Focus on the Seasons: Moving from Spring Towards Summer
BEAUTIFUL BELTANE
So now we’re in May.
At the beginning of this month we celebrated the Celtic fire festival of Beltane, which honours the abundance and potency of the Earth and the forces of nature, fertility and union.
This celebration often features a maypole, a very popular and familiar image at many May Day and Beltane festivities.
The symbolism around this I find very interesting… This phallic pole was often made from birch and was inserted into the Earth to represent the potency of the masculine, God. The ring of flowers at the top of the maypole, in contrast, represents the feminine, the fertile Goddess. The beautiful coloured ribbons and the weaving dance around it symbolises the spiral and circles of life, the union of the Goddess and God, the union between the Earth and the Sky.
This special festival gives us a chance each year to pause and reflect, to notice the changes of the seasons and the energy shifts both around us and within us as we move into the most fertile, active part of the year, Summer.
Around this time of year, it’s good to explore themes around expansion and opening in your Yoga practice, working into poses that are more active and allow you to fully blossom with the increasing energy you feel around you.
Well Woman Womb Yoga practices are very beneficial at this time as this practice is all about honouring both the masculine and feminine elements within yourself and getting in touch with your bodies through playful, joyful, sensual and feminine Yoga explorations and intuitive movement. I invite women in this practice to explore their own authentic way of moving. It’s part of our group workshop content and it’s always lovely to watch women practising in their own space, but expressing themselves in a group environment. This style of Yoga is also great for boosting your fertility.
If you’re struggling with your fertility right now read my blog post for tips and advice on natural ways you can improve your fertility.
It’s important during Summer not to get too overpowered by Yang energy, which we often do both in the Summer phase of our monthly menstrual cycle (our ovulation time) as well as in the Summer of the Earth’s cycle.
So how can you stay balanced in this active phase? And how do you know when it’s the best time of day for your practice?
As we move into the headiness and high Yang energy of the most active part of the year, Summer, the thing to be mindful of here is over-do.
It can be easy to get caught up in doing and socialising. With more vibrant energy within us and around us we can become the ‘Queens of Over-do’ and then we suffer from burnout. This can also occur during the Summer of our monthly cycle too, the ovulation stage, when we’re in our full sexiness and we’re often in a ‘people pleasing’ mode too. We’re very outward focused during Summer too.
For menopausal women without a regular bleed, the full moon provides the full energy within our monthly cycle.
It can be beneficial to track the moon cycles and how they interact with you and your bleed time. This is another energetic dynamic that impacts on your internal energy system and emotions.
How does it impact on you?
We are all different.
To help support you in these high energy times, take some breaks regularly throughout your day, to pause and breathe.
How does it feel when you do?
Take some time to just pause and orientate yourself. Where are you? Connect to the ground, your seat, the breath. Remind yourself where your edges are, how you feel and how you’re breathing. You can even touch your body, rub your hands, arms … the body loves touch and so do we. ?
It can be useful to include meditation, Yoga Nidra or deep rest into your day in the height of Summer. Twenty minutes of rest daily can be life changing.
Right now is a good time, as we head into the fullness of Summer, to reflect on your journey since Winter, to think about what you want to ignite or bring to life in the Summer. It’s also a good time to reflect on why you’re doing your Yoga practice and what you want to get out of it .
June, when the Summer Solstice occurs, is represented by the female archetype: the mother.
Rich as a cornfield, she sings like the wind into golden ears.
Generous as the Ocean, she plays like dolphins on waves.
Her touch is a ray of sunshine, her voice is the breeze on a Summer day.
She tastes the saltwater and freshly baked bread, coming to me infused with the sense of ripe fruit.
She reawakens when the moon is full in the night sky, full of energy and creativity, full of attention and interest.
Full of the gifts I have to offer the world.
Slowly she comes to me, bringing with her the bright cornucopia of abundance; out of which freely flows the loving harmony of everything I can do, everything I can give.
Her hair shines like gold and her robe is as blue as the night: She is the seed of darkness conceived in light she is the mother within me.
The information in my seasonal blogs are just ideas.The best way to get more in touch with your own cycle and energetic shifts is to track them over at least three months. Everyone is unique with their own superpowers and gifts. And I’m busy creating something to help support you with this, watch this space.
Have a beautiful Summer.
Useful links
Queen, Mother, Wise Woman and Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Feminine.