157. Work with the Moon, Improve your Voice
Did you know the MOON affects your VOICE?!
My amazing guest today is Ashley Rose - an Astrologist and Feminine Embodiment Mentor to tell us all about how we can work with the magic of the moon to unlock the power in our voice.
Transcript
Hello. Hello. Welcome to Episode 157 of That Voice Podcast, how Working with the Moon Improves Your Voice. A few years ago, pretty much all I knew about the moon was that it controlled the tides. There's a rabbit in there and I love the movie Apollo 13. So much has changed. I now track the moon cycle and my cycle and it impacts the way I run my business, the way I exercise, the intentions I set. And I wonder why I was so ignorant to it for so many years. The moon also impacts our voice, and I didn't know most of the fascinating information you'll learn in today's episode. My amazing guest is Ashley Rose. Ash is an astrologist and feminine embodiment mentor, and we chat about how you can get started with harnessing the energy of the moon. So if you're a beginner with all this, perfect, don't worry.
We go from the start. We also talk about the intricate relationship between our voice and our womb space and how you can unlock this incredible channel of energy. We share practical ways you can embody your voice and free it from being stuck up in your head. This is a focus in Soul Speakers, my community. So if you are sick of using a voice you don't love and you wanna have real connection when you speak connection with yourself, connection with your audience, then get your sexy ass in soul speakers and you'll be howling in joy at the next Full Moon. The link is in the show notes for you. This episode is so fascinating, I really hope you love it.
Sally:
Ashley Rose, welcome to that voice podcast. It is so great to have you here. How are you?
Ashley:
I'm doing so well. So happy to be here Sally, this is gonna be such a fun conversation today.
Sally:
So fun. How did you get into moon and being fascinated in the role of the moon in our lives?
Ashley:
Absolutely. So for my background, I am an attorney, but I've always been interested in spirituality and was practicing astrology for about 10 years. I also do astrology and human design readings as well. And as a woman, I realized the importance that the moon has as a feminine planet in people's charts. And so I started to get really interested in the moon and the chart, but then also learning, learning about how we can actually manifest our own lives according to the cycles of the moon. For instance, the new moon, when the moon is new and at the darkest point in the sky is a great time for setting intentions for the month versus the full moon, which we're actually under right now. Full moon in Libra as we record, this is an amazing time for celebration and acknowledging your, the achievements that you've had so far for the month. And then as the moon gets smaller in wanes, that's a time for rest and restoration and recuperation. So I just became really fascinated with how the moon and its own cycles literally mirror the cycles that we have as humans here on earth, especially when it comes to manifesting our best lives.
Sally:
Amazing. So what about our voice? What is the relationship between our voice and the moon and our womb? What is the connection?
Ashley:
So there is a lot going on here. Is it okay if I get a little bit sciencey with you for a minute?
Sally:
Please, please. I'm here for it.
Ashley:
The voice and the womb are actually very physically and energetically connected. And then there's a connection to the moon that I'll pull in. So when we are embryos, literally in our mother's wombs, the same tissue that forms our mouth and our throat and what becomes our larynx is the same tissue or the same membrane that becomes the opening of our reproductive tract. Therefore our throats and then our cervices are connected through something called the vagus nerve. And this literally connects our throat and our cervix when we're breathing and different things like that. In addition, our jaw and our pelvis are connected through facial tissue again because of during how we develop in our embryos and the spinal cord kind of forms to connect these two different parts of our body. So that's why even tightness in the jaw can be experienced as tightness in the pelvic floor and all these different things.
Ashley:
We then bring in the moon when we think about how the moon is connected to our womb space. I mean we know that even as women, our menstrual cycles can be connected to the moon scientifically. This isn't everybody, obviously we're very diverse and very different people, but oftentimes a woman's moon cycle can be so that she's ovulating during the full moon and then she is menstruating during a new moon and things like that. So this very physical connection that we have with our throat and our womb and our pelvic floor, that literally is, is a result of our development as embryos then is also brought out by our connection to the moon and our womb spaces as women, as we develop into, you know, reproductive type of women. So it's just really interesting, all these different connections.
Sally:
My mind is absolutely blown. That is so fascinating. And in the same way that our yoni will change throughout the month depending where we're in our cycle. Would the same thing happen with our voice? We would sound different in the month depending where we're at.
Ashley:
Yes, absolutely. So actually there have been scientific studies that have been done that prove that even the tone of a woman's voice changes depending on where she is in her cycle. For instance, scientists found that about two days before the ovulation phase, a woman's tone of voice goes up about 15 hertz. Something like that. Like a semitone versus where, yes, exactly. And other scientific studies have shown for instance that men have been found to be more attracted to women who are in that pre-ovulation phase as well when they're just hearing their voice, not even seeing the woman or knowing who she is or what she looks like. So as a woman, our voice is changing depending on our hormones and that is connected to the moon because our cycle is connected to the moon. So really interesting stuff there.
Sally:
So interesting isn't it? Our voice is impacted by so many different things because there's also our emotional state and our environment of that time and it's just another lens to look at it through. It's amazing. I'm, so I'd imagine that you would say the more we can be in touch with our feminine and the more we can be in touch with our womb space, the more we can be in touch with our voice, would you say?
Ashley:
Absolutely. And in this way, feminine embodiment work can really impact our voice in so many different ways. Some medical practitioners have even found, for instance, that people who have trouble expressing themselves or speaking their truth or using their honest opinion and their honest voice have found even connections to some pelvic floor symptoms like incontinence, tightness, tension. So literally even whether you are a woman or not a woman, whoever you are, if you are having difficulties expressing yourself in an emotional way or speaking the truth of who you are, that can literally be seen physically and your pelvic floor space further. As a woman, it seems that the connection to the throat and the womb is even more intricately connected. When we think about things like self-expression, creativity, the fact that the womb is the seat of our life force energy as a woman. And so I've even worked with practitioners who are very aware of this throat womb connection and they recommend different practices for women like singing.
Ashley:
Singing can actually be a really healthy way for women to embody their feminine energy, to relax their throat muscles and their voice while also toning their womb. At the same time, there are also practices that you can have, such as writing or journaling, which is also a different type of communication as a woman that can strengthen that creativity, that self-expression, and that womb space as well. So as a woman, it's really interesting because for everyone it's so important for you to be able to speak your mind and to express your truth in a really important way. But for women, we literally can see that connection to the throat, into the womb in those ways.
Sally:
Oh this is so good. You know, our womb space being the seat of our life force. So amazing. So singing,
Ashley:
Journaling, even humming, what else?
Sally:
Humming.
Ashley:
Humming can be a thing. Even even holding your throat, you can't see me now because we're on a podcast, but even holding your throat humming, buzzing, making sounds like that you can actually feel the vibrations also occurring in parallel in your womb space. That's another way, like for instance, if you're feeling like your throat is being constricted, like you can't speak or you're holding something in, then doing that humming or something like that can both open your throat space and then open your wound space and relax your pelvic floor as well again, because we have that vagus nerve connection. So literally when we inhale, when we breathe in, that is impacting our diaphragmic muscles and then also our pelvic floor is lifting at the same time and then when we exhale, that is also impacting our diaphragmic muscles and then our pelvic floor is releasing at the same time. So that is also why things like singing, humming speaking is connected to the tone and the health of our womb space as well.
Sally:
Yeah, that reminds me of an exercise I do with my clients where you, you breathe in nice and low and deep and then as you hum out, instead of having the visual that the air is traveling up the windpipe and out the throat, you actually have the visual that it's pushing down and coming out your yoni and, it's really, really great when you do that and you just go breath in and then, hmm. But have that visual that it's, it's coming out between your legs when you say it like this, it sounds a little bit, you know, out there, however you do actually feel it open and it creates this really great voice to body connection.
Ashley:
Oh, I love that Sally and the work that you do absolutely fascinates me and that you connect the entire chakra system to the voice. I have another feminine embodiment mentor that I work with and she even talks about speaking from the different chakras. So what it's like to speak with your voice from the heart chakra versus speaking from the sacral chakra, the womb or the yi down at the root chakra.
Sally:
My gosh, spoiler alert, there's somebody coming on the podcast to speak about this exact topic.
Ashley:
Amazing. Yes. So it's such a thing and it's so powerful and who knew that you could intentionally manipulate and direct and control the voice in this way, speaking from the heart versus speaking from the womb would have a completely different impact. And the person that you're communicating with.
Sally:
I know this episode is good and so are my pep talks in your pocket. These short audio tracks tell you exactly what you need to hear before speaking. So there's one to calm your nerves, one to warm up your voice, get your breathing under control and ditch the self doubt that can creep in. So many of my clients have said, Sal, I so wish I had you in my ear before speaking. Well now you can. It's like the ultimate hype girl right when you need it. And these are 100% free to download and keep forever. So you can have them handy before your next speech presentation meeting or hitting record on the video. The link is in the show notes or head to my website sallyprosser.com.au and you'll see the link. Okay, back to the episode.
Sally:
What is Feminine embodiment? And I'm sure people listening like me, you're scrolling on social media and everyone's like, you've gotta be embodied, you've gotta be in embodied in your feminine. What does it actually mean?
Ashley:
Yes, I love this. So to me, because I'm sure that there are as many different definitions as there are women that practice this type of work, but to me feminine embodiment work is really getting in touch with that deep, deep power that we have as women, this ancient power and connection to earth. We often talk about the difference between matter and spirit and the spiritual community with spirit being more consciousness, often having more of a so-called masculine type of energy. And of course we all have both yin and yang masculine and feminine within us. And then the feminine is the body, the matter, the mother earth versus the father sky in a way. And so when we talk about feminine and vitamin work, for instance, the work that I do with my clients and my own monthly lunar community, bloom, things like that, we do a lot of heart chakra activation work, we do a lot of womb activation and then also third eye intuition activation because those are quote unquote the feminine energy centers, heart, womb, third eye.
Ashley:
There's also a lot of like mind, heart, body connection and different things like that when you think about it in that way. But really also what's I important to me and what I'm really passionate about when I'm talking about feminine embodiment work, it really is as a woman living your life from grace, ease and flow. The masculine principle, again, this is not gendered, everybody has both masculine and feminine, but the masculine principle is all about going out, getting things in life, maybe using force, being direct, going after your goals, achievement oriented. This is very much so how our world is currently structured versus living from the feminine principle, no matter who you are is that receptive energy. It's that venusian, that moon energy. It's leaning back and letting your blessings come to you. It's having faith and trust that everything will work out in the correct way. It's living in cycles. So knowing that sometimes it's a time of harvest and achievement and a full moon phase and sometimes you're in your dark moon phase and maybe you're releasing things, friends, jobs, careers, and that's okay. So being aware of the cyclical living as a woman is very much so what feminine embodiment means to me.
Sally:
When I understood the masculine feminine energies and how much everything in my life and my relationship was just being geared into that masculine way of going and building and getting and it was exhausting. And so stepping into my feminine of receiving and being and working through the cycles, honoring the cycles, I should say for me has been absolutely transformational for my relationship, for my business, and for my general mood and my health as well. It's remembering who we are. You know, I feel like so many women, we are just sort of thrown into this world with forgetting where our true power lies.
Ashley:
Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And as a define feminine practitioner, you know, we talk about the cycles of being a woman, or you might even hear the term triple goddess said Maiden, Mother, Crone. And literally these are archetypes that we've had since the beginning of time since the beginning of human history. You know, they found statues and archeological sites with the triple goddess and these cycles are connected to the cycles of nature and also again, the moon cycles that Maidenhood, that time of springtime, of newness, of going after your goals, planting seeds of intentions that's connected to the new moon phase. Then we have our Motherhood phase, the summer phase, the ovulation phase that we go through every month, the harvest, sewing, what we've reaped in the past. And then again we have that waning moon or dark moon phase, the Crone the winter season where we are going inward and reflecting and maybe parts of us are dying in order to be reborn again when it's spring for us again. And that Maiden phase continues that whole cycle of life. And again, like you said, Sally, so perfectly, so much power and a woman when you can realize these cycles and recognize them within yourself and then live in alignment with them, them instead of constantly pushing, we can't always be in our summer phase all the time, we can't always be ovulating. We have to work with those cycles of nature because we are nature too. We are nature.
Sally:
We are nature. And if we keep pushing, pushing, pushing, then burnout. And that's what a lot of women are experiencing today. Ashley, amazing. So we know that there is an intricate connection between the voice and the womb space and we know that there is a relationship between that and the moon to get more in touch with our womb space and our voice. We can do singing, journaling, humming, and if someone listening to this is brand new to this whole idea of working life with the moon, which is a lot easier in our own business, if you've got your own business, it is easier to do that if you're in a regular job. It can be challenging to be like, oh look, no, not gonna be hustling on these days because these, these are my rest days. So what else can you recommend somebody begin with? How can they start living life more in tune with the moon cycle?
Ashley:
I love this question Sally. So the very just pragmatic answer I'll give to somebody that is working, you know, 40, 50 hours a week, doesn't necessarily have control over their own schedule but is still really interested in living aligned with these cycles. I'd say one, get yourself a moon tracker so you know what's happening with the moon. You know, there's free apps everywhere, things like that. And then even something as simple as if you know it's going to be right before the new moon, when the moon is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, maybe don't overschedule yourself. Maybe that's the week as the moon is getting smaller that you have intentionally scheduled less meetings for yourself versus when it's a full moon phase and the moon is at as brightest in the sky. Maybe that's when you have that negotiation meeting with your boss when you are negotiating your higher salary or your promotion.
Ashley:
Or maybe that's when you go on a podcast like today and share your knowledge with an audience. Maybe that's when you throw your party or your barbecue for your friends because that full moon time is about celebration. So even just getting down to your timing and your scheduling and just being aware of that and knowing when you might have lower energy when the moon is darker. So give yourself more space and grace and then when the moon is bright in the sky, pull out the party gear and get ready to go because you're gonna have that energy even that is a great place to start for anybody that's interested and living more in alignment with the moon cycles.
Sally:
What a great practical tip. It's about returning to that wisdom that has always been there.
Ashley:
Yes, that wisdom has always been there. Sally, like our ancestors, were living with the moon cycles. The sun based calendar is actually a newer invention. Our ancestors were planting crops with the phases of the moon. They were farming agriculturally the moon cycles, they were harvesting with the moon cycles, they were celebrating the change of seasons with the moon cycles. So like you said just now, this is actually much more inherent and our DNA and our bones, blood and marrow being in touch with the moon and a lot of cultures, a lot of more ancient cultures like Judaism and things like that, they still do follow a lunar calendar around the world. So it's definitely a part of who we are as homo sapiens.
Sally:
Oh so beautiful. Ashley, was there anything else you wanted to add?
Ashley:
I love that you gave a platform for people just to hear more about the moon cycles. I feel like even five or 10 years ago this would've been a kooky alternative type of conversation, but now we really are learning how to integrate more of nature and more of these natural rhythms and cycles of life into modern living. Like you said earlier, people are just tired and burnt out and exhausted and something has to give and if there's just one little tip that people can take away from this, it's just looking up at the sky, being a bit more aware of where the moon is and then somehow connecting that to where they are in their own lives. I think that that is, you know, job well done.
Sally:
Absolutely. So well said. And something that I like doing is howling at the full moon, like actually releasing your voice. The full moon is such a beautiful practice to have. Ashley, you are the Bliss Queen. How can people work with you and find out more about how they can work with the moon in their own lives and get so much more of your magic than I know you have?
Ashley:
Oh yes, absolutely. Well you can definitely find me on Instagram. That's where I am showing up the most regularly. So that's @theBlissQueen on Instagram. I also have a YouTube channel where I post full moon, new Moon videos every single month. And if you just start following along and kind of getting used to the moon cycles and learning what happens when the moon is in Libra or the moon is in Scorpio, that's a lot of what I do. Letting people know how to be in tune with that energetically, depending on the moon cycle and the moon sign as well. I have the Bloom Collective and that is a monthly lunar membership of women who gather every full moon just to talk about what's going on astrologically with the moon and also doing lots of heart shares and just building community because that's something that we've always done under the full moon as women, as humans is just gather and love each other and be together. So there you are.
Sally:
Yeah. And we recently did an amazing session where you read my natal chart, is that what it's called?
Ashley:
Yes, exactly. Yes. So I also do as an astrologer, I do birth chart or natal chart readings. And also for me, I just love the empowerment angle that astrology can bring. So I also do something called Year ahead readings that can either be specifically for business strategy. So I work with a lot of women entrepreneurs like yourself, Sally, who are wanting to know the energetics of their business for the year ahead. And we talk about amazing ways that you can expand with the energy that's in alignment with you. And then I also just do regular readings for the year ahead, like romance or astrocartography. It's been really popular. People are really interested in knowing what parts of the world might be really amazing for them to visit, to live in different things like that. So lots of different readings that are available. Like I said, you can just find me on Instagram and check out my link from there. And that lists all the readings that are available for people.
Sally:
Yeah, and it was so fantastic without you knowing my plans, you were like, oh, you know, it's a good year for you to be doing travel. I was like, funny you say that. I've got all these trips planned overseas. There was something innate in me this year that was like, gotta go, gotta go. So yeah, I really appreciate you for taking the time to do that. It was extremely enlightening and thank you. I feel like we could chat for so much longer. This is such an interesting area. Thank you so much for coming on That Voice Podcast.
Ashley:
Thank you so much for having me Sally.