Reframing Your Menstrual Cycle + Ancestral Practices with Raven Rose

When you think about your menstrual cycle what emotions arise? For many of us the idea of prioritizing our menstrual health and moving toward a cyclical way of life can feel shameful and foreign. This is because we live in a society that has often treated women’s health as an afterthought. As I learn more about how intrinsically linked the health of our cycles are to our wellbeing. The more I feel the need to share what I have learned with others. The lack of education and awareness that goes into learning about the menstrual cycle can make us feel like it’s a burden. The reality is that our menstrual cycle is one of the most powerful, rewarding gifts a person can have.

On this week’s episode we have a really special guest.

Raven Rose is a Menstrual Health Herbalist and the founder of Moon Medicines. She joins us to discuss all things cyclical living. Raven is a healer who specializes in herbalism, dreamwork and creating ancestral practices. Get ready to learn so much- not just about our cycles.

And bonus – Join us for the Reframing the Reset Challenge! It’s free and we’ll be doing it together as a community. Snag your roadmap here → balancedblackgirl.com/reset

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HIGHLIGHTS

RECOVERING FROM MENSTRUAL SHAME

It can be a challenge to learn thoroughly about feminine health because we live in a world that often prioritizes masculine energy over feminine energy. As society evolves, conversations around menstrual health are happening in a more transparent, less shame driven way. This is great for those who are just starting their cycles, but for those of us who are adults, there can still be tons of healing to do regarding the way we converse and behave in around our menstrual cycles.

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MENSTRUAL CYCLES & NATURE

For those of us who are new to tracking our entire cycle, it may come as a surprise that there are Four Phases in our cycle. That means there is more depth and knowledge to take in regarding our cycle when we track it in full, rather than just keeping track of our periods. The four phases of our cycle are:

• Menstruation – estrogen and progesterone are low. This is a great time to prioritize your self-care and spend time tending to your needs (me time)
• Follicular – during this phase estrogen is rising. Our mind is moving and we are thinking more clearly. This is a great time to do any scheduling or planning. This is the perfect phase for getting things done.
• Ovulation – this is what Raven likes to refer to as the ‘Empress Phase’. During this time you are in the zone and attracting what you want. Your energy is magnetic, this would be a great time to have a job interview.
• Luteal – during this phase it is great to get out of your head and into your body. This is the better phase for emotional processing. On the outside some people say this is the time when you are ‘PMS-ing’ but that is not necessarily true, this is the time to see things clearly and where it becomes more obvious what isn’t working in your life so you can release it.

We are not linear, we are all connected to nature. Exposure to sunlight plays a huge role in our hormonal balance. Moonlight plays a huge role in our progesterone production which ties into how heavy or painful our period is. Once you start tracking your full cycle it is clear that each phase has its own energy. Try putting your phases in a calendar and start planning your tasks and appointments around those phases.

TRANSFERING OFF OF BIRTH CONTROL + LIVING A CYCLICAL LIFESTYLE

Raven shares her journey with coming off of birth control and what her experience was like. For many of us, birth control was not just used for contraception. In many cases birth control has been the only weapon prescribed to combat painful & heavy periods. The problems from this methodology are many, the symptoms and side effects of birth control can even have you feeling suicidal and depressed.

The reasons for this is that birth control is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it affects all of your hormones not just the reproductive ones, this results in hormonal imbalances that throw your entire cycle, and life out of balance. Fortunately there is a better way to manage your cycle. Once you determine that birth control is not something you want to take anymore the process of healing your body can feel daunting. Fortunately in this episode Raven shares her recommendations on herbs and cycle tracking apps to help with your journey of recentering your body and hormones.

ANCESTRAL HEALING WITH DREAMWORK

A big aspect of Raven’s business as a womb healer is the connection to her ancestral roots. Since she was young Raven has received messages through dreams from her ancestors. She knew that she had to dig deeper in regards to her path and life’s purpose. Raven had a powerful dream when questioning the next steps on her path with herbalism. She asked her ancestors for guidance, and her grandmother came to her in a dream. In this dream her grandmother showed her stacks of books with different herbs and natural medicines. This was the sign she needed to drop everything and pursue an herbalism certification in Colorado.

Raven’s strong connection to her ancestors and the rituals that she set up around connecting to her roots helped guide her onto the path she is on today. Showing that this calling is in her DNA. The truth is we all have the power to connect with our ancestors. You can read more about the power of journaling to help interpret our dreams in a previous episode linked here.

We are feeling supercharged and empowered after this episode on cyclical living and ancestral healing, and our hope is that you are feeling it too. The work that people like Raven are doing has the power to literally heal the generational damage our wombs have experienced. The ways I have incorporated cyclical living into my life have really transformed how I interact with nature and move throughout this world.

Everything is connected and something about that is just so beautiful and grounding.