Appreciating ends...The Red Tent Novel.

Tonight i finished The Red Tent. Surprising that i was able to hold off getting to the end for so long. But i managed. I was recommended the book months ago and have saved reading it for long luxurious cleansing baths where i have really been able to retreat into the fictional world created by Anita Diamant. I see coming to the end of books as a positive and a negative and often i read little bits so that i can dwell in the world for as long as possible. This particular book has stirred quite the movement in the world and dramatically in myself. I have talked about a Red Tent or Moonlodge in my posts previous and for me this is where my interest began. Since allowing myself to indulge in the healing and flow of my menstrual times i have become a more connected and rounded woman. I am so grateful to women around me who support this belief and the women in the world who inspire each other to heal and gather through their bleeds.

I have decided i will write a message in the front of this book and give it to another woman in hope it will keep on affecting their relationship with themselves and the world.

This chapter has just ended but another has already begun.

Blessings

Aiyana xxxx

For anyone who is interested you might like to read Anita's blog The Red Tent and more...

Wanting to Hear Your Menstrual Story.

Goddess Kamakya during her menstruation.

 I have recently decided to make a post dedicated to sacred ways to use menstrual blood. I am looking for personal stories that i can share with the world to inspire them to feel their cycle rather than ignore it. My first idea was just to propose this on facebook but i think i would like to open it up to the world now. Please email me at aiyana.woman@gmail.com if you would like to share your story.

Tell me what you think of your monthly blood, do you connect it to the moon and feel powerful when you menstruate? Is your time spent healing and slowing down from your daily responsibilities? Did developing a better relationship with your body help you in other aspects of life? Do any of you link menstruation to pregnancy? Or do you have a bad relationship with your menstruation? Has society put pressure on you to hide it and feel unclean? Do you want your perspective to change?

I want you to talk about your menstruation. I want everyone to talk about menstruation. I want us to claim back our power through our bleeding. I want to help women do this.

With love and blessings

Bree xxx

A Little About What Brought Me Here

I'm a woman on a mission. I feel it is my quest to help others and myself connect to each other and nature. My life is full of small projects and situations that help me do this. Here are just some things that buzz around in my little life that i would like to share with you...

Natural Birthing

I have recently been initiated into the wonderful world of Doula's. A Doula (pronounced doo-la) is a woman in tune with her sympathetic and empowering nature who assist birthing women. We help demonstrating to women that she has power within herself to work with her natural hormones and birth with ease and fulfillment. Birth can be an event that transforms a woman and we think it is important to make that experience as safe and supported as possible. I trust a woman to access her inner wisdom from within birthing and i will help her create the right environment to do so. Please see my Doula webpage for more information about my philosophy and practice.

Dance

Or even just body movement is something i hold in very high regard. I believe we have a flow of CHI that can build up within us causing frustration, anger, lethargy and depression. Releasing it through dance and movement, or any other creative practice for that matter, can help us connect to our true selves and be a practice we can use when our life feels a bit on top of us. I regularly dance with my partner and sometimes around the high energy of the full moon put on movement workshops.

Yoga

Like many others all over the world i practice Ashtanger Yoga. For me it feels like a meditation of rhythm that can result in a state of bliss. It also helps me be in tune with the inner workings of my body. Yoga is good for most people as it's very much up to you how hard or soft you push yourself.

Natural Cycles

There is something so wondrous to me about a cycle. I became interested in women's menstrual cycles from a very early age and used to pester my mum with more information about the details. Unfortunately in my teens my fascination was not nurtured by my peers and like most other girls in western society i was told to not talk about it, hide it and ignore the fact it was even happening. Once i got into my twenties i broke out of that oppression and began surrounding myself with women who wanted to express themselves through their menstruation. Occasionally ill hold workshops to create a comforting space for women to gather in and relate to each other through their monthly bleed. Cycles are all around us and as a women i feel extremely lucky to be able to experience a cycle through menstruation and pregnancy. We can take so much encouragement from nature who changes with ease from summer into autumn and winter into spring. Cycles help us appreciate change and show us there is good in all situations.

Red Tents And Bleeding Cycles

 

This month, during my moontime, i lavished in the wonders of my red tent. The night before i was due to menstruate i got an instinctual impulse to create it in my bedroom. Obsessively i grabbed material, candles, plants, books, cushions and sacred things special to me. I arranged them into a den like structure which took up about 1/6 of my room (luckily i have a big room). My reason for making such an effort is that for some time now i have been really interested in making the time of menstruation something significant. There are many reasons why women can benefit from a space like this. Some, myself included, believe that certain parts of the menstrual cycle have certain purposes (not just preparing us for potential pregnancy). 

Now i could talk for ages about what happens to our body, mind and spirit during our cycles but i think i will give a brief description and save the details for a later post. From my study i have learned that the day our menses start (first day of bleeding) is the first day of our cycle. I remember being confused about this for years and thinking the first day came at the end of the bleed. Knowing the bleed is the beginning gives it even more meaning in my opinion. It allows us to connect to the ideas that at the beginning of a journey (when we expect past things to be sorted, finished and behind us) there are still things we need to let go of and work through. The menses allow us the physically and emotionally release that of what we wish to leave behind. I feel that when i have been holding on to something the menses allows me to process it by letting go of my connection to it. I also feel that the feeling of exhaustion we can get around this time is our body doing just that (whether we acknowledge it or not), as our body cleanses we feel our energy concentrate and increase in intensity. Ill say more about what can in the menses in a moment. 

Lets talk about the rest of the month...instantly following the menses is the follicular phase. This phase is when we are most open to acting on ideas and tend to be more sociable. Our attention is on the world and not so much on ourselves, more about making stuff happen. This phase can differ in how long it lasts...in your average 28 day cycle the follicular phase will last for around 14 days. This i a time we have energy and patience with others and have more urges to create or prepare the ground for our most creative phase. Ovulation in biological and spiritual terms is when we are most open to creation. We have a short window of opportunity while we release an egg to become pregnant and we also are usually on such top form to make incredible things happen around this time even if we don't create life. Some woman can tell they are ovulating by observing their vaginal fluid, feeling a dull pain where their ovaries would be or spotting (bleeding a small amount). Moving on from ovulation we enter into the luteal phase or premenstrual phase....I sense you wince. We all know this phase from a negative point of view but do many of us consider the positive of this phase. Probably not but thats understandable as many of you wont have ever been told what good things happen in this phase....let me share a few. As we enter into the luteal phase our attention shifts from the world outside to the world inside ourselves. We become more reflective upon what was created and what new seeds were planted in the follicular phase and we begin to think about the things that are important to us. We become deeply intuitive and in tune with our inner workings wants and desires. That's a crucial part of being and allows us to plan new paths we may need to take or old paths we need to heal. If we push ourselves to ignore this phase (as society often wants us to) it comes back around and bites us in the ass. That's PMS ladies! Clever body. Seriously, your body knows what it needs and will create symptoms in order to get it. It's all for the sake of happiness and fulfillment. My advice...please please please pay attention to what your emotions tell you here. You might cry and moan more but keep record of what comes up. Start with a note pad and write desires, frustrations, thoughts (often). Talk to sypathetic female friends and be GOOD to your body through massage, saunas whatever makes you feel lovely. Bye bye PMS. Lets just note that bad diet and other illnesses can also cause PMS. Isn't is horrible that our society will accept PMS as an illness but NOT give us time, support and space to prevent it. The things that come up in this stage can be acted upon in the follicular.

Anyway now we are back at menstruation. So why a red tent or moon lodge? Well there are so many benefits to honoring a part of ourselves. In ancient times women would gather on their moontimes (new moon) and menstruate together. They would eat lovely food, massage each other, talk and sympathise with each other and most importantly rest and release their blood with ease. As we are exposed to artificial light and artificial hormones now our cycles tend to be out of sync with each other and the moon and we often menstruate alone. That doesn't mean we can't still make our own sacred space. That's what i did. It's comfy safe, red and dark. It allows me to recharge and ground myself. I do art, i read, i listen to good music, play music, meditate, watch inspiring things and do small rituals. I don't intend to sit in it for four days straight every month but i will have to there to retreat to when i need its sanctuary. I live with my partner in a community house so it can be a little tricky getting privacy sometimes but my man is very respectful and is quiet and gentle around my moontime. I find that if i respect myself around this time i get so much more respect from him. There is strength in purpose. Try do something similar.

This post was long overdue so my apologies....i have been in my follicular phase and been a busy bee. Yesterday and today i felt ovulation so i'm feeling pretty good at the moment. Expect more posts in the upcoming weeks as i enter my luteal and feel like sharing more. I hope this helps you lovely women connect and respect your cycles more, beleive me your body will love it and you will see the difference.

Warm sounds and swooshing bleeds