I’ve spent a fair amount of time in my life feeling that, as a gender, we women have been seriously screwed over.

Of course, these feelings are heightened during that time of the month when cramps, stormy moods, and chocolate cravings take over.

But recently I’ve begun a journey of embracing my femininity—and working to balance the feminine and masculine energies in my body.

I live in a sunny, hot-every-day beach town that I absolutely love. It is a town that very much connects with the right side of my body—with its more masculine energy. The energy that fuels my explorations and adventures has me hiking 12 miles under the blazing sun and then heading to hot yoga practice to sweat some more, kickstarting new business ventures, planning epic moves…

I call this my sun side.

But during the magic-heavy time of my monthly cycle, the left, feminine-energy—I call it my moon side— draws me in to withdraw from life. It calls for lots of incense-burning, beauty-observing, writing, painting, and a yoga practice that consists entirely of Savasana! It calls me to the wilds—not to the external wild places where I sometimes find myself drawn, but to those wild places within myself. Places where I can simply be. This mood calls for with a landscape that is not my sunny, dry beach town—but rather cool, jasmine-scented rain showers, a dramatic, storm-bearing sky, and a cozy place to read and contemplate.

So I go to the jungle.

I squish my toes into the mud, grounding deeply with the earth. I drink the fresh rainfall from a banana leaf—nature’s goblet and umbrella, all in one. I disappear from the world until there is nothing but green and life and rain.

Just me and this wild island.

And then I go to one of the jungle towns and curl up in a coffee shop for a few hours with a book and a steaming mug of chai while I watch the rain pitter-patter down the windows. I daydream, journal, and allow those wild places within me to burn bright with their creative fires, drowning out the nonsense of the world.

Realizing the profound importance of giving space to this energy—my moon energy—has caused me to draw into that powerful place at all times of the month in order to focus on listening to my body and its needs. As women, this causes all sorts of problems, both in the spiritual/energy realm and the physical one.

I first started on this journey of discovery by a health issue caused by a blockage of that left, feminine energy that I had unconsciously created by hating—as we so often do—on those things that are an inherent part of who we are as women…things that are absolutely essential for us to embrace.

As women, we are designed to birth life. It is our mystical birthright…and even more than that, it is our responsibility. The universe asks it of us. This world and our societies are in need of it—the life-giving potential that we carry in our souls. People typically associate birthing life with the creating of an actual, physical life—a child—which is a sacred thing.

But that is not all we’re capable of.

Throughout history, it has been the primary task and purpose assigned to women—in fact, there has unfortunately been many times and cultures where a woman’s value depended on her ability to conceive. We are fortunate to live in a generation where remarkable progress has been brought about in this area. But as wonderful as this progress is, I think that it can at times leave women a bit disconnected from who we are at our core, and what we are capable of. We carry in our DNA all of the secrets of the universe: the mysteries that have been passed in whispers from woman to woman throughout ancient civilizations and tribes and villages and on down throughout the centuries to our present day.

We are dreamers. We are Creatresses.

And somewhere inside each of us is the ancient knowledge that we are strong, untamable, mystical creatures who can create—whether it’s a child, a business, an artistic masterpiece, relationships, a dream.

That is who we are.

And to step into that place of knowing and creating, we need to make friends with our fear of those so often despised and maligned traits that are inherent to our feminine power.

~

Relephant read:

A Call to the Sacred Masculine: Ten Daring Invitations from the Divine Feminine.

The Power of Navaratri: Inspiration for Connecting with the Goddesses.

Author: Hana Rexroth

Apprentice Editor: Lois Person; Editor: Waylon Lewis

Amazing Photo(s): Christine McConnell