Menstrual cycle awareness and conscious menopause can put you in touch with new levels of rage. We see this as a kind of sacred rage, which although being uncomfortable and fierce, has the power to create huge transformation.
We invite you to believe that the wild, mad feelings you’re experiencing are actually a sign that you’re coming to your senses. What you probably lack is the appropriate support structure, understanding and respect to be able to meet these powerful forces that are being unleashed in you. It’s no wonder they can feel overwhelming.
Here are some ideas to support you to be with your rage and channel it in healthy ways, for the benefit of all.
Let the rage wake you up to your shadows
The premenstrual phase of the cycle can be a fierce encounter with yourself that rudely wakes you up like nothing else can. It can be painful, and like most pain you’ll probably want to get away from it or numb it as fast as possible.
However, now is the moment to risk truly facing and feeling the full gamut of experience – from the grief and anger to the bitterness and hopelessness – in order for transformation to occur. If you’re still cycling, this can be a powerful way to prepare for the full initiation of menopause.
Let it wake you up to the shadows in the world
In inner autumn, it can feel like a veil has fallen from your eyes and what you’re seeing isn’t pretty. The emperor truly has no clothes. Of course, you’ve always known that, but now you really know it and you’re mad as hell. It’s a fierce indignation of soul, a cry from your deep being to release all the shackles that have held you back so you may fully express your true nature.
You wake up to the full impact of what it’s meant to deal with patriarchal and capitalist structures all your life. (And, especially if you’re a person of the Global Majority, to the ways that colonisation and white supremacy have harmed you, and all of us). It’s as though a backlog of stuff on all levels of your being comes barrelling through, all mushed together into one mighty force of extreme feeling.
Practice the art of ‘losing it’
Undoubtedly, the ‘everything’s f**ked’ path will have its seductive way with you in moments. Let it rip. A good roar is great – honestly, we suspect it’s a universal necessity – but remember, do it in such a way that you don’t end up feeling humiliated or hurt.
Remind yourself that this rage is sacred, powerful and even needed
Create reminders for yourself that the menstrual cycle and menopause are initiatory - they are liberating new power and potential within, if we’re able to stay with the process.
Find healthy ways to express the rage
Use a journal to write out your rage and distress. Don’t censor your words. You can always burn the journal later in a magnificent celebration of having met this next round of premenstrual or menopausal initiation and come out singing.
Remember that the rage is showing you more of who you truly are
Your feelings of frustration, anger and fury need airspace. They are the means, the medicine, that aerate your psyche, tenderising you and allowing you to find your way into what’s truly you. And finally - at menopause - they are the means by which you unequivocally, fully commit wholeheartedly to who you are – warts and all.
Commit to your cycle awareness practice
Part of the premenstrual and menopause rage we feel is outrage that we haven’t had this cyclical knowledge until now. A kind of wake up call to the full impact of having been denied knowledge and experience of the power within your menstrual cycle as a spiritual path and practice - on some level we’ve all been suffering a persistent, subtle gaslighting.
Take this rage as an invitation to claim your cycle tracking practice (or your lunar tracking practice post menopause) and bring it front and centre in your life.
The practice of menstrual cycle awareness builds important psychological skills of self‐awareness – the capacity to meet all faces of yourself, to hold your vulnerability, be courageous and accept the full complexity of who you are. You can find our book Wild Power here if you want to dice a little deeper into your cycle awareness.
