Gift one: In the Inner Autumn, You can be a Midwife for the Unspoken and Unmanifest.
Many of us find we’re very intuitive and creative in the days running up to our bleed...that is if you can manage to meet and corral your inner critic at this time. (Check out this Menstruality podcast episode if you need help with your inner critic).
The power here is one of deep embodiment, using the aliveness of your own presence to sense and feel what’s beyond your everyday awareness. You have the potential to be a tuning fork for the subtle forces that shape the material world and ‘see’ the energetic precursors and past patterning that underpin everything. It does also mean that you’re likely to feel the world more deeply and be more sensitive to the forces of destruction and despair—an often-overlooked gift that keeps you in touch with the realities of life.
Reflection question: Is your intuition heightened in the days before you bleed?
Gift two: The Premenstruum can Reveal Vulnerabilities in your Overall Health.
The cycle is stress sensitive, and for that reason it’s our ‘early warning system’. Just as you can feel emotionally overwhelmed close to bleeding, so your immune system is more sensitive, and your pain tolerance plummets. People with underlying health vulnerabilities or chronic illnesses may notice a flare-up of these at this time.
Reflection question: Do you sense that your PMS is a sign that you’re run down?
(If so, improving your self-care through a healthy diet, sufficient rest, appropriate exercise and a reduction in stressors will go a long way towards easing your symptoms. It isn’t just that PMS will ease, your overall health will leap forward.)
Gift three: Your Inner Autumn Awakens you to Your Deeper Feelings and Needs, to What's Really Important to You
Considering that one of our greatest fears as human beings is a fear of not fitting in and not belonging, it’s a saving grace that your inner autumn comes along to ensure your ‘polite, socialised self ’ bites the dust.
Without your capacity to truly know, feel and connect to who you are, you’re in danger of losing your line to fully being yourself, to feeling truly at home in the unique being you are. What if it’s this uniqueness – your Wild Power – that is precisely what’s needed to surmount the challenges you face in the premenstruum?
Reflection question: What is your premenstruum showing you about your true self?
Once again, we must emphasise that the vulnerability of inner autumn is something to cherish. It nourishes our humanness; it stops us from becoming automatons and keeps us present to the nuance and paradox of Life – and able to feel and know ourselves and love deeply.
