Episode 4: Tuning into Your Inner Seasons: Using Your Menstrual Cycle to Optimize Your Energy

Being Magic: Reimagining Menstruation and Natural Cycles as a Power Source

This week, we're diving into the topic of menstrual cycles and their effect on your energy and productivity. When you embrace your cyclical nature and understand the different phases, or "inner seasons," of the menstrual cycle, you're better able to understand yourself and your energy. This has been a game-changer for how I plan my life!

From inner winter, a time of shedding and release, to inner summer, when energy is at its peak, Victoria offers insights and tips on how to best support oneself during each phase. The conversation also covers the impact of societal beliefs and how changing one's perspective on periods can lead to positive physical and mental health. Tune in to learn how to better support yourself during each phase of your menstrual cycle.

[00:00:35] Your body has menstrual cycles like nature's seasons. Women need to unlearn the expectation to always be productive. Understanding your cycle supports energy and mental health.

[00:04:09] Period shame to period power through womb ceremony. Reclaim womb space, creativity and fertility, let go of negative emotions. Skipping period = disservice.

[00:09:40] Align social calendar around cycle, be energetic & productive during inner summer, ground energy through dance, collaborate & spread inner light. 

[00:11:55] Inner autumn brings inner critic. Listen to her and journal to tame the inner critic.

[00:15:37] Menstrual cycle can be tracked by following the moon or body, cosmic energy can influence the menstrual cycle, and it takes practice to understand the body, PMS symptoms have a reason, and flipping perspective on periods.

Join The Portal Collective waitlist now to be the first to know when Victoria releases new on-demand breathwork, meditation, and kundalini yoga videos.

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Full Transcript Here:

Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of Flip the script with Vic. I'm your host, Victoria Nielsen. We are going to be talking about our inner seasons today and our cyclical nature as women.

[00:00:35]:

And we're just going to dive right on in. So we have cycles just like nature has cycles, just like you have a menstrual cycle within your body and you can predict your energy, but also better support yourself and your energy when you better understand where you are in your cycle and supporting yourself in that way. So, just like the outward seasons have a spring, a summer, a winter, and a fall, you too have inward seasons that follow that same nomenclature but also that same energy. We as women are not meant to be always on, always producing, always go, go in the way that men are. And we have been taught to work five days a week, if not more, 8 hours a day. And unlearning that programming has been the most supportive thing for my adrenals, for my energy, and really for my overall mental health. Because as soon as I started to realize that I wasn't always meant to be productive, it freed me from feeling like I always needed to be doing and producing and achieving. And I'm not saying that you're not going to have moments of feeling like you need to be doing something when you're not, because that is something that I still deal with today.

[00:02:00]:

One of my favorite mantras that I started working with is when I rest, I receive more. And that has really allowed me to rest and give my body what it needs, specifically during the week of my cycle when I am bleeding. So to start there with your inner season, your inner winter, when your moon cycle comes, when your period comes, that is a time of inner winter, of shedding, of I don't want to even say barrenness, because that's not true, but release. And we are really in our wise woman crone energy during that time. We are able to really tap into the universe. I am recording this episode as I'm on my moon cycle and it felt really important to do that because I felt really intuitive and really in tune with myself and my body and nature at this time. And it is imperative for you to rest during your moon cycle. If you do feel like gentle movement or going for walks or things like that, that's great, but this is not a time to be doing high intensity workouts or really taxing yourself.

[00:03:11]:

All of the breath work and kundalini yoga that I do, they advise for the first three days of your moon cycle to not do breath of fire or not do any of those really high intensity, rigorous breathworks that are arousing. Because it could just cause you to bleed more and be a bit more uncomfortable. But also because this is a time of softness and softening and opening. Because your uterine lining isn't just shedding itself. Because you're not pregnant and not having a baby. It's releasing all of the traumas and woundings and fears that you've experienced during this last cycle. So for years, I was on hormonal birth control, like I'm sure so many of you were or still are, and I always thought that it made me crazy, and it did because it was fucking with my natural rhythms. And eventually I was on, like, a low dose hormone for a really long time and I skipped my periods.

[00:04:09]:

I did all of those things that I'm sure a lot of you do because I was taught to be ashamed of my period, the blood, the ickiness that, oh, I felt uncomfortable. But once I started to really embrace that my blood is my magic, that that blood means that I'm a woman who is really fucking powerful and who brings life into the world, things shifted. I did a rite of the womb in March of this year with a beautiful medicine woman who's a dear friend of mine, Dana Diaz. And really, the ceremony is about embracing the fact that your womb is a space for creativity, for fertility, for life, for blossoming, not a place for you to carry fear and uncertainty and trauma. Because as women, that's where a lot of those negative emotions are stored. They're in our hips, they're in our womb spaces, they're in our sacral centers. And instead of allowing us to be the free, beautiful, creative beings that we're meant to be, we're carrying all these low vibration emotions. And especially when we're skipping our period and going to the next pill in the pack or whatever, you're doing yourself a disservice.

[00:05:19]:

You're not allowing your body to properly detox. Not just all of the yucky, I don't know, pesticides and things like that that you've encountered over the last 30 days, but also energetically, what you've been encountering and studying. My period blood. Now, I can see when I've had a really rough month, those blood clots that come out, the viscousness of my blood are all indicative of what my energy is like and what I have been through and what my body is removing for me. Our bodies are so intelligent, and we try and act like we know better, but we don't. Our bodies know more than we do. And so during this inner winter time, this period of our period is god, it's such a magical, really special time. And I've actually explained the menstrual cycle a little bit to my son.

[00:06:10]:

He's very inquisitive. He's always in the bathroom with me. He's only three. So on the days that I have my period, he was asking, Mommy, what is that? Mommy, why are you bleeding? And I was honest with him, and I said, It's because I'm a powerful woman. Because I'm a witch? Essentially. And women bleed every single month as a means of showing ourselves that power, but also cleansing ourselves energetically. I was just super honest with him. And I think having that conversation was not only empowering for me, but it was empowering for him to know that it's not something to be shameful of.

[00:06:45]:

I think we're taught to shame our bodies and our periods from a very young age. And I've only recently flipped the script on this within the last couple of months. Now I actually literally give my blood back to the Earth each month. And this may sound creepy or crunchy or scary to you, and that's okay, but that's where I'm at, because there was a period where I was kind of giving it back to the Earth, and then I stopped. But now I fully participate in a ceremony every month, giving my blood back to the Earth, giving the Earth thanks. And I feel far more connected to myself and to the Earth because of it. And if you're not that far down the path, that's totally okay. But just honoring that you have this time of the month that is sacred is the first step.

[00:07:30]:

Next month, maybe don't skip that pill. Maybe allow yourself to have a period. I know women are dealing with so many period things, but I find that my period symptoms, again, are a sign from my body of my energy and what I'm going through. When I have more cramping, when I have more uncomfortableness around my period, it's because there's a lot to be released, because I went through a lot in the last 30 days of my cycle. And without that release, without that reset, you're just keeping all of that within the body, and it's building, and it's building, and it's building, and it's going to find its way out eventually. And that's a lot of the times why you maybe have really vicious periods where you have a heating pad and you're in bed and you feel awful. And I, thankfully, have never really had that experience because I have started to honor and work with my emotions. And so when you are done with your period, you enter into your inner spring or your inner blossoming.

[00:08:34]:

And during this time of your cycle, you may not be ready to come out full out and bright just yet, but your mind is starting to kind of come back online. You're getting excited about maybe starting new projects or the new things that are starting to bloom in your life. This is a great time to begin working with affirmations and mirror work and really pumping yourself up to really get out there during your inner summer. So the inner spring is still a very delicate time. It's kind of that maiden energy where things are new, they're fresh, there's all kinds of possibility. This is a great time to begin working on and starting new projects in your life because you've got that kind of fertile energy abounding as your estrogen levels are increasing, as your energy is increasing again after having that inner wintertime. So I love working with Affirmations during this time and really setting myself up for success for the rest of my cycle. And so then next, of course, comes that inner summer.

[00:09:40]:

And so this is the time when you're really most energetic, you're out and about, you want to dance, you want to play, you want to go do things with your friends. I honestly schedule my social calendar around my cycle now, knowing that if it's during my inner summer, I'm more likely to want to participate. Whereas if I've said yes to doing something and it's my inner autumn or it's my inner winter, I'm probably going to cancel on you, I'll be honest, because it's not aligning with my energy. And so this is a time, if you can align it with bigger projects, maybe you're launching something, you launch your podcast or your book or whatever it is during this time because you naturally have more energy and want to do more. And something you can do to support yourself during this time is dance and ground that energy so that you're continuing to call in more during this time. Being really playful and having fun and thinking of that inner light that you have within and spreading it out to the world is such a beautiful thing to do during that inner summertime. Collaborating, being with friends, really getting yourself out there is really supportive during that time of inner summer. Because when your inner autumn comes along, that is when your inner critic is most likely to be loud.

[00:11:00]:

She is going to tell you that you are not worthy, that you are stupid, that you are just not doing things the way that you should. I tried to record some podcasts while I was in my inner autumn, and I wanted to I don't think I saved any of them, to be honest, because I hated all of them. I thought they were awful. My inner critic was really, really loud. And so during that time, I want you to make friends with your inner critic. I want you to maybe name her and have a conversation with her because her fears sometimes she's just being a mean girl, but there's a kernel of truth in some of the things that she says. And I don't say that to say that when she says you're a shitty person or you're not worthy, that there's truth in that, but there is truth in the fear or in the anxiety or in the emotion that it is uncovering within you. So when you can stop and have a conversation with your inner critics.

[00:11:55]:

Give her center stage to say what she wants to say. A, the voice gets softer, right? She's not screaming like the child having a tantrum in the corner for your attention. You give her your attention and then you get to decide how you want to move forward. So one of the beautiful things that I love to do is A, have that conversation with my inner critic, but do it in the form of journaling. So I will let my inner critic say whatever she wants to say on the page, let her be as mean as she wants to, let her just let it all out. And then I stop and I take a second and I tap into my higher self. So maybe I do a quick breath work or just even a couple of deep breaths and ask my higher self to come forward and say her side of the story, like interject herself in the conversation and then let her write and say whatever she wants to say for as long as she wants to say it. And I love looking at these two things side by side because then it shows me a what a bitch my inner critic is.

[00:12:53]:

But it also allows me to see the truth, right? That the truth is somewhere in between that I maybe am not imiding my highest self at that moment. And can I flip the script and see from that perspective that I am perfect and whole and complete in this moment, even if I don't feel like it, even if I'm feeling like that inner critic is winning today and that's okay. And then you can also see that the way that inner critic talks to you, that's not the truth either. That's that little girl that maybe needs some extra love this week because she's feeling unloved and unworthy. And then from that place you can decide how to support yourself and your energy. So maybe you don't go out and about and see a bunch of friends. If that doesn't feel supportive, maybe you take a bubble bath and really allow yourself to relax into that. Maybe you do some mirror work and have some conversations with yourself in the mirror and pump yourself up and look at yourself and say the things that you do love about yourself.

[00:13:48]:

And even if it's just that you love the shape of your eyes or your hair, letting that be louder than the voice of the inner critic so that you can be loved and supported during this time when you are most likely to be critical of yourself. And then we come back to that beautiful inner winter again, that time to cocoon, that time to nest, that time to rest. I know women that actually take off the entire week of their moon cycle and don't do any work at all. And I have found that I'm somewhere in between. That when I feel the call to rest. It is because I need to rest. But I am very intuitive and have a lot of intuitive nudges during my cycle, hence the recording of this podcast right now. So I honor that as well and know that those moments will come through and when they feel urgent and like they need to be listened to, then I will.

[00:14:38]:

And I think the biggest lesson of just this entire conversation is that it is an easy way to better be in touch with your own energy so that you can support yourself and your energy, because you're not meant to always be on. And we follow the cycles of the moon. So if you no longer have a period or if you're unsure, you're like, but Victoria, the moon is full right now and I'm bleeding, that seems like opposing energies. That's okay. Eventually you will naturally follow the cycles of the moon, where the new moon is when you will bleed, and the full moon will be your inner summer. But until that point, you have to tune into yourself and what is true for your energy. So I do look at the moon as well and see where she is in her cycle, because as I said, the new moon is kind of indicative of that inner winter feeling. And then the waxing moon is like that inner spring, and the full moon is the inner summer, and the waning moon is the inner autumn.

[00:15:37]:

And so if you're on the pill and aren't really sure of where you're at, you can follow the moon or you can follow your own body, or you can have a little bit of both. So I tend to also look at what's going on in the cosmos because as above, so below. So I'm going to be influenced by that outside energy as well as the energy in my body. And I've gotten to the point now where I'm really clear and can really hear what's going on and give myself what I need. But it takes practice, right? And it takes getting to know yourself and your body and knowing that there is no shame in it. So just because you have these PMS symptoms, right, maybe you're irritable, maybe you're crabby, maybe whatever it is, can you give yourself some grace and say there's a reason for that? It's because it's bringing attention to something that you need to give yourself in support, and not just because you're being a bitch, and not just because, oh, it's this yucky thing that happens every month. I really want you to see if you can flip that perspective on your period, that it's not this thing that has to happen to you and slow you down and be awful. Instead, it's a beautiful reminder of your magic and the magic that you have when you tune into your cyclical nature and lean into that energy versus the energy of society or the patriarchy or male energy, because their energy is just different.

[00:16:57]:

They are made differently than we are, and we are not meant to operate in the same way that they do, and that's okay. And so honoring that is huge. That was a lot for today. But I'm really excited to have this conversation because I feel like it's super important. And I really think that the more that we can embrace our inner seasons, the more that we will be able to support ourselves and also be able to support our daughters and have conversations with them that help them release that shame around their bodies. Because our bodies are fucking beautiful and they do miraculous things. They carry fucking babies for nine months. Like, how is that not a miracle in and of itself? So with that, I will end our conversation today, but I would love to hear from you.

[00:17:52]:

How did this make you feel? Was this super out there? Are you feeling the call to better connect with your energy? Do you want to give your blood back to the Earth? I want to hear it all. Please let me know. On Instagram at Flipthescript with Vic or at Victoriamargot Nielsen. If you are loving these episodes of Flip the script with Vic so far. Please share comment rate review and let others know about these conversations that we're starting to have. And maybe we'll be building a community together. I know we'll be building a community together, and I'm so grateful that you're here. Thank you for tuning in.

[00:18:33]:

I'll see you next week. Be good to one another. I love you.