Amy 

English

A discussion and practices to help you stay close to yourself through the phase of inner winter. Your bleed can be a source of power, drawing down to the core of your being and paving the way for your blossoming in Springtime. I draw upon the archetype of the kore, 'the self-contained wilderwoman' discussed by Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women who run with the wolves. I offer some simple practices that you can return to throughout your bleed to protect and honour your energy.

Inner Winter, Period/Menstruation As A Call To Sovereignty

This is a meditation to support you in harnessing the wisdom of your menstrual cycle and of your bleed of your period. So this is the winter phase of the cycle, a time of real drawing back and dropping in. This is a place of so much richness and power but we are constantly gaslit by our environments and society into dishonouring our needs and the call, the call of winter, of menstruation. So just to name that and to invite you to be, bring self compassion to the very real conflicts or confusions that might arise in that gap between what your body might be calling for and what might feel possible or what strong expectations or obligations are demanding of you in the outside world and of course also for many the bleed can come with intense pain. So it might be, it might feel difficult for you to sense into your body. So really sending you love, sending you love and an embracing in whatever is happening for you or and wherever you are on your journey through the life cycles. I want to share something from Clarissa Pinkler Estes that I feel is a, a real helpful reminder and symbol of menstruation of the winter, winter time. In Women Who Run With The Wolf she writes about an archetype of the woman known as a core, K-O-R-E. This is a woman who will not marry, a self-contained, wilder woman. This aspect of the female psyche represents that which wishes to keep to herself alone. This is mystical and solitary in a good way for the core has taken up with the sorting and weaving of ideas, thoughts and endeavours. The core, as is suggested by its proximity to core C-O-R-E, is this unshakable and sovereign part of us that holds our compass, a deep intuition that needs nothing from no one but can withdraw and spend time in the imaginary realms, in the land of dream and memory, in the body and the body's depths, dreaming, re-remembering, reconfiguring, sorting and it's here in this winter time that we are so primed, our body is so primed to do this work and so physically you may really be feeling that, like a deep dropping down, a quietness, perhaps a heaviness, it's drawing down through you, through your pelvis, through your yoni, your womb and vagina and perineum, down your legs, into earth, into the ground and this offers us such rich, rich territory, like real nourishment, where we rediscover or reconfirm what is important, that core, who we are, where we are, what we're here for, which sets the tone for the new cycle, the cycle to come. Of course this requires a lot of rest, far more rest and retreat than our modern lives typically support and yet it's important that we remember this, that we talk about it, that we share it because this is our natural privilege, it's our birthright, it's really, can't be argued with, does not need to be justified, this is the core need of the female body, of a body with menstrual cycles and so we stand firm, we drop down, we're supported by this earth, this stone, these mountains, the earth, this is also the core, right? The awe, as this strength, this steeliness in the depths of this rest, it's not wishy-washy, we're not vulnerable in needing, we may feel vulnerable of course at times but it's another myth, it's another kind of way that misogyny has impacted us in our internal, how we view ourselves as women to think that the menstrual cycle makes us weak and that needing to rest is a weakness because when we really drop in, if we get what we need here, we uncover our deep core strength, how we are rooted, how we are supported like a mountain and that's where our power in the world can bloom from in summertime. So there might be some images there that you connect with and these symbols can be really helpful to keep in mind, you might have had an image come to you or perhaps can lean into some support of something in your environment or in your memories that evokes that quiet, retreated power and depth, maybe it's the core, this mystical and solitary wild woman, maybe it's the mountain, maybe it's a tree, having these symbols, connecting with these symbols or our dreams can help us stay close to ourself as we go about the work of our days when we are in the wintertime and you may also like to think of some supportive phrases or affirmations to nourish yourself with, like I stay by my own side and maybe there's a way that through touch or through your interoception, your awareness you can find a core place within you, I'm drawn to place my hands over my heart, over my sternum, a sternum is a bone that physically protects the heart and you could connect this with the pericardium in Chinese medicine, the heart protector and as I move through the world, as I bleed, I am protected, this core part of me is given her space, this is honoured, I won't let her be disturbed or slandered or gaslit, so I honour myself and I stay by my own side, I will listen to my needs, this does not mean that I can honour them all or honour them in the ways that I really want to but I acknowledge my needs, I listen to my needs, I hold myself close, as we draw in, as we are drawn to rest, you may really enjoy more containment physically, a blanket around you, a hot water bottle, resting in child's pose, curling up and as I move out in the outside world, no matter all the people around me, all the hustle and bustle, I hold myself close and I know that my depths are unshakable, my power, my cyclical power is sovereign and unshakable, you might wish to scan through your body, sensing into your centre line, from the crown of your head, through your spine, into your pelvis, out through your yoni, my sovereignty is unshakable, okay so just see where you're at now, how you're feeling and if there's anything from this that feels like it's, you're ready to receive it, what have you plucked from this talk meditation, what's landed in you and orientating from your body, from your very core, how do you want to move now, it might be something that you have to do now and even as you go into that, can you offer yourself a slightly different pace or a way of being alongside you, what companionship are you going to offer yourself, how are you going to protect your core as you move through your day and through your period, did you come back and listen to this again and let's support each other in reclaiming our cycles and their power, so please borrow permission and compassion and love from me and know that this is a gift that you're not just giving yourself but you're giving to the women and people around you, this is medicine that the world really really needs, okay much love, thank you.