Guest Post by Dana Michelle Gillespie

Editor’s Note: This blog cross-posted from Pole World News.

Pole dancing has quickly become one of the most internationally sought after fitness, sports, and art forms in the world. The pole movement craze is a rapidly growing industry where whole multi-million dollar enterprises and careers have successfully been built. Pole dancing is no stranger to media attention either. The 2010 IPDFA Championship Competition was covered by more than 4000 media outlets in over 120 countries. And it’s celebrity following is similar to that of a female Golden Globes party: Oprah, Marisa Tomei, Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, Teri Hatcher, Carmen Electrica, Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey, and Britney Spears — just to name a few.

The love and lure to this beautiful and physically demanding activity can not only bring some bruises and strains to the body but can also be challenging on an emotional and mental level as well. Ask most any pole dancer and you’ll hear an almost addiction type response to their love and enthusiasm of pole dancing. As a female pole dancer — knowing your body is not only an asset but a necessity. And knowing what phase of your female hormonal cycle you’re on can greatly increase your capacity to move and perform at your best, at all times. In the past — the female hormonal cycle was commonly associated with “I’m pms-ing” and maybe “I’m on my time of the month.” Quite often, females felt these two phases on some level with regret and frustration as to the supposed limits they imparted. As women continued to soar in not just the pole community, but the world at large — having every available asset to help us soar with grace and ease — was and is essential. The demand on the female body to perform and feel the same way every day is not only quite limiting, harmful, and invalidating — it’s actually a male thought-form and not conducive to our female well-being; especially when you want to live in balance with your own body and allow it to function at it’s highest potential. Expecting it to feel the same way every day is similar to demanding the earth to have only one season, like winter — every day — all year round. If we didn’t have all the seasons to till and prepare the soil perfectly, healthy food would be very challenging, if not unlikely to grow at all, and survival next to impossible. Females have exclusive access to this amazing ever-changing energy cycle that allows us to effortlessly create and give birth naturally. Birth to babies, businesses, dance performances, better relationships — there is no limit to what a female can give birth to.

It just helps knowing and using your own bodies cycles to create it with more effortless ease. As females both individually and collectively are tapping back into their own body cycle’s inherit smartness, now more than ever, women everywhere are beginning to see their female cycle as giving them access to the different, almost ‘super powers,’ throughout the month. Knowing your phases and what phase you’re on cannot only give you a richer, more loving and fulfilling relationship with yourself, it can also give you your best advantage in life. There are 4 phases of the female hormonal cycle. In medical terms they are recognized as: Menstrual Phase, Follicular Phase, Ovulatory Phase, and Luteal Phase. Commonly they are referred to as: Menstruation/Sage Phase, Pre-Ovulation/Maiden Phase, Ovulation/Mother Phase, and Pre-Menstrual/Enchantress Phase. Once you recognize the strengths and abilities of each phase for yourself — it can propel your life forward. There’s no limit to what you can create and enjoy in your life.

Pre-ovulation/Maiden Phase is a time of physical body lightness and dynamic activity. This phase begins when bleeding ends. The mind is ready for creativity and going out into the world and the body is ready for physical stamina. The chemicals and flow of energy in the body have set up this time to be the best time to organize, plan, create, and be sociable, yet get things done. It’s a great time to plan your dance routines, travels, business endeavors, and test new challenging pole tricks and routines. You’re light and outgoing during this phase, like a maiden, and you like to get s*#t done! A Wonder Women cape would be easily acceptable during this phase.

Ovulation/Mother Phase is the time frame where you feel happy to be out in the world, however passive in the outcome. We are ripe during this phase! The need to organize and get things done has passed and now you enjoy just being present. Passive, outgoing, expressive, empathic, an outward type focus on creativity, teamwork, and supporting relationships is the pull of this phase. The chemicals present in your body during this phase give you a feeling of loving contentment for all that is. This tends to be the common connotation we associate mothers with — loving and supporting others. If you wanted to create a baby — this is one of the most ideal times to do that. This is also a great time for pole dancers to teach, connect with friends, family, community, and refine their dance from love. Play with movement in this phase and see how it feels as you are just happy to be. This might be your favorite dance time. If you’re a business owner, this is a great time to connect with your clients and interact to build more business and creative endeavors together. Mother Teresa or Mother Mary come to mind best during this phase. Premenstrual phase is the most infamous phase.

Wild Women and Enchantress are great archetypes to best describe this phase. The hormones are now shifting the energy of the body down towards the reproductive system as it prepares to release an unfertilized egg. The energy present for females is similar to that of a puppy — tiny bursts of energy and inspiration typically occur, followed by tiredness. If emotions and body balance were not met during the cycle, this typically is where the moodiness and body pains show themselves. Enchantress Phase is the last phase of the cycle and all things come to light. The consciousness is beginning to go inward toward the unconscious mind and can give way for females to feel the urgency to get things done quickly. Tenderness and impetuous begin to give way and it’s imperative to give yourself and others space and patience. Sometimes our tenderness during this time can be perceived and/or experienced as irritation. Be mindful if you place blame on your temporary perception of irritation. It will pass. Some of the big strengths of this phase is experiencing awesome inspired creativity, out of the box thinking and problem-solving can take place during this phase. This is a great time to really identity what’s important to you and what you can let go of. Make sure to give yourself permission to have alone time and not take anything personally during this phase. Perfect for refining your dance routine, playing with emotional release dance work, and refining your business, as well as your whole life. Wearing a tiara during this phase would be perfect.

Menstruation phase is personally my favorite phase. It’s the ultimate body detox, while you get to enjoy bliss. The love hormone oxytocin is surging in your body, as your uterus contacts, sheds its lining and gives way for you to not only feel blissful within yourself but surrendering to all that is. This phase sets your body up to allow your left and right hemisphere of the brain to be in most communication and allow communication from your gut instincts to ‘come to mind.’ We are more of the subconscious world than the conscious world during this phase. This phase is ideal for resting, reflecting, releasing, and receiving intuitive insight and creativity. This phase is ideal to experience your dance in how much it serves you. Floor work is ideal to focus on during this phase. As all your energy/chi is focused within your female reproductive system during this phase, orgasms will feel more intense and you can be more easily present within your body, as well as feel deeper into your feet. It’s a great time to reflect on your life, what is most important to you and how you might improve upon it. Allow yourself time to be alone, reflect, meditate, notice any insights, visions, and feelings that come to you, which might help shed light on new ideas. Really nourish and give to yourself during this time. Meditating buddha’s are great examples of females during this phase.

So what’s the best and easiest new way to know and easily track your female energy cycles? Download the new beloved free iPhone app called ‘My Moontime’. This will be an amazing asset the next time you’re in pole class wondering why you feel a little different — you can instantly check My Moontime app to see where you’re at on your cycle and your potential energy strengths of that phase. This app and the concept of knowing your cycles applies to all the actives in your life: yoga, aerial silks, running, spinning, hiking, and communicating with others. You name it — it will help. This app was created because I have been a long time pole dance enthusiast and needed an easy way to track this info for myself, on a daily basis. I tried to track my cycles by hand but it was too complicated and I lost track. I wanted an app that not only told me when my period was expected to arrive but also showed me, in a visually validating way, where I was on my cycle, my two different monthly fertility potentials, where the moon was at, and how to best utilize that energy potential every day. I really noticed in my dance how different I would feel and move depending upon where I was at on my cycle.

It was profound once I really started to pay attention — I loved it! Having an app to not only help me with this but also help me get ahead in life was priceless! I was able to use my body’s female energy phases to not only help my dance, but help in my professional and personal life as well.

Our female cycle and our connection to it has somehow been taboo for a while in the past and finally now there’s a deep desire within the world again to tap back into our female energy potential, to not only know what’s going on — but enjoy it. The concept of time itself was based around the moon cycles because they were one in the same as our female cycles. Before the invention of electricity, females all ovulated and menstruated at the same time. I look forward to a very near future where every female can easily know and utilize her female energy potential for the most freedom, ease, joy, and effortless manifestation in life. Life Might Be One Big Mystery — But Your Cycles Don’t Have To Be…Enjoy My Moontime App And Get The Most Out of Your Pole Dance Life!

Dana Michelle Gillespie has been a pole dance enthusiast for the past nine years and is the creator of My Moontime app. She attended SDSU, was a sought-after Hollywood A-list skincare specialist, enjoys dance, meditation, nature, and exploring ways to live and enjoy the most pleasurable life possible. For more information — go to www.mymoontime.com

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