I struggled to find any recorded birth affirmations that I didn't find cringey or a little heavy-handed on the day spa background music, so I created my own! 

These affirmations focus on the power of surrender and allowing birth to happen, as well as reminding us we are safe to birth, ready to birth and that birth can be joyful and beautiful.

In this final episode of the Cyclical Being series, we explore the profound spiritual practice of the menstrual cycle's autumn and winter phases. Picking up where we left off at ovulation—the peak of summer—we dive into the descent toward autumn, where the body begins to shed, reflect, and retreat in preparation for winter, the most dormant and introspective phase of the cycle.

Anna guides you through the transformative power of this transition, showing how the premenstrual and bleeding phases can become sources of insight, clarity, and evolution rather than frustration or discomfort. Together, we uncover the wisdom in our body's signals—be they irritability, fatigue, or sensitivity—and learn how to consciously honor and navigate these shifts.

Key themes include:

• How hormonal shifts shape our emotional and physical experience post-ovulation.
• Recognizing the "thinning of the veil" as an opportunity for intuition and clarity.
• The spiritual importance of rest, reflection, and letting go during the bleed.
• Practical ways to honor your body and prepare for an easeful transition into winter.
• Using your cycle as a tool for personal growth, self-awareness, and intentional living.

Let this episode inspire you to approach your bleed time with curiosity, openness and a loving desire for spiritual evolution

Resources:

• Cyclical Being Part 1 
• Cyclical Being Part 2 
• The Thinning of the Veil
• The Spiritual Practice of Menstruation by Jane Hardwicke-Collings (The four seasons of your cycle explained)
• Emotional Enquiry Chart/Cycle Tracking

Biologically, ovulation holds the potential for conception and pregnancy, but when we understand the deeper wisdom of our body's rhythms, we learn that this Spring/Summer time in our cycle is about harnessing our potential for creation in all forms.

Creative energy does not just take the form of conception of a baby

Towards what are you dedicating your creative energy? Are we outputting energy in a way that aligns with our values and our dharma? These are the questions that lead us to truly recognise the guidance and gifts that our cycle is revealing to us. 

In this episode, learn how to recognise this Spring/Summer time in our cycle, the biological processes that are going on, and how to make the most of this time to feel more fulfilled, evolve into your creative potential and create a more harmonious cycle.

Unlock the magic of menstruating!

How to track your menstrual cycle and why it matters.

This episode explains a unique two-phase approach to cycle awareness that might just offer you more more ease in the way you think about your cycle and plan your life around your cycle. I know for some, even just me saying the words "plan your life around your cycle" might bring up a level of discomfort because perhaps you wish that your cycle is something that would just happen silently in the background and not impact on your day to day, but I want to offer you some reassurance that planning around your cycle can mean making really simple adjustments that are achievable within the context of a busy life where you have to go to work, take care of your kids and meet all of life’s other expectations. This method is for those of us navigating work, kids, social lives and all of life's other demands, but having said that it does require that you are open to some lifestyle changes that will ultimately set you up to enjoy more of the fullness of life, and also access the benefits that the body’s calls to slow down or go within can offer you.

Tune in to learn more about how to attune to the the transitions within your cycle.

In the podcast I mention:

• The Spiritual Practice of Menstruation by Jane Hardwicke-Collings (The four seasons of your cycle explained)
• Emotional Enquiry Chart/Cycle Tracking

In this yoga nidra, we journey towards a state of creative visualisation in which you can align with your authentic desires, and bring to light the highest  vision you have for yourself  in this lifetime.

“In yoga nidra we experience a state of harmony between body, brain, and mind. Then the unconscious barriers and blockages within the personality, which exist due to our negativity, are removed and the healing power of the mind begins to manifest.”
- Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Yoga nidra has developed in modern yoga to offer a therapeutic experience of deep relaxation. A hybridisation of ancient tantric teachings and modern approaches to relaxation, yoga nidra verges on hypnosis in the way it guides the mind and body into a mysterious state somewhere between meditation and daydreaming.

In this yoga nidra, we move through the stages of sankalpa (intention setting), rotation of awareness, pranayama (breath awareness) and creative visualisation. Each of these is designed to lead the body and mind into a state in which we can let go of tension from past events and emerge with more clarity and ease.

“When awareness is separate and distinct from mental activity,
when waking, dream and deep sleep pass like clouds,
yet awareness of Self remains,
this is the experience of total relaxation…
That is why, in tantra,
yoga nidra is said to be the doorway to Samadhi.”
- Swami Satyananda's 'Yoga Nidra'

Yoga nidra has developed in modern yoga to offer a therapeutic experience of deep relaxation. A hybridisation of ancient tantric teachings and modern approaches to relaxation, yoga nidra verges on hypnosis in the way it guides the mind and body into a mysterious state somewhere between meditation and daydreaming.

The creative visualisation aspect of yoga nidra invites you into an almost child-like state of imagination in which the usual constraints of the mind loosen and new states of consciousness can emerge.

Can a vision board really bring your dreams to life?

I believe YES, but there are a few subtle but important techniques we need to understand to make the most of this practice.

The ability to manifest is a natural byproduct of a spiritually-attuned life. When we have clarity around our desires and what our unique purpose in life is, the joy and beauty we are seeking in life seems to find us!

A vision board is just a useful tool to assist in this process.

In this podcast I explain:

• how manifestation works
• how to create a vision board
• what tantra has to do with manifesting

I then guide a short kriya  (visualisation) meditation to connect to the subtle energy body and create more clarity so you can attune to your deepest desires.

www.rhythmkeeper.com.au

Guru Purnima is a celebration of the guru around the full moon in July. In this episode I guide you in a reflection to cultivate gratitude for the guru so that you may enter more deeply into the spirit of this celebration.

This is a time to have reverence for the many faces of the guru you have encountered in your life. From your most vibrant primary school teacher to your patient grandmother, and to the great sages, siddhis and avatars who have raised the consciousness of the planet, Guru Purnima offers us a chance to sincerely thank these beings for the light they bring to our lives.

It is from this state of gratitude that we make ourselves available to receive the ever-flowing grace of the guru. You may at this time feel called to request a boon, a spiritual gift, something you pray the guru will support you in actualising through this next season of your life. The planetary conditions, as well as the deep gratitude we cultivate at this time, make for a most auspicious time for wishes to be granted.

Being at peace with not knowing came to represent something very powerful to me: faith.

We cannot know how life will unfold, or when or why, but we can find ways of trusting in the unknowing, and in that trusting I have found we receive a special kind of access to working with the subtle forces that are at play in our life.

Being at peace with not knowing, having faith, is a very powerful place to be, and it's the place I invite you into in the book.

In this episode I read to you chapter one of my book 'Everything I Do Not Know', as well as the prologue which offers a little insight into my 'why'.

I want to add a content warning to this episode as I do talk about suicide and share a personal experience of suicidal behaviour in this podcast.

Shop the book here.

If this is a difficult time for you, or this episode prompts you to seek support and you are in Australia please phone Beyond Blue on Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

Internationally check here for resources.

Visit my website.

The spiritual world is FULL of different labels that seek to define who or what people believe in.

All the jargon can be a little confusing, and perhaps not very helpful in dissolving the boundaries that exist between us so we can find mutual understanding and respect.

It can also feel scary to 'claim' spiritual vocabulary for ourself. It's as if we think we need to reach a certain level of holiness before we could identify as belonging to a particular group.

Over the years, I've come to identify most comfortably with mystic spirituality, which is not really a group at all, but instead a way of seeing the world.

A mystic is not bound by the dogma or doctrine (unquestioned truths and rules) of any particular religion, they are informed by the teachings and practices of teachers throughout the ages, but live a spiritual life that is guided by their own personal connection to the divine.

In this episode we explore what mystic spirituality is and how it might be a useful lens through which we can more freely explore our spiritual life.

The modern mystics I refer to in this episode are Richard Rohr and Mirabai Starr. I recommend both their newsletters as potent sources of wisdom and insight.