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This is Part One of a two-part series. To listen to Part Two on an in-depth look at Daring to Rest and the Red School with Barbara Dopfer go to episode 38 here.
In the menstrual cycle, we experience currents of expansion and contraction, activity and rest. Yet we’ve been living in a cultural paradigm built exclusively around expansion and activity (the via positiva). A cultural paradigm that has avoided the via negativa entirely—until now. Now that we have pushed ourselves into a global health crisis, many of us are being forced to stay at home, and whether you're busier now or not, the call to rest and reflect is massive. To foster a deeper connection with our feelings. To ask more difficult questions. To come back home to ourselves.
Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer are the cofounders of Red School and co-authors of Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the Path to Feminine Power. On this episode of Daring to Rest, Alexandra and Sjanie join me to share what called them to this work around menstrual cycle awareness and introduce us to their definition of power as the capacity to be vulnerable and surrender to the unknown.
Alexandra and Sjanie discuss the concept of menstruality, reflecting on the consciousness that evolves from menstrual cycle awareness and wakes us up to our true meaning and purpose in the world. We also explore menopause as a journey of expanding consciousness and reflect on how postmenopausal women can continue to be held in cyclical life. Listen in for insight on honoring your cycle in a non-cyclical world and learn how Red School’s three inner maps of the menstrual cycle can help us understand the current moment in history.
Key Takeaways
How healing herself from endometriosis led Alexandra to her current work
Sjanie’s experience of feeling life flood back when her menstrual cycle returned
How our menstrual cycle connects us to our meaning and purpose
How Alexandra & Sjanie define power as the capacity to be vulnerable + surrender to the unknown
The concept of menstruality as the consciousness that evolves from menstrual cycle awareness
Alexandra & Sjanie’s three inner maps of the menstrual cycle
1. Map of two vias (activity vs. rest)
2. Map of four seasons
3. Five chambers of menstruation
Our collective avoidance of via negativa leading up to the Coronavirus health crisis
The parallels between the current moment in history and the void just before we bleed
Alexandra’s insight around menopause as a journey of expanding consciousness
How women in postmenopause can continue to be held in cyclical life
Sjanie’s explanation of the 1% shift strategy for honoring our cycle in a non-cyclical world
Connect with Alexandra & Sjanie
Resources
Holding the Tension of Opposites by Marion Woodman
Daring to Rest Honoring Fear Yoga Nidra Series
Daring to Rest Academy for women who want to teach yoga nidra and the Daring to Rest method
Daring to Rest Nap Community for Women
Daring to Rest: Reclaim Your Power with Yoga Nidra Rest Meditation by Karen Brody