say you want to plan a way overdue date night with your husband. This would be the time you’d use google a lot, you’ll research, have ideas, it will start flowing to you easily. In order to get the most out of this phase, make sure to put your ideas on paper, so you don’t feel scattered and all over the place.
Emergence has the same energy as the follicular phase of your period (which is the 5 days or so after you bleed).
If you really want to thrive then it is super important to embrace whichever phase you’re currently at, and move through the cycle with grace, self-compassion and being reasonable, kind and thoughtful towards yourself. You can’t and should not, do everything at once and at one time. It takes time to create, birth and complete. It is time to let go of perfection and the desire to do everything. Life doesn’t work this way, so I want you to be gentle with yourself and embrace good-enoughness into your life.
That’s it. These are the four phases of birthing or creating anything you desire in your life.
You may be asking yourself where is it start? Which phase of creation is the start? The answer to that is there is no beginning and there is no end to a cycle. It constantly flows, moving through the phases until one day, it no longer exists. Which from the perspective of the human experience would mean death, or transitioning from this world into a new realm of being.
You are literally a magnet for creating and manifesting things into your life. Master this and you will soar in your womanhood, mothering, and relationships.
I hope this was super helpful and insightful for you, now I want to hear from you! Which phase are you at in your life, motherhood or marriage right now? And what are the steps you are going to take in order to get the best of where you’re at right now? Find me on facebook, and message me! I go under Dorit Palvanov. You are also welcome to join my closed FB group where we talk about this kind of stuff and more.