The moon, ayurveda, and your monthly cycle
Get wise, moon mama.
So I'm holding this free class on The moon, Ayurveda, and your monthly cycle (this one's for the ladies, but fellas feel free to get yourself an understanding of what happens here too.)
And I just want to clear up the reason why.
SURE, I'm into moon rituals. Not because I fell in love with wicca after watching The Craft when I was 12 (I did though).
For me, and many others, the cycles of the moon serve as a great reminder to check in with the person I really want to be, in this one and only life.
Many wise moon women celebrate the phases of the moon as follows:
1st quarter / waxing moon - plant seeds for new growth, set intentions, brainstorm, take action, implement new habits, detox
Full moon - celebrate your successes, go outward, collaborate, dance, embrace all the beauty that life has to offer. Be excited about life. Have sex.
3rd quarter / waning moon - go inward, reflect on what's no longer serving you and release it, honor your body with oils.
New Moon - disconnecting, cleansing, spending time alone, thinking about what you want for the month ahead. Self Care.
Really... who wouldn't want to make space for all of these things in the span of a month? Lovely little practices right here.
Yet, in taking part in these lovely practices... sometimes I felt like it just wasn't what I wanted to be doing in that moment. It wasn't what my body was asking for.
ENTER AYURVEDA. (the 7,000 year old eastern science of life.)
The teachings of Ayurveda help us to:
1. Understand how our bodies function
2. Adopt daily habits to support those functions.
We seek first to understand our physical, mental, and emotional body, and then we create little actions to support all of our parts. There's absolutely nothing mystical about it. And yet, many of the recommended daily practices and habits look just like the rituals you see above.
There are four basic phases to the female reproductive hormone cycle (which often aligns with the 28 day cycle of the moon). And as a woman, you know as well as I do that these phases have us feeling pretty different from day to day:
Folicular phase - Estrogen rising, serotonin release, increased energy and mental clarity. Positive outlook on life
Ovulation phase - Estrogen at its peak. Feeling at our best. Celebrating, in party mode. Excited about life. Turned on.
Luteal phase (pms) - Estrogen drops, progesterone rises. Irritated by others, more mental chatter, upset for no reason. Feeling avoidant & unmotivated.
Menstruation phase - Estrogen at lowest point, then slowly begins to rise. Mental chatter becomes more proactive. Needing more sleep, more self care.
hm.... would ya look at that. Our hormonal state, and natural tendencies toward emotion in these different phase sure do seem to line up with the moon phase rituals. How interesting.
BUT IS IT A COINCIDENCE? NOPE.
Moon rituals have been performed for thousands of years. And "back in the day" - really any time before the 1920's, when most humans did not have electricity - most women's monthly cycles aligned with the moon. The "white moon woman" menstruated on the new moon, and ovulated on the full moon. Ovulation is a PERFECT time to celebrate your successes, go outward, collaborate, dance & embrace all the beauty that life has to offer. And, of course, it's the best time to have sex for any mama looking to procreate. And you better believe when I'm menstruating I want some time alone (#highfive to my husband for doing his homework on female reproductive hormones, and being my bodyguard during that time of the month).
Unfortunately many wild women aren't so wild anymore. We operate by junk light, unaware of what the moon is up to. We've fallen out of sync with the moon's cycles, and so our cycles are all over the place.
So, in Ayurveda we align these practices to our monthly hormone cycles, wherever they're at. We support ourselves, in the ways we need it most, at the times we need it most.
AND THEN SOMETHING REALLY COOL HAPPENS.
In taking part in supportive, self loving practices in the different phases of their cycle, it's SUPER common for women to naturally make their way back to alignment with the moon. And in tracking your cycle, you'll see for yourself how different you feel when you align. That's some moon magic right there.
That's why I need to hold a free class. Because I want every mama to first lovingly honor her own cycle, so she can feel at her best on any day of the month.
TAKE THE FREE CLASS
In the Moon, Ayurveda, and your monthly cycle class you'll dive deeper into:
- the four moon phases
- the four basic reproductive hormone phases
- my favorite Ayurvedic rituals for each phase
- how to easily track your cycle along with the moon
- 5 tips to more quick;y align your cycle to the moons
Plus you'll get a downloadable tracking template.
Click here to sign up. Time to get wise, moon mama.
xo Carly