Noticing a repetitive mood or physical discomfort during your menstrual cycle is a crucial step toward a deeply rewarding relationship with a dynamic, ‘intuitive’ and ‘imperfect’ life-long friend - your body.
Become aware of the inner seasons of your menstrual cycle; the ebb and flow of your mood, the challenges that arise prior to bleeding, the recurring ailments that get your attention. Before long, you will become aware of a pattern because the menstrual cycle has a circular rhythm, a beginning, a rise, a fall, and a new beginning. The menstrual cycle is a doorway to self-understanding, a space where you come into relationship with your deeper authentic self.
To enter is to gently acknowledge (over time), the whole picture before you, all that you perceive as ugly & beautiful, unwelcome, ideal, wrong & special about yourself. All is revealed during a lunar month... when you're listening.
To aid your exploration, I offer a presentation that explains the moon phases & how this relates to the change that is inherent in the menstrual/monthly cycle: your inner seasons. I offer a chart that forecasts the ‘general weather pattern' of the menstrual cycle, plus journaling prompts that support you to acknowledge your personal patterns, the local weather! We will have time for Q & A & a pdf Handout will be emailed afterwards. The second half of the workshop is an experiential FreeFall Body Dialogue (see below).
Though this workshop is particular to women’s health and wellbeing it is also of interest to men. This knowledge facilitates us to recognise the natural changeability of women, enabling men to relate more effectively with the women in their lives, as colleague, husband, partner, father, brother etc. (but my Deep Dive workshops are for women only). Also these workshops do not just relate to women who are menstruating, the information is applicable for those who do not, or no longer menstruate; come to this workshop and learn how the Moon Phases can support you throughout menopause (and during perimenopause).
*Important note: Participants will need to prepare their own paper and some simple art materials and have them ready to use, prior to commencement of workshop.I suggest some paper, pens, colouring pencils/markers, pastels/charcoal, ideally no paint, as the image-making process itself is only 15mins.
For those who are unemployed or on low income please avail of our sliding scale rate of €15 - use the following code upon checkout: WOMENSALCHEMY
About Sinead Duignan
My challenge with, and subsequent research into premenstrual tension (PMT) revealed a story about women’s cyclical nature that is not commonly spoken about in our culture.
It is my joy and passion to share this understanding with others. I did my Research MA (Jungian based) through Art, Psyche and the Creative Imagination, TUS Limerick.
I trained with international embodiment trainer Philip Shepherd, founder of The Embodied Present Process (TEPP). The practice & facilitation of TEPP exercises is foundational to my life & work.
A Practitioner of Reflexology and Metamorphic Technique for over 2 decades, grappling with the philosophy behind Metamorphic Technique has been a lifelong gift! and I am now an apprentice teacher in Metamorphic Technique.
My background is in Social Care with out-of-home adolescents and their families. I have always been interested in mental health and education, particularly education that enables us to expand beyond the perspectives and belief patterns we experience as self-limiting.
Sinead’s Approach
The act of bringing gentle attention to the body is, in Jungian terms, a conscious choice. In doing so, the ego is invited to surrender its tendency for ‘risk analysis’ allowing the body, the psyche-soma, the freedom to be, just as it is. This moment is alive with creative potential and is deeply transformational.
As a Jungian inspired Creative Practitioner I am drawn to explore the interplay between consciousness and shadow; the unintegrated aspects of our psyche-soma.
In my experience the body is often encountered as shadow. The remarkable feats of the intellect and our allegiance to these ideals eclipse the body, casting it into shadow. Moreover, my work revives the profound connection we once shared with the archetypal rhythms; the annual seasons or Celtic Wheel, the Moon phases, and the Menstrual Cycle. A cultural neglect of intuitive awareness has caused the self-regulating essence of natural cycles to go unnoticed, and their deeper alchemical significance has been lost within everyday consciousness.
What is FreeFall Body Dialogue?
During guided meditation participants often drop into reverie, a threshold of psyche-soma. From this liminal space participants are invited to make an expression using the art materials provided (for online workshops you will use your own drawing materials). After crafting an image, we transition into a gentle reflective 'dialogue', exploring sensations and associations linked to the image or the process of creating it. ‘Dialogue’ may take place in the form of journaling, through spoken words, or through a combination of both methods. Spontaneous image making enables us to meet, acknowledge and integrate previously unrecognised thoughts/ memories, sensations, feelings and symbols from our personal unconscious that arise when we pay gentle attention. True acknowledgement is a deeply receptive act, free from intention, judgement or a need to change. Paradoxically, this space, free from direction, is pregnant with creative potential.