Reclaim the healing power of the cycles of Womanhood.

Here are 9 Ways to make your MoonTime sacred ~

1) Start with your speech. Make a conscious effort to speak about your menstrual period with respect. Consider calling your menses MoonTime or some other name with honor. Our language holds a ton of power. Notice how you speak about your sacred bloods. Do you talk about this time of the month with positive energy? Do you do your best to keep it a secret? Do you express any challenges you may have with your cycles in a respectful way?

2) Consider using cloth menstrual pads. MoonTime can be more enjoyable, interesting, healthy, and ecologically responsible with the use of cloth menstrual pads! I believe this is one small step we as women can take toward reclaiming a positive relationship with this very important aspect of Womanhood. Read more about the joys of using cloth for your MoonTime in the latest Shakti Moonletter.

3) “Catch” your bloods. Feed them to the garden. Consciously make the connection between your body’s cycles and the cycles of the earth. Recycle your blood as food for the earth! See below for direction on this practice.

4) Adorn yourself as the Great Mother Earth. Wear something red or red-brown on the day of your menses. Consider cutting your hair, wearing a special scarf or skirt and/or wearing only all natural, comfortable fabrics at this time of the month.

5) Work less and rest more. If you are self-employed or have some flexibility in your career, carve out one of these few days at the end of your cycle to take a personal day. If you are a mama of young children, taking a personal day might just be nearly impossible! In this case, consider trading childcare with another mama on one of these few days or treat yourself to some extra childcare at the end of your cycle. You may want to also treat your child to a wholesome video like Winne the Pooh so that you can put your feet up for a little while!

6) Get in touch with your Femininity. The essence of the Feminine is BEING. Surrender, listen to your own needs desires, follow your intuition when it comes to how you spend your time, who you spend it with, and what you eat. Think BEING rather than doing. Spend time with other women this time of the month, or carve out some solitude.

7) Make a simple healing ritual for yourself. Spend 30 minutes alone. Light a candle, play some soothing music, take a bath, or do some gentle Yoga and movement. Pray, reflect, open yourself to your inner guidance and wisdom.

Refrain from cooking, especially for other people. Consider getting take out on the first day of your MoonTime or ask a friend. partner, etc. to cook for you once a month. If you do ask a woman friend, you could trade meals, unless of course you live together and cycle together! Try to avoid standing on your feet and cooking at this time, unless it is a creative joy or you do not have access to healthy take out food. Proper nutrition is very important this time of the month!

9) Celebrate your blood! The first moment of the month that you see your sacred bloods, give thanks, sing a song for your fertility, be grateful for the health of your womb and for being a woman. When the bloods are complete, mark this transition. Take a deep breath and give thanks for the magical and uniquely female power of renewal. Wow ~ your personal month, your own new moon, occurs in your body! What a blessing. You are the body of the Earth, give thanks!

The key to Making it Sacred is to keep it simple. Choose one thing on the list that you’ll do for your next cycle and please, let me know how it goes! wombmedicine@shaktiwoman.org

How to “catch” your Moon Blood ~

Use cloth menstrual pads. When your pad is full, remove it and place it in a large bowl with warm water. Allow your pads for the day to soak and at the end of the day pour your bloods into a houseplant. You may want to choose one plant in the house that will become your special MoonTime plant ally, to receive your bloods each month. This may be a medicinal plant that you will use for your own healing. or for the healing of other women in your family and community. You can also pour your bloods into your own or a friend’s garden.

Enjoy!

Today’s MoonTime Story ~

I haven’t thought much about Eco-feminism for some years now. But something happened to me today, there was a shift that I feel I can’t turn my back on. For the past 2 years now, I have not been using ecologically friendly, reusable menstrual-pads and have in turn, let go of the correlated practices of ‘catching’, honoring, and giving my sacred bloods back to the earth. In other words, I have not been honoring my body as the body of the earth which is the essential message of Eco-Feminism.

I woke up this morning knowing that my body was calling for DEEP rest. My MoonTime began sometime in the wee hours of the night and on the first day of my menses I always feel the need for rest and solitude. In most cultures around the globe there has been (or still is) a sacred space where women go at this time of their month to release daily responsibilities and harness the healing power of the menses for whole tribe. Read more about this practice and the Women’s Moon Lodge. Our bodies as women are designed to surrender into a state of BE-ing at this time of the month. If we avoid this, we lose a uniquely female opportunity for what is called Powerful Monthly Sight (PMS) and we become irritable, tired, or frustrated.

Although we don’t live in a culture that supports this kind of monthly sabbatical, I’ve been slowly moving toward building some of the rest I crave into my monthly rhythm. I am learning to add childcare, not schedule clients or social dates for the few days around MoonTime, avoid cooking dinner for my family on my first day of bloods, and generally allowing myself to slow down toward the end of my personal cycle.

Today was the first day of a Shamanic Bodywork class I am taking, which is a 6 week advanced training in the art of integrating bodywork with Shamanic Healing. I have been looking forward to this class for weeks, but knew this morning that I was not up for receiving new information, practicing healing on my classmates, or even getting in the car to get over to my teacher’s healing cottage! After speaking with my teacher, I decided that I would go to the class, but be more of an observer rather than participant so that I wouldn’t fall too far behind in my studies. Even in this sub-culture of a class consisting of 5 very conscious, earth-loving, plant-loving, wholesome, alternative, wild, creative, female healers, I felt some insecurity around my choice to be there but not participate fully.

Digging into my basket of lotions and potions to find my Tom’s of Maine toothpaste before leaving for class, I also found a necklace I hadn’t seen in many months ~ a triple strand necklace of red seeds from Mexico. As I put it on with a red silk scarf over my unwashed hair to match, and bright red cozy, fuzzy socks too, it was made official.  I realized that I was dressing myself for the Great Mother in reds and browns to honor Her, my body, and the body of the earth.

Half way through the class when my teacher announced that I was taking a moon day, I felt some relief that my classmates were made aware that I was not just lazy or disinterested, but rather, I was listening to and honoring my body!

This MoonTime hit me harder in some ways than some others I’ve had recently, but in some ways it was easier as well. I had more premenstrual pelvic pain this time, but no cramps. The cramps were replaced with the kind of tiredness that is unavoidable. In the class I felt when I sang healing songs with the other women or spoke, it was a huge effort and it felt ‘off’, inauthentic to what my body actually wanted. My body wanted silence and solitude. There was so much value in being in the Shamanic Bodywork class with these women though. As the women rubbed plants on each other, sang earth songs, belly songs, woman songs, wept, opened themselves to and offered healing, something in me shifted. A memory arose. It is time, an inner voice said, it is time to honor The Blood Mysteries again in an even deeper way.

After the class, although I felt that I really needed some rest, I decided to go and buy myself some new cloth menstrual pads: I could not wait one more cycle to begin these practices again. I drove over to Rebecca’s Apothecary and bought some Party In My Pants cloth pads! Here is the first line I read on the back of the box: “Has a tampon ever made you look forward to your period? Does your maxi pad make you smil? Nope. Most menstrual products only make the whole affair more uncomfortable. What’s up with that? Women deserve better.” Brilliant, is all I can say to that. Completely brilliant.

To read more about why I love using cloth menstrual pads (and 5 great reasons you might want to try too!) check out the latest Shakti Moonletter!

Many Moon Blessings to you and don’t hesitate, Make it Sacred!

~ Shakti : )