Ep.5/ Bang. Crash. Fail.
Giving ourselves grace when we get it wrong
1 minute read
1/2/22, Day 4, Inner Winter
Relax. Restore. Reset. Release. The four invitations for ourself when dropping into our inner winter bleed.
Today I got it horribly wrong, and then I got it right.
Inner winter is a time of such tender permeability. In a perfect world, I love to disappear into a cocoon of blankets, stillness and warm baths.
Yet as a company founder and a human - the pace of the outside world doesn’t always align with my cycle and I sometimes find myself coming undone.
Owning our own sh!t
Can be so liberating!
Resting our minds and creativity during inner winter is as important as resting our bodies and womb.
For the past few days, I have felt the wonder filled tension of resting into the slow-flow of menstruation WHILST holding the tension of this bubbling creativity that is stirring within.
I know from experience the gift that happens when I allow myself to drop my bundle, and to really drop into the void of winter.
For me this means consciously choosing to park the anxiety at not doing what I think I ‘should’ be doing - eg. biz dev, hustle, getting sh!t done!
Rather than meltdown (which happened to me this morning), the following simple steps could have given me the ability to deal with it later.
a) Consciously acknowledging the permeability of D1-D5 of inner winter. Knowing that on these days, molehills can feel like mountains, it can be as simple as giving ourselves space AND grace if we get things wrong.
b) Taking dictation vs painting the masterpiece. If creativity is calling - sometimes outlining the basics is more beneficial and less taxing on our nervous system. Not pushing, but allowing simple ideas to be jotted down (trusting that the inspo will keep running in our spring/summer season).
c) Owning it gently when we get it wrong. I snapped this morning. I dumped on two people. Instead of beating myself up all day, I owned my reaction and apologised. The fact that they both knew I was in deep winter, they were able to accept my apology through the lens of grace.
There is power when we can share menstrual cycle awareness and invite our friends, colleagues, and partner to practice cycle positivity with us.
It doesn’t mean we can let our guns blaze, but it does create a framework where it becomes less about blaming ourselves (or others) and more about conscious conversations about how to support each other through the different cycle phases.
Who could you invite to your positive cycle practice?
What difference would it make if you felt supported?
With love and light, Cara
Day 4
Acknowledgements
The above article is written thanks to the powerful work and education on Menstrual Cycle Awareness taught by Alexander Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer at Red School. If you’re curious about working with Menstrual Cycle Awareness and the power of your menstrual cycle you can check out their book Wild Power here, or their podcast.
Written from a place where I am
D4 — Feeling appreciative of the journey I am on, and how liberating it is to own my own shit!