Inner Summer and the art of Pleasure
We have arrived at week 3 of our hormone cycle also known as Inner Summer. This is my jam, I am a summer baby at heart and I love the energy of the sun, the heat on my bones, and the vibes all that juicy estrogen brings! Inner summer is the time of the Mother Archetype, she is nurturing, creative, connected, devoted and supportive. The energy of Inner summer is that of pleasure and who, my friend, doesn’t love a bit of pleasure?
This is a brilliant time to let your light shine, that peak of your beyonce hormone will leave you feeling like the badass queen you are, ready to go out and spread love into the world! Your Inner Summer is your “yes” energy. Time to say yes to the things you’ve been wanting to do and embrace the energy you are feeling. It’s also a brilliant time to indulge in anything that brings you pleasure!
Inner Summer is the time in our cycle when most people feel really good, it’s a time that most of us yearn to feel all of the time but like all of the seasons, energies and archetypes we cannot stay in eternal summer. If we did we’d never have any downtime and we’d likely burn out, without Inner Autumn and Winter we’d have no grounding and nothing to balance out all of that high energy.
A really interesting thing happens straight after ovulation, you’ll remember we talked about the energetic output it takes to bleed. Well, it also takes a huge amount of energy to ovulate, and we actually have our first estrogen dip - right after ovulation. Most women actually experience a big drop in both mood and energy levels, immediately following ovulation. This dip isn’t as obvious as the one just before menstruation but you might notice that in the middle of your cycle you also find yourself feeling irritable and with a low mood, it’s likely it’ll only last a day or so, and then as Estrogen starts to pick up a little bit (before it makes it’s final wind down for menstruation) You’ll likely find your mood improves. I wanted to share this with you because Inner summer is typically known as the time of high energy, love, connection and pleasure and what I find when I am working with my clients is that lack of awareness of this mini dip around ovulation can sometimes lead to disappointing feelings, however when you know that dip is coming and that it only lasts a day or two you can be prepped for it and worry less about summer being over already!
One of the things I have learned on my own journey and through working with my clients is that there can be a lot of shame around the feelings that inner summer brings. Lifetime exposure to misogyny and being told to hide our light or shamed for exploring what brings us pleasure can leave a lot people feeling cautious and suppressing this energy, of course we know from going to hard in winter and spring that when we ignore the energies of our inner seasons we are likely to experience deeper mood swings and more challenging cycles, the same happens when we squash our summer woman so this week I want to share with you some things you can do to indulge in the energy of pleasure and how you can bring your summer woman in to being.
Make time for yourself and your desires
Inner Summer is a time when you’ll feel more sensual, more in tune with what you want and need and it’s also a great time to talk about it with your partner if you have one or explore it on your own. There is no shame in expressing your wants and needs when it comes to sexual pleasure and taking this time to explore those feelings can lead to improved relationships with yourself and others, higher self-esteem and of course more joy and pleasure!
Put on some high vibe tunes and dance
Making a playlist of tunes that bring out your inner pleasure goddess is a game changer! Pop them on when your Inner summer arrives and have a good old boogie, with yourself or with others if you like. Dancing is an amazing way to raise your vibe, mood, and energy and encourage a more loving connection with yourself. It doesn’t matter if you’re a trained dancer or you have two left feet, this is for you, no one else and letting go of expectations whilst allowing your epic body to move can work wonders for shedding layers of shame and internalized misogyny.
Say yes to things you love and get out in the world
We are social beings and unfortunately, the past two years have left us all feeling scared to connect. We’ve become more and more isolted and as social media grows we have fallen deeper and deeper into the false reality of watching each other’s lives through a screen. Inner Summer is the perfect time to get out and connect with other humans. Say yes to the things you know that bring you joy and surround yourself with people who feel like the sun. When you are planning your diary, line up social events with your inner summer and you’ll find you have more energy to participate in them and get more enjoyment out of them!
Be in nature
If anything is going to help you appreciate the joy and beauty in life it’s being outside in nature, often. Immerse yourself in whatever greenery you can find, get in the water, and play in the sand. Let your skin touch and connect with mama nature and breathe in her epic goodness. We spend so much of our lives glued to screens it’s no wonder we are feeling disconnected from ourselves, time in nature is a sure-fire way to bring out those inner summer vibes (yup even if it’s raining) and support you toward a deeper sense of self and wellbeing.
I hope those tips help you meet your inner Beyonce with the fierce energy she deserves, I’d love to know what works, what doesn’t and what’s been coming up for you as we map this journey! Leave me a comment below!