The word “cycle” denotes movement, something that changes, that flows, that moves and returns to an initial point.
The spiral, in life, shows that we may return to the same point but it will never be the same, something will have changed.
There is always some learning and some integration, conscious or unconscious, that makes us move in a spiral.
Let’s talk about the menstrual cycle. Every month people with vulva experience changes at the hormonal level that manifest in our psycho-emotional, spiritual and physical perception.
There are three predominant phases: Menstrual, Follicular and Luteal.
The menstrual phase begins on the first day of bleeding where the energy is centered on the disintegration of the endometrium, and the consequent need for rest and regeneration. The energy of the spirit is much more latent and available. If we give ourselves the space we can feel a connection, a presence and a very deep rootedness with our Being.
The follicular phase also begins with the day of bleeding but manifests when the bleeding ends. The vital energy begins to rise, with a greater capacity for productivity, increased availability for the external, connection with others, moving the body and mind, giving ourselves to more interaction, greater attraction to other people and an increase in sexual desire.
The culminating point that ends the follicular phase is Ovulation. Literally this moment lasts one day and is when the mature egg is released and sails through the tubes to, perhaps, find a sperm to fertilize it.
The follicle that held the liberated egg is transformed into the corpus luteum and this transformation initiates the luteal phase. This transformation is manifested in our energy levels that begin to drop, prioritizing a need for rest, rest, inner connection. It is a moment where the unconscious, the shadow can flourish and show us darkness that wants to be transmuted.
And then the initial point returns, menstruation.
The spiral brings an integration, an understanding and learning of the cycle that has passed, a presence and witnessing of what is happening, of what we feel, of our emotionality.
No cycle will be the same as another, in any aspect.
The phases are never experienced in the same way, the emotions will never be the same, not even every cycle we will be able to register what happens to us.
Each cycle brings different information, which is nothing more than information of our perception towards life, towards our links with ourselves and the outside world.
All that information that is registered, observed and integrated will be the basis for the next cycle and so on.
We are creatures in permanent movement, in constant development and evolution. The awareness of the menstrual cycle is a tool to feel and experience this dynamic, to know ourselves and expand ourselves, to expand our creative potential, to become creators of our life and, hopefully, to understand who we are and where we are going.
Happy spiral, happy life!