The Menstruality Podcast - 203. How to Claim and Express Yourself in Inner Summer - REPLAY (Alexandra & Sjanie)

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

What if there is a direct connection between your pleasure and your power? And what if harnessing the magic of inner summer of the menstrual cycle - the ovulation phase - is the key to unleashing a deeply pleasurable, full expression of who you are in the world?We believe that both of these statements are true, but - as we explore in this podcast - a profound reclamation of the true power of inner summer is necessary, in a world which demands us to be in an endlessly productive summer-mode all of the time. As a result of all the societal projections created by hustle and beauty culture, the power of summer is much misunderstood, and many people struggle with it. In this replay of our popular episode from two years ago, we share ideas for how we can free ourselves from the narrow band of experience within which we’re told to operate, so that our unique magnetism and authenticity can be fully inhabited.We explore:The shadow-boxing that can take over inner summer when we live in a linear world which neglects our cyclicity.How being with the instinctual aliveness of our animal bodies helps us to unleash and express our power in the inner summer, as well as hold the charge of our Calling in the world. The direct connection between dropping deeply at menstruation and the full claiming of our inner summer selves. ---Receive our free video training: Love Your Cycle, Discover the Power of Menstrual Cycle Awareness to Revolutionise Your Life - www.redschool.net/love---The Menstruality Podcast is hosted by Red School. We love hearing from you. To contact us, email [e-mail]---Social media:Red School: @redschool - https://www.instagram.com/red.schoolSophie Jane Hardy: @sophie.jane.hardy - https://www.instagram.com/sophie.jane.hardy

Welcome to the Menstruality podcast where we share inspiring conversations about the power of menstrual cycle awareness and conscious menopause. This podcast is brought to you by Red Skool where we're training the menstruality leaders of the future. I'm your host Sophie Jane Hardy and I'll be joined often by Red School's founders Alexandra and Sharni as well as an inspiring group of pioneers, activists, change makers and creatives to explore how you can unashamedly claim the power of the menstrual cycle to activate your unique form of leadership for yourself, your community and the world. your community and the world. Hey there, thanks so much for joining us today and especially warm welcome to you. If this

is your first time tuning into the podcast, thank you for being here. So it's summertime here in the UK and today we're sharing a popular episode from two years ago where with Alexandra and Sharni we explored the power of the inner season of summer, the ovulatory phase of the cycle, which is much misunderstood and many in our community struggle with it. But wherever you are in the world and whatever the weather, we hope that this conversation helps you to connect to the power of the inner summer of your cycle. In the conversation we look at the impact of the inner Summer of your cycle.

In the conversation, we look at the impact of all the societal projections that are created by hustle culture and beauty culture and how we can each work towards this profound kind of reclamation of the true power and possibility and pleasure of inner Summer. Along the way, we explore questions like what if there's a direct connection between your pleasure and your power? That's such a good

question. How can being with the instinctual aliveness of your animal body help you to unleash and express your full self? And how can dropping deeply at menstruation help with the full claiming of your inner summer authenticity? Well, welcome to the summertime, you two. I'm just pouring myself an imaginary cocktail, just kicking back in the sun, with the sun on my face, just ready to experience the pleasure and majesty of summer. I'm lounging in your image right now. So that's me gone for the podcast. I mean, summer does. It's just when you say the word summer, for me, it just conjures images of the word summer for me it just conjures images of holiday and good times and being outdoors and the glory of the sun and blue skies I mean just all that. And actually my inner state because I'm on day 21 is actually more aligned with the kind of conversation that I know we're going to be having, which is really about how the power and potential of inner summer is disrupted or diluted or, well, we'll

get into it by the cultures that we live in. So I'm really with the like, get out of the way of my inner summer people. I've got my inner autumn fire. But yeah, I mean, this day 21, it's my favourite part of the cycle. And I feel so productive and so on it, so clear, so connected and plugged in and also a bit gritty. Oh, I'm very happy to have your grit, Sophie. Yes. Yes, yes. So I am in probably about four or five days away from the new moon. So what I was thinking this morning was, is like the tendrils of inner quiet moving in, even as I'm very engaged with stuff that we're doing, we have to do right now. There's this, oh yeah, I can almost feel it now.

This is kind of in a quiet or stillness that's just present that I'm sort of resting in a bit. stillness that's just present, that I'm sort of resting in a bit. Nice. So I'm day 11. I feel I'm in the inner summer. And the, for me, it has a quality of, I've got different metaphors flicking through my mind here. The one is of a ball flying up in the sky, but it's that moment of sort of just before the hover. And it almost slows down. It's not like flying with the full momentum. It's sort of gotten to the point where it's, yeah, it's almost reached something and it's slowing down before the drop. I also have a kind of roller coaster image of that like slow build up, up on a roller coaster. So there's this feeling of steady, stilling quality in me,

but it's very outward focused. I feel very engaged and I'm really kind of holding all that's going on. Yeah, I've got the vantage point of being up here. You know, it's that, it has that quality of vantage point. I can really kind of see all the pieces. I've got a view of the whole theme park. I know where everything is.

And in a way it has a command control type of energy about it. Yeah. And so it's a good place. Very, very good place. You managed to bring in three metaphors there. And I'm proud of myself. I didn't mix them because this is this is what Alexander and I often do when we're writing, we like land up just moving between metaphors willy-nilly.

With no regard for holding the thread. Well, there's just a delightful summertime fullness to your, the way you describe your experience. And I feel like to walk us into summer and some of the beauty and the possibility of it, there's a quote from Wild Power that I'd like to read. But before I do, I guess it's important to name that in a summer is the ovulatory phase of the cycle. So we're looking at around day 11-12 to around day 18-19, might be slightly different for people. Yeah. So that's the, so yeah, the ovulation would be sort of midpoint between that for you. So if you have a 28 day cycle, you know,

midpoint would be about day 14, 15. So yeah. So this quote goes, Oh, the summer, a time of plenitude and ease. You have arrived. Your energy is at an all time high, giving you the capacity to have it all. There really are no limits now. You can be all things to all people.

Superwoman lives and you get to be her for about 10 days, that is. While it lasts, you can be a powerhouse of productivity, multitasking and fun. And it's a time of languid ease and deep embodied presence to the world of sensual delights. I'm just gonna have another sip of my cocktail right there. Yeah, it is. I can almost feel it now in me. There's just something very, I want to use the word, there's a sort of fulfillment of something, there's a realisation of something, there's a sort of manifestation of something, something

rising up and then just opening, blossoming out about summer. And the thing I want to say actually is a sort of prelude to this is that when we're talking about the positives of any phase of the cycle, we're talking about it within the context of the whole cycle of where each aspect of the cycle we're able to fulfill each aspect of the cycle. So for us to have that experience, that fullness and ease of summer, that sense that there is there's natural chi in the system, and that there's a flow there, rests on what has gone before on being able to have rested at menstruation and to feel resourced from that physically resourced from that, but also to feel to find oneself again as one does in menstruation to feel that connection to oneself. And then the negotiation or the movement of that out of menstruation through the inner winter menstruation into the inner spring, the pre-ovulatory phase, and how we navigate our way back into the world, husbanding our energy, you know, pacing our energy, husbanding our energy, you know, pacing our energy and maintaining this connection to ourselves. So there's a certain amount of discipline involved in that, you know, kind of holding the tension,

if you like. And then, you know, if one is really supported in that, too, and one is able to do that to some degree, then the summer naturally unfolds. It's just, it's like the brakes are off now, you know, you've been, you've been managing those gear shifts very clearly, and now you're in top gear. And you're on an open road. And yeah, the way is clear. And this is just so important to have this anchoring in oneself, which is what that journey up to summer is helping us to keep that anchoring that connection. So that at summer, there's this just this, ah, it's sort of orgasmic really,

it's quality. There's actually a quality, you know, we talked about, you know, superwoman and, you know, we've got real capacity for productivity. But actually, there's a kind of surrender that happens in the summer in the way, well, it's different to the surrender of menstruation, but it's like, yeah, it's like a yielding and allowing yourself to be carried by something in the way that you do it menstruation, you give in, and then you're carried by something mysterious. So yes, it's this kind of arrival, you know, Shani was describing it just now with this ball,

weren't you, Shani? This, this balloon rising, rising, rising, and then you get to the peak. Yeah. So there's that kind of quality to it. And the other thing that's important to express here is that this, this energy is, is this lovely, natural kind of energy. It's like a flow state you come into, but it's flowing through who you are. So of course, we know we've described a kind of general picture there of the summer in that quote from Wild Power, but it's going to show up sort of differently,

depending on our natures. How it, you know, gets kind of how it, how that energy gets manifested or expressed or fulfilled how we are with that. got capacity because and, and our rational minds are sort of at their peak at this point. So Shani spoke about this, you know, like being in the control center, you know, you've got the control center, can you know the road ahead, you know what you're doing, and you've got the chi and you can direct the vehicle of you. And but there's also this quality of pleasure for others, it would be about just relishing, you know, being alive,

the pleasure of being alive. Yeah, that the the one of the things that really were supported with in the inner summer by the inner summer energy is to be present. The inner Summer really kind of helps us to land and be in ourselves and with ourselves and in the world and with the world. Which is a very, very, I mean, all spiritual practices are kind of based around this. Inusama really helps us to come into this place. And that means that we can much more easily feel this deep engagement with our bodies, with our senses. And of course, presence also means being present to our it. It's a very, I want to say kind of motherly energy of community and inclusivity and generosity, compassion, very, very beautiful. And then at the same time, you've also got, as Alexander said, this incredible left brain, intellect capacity that is at its

strongest. So we're coming into presence with body, heart, mind, spirit, like our authentic selves. This is amazing lining up that can happen in ourselves. I've often felt it like all chakras lit up, you know, it's that kind of harmonic energy when we really come into ourselves. And that's the ecstasy that Alexandra was talking about. That's that thing of really, yeah, lining up in all these ways in this very present state. And there's just one more other piece about that. And I was feeling it this morning, actually, as I was stirring my cup of tea, I felt this kind of presence in myself and the slowing down and I was really taking time squeezing the teabag and felt the plump warmth of the herbs in the teabag on my fingertips. And

that's where that sensual delight comes from in the Inna Samma. It's's where that sensual delight comes from in the inner summer. It's like through that real mindfulness and presence that we've got a lot of access to. So there's so much sort of savoring that can happen here. Hence that holiday vibe that I feel, you know, it's like we all, all the beauty of life suddenly. We can smell it, we can see it, we can taste it. So good. So good. There's this quote from Amber in Wild Power, and she says, Ah, at last, it's like my whole spine has lengthened and I'm remembering

the true majesty of who I am, a woman feeling a powerful need to be seen and met in my fullness. The word fullness feels like a very important thread through everything that you've been sharing. Yeah. And this claiming, claiming of yourself in the world, in the world. Yeah, this is me. And feeling this, I can hear real dignity in, you know, in what she says, just feeling the dignity of herself and pride. feeling the dignity of herself and pride. It's like, yeah. Yeah, our needs really shift through the cycle. And certainly, I've noticed for myself, and I'm kind of hearing that in Amber's quote, is that this is the place where we feel a need to be seen be seen and recognized and acknowledged. And it's, that is such a thirst, I feel for all of us. That something, something in our experience is incomplete, until somebody else says, Oh, wow, I see you, I love that about you. Or I'm so grateful for that. Or wow, you're

amazing at that. Something is incomplete. The inner summer really brings a sense of completion where we're seen and we have ourselves reflected back. And there's a sort of relishing or celebrating of who we are that isn't just coming from us, you know, it's coming from others. My goodness, we need that so much to be appreciated, actually, yeah, and recognized. Yeah, it's part of what helps us flower. It's beautiful to hear you speak about this. And I'm also fully aware, and I know that you too are massively too, that there are probably many people listening who are thinking, oh, geez, this is not what I'm experiencing in the summer.

Or how do I get me some of that? Because that's not quite, it doesn't, you know because I'm not quite experiencing that yet. And we had such a great riff before this conversation about what is going on within a summer and how it's been co-opted by our cultures. And it's thwarting, not totally because we can claim it and we can find our way but it's thwarting some of this. So can you walk us into that? My inner autumn being is chomping at the bit to get to it. Shani, I'm going to let you respond answer that but I'd like to just say something before then I'm going to let you respond answer that but I'd like to just say something before then, which is, I just really want to acknowledge just the very basic fact that we do keep acknowledging which is that we live in this linear culture that is not valuing the cycle so we're not supported,

you know, at any level really. We may have partners who are on board with this but sometimes we don't even have partners that are on board with this, or even friends that are on board with this but being supported in being able to take the time we need for instance, you know, I always think of menstruation, how you bleed sets the tone for the whole cycle, but just the very fact of not being able to have some spaciousness when we bleed to deeply drop. And I mean, that in itself is just massive. trying to recover and restore something now. So our experiences are going to be sort of partial and frustrated at times because we can't do what we really feel we need to do to be able to fully relish and what I like to say consummate each season.

You know, yeah. So it's, I just want everyone to be very kind with themselves when we're talking about the bigness of this, yeah, that we just live in a linear culture that's not valuing this. And so, yeah, just hold that in mind. And actually, when you say we live in a linear culture, another way of saying that is we live in a culture that is permanently in the inner summer. Trying to be. Trying to be

in the inner summer. We live in an inner summer culture. So the power of the inner summer is only powerful because it's temporary. If we try to stay in the inner summer energy longer than it lasts, what happens is we go into burnout, we lose meaning, we feel disconnected, we overdraw on our emotional, spiritual, physical bank account. And there's a kind of, I want to say, raping and pillaging of resource, which is of course what we see in our world today. We see the shadow or the destruction that comes from trying to stay in one season and not valuing the need for all the seasons. So having said that, if we live in a culture that is so sort of in a summer obsessed, in a way, we're all on some level, sometimes

consciously, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously, trying to stay in this energy all the time and resisting the other faces of who we are, the other ways of being, the other powers. And another way of saying that is that the person we are in the inner summer is the most socially acceptable. It's who our culture thinks we ought to be and should be all the time. On some level, we're all trying to live up to that. Oh, the pain. Can you feel the pain? When you say it, I just,

I feel winded, the pressure, the pressure, the claustrophobia. No, it's not right. And we're just, we're, oh yeah. God, yeah. The claustrophobia. Oh man, it's so dehumanizing. Yeah, it's so dehumanizing and so tragic really. Deeply tragic. It's such a great experience for us personally and for us collectively. And now I'm feeling stirred. I came to this conversation, I must tell you all,

with this very fierce agenda to really reclaim the true power of the inner summer. And as Alexandra said, the only way for us to do that is really to claim the whole cycle and to claim and to claim our cyclicity so that the inner summer once again has its rightful place as just a part of the tapestry of who we are. That we get to like, oh, expand into all these different ways of being and all these different faces of ourselves and all these different modes of operating. I mean, that's really what my agenda is here today. So because actually the true power of the inner sama has everything to do with each one of us really claiming and occupying who we are in the world. And that means us doing what we're here to do and giving our gifts.

That means our power, our impact being realized and the whole beautiful receiving of that, that happens. and the whole beautiful receiving of that, that happens. I feel, you know, I feel a certain teariness in me. And I think it's because our personal experience of this natural blossoming gets in a sense organized by the dominant cultural energy of doing and a kind of soullessness can take over. It's like we get organized by that the dominant cultural

energy around us. And, and so I'm actually just feeling a certain kind of grief that there's this solace that comes easily happen. Yeah. And yeah, it's quite painful actually in the moment to see. It is painful. I was going to make a joke after what Shani said and say, oh, I better take a sip of my cocktail now just to ease through this. And actually, what I see, the shadow that I see in that is one way that I cope with this is I pour a glass of wine. And I notice how, and I think, you know, this is rife in our culture, we numb because we're feeling the pain of this. We're feeling that this isn't the way it should be. And there are so many different ways that I numb, you know, Netflix, wine, whatever. We've all got our vices, but I just saw it so clearly in that moment of, this isn't how it should be. And that soulless feeling and

the pain of it. And then, and why it's so important to be reclaiming and restoring this inner ecology, inner ecology inside us. And that's the, the answer here. Oh, you know, what's coming to me is we're all speaking here is that, actually, you know, we talk about the summer having this robustness to it, you know, this energy and gee, but there's actually a real delicacy to it. It's like an exposure. It's like coming out. And when

you spoke about numbing, you know, if you're not connected to yourself, that exposure in the world is too much. And, and of course, getting into doing and stuff that can be very addictive, and that itself is numbing after a period. It's fabulous and great, you know, generous as well. But if you're not if you're not connected to yourself, all that doing doing that we do If you're not, if you're not connected to yourself, all that doing doing that we do is actually it's soulless, and it's it's numbing and it's deadening something. And so we, in a sense, keep perpetrating the trauma that we are exacting in the world right now on our beloved Mother Earth. Yeah. On each other, how we treat each other. Yeah. So if we're dulling and numbing ourselves, we're losing the enormous, Shani spoke about this Mother energy, embracing you actually, when we were privately talking, Sean, you spoke about the embracing of the community of life, this incredible inclusivity energy. I words to grow, you know, that takes time. But, you know, a growing kind of ease with oneself. If we don't have that, then the that moment of opening out to the world and opening up, opening our hearts, that exposure, you know, yeah, we can't handle it. Yeah, because we're really coming into our hearts here. And Aniss, we're willing to feel we can't be present with our hearts. And what you said, Alexandra, and also what you've pointed to Sophie, are very significant. How we're being organized by

a kind of productivity obsessed culture, and how we, in order to stay in the kind of incessant in a summer, we order to stay in the kind of incessant in a summer, we have to numb out because it's too painful to feel this loss of connection with ourselves, with our heart. And the other piece is that our, we're also being blatantly and not so blatantly organized by the need to look a certain way. incessant in a summer culture looks is that it has defined a very narrow view of what

women should be, how we should look, how we should behave and so on and so forth. And And we're all sitting under this incredible weight of shame that we are not that. I was saying to Alexandra before, this is really strong. I was saying to Alexandra before we started our podcast that I heard somewhere some statistic and you know, this doesn't need to be proven to me because I know it's true. 99.9% of women think there's something wrong with their body. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Oh yeah. So, if we're all being organized by that, however do we step into this time of flowering to be visible and to show ourselves and to really let ourselves be seen. It's such a toxic thwarting of this inner summer power. thwarting of this inner summer power. And there are so many ways in my life that I have felt that as a hindrance to me really doing what I'm here to do or following the impulse that I have to step out into the world. The number of times I have shut myself down

because of some sort of shame around that. And I know that 99.9% of women feel that way. I'm gonna pause the conversation for a couple of moments to share an invitation with you. So to celebrate inner summer and outer summer here in the UK, Alexandra and Sharni have made their Cycle Power course half price until the end of June, if you have the code podcast, which I'll tell you more about in a moment. So Cycle Power takes you by the hand, walks you right into the heart of each of the inner seasons of the menstrual cycle

to unearth, discover the powers that live there and the self-care practices that can help you awaken an ever deeper expression of this power. And it's like Alice in Wonderland down the rabbit hole. It's like it just gets deeper and deeper, the exploration here. So if in a summer is a challenging time for you, cycle power could be a good

resource to support you to move through this shame that Sharni was just speaking about that so many of us feel, so that you can show yourself in your life, so that you can let yourself be more fully seen. You can find out more about the course and take your seat at redschool.net forward slash cycle power. And when you use the code podcast, you'll receive 50% off before the end of June. Here's a story from Pippa after taking the cycle power course.

She says, my menstrual cycle awareness practice previous to cycle power was quite broad brushstrokes. Now with the information and tools and attention that the course has cultivated in me, I'm now beginning to identify my crossover days and be far more in tune with the limitations of summer and the fruits and gifts of winter, both of which were a bit of an oxymoron to me previously. You'll never regret carving out this time to know yourself and your cycle better. It's such an investment in yourself, which is the greatest act of self-love.

I'm so glad I did it. Thank you so much, Pippa. So again, you can find out about the course at redschool.net forward slash cycle power, and you'll receive 50% off before the end of June when you use the code podcast. Every time I try and find a photo to go on our website of a woman, it's always the same woman that I see on all of the photo websites. It's always the same. And it's just never more obvious to me than those moments where I'm like, nobody, I just want to see photos of all of us so that we can

all feel included and belonging here. And we're, we have a fixation on a certain body, a certain face, a certain way. Yeah. It is so toxic. Thank you for naming it. Yeah. And the little micro moments where we shut down all the way through the day because of it. So yes, so shame is one of the big dances that happens in the inner summer. We do that either consciously or unconsciously. But we really confront our own shame in the inner summer, this pool to be seen, and then all the ways that we want to hide

are very exposed to us in our inner summer, which can make the seat. I mean, so many people, Alexandra, I mean, just think of the stories we've heard, the number of people who have come to Red School thinking, you know, you know, we say, we're all, we all identify with a different season. Like what kind of women are you? You know, you're an in a winter woman, or you're an in a summer woman. So many people have come to this work thinking, I'm an inner summer woman, only to really get into menstrual cycle awareness and be like, I am so not an inner summer woman, I'm an inner autumn woman, or

whatever the case might be. I have just been thinking that is who I am, because that's who I think I should be. Because that's who our culture wants us to be all the time. And then this, the amount of shame that people are having to negotiate. Yeah. And I read this comment from Himena, it came up on the cyclical business course. She said, beware the seduction of inner summer. I just had the insight that inner summer is the most socially acceptable phase of the cycle, being productive, being out there, doing things, and as a result it can be very seductive. I find myself wanting to extend it as much as I can before the clock strikes 12 and I become Cinderella again,

aka inner autumn. This past week has helped me realise just how conditioned I am to the productivity culture and how much I tend to tie my worth with results. That says it all, doesn't it? Well, and what's interesting here is we're talking about really claiming oneself in the inner-summer, one's authentic self. So if you are somebody who really doesn't fit into the kind of social norms, and like who the hell does, but if you're

somebody who really is operating in a much more marginalized sphere, you know, for example, if you're somebody who identifies as non-binary or you're a person of color, for example, there is so much more complexity that you're having to deal with as you come into this phase to really claim your place in a world that kind of doesn't recognize or acknowledge you or doesn't value you for example. Yeah, absolutely, Sharni. Thank you for naming that. So, so what can we do for people hearing

this and feeling that, yes, fuck, fuck, what can we do? I'm just gonna say fuck a lot in this episode because fuck. Because you're day 21, you're allowed to. And this is shit, this situation. Well, how can we change it? How can we reclaim it? What can we each be doing one percent by one percent here? There's a thought I want to seed. I want to think of each of us as agents of change. The thought is, what if I could be an agent of change for the world through me starting to dare to recover the power of my menstrual cycle, or to, and if you're already doing menstrual cycle awareness, if you're already doing menstrual cycle awareness, to really see your practice of menstrual cycle awareness, not just as this awakening journey to yourself, but as a as activism for the world as

you quietly starting to change how we do do things in society, what a wild thought to hold. And the reason I'm saying that is because I really want to dignify the importance of each person's individual daring to claim their menstrual cycle experience, and it does take daring. So, really, it's, as Shani was saying, it is about this work, this practice of menstrual cycle awareness. I love that you brought it in that way, Alexandra, because what we've been speaking about today is very strong. And the kind of cultural story is pervasive and feels insurmountable. It feels like, you know, how do we, how do we change that? And you're pointing us all back to ourselves and back to our personal practice of menstrual cycle awareness. Because as we recover, cycle awareness. Because as we recover cyclicity for ourselves, the inner summer is restored is is it it it then falls into grace, I want to say is exalted the inner summer becomes

exalted. When we honor all the other phases of the cycle. And when we do that in ourselves, that then creates a change in the world. I absolutely trust that. So yes, if you're listening to this conversation, you're probably already practicing menstrual cycle awareness. So you are already laying the foundation for a better experience of your inner summer, or healing some of the wounds or the shadows or the challenges of your inner summer. And there are a couple of other things we could say, which really kind of point to how to care for the inner summer itself. So once we've got the context of the whole cycle,

then there's the, you know, how to meet the, your personal experience of the inner summer in a way to, the your personal experience of the inner Samay in a way to, yeah, to be able to really feel the power of it. So I'm thinking of, well, I, you know, we're having a little conversation about what sort of what season, what season are you? I've always identified as being somebody who is both an inner summer woman and an inner

autumn woman. I am both like I can't, I could never just identify with one because I am, I feel like I'm such a combination of these inner summer powers and these inner autumn powers. And I once did a sort of brain study that showed I'm equally left brain to right brain, which feels really true. In the summer is that kind of left brainness and the in the autumn is really the right brain power coming to the fore. And in a way, I feel that my inner autumn is really fed and support my experience in the summer and vice versa. They are such good friends, they really need each other, like I can't see, you know, I really can't see how

they exist without each other. So one of the things that I've experienced for myself is how the powers of the inner autumn, the capacity to slow down and to really come into my animal body has hugely helped me to experience the expression of my power, and the kind of unleashed expression of my power, which comes through in the inner summer. Now, Shani, can you just say that again? Can you just say that again? Because I feel like what you're saying is huge. So this combination of slowing down, kind of dropping from my mind into my body and coming into the instinctual

aliveness of my body into this, what I think of as a kind of animal power, animal body power. It's that that's really helped me to be able to hold the charge actually of my calling in the world and the clear expression of it. You know, I have this sort of image of feet rooted deeply into the earth, really standing heart open, head held high, and just saying it, just saying it with a kind of effortless, natural matter of fact. Ta-da! Yeah, and that takes presence, it takes slowness, it takes being in connection with myself. And one thing I know about you from the times that we've been together physically, we're together all the time online, but the times that we've been together physically, we're together all the time online, but when I've actually been with you physically, is it feels like you put a lot of emphasis in your life on bringing pleasure to your physical body.

Like it feels like you're doing it deliberately as a practice. And what you're saying now really makes sense to me. Like we met up at a festival and the first thing you said to me was, right, we need to rub each other's feet. That's the first thing. And so we give each other this lovely, gentle foot massage in the sun. Or when we met up for Louise's wedding, you were just laid out in the window seat, like a, yeah, just like a lioness, just like, yep. And I could see you deliberately soaking in the pleasure of the moment, or you were talking about you'd been to a spa recently, this might be too much information, and you were like had honey and salt and you're rubbing it all over your body. And it feels like this is

a real intentional devotional practice, which feels very connected to what you're you're talking about here with the animal body and how you connect to and express your power and hold the charge of it. Is that true? It is and I thank you for that reflection. It's true. I have discovered that if I stay focused on pleasure, that is the source of my power. Wow, this is such a key for us here for in a summer. And it gives, because often when I think, oh, I'd like to put some like body butter on my body, I often just go, I've got lots of other things to do. But knowing that there's this direct connection between

pleasure and power makes me think, Oh, geez, I think I might prioritize that next time. It's, yeah, it's a really good key this, whatever pleasure looks like for each of us. It really is a real key. And it's a real way of turning that whole like productivity obsessed culture thing on its head because it's a real revolution to prioritize pleasure. And my experience is that I am so much more productive when I'm rooted in pleasure. I'm so much more effective. I just, I'm more joyful. There's so much more, I've got so much more energy, capacity. I'm coming from a resourced place. Yeah, that's key. It's being resourced. Yeah, coming from a resourced place and pleasure is just such a powerful way of resourcing oneself.

But to think about what resources me and of course I just really want to emphasize menstruation, the inner winter, the care of the inner winter, not to, you know, if you're struggling to manage that summer energy, I would really encourage you to actually really care for, to put some more attention on giving yourself time and space to really drop administration to have a period of time of just complete surrender or yielding of giving up all agendas, and just feeling that deep drop, daring to have that drop and and to have a little taste of what that can open up the resourcing of that drop is beyond extraordinary. It is beyond extraordinary and the more you can get it the more you're, it. The more you're one filling your tank with physical cheap, but the more you're doing that, the more you're cementing this connection with yourself, this line with yourself, because it demands something to claim that time too. And so I'm worth it. So I mean, the very act of claiming it is like strengthening

something in you. I swear, I feel like a superhuman every time that I managed to get some of it. I'm like, wow, I did it in this world, in this situation. And I've got a lot of privilege here too. But you know, with everything that's going on, I claimed this. And yeah, I feel like, yeah, like, like the tectonic plates have shifted whenever I managed to do it. Yeah. That's so lovely. So great. Hearing that the tectonic plates shift. How radical just that claiming just more than before,

you know, just extending your boundaries more and more before. So really having that a little bit more, do not set yourself up to go, I've got to have the whole three, four days, do not even begin to let that thought seep in. Just think, how can I have a bit more? And then really focus on this thing of dropping the dropping the agendas. That's the vital piece to have the sense of drop. Because the rise comes from the drop. The step forward comes from the momentary sort of dropping in, and then the movement happens. And that's, you know, what we're caring for on a larger scale within our cycle, the dropping in, and then naturally, the impulse to arise, but it's rising from a place of connection. And it's this thing of connection to ourselves,

that we have to keep nurturing, and which is what your cycle process is in cahoots with. That's what your cycle is serving. Each phase of the cycle is another element in this aspect of connection with yourself and bringing you into a surer place with yourself, a stronger embodiment of yourself. Each element of the cycle serves this. And the other thing I want to emphasize here is, think of it as a process that, you know, like an adventure too, like each month, it's like, can I get a little bit more, can I nail something that's

shuffling, it's like one percent more, one percent more of allowing yourself something more and to think of it as a long game, you know, because I'm really appreci relish now the fruits of what I tended to. And it's taken quite a long time and I think it could have taken with your dedication to your cycle awareness, and how you honor the creative challenges you encounter the challenges the tensions you encounter with your cycle and how you bring your attention to that in just small ways within a very intense life, how you're being delivered to something more and more in yourself. It's very beautiful to see that. And for me, it was a lot more unconscious that process because it hadn't been fully articulated then. So I mean, the message here that I'm really communicating is just taking these one percents, one percents and really trusting it's happening. It's happening. Not only is it happening in you, but it's happening in the world because of you doing it and you doing it and you doing it.

That's so beautiful. There was one word you said there that I want to pick up on because I realized this is another important piece within a summer. Alexandra, you spoke about how menstruation and just taking time out of menstruation in a way creates a feeling of worthiness and the experience of menstruation creates stronger feeling of worthiness. And the experience of menstruation creates stronger feeling of worthiness. And oftentimes what can happen with this flowering energy, and with this expansion that happens in the summer, is that we can unconsciously be putting our foot on the brakes, not allowing ourselves to really be as big as we are, as seen as we want to see, be seen.

And it's that practice of menstruation that builds the worthiness to that really will support us to allow, allow, allow more of who we are to be, to be seen and be in the world and allow more of ourselves to show up. So that feels very, very important and also helps with the shame piece. The shame piece. So just coming back to the shame again, one of the powers of the inner-summer is actually communication or connection with others. And this is one of the ways we can derail shame

for ourselves is to talk about, to really be honest with ourselves firstly, and honest with each other about what we are shadow boxing in ourselves. Because when we we all know that when we speak about these things, it this integrates a lot of the charge around them. And when we are lovingly received in that sharing, it helps us to be a bit more real in the world. So hopefully this conversation is doing a little bit of that for you all now, but keep having the conversation with each other. Keep talking about this so that you're creating more space for yourself to be real in your life and in your friendships and in your family and in the world and in your work. Thank you. Okay, so the vision that I had right at the beginning has changed quite dramatically through this conversation. So there I was on my sun lounger with my cocktail. And now where I

am is in this vast field with thousands of us doing a great big F-U to the structures that be and giving each other foot rubs. That's what I'm seeing now. A pleasure revolution. Pleasurelution. A pleasure revolution. Thank you, you too. Okay, so before we wrap up this episode today, I'd love to reiterate Alexandra and Sharni's invitation to you and their special offer to celebrate Outer Summer here in the UK and the powers of Inner Summer everywhere. Their Cycle Power course is half price until the end of June using the code podcast at redschool.net forward slash cycle

power and if you're one of the people listening who's been thinking about joining the menstruality leadership program at some point, the doors are going to open again soon. And Alexandra and Sharni wanted to share that one of the best ways to prepare for the menstrual leadership program is to join cycle power. Lots of our graduates from this year said that it really helped them to get the most out of the course. So if this is you, now could be a good time to step into cycle power. All right, then that's it for this week. I'll be with you again next week. And until then, keep living life according to your own brilliant rhythm.