As I move more into the energetic space I’m finding it interesting to explore all the different aspects that make up this world. Today, I thought I would focus on our masculine and feminine energies, how we can identify them and understand them, and how we need both of them every day.

We are both

Before we dive into what each of the energies reveals, it’s important to understand that we all incorporate both aspects within ourselves. Some of us have more masculine than feminine, and some more feminine than masculine, but we always have a combination of some description within us.

Society has tended to label us feminine or masculine, with the masculine more celebrated and dominant. Neither one is good or bad. They both have positive and negative traits associated to them.

Not every female is dominated by the feminine energies. You can probably think of some obvious examples where a woman demonstrates her masculine energies more dominantly than her feminine. She might be quite driven and action based and she may do well in the male dominated corporate world.

On the flip side, you can probably also think of an example of a man who is more in touch with his feelings and emotions, showing his more creative and intuitive side.

Is there anyone that’s equally balanced? My research indicates that this is very uncommon. It’s more likely that we show dominance for either the masculine or feminine to a greater or lesser degree.

Let’s dive into the traits of each.

Masculine energy

Masculine energy gives us the drive and force to get things done. It is the doer energy and is about achievement and accomplishment. Given that we are in a patriarchal society, you can see this in a lot of our institutions. Corporations set strategies and goals, making decisions based on logic and reasoning, always focused on the bottom line. There are also hierarchies involved, and as you move up the hierarchy you achieve more power. Learning institutions follow a logical progression of A to B to C. Scientists focus on facts, logic and reasoning. If it’s not factual it doesn’t exist.

In a relationship you might see someone asserting their masculine energy when they are assertive, possessive, and protective. They are also the highly organised ones who get things done, sometimes planning well in advance to ensure it will happen. You might think of them as more task oriented, and less emotive.

Other traits you might seen when someone is in their masculine energy are:

• Assertiveness

• Rationalising

• Logic and reasoning

• Force

• Decision making

• Problem solving

• Goal driven

• Aggression

• Creates competition rather than community

Feminine Energy

Feminine energy is intuitive, feelings based and more sensing. It has a more gentle aspect to it and is generally more heart centred rather than facts based. People coming form their feminine side will often use their intuition and check in with themselves to see if it ‘feels’ right.

People in their feminine energy tend to be more creative and rather than working through a logical process may simply jump to an out of the box solution. This energy is receptive, open and nurturing.

In a relationship you might see this as putting aside time to talk in order to understand, listening without judging, being more creative in all areas of life, creating space and time to just be - whether that’s together or alone.

Other traits you might see when someone is in their feminine energy are:

• Intuitive

• Creative

• Emotional

• Compassionate

• Understanding

• Listening

• Sharing

• Nurturing

• Victimhood

• Creates community rather than competition

Combining the two

If we are too much of one and not enough of the other, it can show as either overly dominant, pushy and aggressive (masculine), or overly submissive, emotional and with an inability to get anything done (feminine). Ideally we want more of a balance between the two energies so that we are well rounded individuals.

In a typical day you’ll probably move between both energies. For me, mornings are definitely spent more in my feminine. I’m meditating and walking, feeling may way into my day gently and slowly, checking in with how I feel and what I might need to do that day to look after myself, my business and my family.

Then I move more into my masculine side. I’m doing, working, researching, making calls, arranging meetings, identifying issues and problem solving. But part of my work involves the feminine energies of listening without judging, holding space, empathising and encouraging.

Then I might be focused more on the feminine at the end of the day, checking in with others, listening, nurturing, supporting etc.

We all do this every day but some of us may find ourselves more in one than the other most of the time. I know I’m more in my feminine energies most of the time and am recognising that I need to call on my masculine energy more. I don’t find this easy, but at least I recognise it now!

Why can’t we be just one and not the other?

That’s a good question, and the answer is because it leaves us feeling unbalanced. Too much masculine makes us feel unloved, unheard and lacking nurturing. Too much feminine energy makes us feel scattered, ungrounded and unfocused.

Balancing them out within ourselves means as an individual we feel both grounded and loved, nurtured and focused. We can set goals and achieve them in our own way without aggression, self doubt and our inner mean girl or guy telling us we’re no good. Balancing the energies means we believe in ourselves and our way of working, even if it looks different to how others operate.

A perfect balance?

It’s unlikely any of us will ever be a perfect balance of masculine and feminine energies. There may be a few people in this world who have achieved this, but for most of us we are on a constant journey of understanding and balancing these energies. It’s part of our growth and development in this lifetime.

It’s easy to get frustrated with people who are the polar opposites to us, but just remember - they are probably equally frustrated with you as you are with them. The trick is to identify when you are too much in one and to try to balance this out by calling in the other energy in some form.

Going through cycles

You may find you go through cycles when you are more dominant in one energy than the other. This is particularly the case for women with their menstrual cycle. There will be times in the month when women are more productive, decisive, and action based, and then that may settle into a more intuitive, quiet and reflective phase. And that’s fine. It’s kind of what our cycle is about. By recognising it you can work with it and allow yourself to flow.

The point here is not to beat yourself up because you are accessing one energy more than the other. Just see it and make adjustments if you feel it’s necessary. Overall though, the message is to understand our energies and be aware of it because in doing that we are already on the path to balancing our masculine and feminine - which is a good thing.

Karen