2023 was the Year of the Girl. Across fashion, social media, and in the movies—yes, I’m nodding to the highest-grossing film of 2023 that rose triumphant against the pokes of certain deeply unfunny monologues—themes of girlhood shone through. Maybe it’s a temperature check on where feminism finds itself, standing as a softer contrast to the Girlboss of yore. Or, perhaps it was a collective desire to see the world through Barbiecore-tinted glasses amidst a tumultuous news cycle. The answer lies in a combination of these factors. And while I too leaned into the lightness and joy, I also wondered: is this a regression? (Spoiler, it’s more complicated than that.)
As I mulled over these questions, another seeming social trend began populating my feeds. Quickly, I found myself falling down a “what is feminine energy” rabbit hole. Full transparency: alongside my intrigue was a healthy dose of skepticism. Sure, the ethereal goddess vibes proliferating across my FYP made me want to escape to a remote cabin for a while, but stepping into your feminine energy goes far beyond the visual. And from speaking with Jacq Gould on the subject, I’ve learned these internet-friendly portayals hardly scratch the surface. Claiming your feminine energy is so much more than a trend.
Featured image from our interview with Roti Brown.
How to Claim Your Feminine Energy and Experience Balance in 2024
Gould is the creator behind YOUR INNER BABE, a program designed to help you shift your mindset toward self-love and reconnect with the support all around you. As I’ve grown in my understanding of feminine energy, I knew that Gould would be the perfect person to help me deepen that connection. And if you’re wondering what feminine energy is as well, I hope it’s obvious: you’re exactly where you need to be.
It’s important to note that feminine energy isn’t anything new. The idea is rooted in ancient belief systems, with examples including the yin and yang of Chinese philosophy and the god Shiva and goddess Shakti of Hinduism. The divine masculine energy presents as logical, ambitious, and oriented toward the goal of accomplishing or completing a task. And given the largely patriarchal influence present in our world today—and our society’s partiality for hustle over rest—feminine traits of intuition, creativity, and connection go undervalued and overlooked.
But when we harness and embrace both the masculine and the feminine, we experience a greater sense of inner harmony and peace. Craving that alignment yourself? Ahead, Gould offers her in-depth guide to how leaning into your feminine energy can you help thrive.
What is feminine energy?
The divine feminine has ancient roots and the feminine archetype has been known across many civilizations for centuries. The earth itself was seen as the great mother.
To me, feminine energy refers to the intuitive energy that exists within all of us. The energy that feels softer, more nurturing, and creative. Feminine energy also relates to that subtle wisdom in our bodies. All the healing I believe we hold in our own hearts. When I’m in my own feminine energy, I personally feel my most empowered.
I read something somewhere once that said how the same shade of energy that is found in the divine feminine can also be found in the moon, the ocean, and the trees. Maybe it’s because I’m so visual, but I remember reading that and the visceral feeling that swept over me, like a wave of gratitude. It just felt so beautiful. It could be because all three of those aspects of nature are truly the most healing to me personally. Whenever I need to ground back into myself, spending time by the water, under the moonlight, looking up at the trees, will almost instantly bring me back home.
When we’re in our feminine, we’re connected to who we innately are. Once you grant yourself access to your inner world, you realize your power is infinite.
Feminine energy refers to the intuitive energy that exists within all of us.
Many people associate feminine energy with expected gender traits. How is the concept different?
Terms like divine feminine and divine masculine have nothing to do with gender or sex and everything to do with the duality of energies that exist in everything—similarly to yin and yang. We all have both of these energies and how much of one over the other depends on you.
How does feminine energy differ from masculine energy?
Feminine energy aligns more with feeling into our intuition, our emotions, inner wisdom, and inner-knowing. It encompasses patience and self-trust, allowing us to discover our path forward from the inside out with confidence.
Masculine energy is rooted more in decisive and positive action. Less of the “be” energy and more of the “do.” When I think of masculine energy, I think of traits more along the lines of assertive and rational. To me it embodies focus, drive, power, and leadership, but not at all in a dominant or overly controlling way. In a healthy and healed way.
5 Ways to Tap Into Your Feminine Energy
Getting in touch with your feminine and weaving that energy into your life, creates opportunity for you to feel more abundant and fulfilled. We all read about, talk about, and are constantly consuming things in regards to what it means and how to manifest. However, to truly get what we want, we have to be living in alignment with the energy of our desires.
By simply allowing yourself to tap into your own innate feminine energy, you instantly shift into radiating love, compassion, and creativity into the universe, naturally attracting what you desire and deserve.
1. Shift into sustainable self-love by auditing the way you speak to yourself
Most of us move through life completely unaware of how loud that negative inner voice is, and how far that unsupportive narrative is pushing us away from the energy in our own hearts. How you speak to yourself can change your whole world. Choose to play an active role in changing that narrative by using affirmations to combat the talk track that’s stopping you from tapping into your intuition and innate wisdom. Your own feminine energy.
I’m a big believer that how we go to bed is how we wake up in the morning. So if we want to feel like we are connected to our feminine, we must go to bed connected to it. I love to close my eyes and say, “I AM” in my own mind. Whatever word I hear in response, be that bold, beautiful, creative, nurturing, empowered, I write it down in my journal. I do this three times, every single night, non-negotiable, because that makes feeling the love I have for myself non-negotiable as well.
Read more: 60 Positive Affirmations for Women
2. Embrace your feelings
Actually FEEL THEM! Get in the habit of acknowledging whatever is coming up for you and no longer deeming certain feelings as “wrong.” Your emotions are the gateway to your internal power and inner wisdom. When we are tapped into our feminine energy, we allow ourselves to just be. We trust in ourselves and our choices, and we no longer waste time outsourcing for answers or overthinking. We rely solely on our inner wisdom to guide us and tune in before taking action. The more you feel your feelings, the more connected you become.
Your emotions are the gateway to your internal power and inner wisdom.
If you need somewhere to start, you can split your day into three feeling-focused check-in points. Once in the morning, during lunch, and before you go to bed. Place your hands over your heart and softly ask yourself, “how am I feeling?” Whatever feelings you receive, don’t try to change or fix them. No judgment, just notice. Write them either in your journal or the notes app in your phone. You’ll see how quickly they shift and how you instantly feel more tapped into the core of who you are.
3. Give yourself space to just be
Simply learning to sit and be in your own presence helps you connect with your body and gives your mind a chance to ground into the present moment. The more comfortable we are being with ourselves, the more likely we are to set boundaries when someone or something doesn’t feel right. Saying “no” instead of always saying “yes” is one of the quickest ways to tap into your feminine energy. It sends a message to yourself that you’re listening and nurturing your own needs first.
To truly know what you want and need, you must give yourself permission to find the time and the space to get quiet enough to hear. Those three minutes you have to spare before your next meeting, or those six minutes you rush through before you need to leave the house—choose to fill those consciously with you. Choose to fill them with your breath and with your presence. This allows your nervous system to shift into a state of calm and connectedness.
You strengthen your capacity to handle stress this way. You tone your inner resilience this way. You expand your ability to feel safe being you this way. You tap into your feminine energy instantly this way.
4. Connect with your body
This is a big one—the one most overlooked, prolonged, or ignored because most of us have a hard time living and being in our bodies. Whether that has to do with skewed societal norms or familial conditioning, you have a choice to break the barriers you have around sensuality. I promise you, it’s worth it.
There are many ways to connect with your body. Breathwork, dancing, yoga, self-massage, or even just doing things that evoke your senses, like smelling incense or candles, eating hot or cold foods, listening to music, or fresh air. Anything that allows you to reconnect with your body and its inner wisdom creates opportunities to notice the subtle energies and emotions within us. This also creates a foundation for self-trust. Lean into the self-trust by making promises to yourself and keeping them.
Start small with something like, “I promise to take three deep breaths with my hands on my heart immediately after my eyes open in the morning.” Follow through with it for a week, then add on another promise that is rooted in deepening your connection to your body.
You’ll be amazed at how much a strong foundation of self-trust and body connectedness can bring out your inner feminine.
5. Express your creativity
Whether it’s through writing, painting, singing, or even personal style, our inner landscape, thoughts, dreams, and feelings all flow through our creative practices. The feminine is innately creative, but if you struggle with feeling that spark of creativity, you can start with a three-minute, feeling-focused brain dump in the morning.
Put your hands on your heart and breathe. While you’re breathing, ask yourself, “how am I feeling?” Whatever it is, write it at the top of the page and put the pen to paper. Write with a stream of consciousness. There is no right or wrong thing to say.
Journaling is what allowed me to initially tap into my feminine energy. It created a space for me to feel, express, and explore myself in ways I didn’t even know I needed. It allowed me to see that my entire world was inside of me, woven through my perspectives and embedded in my heart.
To be able to find the peace I was craving (the peace that being tapped into your feminine allows), I have to be at peace with myself first. And to truly enjoy life (the way living in your feminine allows you to), I have to first enjoy who I am. Once I allowed myself to accept this, I gave myself the greatest gift—my divine feminine power.
