I’ve tried many times to define the perfect structure, schedule, routine, recipe to keep me well mind, body and soul. If I just set the perfect morning routine. If I only find just the right daily equation of work, and movement, and personal time and family time. But every time, eventually, it falls through. I get tired and I snooze the alarm. I get run down and I need a whole day off (or several). I fall off track, or so it would seem, until I realize I’m trying to force myself into limitation that is out of alignment with my design.
The male hormone cycle last 24-hours. That means, every day, a man goes through the same peaks and valleys energetically at the same timepoints. Each morning at 7am, a man will feel relatively the same as he always does at 7am ~ baring of course major interruptions to sleep or sickness. Today at 2pm, if he’s kept his trusty routine, a man will feel the same as he did the afternoon before at 2pm and the same as he will tomorrow at 2pm, and the next day, and the next day, forever.
A woman’s hormone cycle, however, lasts 28-32 days. That means, for about a month, every single day feels a bit different from the last. The peak is a crescendo approximately two weeks in, and the valley follows with its low point at the end of one cycle and beginning of the next. Even when the woman is healthy and if she sleeps 8-hours every night, there will be a point in her monthly cycle where she feels extra high and a point where she feels extra low; where she needs extra rest. A woman could expect to feel only the exact same at 2pm today as she did at 2pm 28 to 32 (ish) days before and as she will another 28 to 32 (ish) days later.
Perhaps this isn’t new information to you. But ~ are you living in alignment with your own cycles?
Our society at large is built around the masculine energy. The Monday-Friday 9-5 workweek that never ceases and never slows… this is designed for the men and their relatively steady energetic output. For women to operate in this system, we’re inherently at risk for burnout. If we aren’t hyper aware of ourselves, if we don’t set our own boundaries, and honor our energetic output unapologetically, there is no way we can sustain.
There’s no wonder women-owned businesses can feel quite different. Here we have the opportunity to create structures and systems that serve the feminine energy. From 3 weeks-on, 1 week-off work months, to 4-day work weeks, to super flexible schedules that prioritize selfcare, childcare, and the rest of life, to normalizing saying “I just started my period, so I’m taking it slow the next couple days and will get to this as soon as I’m able.” What could it look like to sync our lives with the natural ebbs and flows of female energetics? This is radical. This is rebellion. This is building the new earth.
So if we scrap the “perfect daily routine” idea… How will we know we are taking care of ourselves and keeping ourselves balanced? If we don’t hold ourselves firmly to workout routines, diet plans, fully-packed schedules and the like? Instead of relying on our masculine reason, we employ our feminine power… we follow our intuition.
Intuition is our inner voice that can tell us what we need on a given day. It is our inner guide that can lead us to a day as slow or as fast as we are ready for, the inner knowing that can choose the workout that’s matched to what you can handle ~ yoga or boxing, weight lifting or a walk. What if we trusted that it was safe to follow our intuition? What if you tossed out the Huberman programming, and simply followed your own instincts of what your mind, body and soul needed on a given morning? Because it might be different morning to morning. You might realize that following your intuition could actually be the fastest and easiest way toward living in divine balance.
It took me years to remember this. At age 23 I was deep into Crossfit, eating a “paleo” diet, and addicted to adderall to keep up with my high powered corporate job. Despite an intense schedule of heavy workouts and choosing to eat what I had been told was healthy, I had gained a lot of weight. I was so reliant on amphetamines to get through the endless workdays that I had the bottle on my bedside table and would take one to even get myself out of bed. While intuition had been a gift I was given at birth, I had for years ignored it so often, deciding to instead do what society said I “should” do, or what my parents told me to do, or what logically made sense to do, that my intuition quieted entirely. It had been drowned out in a sea of noise. When I finally hit a rock bottom of burnout, chronic pain and anxiety, I tried reiki. And through this transformative energetic work, the most amazing thing happened, my intuition woke up. My inner guidance system turned back online and suddenly was amplified. And this time, I began to follow it.
I followed it to listening to my body on what exercise would serve it day by day, week by week… weaving in yoga and cycling and pilates. I followed it to nourish my body without any hard and fast dietary restrictions. I followed it to make a career jump toward one with more balance, more flexibility, more freedom. And eventually followed it all the way to training in reiki, astrology, kabbalah and other spiritual and esoteric modalities, even obtaining a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. The more I followed my intuition, the more vibrant and alive and sustainable my life became.
Want a simple way to practice intuitive wellbeing? Journal first thing in the morning and ask yourself:
What can I do for my mind today?
What can I do for my body today?
What can I do for my heart today?
What can I do for my soul today?
And so what about routines and structures? Do we toss them out entirely?
As someone who consciously designs her life for wellbeing of mind, body and soul, of course I love to notice what patterns of behavior serve me, what habits and rituals are working for me (and what aren’t). In addition to following my intuition, I’ve also found measuring my life across a month’s timeframe helps me keep my stresses at bay and to see my life more holistically. As a woman, mother, wife and entrepreneur, in order to balance my time spent across so many facets of life ~ my two girls, my two businesses, alone time, my romantic partnership, social and community ~ it’s best done when considering how I feel about a given month overall, rather than judging each individual day or even week over week. I may have a slow few days and a jam-packed week, and neither is better or worse, they each have their place and time. Giving myself grace for the days I do absolutely nothing allows me to embrace the days that are SO FULL they are overflowing… And the more I own this way of living, the more I trust this pace and my right for downtime and rest, the more myself I feel, and the more I thrive. This reclamation of my feminine energy allows me to truly ENJOY the bountiful and abundant life I am so blessed with.
TOOLS I USE:
Magic of I Astrological Planner ~ to plan and reflect on monthly cycles
Natural Cycles ~ to track and predict my own physical, emotional and energetic cycles
Voxer ~ for communication with my team through those slow and busy weeks
If you’re seeking more personalized help to align your life with your energetic design and to turn up the volume on your inner guidance, I’d love to support you. Check out my latest session offerings or join the waitlist for private coaching with me. For corporate partners and group audiences, I speak on topics including Feminine Energy, Intuition, Holistic Wellbeing and more.
To see if we’re a good fit, apply to work together below or email us directly at concierge@forwardwgrace.com