The luteal phase. The premenstrual phase. The descent.
But there’s more to the infamous “PMS.” In fact, the luteal phase is where I feel my most badass!
Menstruation is essentially a mini birth each month. The cervix opens, the uterus contracts, and the body empties. And whether you’ve studied laboring rats, or watched a sister navigate pregnancy + birth, you know that a natural birth begins when a woman feels safe to open.
The woman nests and withdraws. The cat finds a dark corner behind the couch. The squirrel retreats to the den. She wants it dark, quiet, and private. She wants to feel safe.
Interfere with a woman on this primal, instinctual mission, and you’ll receive her wrath. She isn’t here to waste time and her boundaries are fierce. In fact, the closer she gets to birth, the more direct she’ll be with exactly what she wants, be it for you to shut your mouth, or nurture her in a very specific way.
The luteal phase is the same!
This is when she is literally bursting at the seams with all that desires to empty from her womb.
Pressure building, her body's silent screams for space to prepare become louder and louder.
Every nagging sensation, unmet emotional need, and forgotten boundary begins to bubble to the top preparing to exit.
And the more she ignores it, the more intense it becomes.
Which is why I like to think of the luteal phase as the decent to the underworld (menstruation).
On the way down, a woman really must prioritize her own animal experience over levity and spiritual “light lovingness” and face her resistance to her darkness.
The parts of her that want to be nice. The parts of her that want to be accepted. The parts of her that want to be presentable. And in general the entire dogmatic split between light/dark. Consciousness/matter. Heaven/hell.
When I observe this profound acceptance of my unfiltered truth, I am met with the most authentic expression and feeling of release, making my bleed very smooth.
During this time I’m often inspired to make art, expressing things I would usually minimize or hold back completely. As my body calls me from the womb, to quiet, center, and observe what wants to move, I find myself deep in my body, listening and flowing unhindered, through dance, meditation, and sensual mirror work.
And so my question for you is: how at peace are you with your inner animal?
The one who fucks, bleeds, sweats, births, shits, and dies?
Do you let your soon-to-be blood consume you and drag you to the pits of the Earth so you may be reborn each month?
Or do you brush it off as a small human symptom that must be dealt with?
Are you the type to defend the cave, eyes wide, tongue hissing and crawl deep within? Or do prefer make sure everyone has eaten first?
The story is yours to weave.
Written by Megan Bloom
Instagram @bloomingwombs
Written by Megan Bloom
Instagram @bloomingwombs