Emgoddess, a unique entity focused on changing perceptions and attitudes towards a woman’s monthly cycle.
Have you ever wondered why sometimes in the short cycle of a month you feel like you could achieve anything, yet only a handful of days later you are lost and lacking motivation?
It is not because you are lazy, slack or incapable: it’s because you are in a particular phase of an amazing journey. This journey is your cycle and you experience it each month. As women, we travel through four phases each month. These phases impact many different aspects of our lives including energy levels, optimism, focus, determination and perseverance.
Knowing how our body cycles through these four phases can help us better understand how we approach our goals from the crafting to the action planning through to the celebration of success.
In this article Sharon Wood, founder and director of Emgoddess, along with leadership and wellbeing coach Jo Bassett will share how to have less procrastination and more success and make goals work for you.
Being Inspired by Daphne
In the Daphne phase (days 5 – 11 in your cycle) you are feeling generally lighter both physically and emotionally. This phase is filled with enthusiasm, joy and energy. This is the time to create goals that make your mind, heart and spirit sing. Revisit a dream board you created in the past, a time when you were unknowingly in the Daphne phase (and didn’t know it!). When you look at your dream board and then your goals, do you feel excited and uplifted? (even a little nervous with anticipation). When you have a goal that really makes your spirit sing, capture your heartfelt reasons for pursuing this goal in a sentence or two on a card or sticky note. Place the notes where you’ll see them regularly for inspiration boosts as you move the three other phases.
Build your circle of support with Demeter
As you journey through your cycle after Daphne you enter Demeter (around ovulation) this is a shorter phase and one where you can feel more balanced and less intense. Although still positive, there is a calmness to your thoughts and approach to life. In Demeter, you have space and time for others. Now is the time to begin building your circle of support, discussing with your family and friends what you want to achieve and why it is important to you. It can also be very powerful to form a close circle of like-minded people where advice, encouragement and celebration of successes can be shared. Create a structure of regular check-ins to share experiences, solve problems and discover new ideas together
Drive forward in Persephone
Moving into Persephone brings with it a level of intense emotion. This passionate and somewhat feisty phase can become impatient and frustrated at the lack of results or gentler progress that is made during the Demeter phase. Persephone provides the energy to power you forward. This is the time when you feel a deep (almost passionate) connection to your goals.
This is the time where we are pulled to make sweeping changes and take huge leaps forward – achieve overnight success. The challenge in this phase is to use the energy to take action while keeping expectations (for yourself and others) real. Momentum is achieved in committing and following through on ‘small actions’. Commit to three bite-sized actions a day (a task that can be done within 20 minutes) that will move you towards your goals.
Catch your breath in Hecate
Hecate is the phase at the time of menstruation. Hecate is a time for leaning back from action as you are often feeling physically and mentally tired. During the high energy phase of Persephone, it’s easy to forget those things that are important to our well-being such as good diet, relaxation, sleep and exercise. What plans can you put in place now to ensure you continue to feed mind, spirit and body? Hecate is also a period of sensing, when you are feeling more insightful and connected to your intuitive. This is the perfect time to reflect on what has been achieved along with how you have moved things forward. Make a list of rewards to mark your progress and really stop and savour your success.
What’s next?
Make your cycle work for you and begin charting by downloading the free app (Emgoddess free) and identify where you are in your cycle. Then organise your goal actions and tasks that are best suited to the phases of Daphne, Demeter, Persephone and Hecate.
Embrace your cycle and go with your flow of who you are each and every day.