Rebecca Rankin (00:01):
Stories, teachings, and guidance. Welcome to the women's moon wisdom podcast with your host Rebecca Rankin.
Rebecca Rankin (00:18):
Hey, welcome back. This is a Rebecca Rankin and you're listening to the women's moon wisdom podcast. In this episode, we're going to dive into our inner full moon phase, also known as our ovulatory phase. Think of this time in our cycle as the time of outward expression, of being more social, of putting ourselves out there, of being more visible. This is the time to let our light shine. I'm going to reiterate what I've shared on other episodes of this podcast is that I find it especially helpful to take cues from the natural world around us to better understand ourselves, right. As above; so below. And just as the moon has so often been connected to feminine energy, we can really lean into learning lessons through this some may call metaphorical comparison, if you will. So let's think of the full moon. So it's when the moon is fully visible in the evening sky, it lights up the night and with that brightness can pull us to feel more active, even more awake.
Rebecca Rankin (01:24):
I think you can ask any nurse or grade school teacher, if they notice a change in human behavior during a full moon, you'd probably know what their answer is. I, I like to think of it this way. The gravitational pull of the moon is so strong that it affects the tides called tidal force. So during a full moon and new moon phase, the tides actually reach their highest and lowest range. Right? Pretty cool. And will start to wax and wane as the moon shift through its cycle. And I like the idea that since we are made of a good majority of water, then it might be reasonable to believe that the moon can affect us as well. But let me back up and say all that being said, we're just taking cues from nature. That doesn't mean that our menstrual cycle should be synced up with the moon.
Rebecca Rankin (02:14):
That's not necessary. So if you're saying to yourself like "great, now I have to figure out how to sync my cycle with the moon or great. I can't even cycle, right?" Not at all right. It's reasonable to assume that as modern humans, we've adapted to our modern environment of like artificial lights and technologies. And with that our cycles are going to differ. And we could reasonably, maybe guess that perhaps back in the day, we might have all menstruated with the new moon. And obviously during the full moon, there may have even been good reason that holidays often occur around full moons. A time of outward expression, visibility, and heck even fertility. Even in our modern culture, think about how the date of Easter in Christianity is decided. It's always on the first Sunday after the first full moon that occurs after the spring Equinox. And even other holidays that are celebrated around the full moons of spring often represent renewal, rebirth and even fertility.
Rebecca Rankin (03:22):
So, okay. All that being said, let's get back to us. Our inner full moon phase or ovulation. This is our midway point in our cycle. We could even think of it as the peak of our cycle. So during this phase, the mature follicle that was kind of leading the show during our follicular phase is producing estrogen. Estrogen reaches its peak amount. And that surge signals to the pituitary gland to start producing luteinizing hormone or also called LH. And then luteinizing hormone then triggers ovulation. Ovulation is when the follicle that was maturing all in the follicular phase or inner waxing moon phase, that mature follicle ruptures and releases an egg. And the egg then travels down the fallopian tube and either meets up with a sperm and becomes fertilized, which will then begin the process of pregnancy or that egg then begins to disintegrate.
Rebecca Rankin (04:22):
And then that sparks the Luteal phase or our inner waning moon phase. And which is kind of the last part of our cycle that leads up to our next period. Now the egg itself can actually only be fertilized within 24 hours, but our fertile window or our ovulatory phase is considered to be around five days mid-cycle. So with this peak of estrogen and even testosterone, you're going to then peek in your feelings of having more energy, more mood and, and even higher libido. Okay. So let's get into this a bit more, like, what does this phase feel like? Like what is our experience during this phase of our cycle? In a way, think of the waxing moon and the full moon phases as this kind of outward expressive time during our cycle, right? This half of this cycle, the follicular and ovulatory phases are this outward expression.
Rebecca Rankin (05:21):
Showing up for others; being of service to the greater good; being visible, more creative, more forward, more driven. The surge of estrogen to its peak levels leads to a boost in synaptic connections within the brain, and which then increases our sharpness or communication skills, as well as our creativity. This is likely when you feel more social, more outgoing, and even more verbal. And because of that, it might actually be a great time to lean into that. Lean into this time to have difficult conversations, like maybe asking for a raise or, or even having a challenging conversation that you need to have with a family member that you've been putting off, right? The mental sharpness and focus during this phase might help promote your ability to creatively problem solve. So with estrogen and even testosterone at their peak, you may feel that you have just more energy to burn.
Rebecca Rankin (06:22):
And with that, your movement practices might be ones where you can just really challenge yourself. Similar to our follicular phase or our inner waxing moon phase, our energy levels are likely to be a bit higher. And with that, you can add your intense workouts here. Lean into maybe your social tendencies during this phase and hit up your group classes. Hang out with your friends who want to go for a long run or go to a group class that your friends have been asking you to join. And some examples of movement practices that you could really lean into that might feel just really nourishing during this time are things like interval sprints or your high intensity interval training or boot camps. Or even just within a yoga practice, your more challenging yoga asana practices, maybe like faster paced ones or vinyasa flows or power yoga practice. Something that's just a little bit more challenging to you.
Rebecca Rankin (07:20):
So with this more energetic, if you will, time of your cycle, what are the hormonal superpowers that we can lean into as far as mood and mindset go? And at this point in your cycle, it's about visibility. So at this point in midway through your cycle, you can think that as just being more visible. How do you want to show up in the world? How do you want to be seen? How do you want to be of service in this world? So during our inner full moon phase or ovulation phase, it's a great time to have those difficult or important conversations. So your verbal centers and your brain are heightened, which basically means your brain chemistry will be supportive of communication and being a bit more clear and able to communicate your desires and your needs. Use this time to negotiate your contracts. Have those important conversations.
Rebecca Rankin (08:14):
This is a great time to be with community. Reach out to your family and your friends for the heck of it, collaborate with others. Attend those networking events. Use this optimal time to nurture your relationships with others. And I do want to point out the obvious, hopefully obvious that this is your fertile window. This is your ovulatory phase. This is your fertile window, which means your libido's higher, your energy's higher. You want to be with others. So yeah, this is the time if you're trying to get pregnant, I hope this is obvious. If you're trying to get pregnant, this is the time to try to get pregnant. So this is your fertile time of your cycle. So this is your time to be visible. And you get to define what that looks like to you.
Rebecca Rankin (09:04):
You get to define how social that is in your comfort level. So if you are more introverted, maybe it looks like just sending a friend a random text saying, hi. Now let's take a moment here just in your ovulatory phase or in your inner full moon phase, ask yourself "what does being visible look like to me?" What does being visible look like to me? Maybe that looks like being more visible in your community. Maybe it means being of service to others in a more visible way. But I also just briefly want to touch on kind of the shadow side of the ovulatory phase. I feel like oftentimes our full moon phase or ovulatory phase just gets all the praise. Well, let's also not forget that we need to honor the balance of life. When we put ourselves out there so much, we want to make sure it's in a way that we don't lose ourselves. That we are still grounded in our own needs and desires.
Rebecca Rankin (10:13):
And we want to make sure that we're not giving so much that we lose our sense of self. And this sets us up for a healthier next phase. It sets us up for a healthier waning moon phase or luteal phase where our focus naturally tends to be more inward. So we want to make sure that we aren't giving so much that we lose ourselves and that we're not giving from an empty cup. So as much as this phase is one of being visible, of putting ourselves out there, of being of service to others, make sure that you are still honoring yourself at the core of it. That you're still connected to that place of calm within you. That place of peace that resides within yourself. And that you are showing up being more visible from that place. Because that's what's going to feel the most nurturing. That's what's going to feel the most nourishing as you step into a more visible role. As you step into this aspect of you within your cyclical self, that you're still honoring that part of you that is that place of calm. That place of peace that resides within you. That's all I have for today. Thank you so much for listening. And as always share this with others, share this with friends and I look forward to connecting with you all in the next episode.
