One of the qualities of the second half of our menstrual cycle, when we tip into the landscape of Autumn and Winter, is that our focus starts orientating again towards ourself, rather than the world around us.
This is the time when we are invited to face ourselves, to shine the light of what is alive inside of us, particularly anything that has been ignored or glossed over earlier on the month.
This is the time our skin becomes thinner, we are more receptive to what is around us and we are able to feel more. What most people call ‘PMT’ is often connected to emotions that have been suppressed earlier on in our cycle, that can no longer be denied.
I’ve started noticing that a few days before I bleed, something inside me needs to come into deep feeling – I need to have a good cry and soften my skin that has become tough from all the doing and business. Through listening to this process over the last year, I’ve learned to notice when it’s time to sit myself down and have a roam around what’s there and see if I can feel what there is to feel… I’ve started realising that connecting to grief is a necessity that I have, in order to feel whole.
Sometimes, in this state of gentle listening, I find myself connecting to our collective pain body, feel myself becoming a vessel to shed the earth’s tears. It feels so crucial to move beyond numbness and to discover how deeply we care about the world. To allow the pain from our collective suffering to penetrate us, soften us through our tears and guide us into opening our hearts again, in a world in which it’s so easy to stay brittle and protected.
“The willingness to be receptive and to ‘feel what is’ weaves us into interconnectivity with all things. This connection to Life awakens our care for Life – inspiring a river of love that can fuel our sacred activism in the world.” – TreeSisters