In a culture that strives for gender equality, many women nowadays are beginning to lean on their masculine energy and abandon their feminine energy in order to keep up with their many demands.
While this is a great thing when it comes to showing up in a male dominated world and wanting to be seen as perfectly capable of doing everything men can do, abandoning our feminine energy is bad news for our hormones.
But for clarity purposes, what exactly is feminine and masculine energy?
Masculine Energy
Masculine energy is considered the "penetrating energy" or the energy of "doing". In this energy we are goal-oriented and future-minded. This is the mission-driven hustle and grind energy of assertiveness and productivity.
An example of masculine energy:
Running from task to task in order to "get things done" while paying little attention to the present moment and pushing yourself through exhaustion.
Feminine Energy
Feminine energy is the energy of "receiving" or "being". In this energy we are more present and nurturing. We are patient and like to create, move and express our emotions. Vulnerability is a huge part of feminine energy because being in this energy means being comfortable with expression, connection, and love.
An example of feminine energy:
Nurturing a garden, getting a massage, writing music or painting.
So how does this relate to our hormones?
Balancing your cycle requires tuning in to the rhythms and emotions of your phases which means tapping into your feminine energy.
Unfortunately as women we have so much on our plates that our energetic scales are tipping more on the side of masculine which leaves very little time to listen to our bodies and what it needs.
This is where we run the risk of eating poorly, neglecting physical exercise and silencing our bodies language with the use of pain medications, stimulants, sleeping aids and birth control.
The fact that we need a self-care movement to remind us that we need to slow down and reconnect with ourselves is a real indicator of how much we are neglecting our feminine energy.
Balance your feminine energy, balance your cycle
In order to balance feminine energy first we need to remember that while trying to compete with men we not lose our feminine nature by trying to BE men.
As women we are different from men in the fact that our bodies work in a cyclical fashion, meaning we experience highs and lows throughout or cycle as a result of various hormonal influences in each phase.
This requires an understanding of each phase and how to live in partnership with it.
To balance feminine energy means allowing ourselves the space to slow down and take breaks when our bodies need it, instead of pushing through.
5 Ways to clear the blocks to your feminine energy when it comes to your cycle
1. Engage in guilt-free self-care practices and be unapologetic about it
That's right, self-care isn't about luxury my lovely friend it's about survival. To tap into your feminine energy means being open to receiving nurturing.
During the second half of your cycle progesterone is higher while estrogen rises towards the end. This causes our energy and drive to be on the low side which is why it's helpful to use this time for reflection, journaling, and getting more rest.
Getting regular massages, allowing others to relieve you of your tasks, and getting extra sleep, comfort and nourishment during this phase is critical to keeping things humming along.
2. Experience more pleasure
Allowing yourself to receive and experience more pleasure in life is a big part of feminine energy.
Allow yourself to linger in the space of pleasure more often by engaging in activities that bring you joy and happiness. This may involve letting certain tasks take a back seat while prioritizing connection, creativity and fun.
Sex is a great way to experience pleasure while tapping into both the connection and receiving qualities of feminine energy. As a bonus, having sex promotes hormone balance, so take advantage of the boost in libido you get from testosterone, estrogen, LH, and FSH during your ovulation phase by getting busy.
3. Connect with your food
So many of us view meal-prep and cooking as a chore, which causes us to reach for low-quality convenience foods that gunk up our pathways of elimination. This is unfortunate because proper elimination is critical for hormone balance and sadly for many of us this function isn't being optimized with the right habits.
Cooking and preparing wholesome meals is a fantastic expression of our feminine energy because it helps us have a deeper connection with what we are putting in our bodies.
Making the time to select good quality foods and prepare meals from scratch helps us to connect with our bodies and minds through nurturing and engaging in our senses, which are natural parts of our feminine energy.
4. Dial it back on the hormone disruptors
A part of leaning too much on masculine energy means spending a lot of time in a go-go mindset. This often means biting off more than you can chew and becoming dependent on stimulants such as coffee, sugar and alcohol to get you through.
Not only do these things throw off hormone balance but relying on these makes it difficult to sync up your lifestyle with your cycle because it's harder to pay attention to your body's signals let alone attend to them.
Allow yourself to experience discomfort and emotions so that you can begin to uncover how your diet, lifestyle and mindset is influencing the way you feel. This helps you reconnect with yourself by listening to your inner wisdom and create a better partnership with your body by learning how to support it.
5. Express yourself and embrace your femininity
Having an excess of masculine energy can make us feel isolated and unsupported, especially in a world where women's health issues is still wildly misunderstood and under-served.
Embracing feminine energy by connecting with others and learning to be unapologetic about expressing our emotions and desires is important.
This can be expressed through being your own health advocate by learning about your body and taking personal responsibility for your health, finding a tribe of like-minded and empowered women and prioritizing your needs and wants.
Learning to honor your emotions, inner wisdom, and intuition is critical to hormone balance because these are all a part of our power as women. Suppressing these powers suppresses our natural flow as women.
In conclusion:
So while equality is a good thing, we still need to value how our genders are different and honor our unique energetic strengths. Otherwise we are saying we are equal to men only if we act like men which still gives away our power.
Instead, we should celebrate our individual strengths and as women be more open to create space for each other and our unique qualities.
By listening to each other and supporting one another we can balance our masculine and feminine energies and live more freely in our truth as feminine beings instead of suppressing one over the other.