Lesson 4:
The Inner Seasons
Understanding your Inner Seasons puts the next layer in place on the archetypal map of the cycle that we're building together.
It adds so much richness, depth and self-compassion to your menstrual cycle awareness journey and also, crucially, allows you to inquire into your own personal response to the shifting energies of the cycle.
Each season asks something different of us and also offers us a different power. If we skip over a season energetically, we miss out on something psychologically important for us.
A normal cycle can be anywhere between 25 and 32 days. Still, we use the 28-day cycle as a kind of template to understand the inner seasons. Please remember the following are all approximate - the best guide is listening to your own cycle. And there's no perfect cycle: it's about developing a relationship to the cycle YOU have and listening to what it's telling you. As you continue to chart, you'll get more and more of a sense of where your own individual seasons begin and end.
By paying attention to your inner seasons, you'll repair the order of your cycle and anchor in good self-care skills.
Summer (Ovulation phase)
Approx. Day 12 to day 19
An example of a Summer Day:
In your Inner Summer, you can enjoy these Wild Powers...
Outward Focus
Loving others
Visiblity
Optimism
Leadership
Mastery
High Energy
Charm
Magnetism and attractiveness (a good time to go for that interview or proposal!)
Generosity
Diplomacy
Being in the flow
Allowing
Gratitude
Pleasure
To unlock these powers, your sacred task is to ...
Allow
This is the time to take the brakes off! To 'do the work', if you are currently busy with a project, but also to celebrate, enjoy and allow what wants to flow in your life. Go for it!
Autumn (Pre-Menstrum)
Approx. Day 20 to day 26
Autumn days can look like this...
In Autumn, life is offering you these natural powers...
Holding the tension
Insight
Saying no
Editing
The critic
Provoke and catalyse
Be the truth speaker!
Complete things
Tune in and channel
Lose it
Let yourself drift
Harvest the gold of your Via Positiva as you move into Via Negativa
Drop your bundle
Discern
To free up these powers, your sacred tasks are to:
Slow down
Hold the tension
In Autumn, you are called to slow down your pace, let go of the Summer expansiveness and allow your tide to turn back towards yourself as your Via Negativa is re-activated, your energy begins to drop and your inner lights go back on.
It's a chance to develop your inner 'muscle' to hold any tension you feel. This could be tension between opposing needs and priorities in your life, tension inside you between different parts of you ... or just 'raah'/'aargh' from bumping up against others' behaviours, which suddenly seem that much more irritating or confronting!
This is the season where we build a powerful container within ourselves that can hold our developing Wild Power. So embrace the opportunity to hone this skill!
Winter (Menstruation phase)
Approx. Day 27 to day 5
You can tap into these Natural Powers during Inner Winter ...
Deep rest and rejuvenation
Detachment
Stillness
Bliss
Natural purification and healing
Acceptance
Inner connection
Effortless presence
Expansive awareness and altered states of consciousness
Ecstasy and visioning
Inner guidance and instruction to bring in your Calling
Receiving love from your deeper self and from life
Seeing all life as sacred
Exquisite intimacy with yourself and life
Union with life and the potential to experience this more deeply with a partner
Forgiveness of self and others
To access these powers, your Sacred Task is to...
Rest
Yes, it's that simple. In Winter, just like the trees and the earth, we rest and let go ... And through this comes a profound soothing of our nervous system, which nourishes us for the cycle to come. In Week 3, we'll explore this theme more fully, including how to do it in a busy life.
For now, notice any resistance, fear, sadness or other emotions that come up around this seasonal task. How easy is it for you to rest and let go? What would make it easier? Journal or draw your feelings and thoughts.
Spring (Pre-ovulation)
Approx. Day 6 to day 11
The Powers you can access during your Inner Spring are...
Tenderness
Innocence
Curiosity
PlayfulnessImaginationContainment and focusSurging energyExploring your inner 'Fool'Motivation and enthusiasmPositivityAssertivenessTo release these powers into your life, your sacred task is to...Move tenderly and cherish yourselfThis means regarding yourself as a delicate, newly unfurling bud that needs protection. As your Via Positiva comes online again, bringing with it a tendency to go outside of yourself, keep checking in as you move through your life, remembering that you are in a vulnerable phase. It's not the time to push or strive. It's a good idea to hold any new creations close to you in this phase, and share only with those you know will be supportive.