oh hey there, Reader

maybe you can relate, or maybe you're much more on top of things than I am, but I am a wait-until-the-last-freaking-minute girl.

I’ve known I needed to cut the garden beds back for weeks. 🤦‍♀️

I finally got around to it last weekend—even though in most years I would’ve been shivering while wielding the rusty clippers in freezing temps & snow flurries.

And honestly, I kind of hate this part of the gardening process 🙈

the phase when all the pretty-things have died back, and it’s time to admit that winter is coming/already here…

A lot of times, I feel resentful about it:

🙄 my fingers get cold even with gardening gloves

🙄 the stupid shears are never sharp enough

🙄 I get kinda feral with the cutting process and have {more than once} hacked away at something that definitely was not meant to be cut 😬

but as annoying as I sometimes find the fall season of garden-tending, this weekend was a reminder...

Everywhere we look, we find ways our bodies are mirrored back to us by the Great Mother.

💡 so that’s where I was: wielding dull, rusty garden shears when another Earth Metaphor for our cyclical bodies dropped in…

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PUTTING A GARDEN TO BED IN THE FALL IS LIKE YOUR LUTEAL PHASE BECAUSE… 🍁

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🍂 it's a process of culling, of cutting back, of discerning what stays and what goes, what will winter through to be tended again next season

🍂 the tasks of ending one season of growth are best tended to in the Autumn time {ie luteal phase} to set us up for an easeful Winter {ie bleed time}

🍂 it might bring up some rage-y feels — frustrated you’re doing the tending all alone? annoyed with yourself for leaving it to the last minute? Yup, hello Inner Autumn 👋

🍂 all that we’ve tended and harvested is now up for review. what flourished in the past growing season? what do you want to plant and grow in the cycle? It’s a moment to look back and take stock and find clarity

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⬇️ THIS IS THE PART I REALLY HOPE YOU’LL READ! 😉 ⬇️

Ok, that’s nice, Em. Thanks for the metaphor, but… who cares? ie… WHY METAPHORS ARE A TOOL FOR OUR HEALING JOURNEYS

I have a VERYYYY exciting project in the works that I truly cannot wait to share about — and it will be focused on exactly this 👆…

But until that’s live… here are some thoughts on why working with myths and metaphors are such a powerful tool for healing when it comes to our cyclical bodies

Humans have long since looked to Nature, to the Great Mother, to help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. And for women, this can be deeply impactful because of just how much our bodies mirror the cyclical wisdom of Mother Nature.

Over the past decade working in the holistic health world, I’ve focused on supporting women who want to finally feel at home in their body.

Find some ease in the skin they’re in

Ditch the diet dogma

And embrace all that it means to be a woman in this lifetime — including learning to love their menstrual cycle, in all its misunderstood messiness.

What I’ve seen, time and time again, is that when we as women form a deeper connection and live in reverence of the Great Mother, of Mother Nature, we begin to see ourselves with new eyes.

When we take the metaphors of seasons, growth cycles, right-timing over productivity-timing — nuggets of wisdom that we see the Earth offer us…

the stronghold of extractive capitalism begins to loosen on our bodies.

the threads of our own innate brilliance can be woven with greater ease and artistry into the tapestry of our human story.

In essence, it’s through metaphors that we see ourselves as perfectly imperfect — divinely human and reflecting of the perfection of Nature. Not something to be contorted, distorted, shut down, starved, or manipulated to fit into a prescribed template.

From the metaphor of the four seasons reflecting our own four hormonal phases to the myth of Inanna’s descent as a template for shedding the performative layers we’ve accumulated…

EARTH-BASED MYTHS & METAPHORS OFFER US THE CHANCE TO FIND OURSELVES REFLECTED BACK TO OURSELVES IN EARTH’S INFINITE WISDOM. A CHANCE TO CHOOSE TO LET GO OF THE BELIEFS THAT OUR BODIES REQUIRE “FIXING” BECAUSE WE DO NOT “FIX” NATURE. AND WE ARE NATURE. OF NATURE. WITH NATURE.

We’ll continue to explore soOoOoo many more of these myths and metaphors once I can share about my newest project… but until then, I’d love to hear from you:

What does YOUR Inner Autumn {luteal phase} feel like? Can you find yourself in the metaphor of “putting the fall garden to bed” — or is there a different one that’s more aligned?

➡️ I’d love to hear YOUR favorite Earth-based metaphors and myths {like the garden metaphor 👆, the story of Inana, the lunar phases, or any of the gajillion others!} — just hit reply to this email and share yours 🫶

Happy gardening {in all the ways 😉}, my friend!

Big Love, all ways always

P.S. Can you guess what the new project is...? Hit reply and share your best guess 🧐 I've got a prize for anyone who gets it right! 😜 🎁

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