In my workshops I often use a term that in some languages can be a little difficult to translate.  I call my students ‘ladies’, and this word has a beautiful background in authentic femininity.

In the past, the term ‘lady’ was used as an aristocratic title for a woman who had wealth, came from a good family, and was polite and educated. However, the term ‘lady’ has also been used to suggest a woman who does not respond from her basic instincts – who is gentle, but empowered in her activities, and who is strong but elegant. We also have a term for women, not used in recent times, which is ‘gentlewoman’ – which means a similarly self-aware woman. (We still have the word ‘gentleman’, which is used to describe an empowered man who is polite, gentle and helpful.)

A ‘lady’ is a woman who is self-aware, who notices her ego and her fear patterns but who does not let them rule her interaction with the world. Her politeness comes from her empathy for others, which flows from her self-confidence and understanding of who she is. Her politeness doesn’t mean that she is vulnerable – instead it means that she is strong, in charge of her anger and negative emotions and able to express them in safe ways that do not impact adversely on others. She is not a woman who gives away her power, or who uses her power to dominate; instead she radiates her power in her life.

A lady is also body aware, moving with elegance and grace. She does not need to be ‘beautiful’ as defined by her culture, instead her beauty shines out from her body-acceptance and body-awareness as she moves and interacts with life.

When we look at modern culture we see very few role models of being lady-like, and yet in the past the concept of being a ‘lady’ was one that was associated with empowered femininity and with the Divine Feminine. Goddesses were often given the title of ‘the Lady’, so to be a Lady of the Moon is to walk an ancient path of expressing our inner goddesses and our cyclic pattern of authentic femininity into the world with self-awareness, self-control, empowerment, understanding and empathy. The world needs more ‘ladies’!

A lady-like mindfulness exercise:

Just for a day, whatever your phase, be aware of your body and how you move.

Be ‘lady-like’ by moving with considered grace. Sit or stand making a gentle, elegant or pleasing shape with your body. Remember that a woman can be elegant and graceful regardless of what she is wearing!

Being body-aware naturally links us with our female empowerment and our inherent elegance, and it moves our thoughts into the moment, offering peace and calm in a hectic world.in a hectic world.