Women's Inner Seasons with Blume Womb: Part 1

Flowing with our inner seasons as women, womb healing, and cyclical living are becoming wildly well-known. Learning to flow with the natural rhythms of the body (rather than against it) is transforming women's lives all over the world. Rebecca Akat, aka @blumewomb is a dedicated menstrual cycle coach and feminine embodiment facilitator who empowers women to reconnect and reclaim the power of their womb.

With a holistic approach, she guides her clients in aligning their lives with the ebb and flow of their menstrual cycle, embracing the wisdom of both the earth’s seasons and their own inner seasons. Rebecca’s expertise lies in helping women understand and honour their cyclical nature, promoting balance, well-being, and a deeper connection to themselves.

How did your journey as a menstrual cycle coach and womb healing evolve?

My journey of becoming a menstrual cycle coach and tapping into womb healing was very unexpected. I never thought this would become my career path! Through personal experience and witnessing how connecting back to my feminine was the missing piece to feeling fulfilled in my life, I started diving deeper into learning about the menstrual cycle and womb, realising that it was the missing piece for so many women.

A couple of years ago, I completely burnt myself out by overworking and constantly being in “survival mode.” I didn’t know what it meant to be a soft, well-rested woman. I didn’t see that as “successful” or “valuable.” I hit a wall and fell into a deep depression, not wanting to participate in life. Doing one task felt like running a marathon. I didn’t know how to get out until I stopped resisting and just let myself be.

I came across cycle tracking and dove deep into learning about the cyclical nature of a woman that we had all been taught to neglect. I took courses, read all the books, and immersed myself in learning about the womb—and life started to feel full again. I re-established a relationship with my body that brought me safety and, in that, joy.

Now I’m on a mission to remind as many women as possible of this innate wisdom.

What is Cyclical living and its benefits?

Cyclical living is when a woman comes back into sync with her innate inner rhythm. From a hormonal perspective, we have a 28-day (on average) hormonal cycle that has four different hormonal phases (Follicular, Ovulation, Luteal and Menstrual) that each have different hormone changes.

The first half of your cycle, our oestrogen is more dominant, making you more social and outward, feeling more courageous and confident, experiencing higher energy levels, and wanting to be immersed in the world. The second half, your progesterone is more dominant. This makes us feel more inward, feeling slower, experiencing lower energy levels, feeling more in touch with your inner emotional world, and needing more time in solitude.

With cyclical living, you start living with your cycle and its changes instead of against it. You learn to embrace these monthly changes, the different phases, and their needs or tasks. This creates less resistance and instead, more ease, alignment, grace, and compassion towards ourselves.

It is also the initiatory path to your power and freedom as a woman. Because your world is very masculine-driven and often praises more masculine traits such as doing, producing, and achieving, we often neglect our feminine qualities such as being, feeling, creating, which are just as valuable.

Bringing yourself back into alignment with our cycle means going at a pace that works for you versus the world. It means listening to your innate clock, your body, and supporting yourself in this way.

In return, you might find yourself having more regulated nervous systems, balanced hormones, easier periods, less mental strain or emotional hardships, and overall, just feeling the power of being a woman.

Tell us about the four inner seasons of a women’s menstrual cycle: Summer, Autumn, Winter & Spring.

Within our monthly menstrual cycle, we have our four hormonal phases, which correlate to the qualities of the earth's seasons. These are considered our inner seasons.

Cycle day 1 is when you start your bleed—this is the menstrual phase or your inner winter. Our inner winter is all about slowing down, resting, hermiting, going inward, and allowing the end of a cycle (death) and the beginning of a new one (rebirth) . This is a great time to do nothing and allow yourself complete rest so you can immerse into this new cycle fully recharged.

Around day 6, you feel yourself transition into your follicular phase or your inner spring. The qualities you experience here are all about new beginnings, the planting of new seeds, feeling your energy come back, being more social, curious, and courageous, and immersing yourself in the outer world. This is a great time to try something new, start a new project, be social, travel, and move your body.

Around day 14, you will experience ovulation or inner summer. This is the height of your cycle. Your oestrogen is at its peak to release an egg from your ovary. Your energy rises, you feel most confident and sexy, your libido is higher, you feel more creative, and you feel like you can take on the world. This is a great time to get creative and harness that conception energy if you are not looking to conceive a child. It is also a great time to do any tasks that normally feel more daunting, bemoresocial, and be of service to the world.

After ovulation, your oestrogen will drop and progesterone will rise, bringing you into your luteal phase. This is your innerautumn. Most women dislike this phase because it feels difficult or intense to be in this season —however, it can be magical if you learn to navigate it correctly. Inner autumn is all about slowing down, going inward, seeing what is coming to the surface, listening to your innercritic, and letting that wild womanfree. Often, your PMS symptoms or moodswings are just suppressed emotions that you haven’t processed. This season allows you to process so you can release whatever doesn’t serve you through your blood. Innerautumn is also great to get detailed and organised, clean your space, do the innerwork, pace yourself, and let everything be present without judgement.

Each inner season has its unique purpose and tasks. When you learn to embrace them, they start to support you.

Next week in Part 2, we will keep exploring Women's Inner Seasons with Rebecca. 

Imagery by @blumewomb