Relax, Renew, Replenish !

As busy modern women with jobs, homes, and families who are striving towards creating the lives we desire, we spend a lot of time rushing from one activity to another. It’s often all too easy in this situation to forget that the energy we pour out to manage our  homes, families and careers, and even to accomplish goals we set for ourselves such as maintaining a healthy lifestyle or making time to follow our passions needs to be replenished from time to time.

Stress is the great precursor to other problems in today’s world. Juggling the many commitments we all seem to have- even those we love- can result in an insidious kind of constant pressure that women in particular are prone to. Studies show we find it difficult to draw boundaries and  that many of us are still  dealing with the ‘superwoman’ or ‘having it all’ mentality.

 In addition to the stresses of daily life, women also experience hormonal changes throughout their lunar cycle -and indeed throughout their lives- which are still not really addressed  or accepted by society in general. Many issues that arise at these times are habitually suppressed or ignored.

Unfortunately the result is that all too often these unacknowledged issues can bubble to the surface in negative and extreme ways at times of great stress, for example during pregnancy and/or it‘s related aspects such as fertility issues, after a birth, mothering small children, in times of illness and during menopause. They don’t just manifest as  emotional trauma either but can also cause physical problems.

 So  by making a regular time to consciously work on releasing stress and replenishing our reserves of soul energy and creative juices - the wellspring of what we have to give to the world- we are not being selfish, but responsible.

Stress actually changes the chemical make up of our bodies. In the same way, however, so does relaxation. Certain music and sound has the ability to change our brainwave patterns, for example, some Baroque and new age music (music of around 60 beats per minute) is considered to enhance alertness and well being, changing brainwaves from Beta to Alpha and music that drones or chants, such as Gregorian chants, or even repeating “Om” has been shown to change brainwaves to Theta level, which we normally experience when sleeping or mediating.  Affirmations and visualizations can also assist with this process.

 Here’s a guided visualization/ relaxation excersize created specifically for women that you may like to try. I would recommend that it be done at least once a week. It works very well if you record the words (speak slowly and leave spaces for yourself to do the visualisation.) Or find something else that works for you. You’re worth the effort!

“Soft Belly” exercise.

Whether or not we choose to give birth our wombs and bellies are where creativity has space, (whether for dreams, goals, ideas or physically growing a baby) to nurture and grow  beautiful expressions of our lives.

Lay down comfortably on your back. (If this isn’t possible due to pregnancy or injury for example, on your side is fine.)

 Close your eyes. Breathe deeply for a few moments. Take your attention from your head to your toes, tightening each part of your body as you breathe in, then relaxing it as you breathe out.

When you have relaxed  your toes, return your awareness to your belly. Place your hands, fingers spread, over your belly. Hold it tight for a moment, then allow it to soften. Feel it rise and fall with your breath, Now, as you breathe out, repeat ‘soft belly soft belly’.

Visualise yourself laying on warm sand, or soft green grass warmed by the sun above. You are comfortable and calm.

 Feel the warmth of the sun gather in your pelvic area, allow this warmth to  slowly travel down your legs to your toes and then to return up your back, over the top of your head and  back down to your belly, flowing over and through.

 Feel the lusciousness of your whole being and the delicious femaleness of having a soft and pliable, warm and comforting belly for feelings to develop, ideas to gestate, for food to be absorbed and digested, nourishing your body.

Allow this process  to occur for as long as you need. When you are ready, allow the warmth to remain in your belly. Take a few deep breaths, open your eyes and wiggle your fingers and toes. You should feel relaxed, replenished and renewed.

This "soft belly" meditation was adapted from one originally created by Lara Owen author of "Her Blood is Gold"

Perimenopause? Who, Me?

Although I’ve been planning to begin this blog proper since January 2012 the Universe /Goddess, call the Source power what you will, has had other ideas.
Issues around breast health and many other serendipitous occurrences have conspired to hold up actually starting. I’d finally been kind of waiting for a sign to say “This is it…. get going!”
So this month I experienced my first moon time in six months. If that’s not a sign I don’t know what is! Synchronistically I also started reading “The Wisdom Of Menopause” By Dr Christiane Northrup. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. For those of us going through the Climacteric, a.k.a Perimenopause (meaning that I haven’t yet gone a full twelve months without a period but I am experiencing many symptoms such as hot flushes, vagueness, breast changes, difficulty losing weight and emotional fluctuations) it is a touchstone which reassures that others are experiencing the same issues and still thriving and flourishing, in fact sometimes living the most positive, healthy, juicy and fulfilling part of their lives to date.
When I was writing Moon Rites originally ten years ago, obviously I had to rely on the wisdom of more experienced mentors like Susun Weed (Mistress of Herbal Lore and Women’s Wisdom par excellence- author of Menopausal Years The Wise Woman Way) and the wonderful Elaine An (a VERY weird situation for me!) Instead, aseling as well, a technique I’m still learning and will talk about later. I’m not my normal self yet, by any stretch, but I’m coping pretty well to date.
To me, it seems like even though this transition is as big and important as becoming pregnant, our society does not acknowledge it as such- in fact, quite the opposite.
So even though it’s quite a challenge, I’m in a privileged position where I can hopefully put everything I discovered ten years ago together with what I’m experiencing and discovering now and act for others like you as the touchstone you need to navigate your own transitions. We all need a touchstone and we all need to know we are not alone!

Get on yer bike! The cycles of life and how you can't ignore them......

Hello!
Well readers, I have no one but myself to blame- after all I wrote the book. And when I say "I wrote the book," I DON'T mean it in the rhetorical sense I mean I actually wrote the book.
TEN YEARS AGO
In 2002 , after four years of research and inclusive of everything I had learned and experienced in my 38 years, with the best of intentions my first book "Moon Rites- Ritual Myth and Magic For The Modern Moon Goddess" was published. My plan for the book was that it be used as a tool and a resource for those women who wanted to rediscover the power and beauty of female stories, ritual, and the 'wise ways' that women have been using for thousands of years  in different cultures to care for themselves in all the different stages of their lives, to help busy modern women get in touch and reconnect with their inner selves and draw soul food from the wellspring of female  power inside.
It was a breathtakingly wonderful experience to see all this work come together in a book, my offering to the world, and my daughters.
At the time- my daughters were 11  and 9 respectively. We lived near Byron Bay in a lovely timber house with a big productive garden and I was cleaning houses and writing freelance articles as my job . It was creative, beautiful time where I was able to enjoy the natural energy all around me and live a lifestyle where there was always a moment to breathe and reconnect with my soul.

Well! FIVE YEARS LATER..
Luckily for me, when the original publishers decided to jump ship the wonderful Shekhinah Morgan, creator of the yearly "Moon Diary" and publisher of "books celebrating Her" took the work and improved it. In 2005  "Moon Rites was re- published as "Moon Rites- a feminine path to personal power" which is exactly what it is.
 Ok- Ok I know you're saying- get to the point woman! Sorry for the long set-up but you won't fully appreciate the delicious irony if you don't have the backstory.

ANOTHER FIVE YEARS LATER.....
The punchline my friends is this. I have become that very same woman I wrote the book for. For the past nine years I've lived in a busy regional city. I now run an office. I still write, but not regular freelance, I write books,when I've had the time to squeeze it in, between raising teenage girls, work, husband, dogs, cat, guinea pigs, et. al. I know, right? Cosmic Joke! Quelle ironique! Quantum freakiness!
 This year the cycle has come around to full. My youngest daughter has left home, and after a suitable period of  greiving for my former identity I've realised that it's now time to do the very thing I wrote the book about, namely to Renew, Rediscover and Reclaim my inner woman. In addition I was officially given the 'peri menopause' label in June - a new adventure, a chance to actually LIVE something I only knew from writing about and the stories that other women shared with me ten years ago.

So here's my plan- I'M going to use Moon Rites in the way it was intended. There are 13' month' or moon chapters in the book, each one talks about a different goddess, a different aspect of  looking after ourselves and a simple ritual and has blank pages to journal one's thoughts, experiences and feelings for that month. Over thirteen months, I am going to read the entries, do the rituals and note my journey in the journal, and here in this blog. If it's as transformative an experience as I'm hoping, other women might gain from peeking in on my experiences.

What I'd dearly love to do is have  others come on the journey with me. Yes, it'll be all about ME. And YOU. And US!  If you want to comment, find out more about these ideas, share the laughs, the groans, the whole damn thing please feel free to let me know you're out there! If you'd like to find out more about Moon Rites- click HERE.