Celebrating matariki and getting to know your period with AWWA CEO Michele Wilson

For Co Founder and CEO of AWWA Michele Wilson, Matariki is an important time of reflection. Here she shares her favourite matariki tradition with us along with her knowledge around tracking your period in relation to the lunar calendar:  

Every Matariki I spend time reflecting on the year that has just been. What am I proud of and what may I be less proud of? What worked and what didn't? I then write down these reflections and make a list of things that served me well on one piece of paper and then write down things and or people that are worth letting go of. My children do the same thing and we have a wee ceremony at home where we read them out. The things we want to let go of are thrown in the home fire and the things and people we want more of are framed and put on our wall as a constant reminder.

One practice that I will be continuing and has served me well is the ritual of noting my period and high and low energy days with the Maramataka (the phases of the moon).

Since time immemorial, women have lived and worked according to a 24 hour, 7 day a week (5 days working, 2 days off) system. This system however was built under a patriarchal system as this is how men best work. Men experience their full rest and activity rhythm within 24 hours. Women however experience their rest and activity rhythms according to the lunar 28 day cycle. To date however, most women are not aware of this let alone know how to take advantage of it.

This beautiful artwork was created by @maori_mermaid

I have been researching and tracking these patterns within myself and have a deep understanding of what works best for me. I have seen great success in my life and my work by living and understanding these patterns. For example:

• Tangaroa is a phase following Rākaunui (full moon). This is a highly productive time for me and I schedule 8 days of full time work in a row. Most of my month's work is completed during these 8 days.
  
  
• Whiro (new moon) used to be a time of very low energy and I experienced mood swings and was not productive at all. When I began to track these patterns, I understood that if I stayed home, had no hui and instead made this time a quiet time of planning, it became a time where all of my greatest ideas came to me. I also experience a lot less moodiness because I was prepared and nurtured myself at home.

I believe that any woman who adopts this practice will naturally benefit in all areas of her life. Her personal life will be more enjoyable because she is choosing high energies periods to socialise, pms will become more manageable because she will know how to care for herself and her career will thrive because she is more intune with which days of the month are best for planning and which days are best for actioning!

I have created a beautiful calendar which aligns with every phase of the moon and allows users to colour in as follows.

Colour the moon:

• Red if you have your period;
• Yellow if its a high energy/highly productive day for you;
• Blue if it's a low energy or less productive day for you.

After a couple of months, patterns will begin to emerge and guide you on your personal relationship with the moon phases and which ones are really high and low energy for you.

Join our facebook group Wahine Marama to learn more, ask about your patterns and get help with developing your personal relationship with the Maramataka.