As we reach the end of 2025, we invite you to lean into the wisdom of the cycle to wrap up your year in a cycle-aware way. Rather than bombarding you with a ‘ten-step end-of-year checklist’ full of action items, our hope is that this guide accompanies you to take a deep exhale, to soften, to slow down and to release, in preparation for the new beginning to come.
So, each month we have an opportunity to practice beautiful endings, aligning with the deep intelligences at work within the menstrual cycle (or the lunar cycle if you’re not menstruating).
In this article, we’re particularly going to focus on the different intelligences at work in the inner autumn of the cycle (the premenstrual phase) as we descend towards menstruation, starting with the beginning of the end - the shift from the inner summer to the inner autumn, which schools us in…
The importance of taking time to negotiate endings
As we enter the premenstrual phase, we shift from the ‘doing’ mode of the inner summer, into the process of being undone by inner autumn. We’ve passed the zenith of our energy, and now we begin the descent.
And blessedly, we get the whole of the inner autumn to help us negotiate this ending. Which is important, because to end things well, we need time to sift through, weed out, discern, say our goodbyes and cast out what’s ready to be released. It’s not always comfortable though! The more time we can give to this process of letting go, the more we can hold ourselves through the necessary sensitivity and instability which is preparing our psyches for the void before we bleed.
Our tip: Book an hour for you.
Much of our culture starts to speed up at this time of year. See if you can book a couple of hours for you, and fiercely protect them against social events. What can you prune back and cancel to give yourself time to review and reflect, so that you can allow yourself to be tenderised, ready for the sacred portal of the ending? The more you can yield to this process, the more gold you can harvest ready for the new beginning of 2026.
Complete unfinished business (and meet the critic)
The weeks towards the end of the year, just like the final days of the cycle are a great moment for tidying up your life, inside and out. The inner critic calls you to account, and if you can take a deep breath and meet it, it can support you to grow your inner authority.
Our tip: Make a date with your inner critic
Perhaps thirty minutes in the quiet moments at the start or end of the day to review the year, harvest the learnings. Remember the golden rule with the inner critic: it’s allowed to comment on your actions, but not who you are. For example, if you made a mistake, it can give you feedback about the mistake, but it can’t tell you that the mistake means you’re a bad person.
Track the void of the year
Just before we menstruate, we enter the ‘nothing space’ that comes after all the pruning back and destabilisation of the inner autumn. We step out of the everyday and into sacred time and space, a kind of cosmic consciousness. We can fall into a darkness here, and anyone who suffers from depression or anxiety or who has experienced a lot of trauma in their lives, this can be the darkest hour, because there isn’t any holding. Menstrual cycle awareness can help us bring more consciousness to this, and instead of experiencing nothingness, we can find a kind of freedom in this void, both in our cycles and in the void of the year.
Our tip: Notice your end of the year ’void’ moment.
Depending on who you are, and where you are in the world, this void will happen differently; perhaps across the solstice, in the space between Christmas and the New Year or at another time that’s meaningful to you.
To say ‘no’ to the world and ‘yes’ to yourself
Just like the first chamber of menstruation, which we call Separation (and which we discuss in detail in our book Wild Power), your sacred task just before you bleed is to turn towards your inner world. This is likely to involve some discomfort and your core job here is to say ‘no’ to others and ‘yes’ to yourself. To pull away from the world and slow right down – almost as though you move in slow motion. Your next task is to hold the tension of the ‘not knowing’, of any uneasiness or discomfort you experience. Simply put, it’s about your ability to hang out with yourself without any agendas or jobs to do.
Our tip: Carve out agenda-free space
It can feel so counter-intuitive for almost all of us, but making time to do nothing, potter, float about and generally have no purpose is our top recommendation for ending the year well. The more you can allow your inner fields to go fallow, the more fertile and potent the new beginning can be.
We hope this guide helps you to honour this ending of the year as a sacred and potent moment for you. It will also prepare you well if you’re joining us for our annual
New Year Retreat: Your Menstrual Cycle, Your Oracle.
This free online visioning retreat is designed to guide you how to work with your menstrual cycle as your guide for the year to come. It’s such a restful, playful, joyful event and we’d love you to join us.
It’s happening on Wednesday 14th January at 8am PST | 11am EST | 4pm UK
