I’m a woman who loves to get stuff done. I can work 12-14 hours a day, no problem, if I love what I’m doing.

I’ve been getting little messages for the past year or so, though, that producing all the time, even if I’m jazzed about what I’m doing, is probably not the best way to go.

Last year at the Hay House Ignite conference in San Jose, I was keynoting along with my friends Latham Thomas and Alisa Vitti.

These women are leaders in natural women’s health, and during each of their talks I took a note to myself in my notebook:

Start blocking out my period in my calendar and planning downtime around it.

Both Latham and Alisa talked about the cycles of the seasons and the cycles of the body. They suggested organizing life (and business) around these cycles instead of trying to work at a uniform pace in spite of them.

Two weekends ago, at the Ignite conference in NYC, I took the same note in another notebook–roughly 11 months after the first time I took this note.

Here’s my confession: Until this very morning I still had yet to block out time in my calendar around my period.

My mom practically wrote the owner’s manual for listening to and honoring the female body. The chapter on the menstrual cycle from her book, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of women. I know that her work has also deeply inspired my friends Latham and Alisa.

But the truth is, I have IMMENSE resistance around taking a break around “that time of the month.” There’s a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t need to. And, quite frankly, I often get annoyed by the whole thing.

As a woman who frequently talks and writes about honoring our bodies and listening to their wisdom, this is not something I’m proud of.

So that’s why I’m writing this and outing myself here. Just before I wrote this post, I sat down and blocked out the week around my next expected period to chill out. Finally.

The idea of taking a full week off to let my body do its thing and go inward freaks me the hell out. Here’s what goes on in my head:

• What will I actually do, just sit around on the couch all day? I’ll be terminally bored.
• What if I fall behind on all of my projects?
• What if there are important interviews or emails or meetings that I miss that week because I’ve gone within?
• If I do this every single month, we’re talking a quarter of the year gone. I just don’t have time for that.

I’m thinking these thoughts and taking the action to block the time out in my calendar, anyway.

I would imagine that, when it comes to taking time off, whether it’s for your period or otherwise, you might have had some of the thoughts I wrote above .

But I’m trusting my girls Alisa and Latham, and my mom, and believing them when they say that my body and soul need a break during that time. And I’m trusting that if I take that break, my body will thank me and there will be more than enough time and energy to do the things I want to do during the other times of the month.

Because there is a deeper, wiser part of myself that knows that if I follow through on the commitment to honor my cycle, my body will be happier, and so will I.

This is the part of me that said yes to participating in Sara Avant Stover’s I Heart My Moon Cycle Month. It lasts for one lunar cycle, February 18 – March 17th, and it features myself and 27 other feminine leaders talking about our periods.

When she asked me to shoot a video talking about my cycle, I cringed. I thought:

• That’s so weird! 
• Why would I talk about that on video?
• That’s far too private.
• I talk and write about money. What does this have to do with money?

But I shot the video anyway, because there’s a part of me that knows how important this is.

Half of the world’s population has a period. The reason any human being is here on the planet is largely because of the cycles of the female body. Therefore, this is important and relevant to EVERYONE.

So even though it weirds me out, I’m sharing my contribution to Sara’s I Heart My Moon Cycle Month.

Watch the video here. (You’ll have to scroll down a bit–I’m Day 13.)

This conversation is long overdue–for me, for you, for us, for everyone.

Check out my video and those of the other 27 women who are part of this inspiring (albeit uncomfortable–for me) movement.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments:

Does talking about your period make your skin crawl?

Do you organize your time around the cycles of your body, the moon, and/or the seasons?

How do you feel about your cycle?

 

May we all continue to deepen our relationships with our bodies and with Mother Earth, even if it makes us nervous :)