For Motherheart <3

Conception is a funny thing.

As we become a teenager, we are told about the dangers of fertility and we are put onto “The Pill” by our well-meaning mothers. 

Many of us started taking the pill from the moment we had our first menstrual cycle, around age 15 or 16. The reason for this being that, while this beautiful coming of age moment from girl into young maiden and more freedom towards womanhood, came also hand in hand with the potential shackle and trap of from this moment on being able to conceive new life while we are just barely starting to question and explore life and who we want to be.

Pregnancy during those young years of our late teens into early twenties becomes taboo, we learn to focus on our studies, on travels, on discovering who we are (or at least trying to), then we get into career, for many of us we get into our external world of fashion and wanting our body to be a certain shape. 

All completely normal and “natural” phases of this human feminine life, yet, we have become so focused on career, where we go go go, starting to live on our adrenaline rushing from one place to another, having a coffee on the go, which pumps up our adrenaline more depleting our sex hormones. We eat a quick salad on the go regardless of the fact that it’s freezing cold weather outside and we actually need warm nourishing food to keep our inner fire cooking happily.

We work until late in the evening, including the week-ends, and squeeze in a fast paced yoga class in the late evening or go for a run, rather than taking rest to unwind in the evening.

When we get our menstruation (hopefully if we are lucky to still have menstruation), we see it as an annoying thing that just gets in the way of the flow of our life (rather than seeing it IS our flow of life) and we either continue taking our birth control pill to “skip a week” of the the chemically induced bleeding or if not on the pill, we are on the couch in terrible pain and suffering thinking that menstruation and womanhood is an evil curse we women were given.

Our menstruation is our sacred window every month where we are even more connected to the wisdom of our intuition, our Mother Divine Consciousness.

As the moon controls the waters of Mother Earth planet, so does She control our own inner waters, our inner flow.

The moon, having no light of her own, reflects the light of the sun, the masculine light. It is through her cool reflection that we can see deeply into our waters, our emotions, and able to see more than meets our two physical eyes.

If we don’t honor that stillness, the loving reflection and sacred quiet space of renewal, we come out of sync with her, therefore our own flow.

If we lose that connection to the moon, we lose our sacred connection to ourselves. As women we have been given the sacred power of intuition, of being able to love deeply, passionately and taking care of others. If we lose this due to not honoring our bodies flow and rhythm with the dance of the flow of the moon, we lose hearing and dancing to the song of life.

Losing connection means miscommunication, confusion. Confusion leads to lack of clarity and we start feeling empty, unhappy, disconnected in our relationship with our partner and our selves.

Taking rest means planning your life so that when you have your first three days of menstruation, you need to do as little as possible.

Being a single mom for at least ten years with my now 12 year old son and 9 year old daughter and having a very busy Ayurvedic practice of clients and teaching Ayurveda and yoga, I understand it is easy to say we can’t take it easy, we don’t have time to rest, but we must make the time as it is our priority.

When we reconnect with our deep natural connection to the moon, we receive unending energy, joy, passion, drive, creativity, courage, intuition, feeling inseparable from life and fertility.

Do your grocery shopping ahead of time for those first three days of menses, clean and tidy your home before those days, take on less clients or work depending on your line of work. Just time to rest, reflect, and be in bed early.

It is suggested to not bathe during those days as it will deplete our energy as the uterus is cleansing on deep level, especially not washing the hair. If that feels too extreme, perhaps just don’t bathe more than once per day, try to avoid washing the hair everyday and avoid saunas those days.

Resting means lying on the couch, not doing anything and not feeling guilty about it! Perhaps reading a spiritual book while resting on the couch, maybe attending a restorative yoga class.

Food wise eating light and easy warm meals like soups.

The importance of taking rest those first three days of our menstruation is so crucial, sometimes even more than taking herbs for our menses.

 

If you would like to add supplements to your diet to support the reproductive system, there are some wonderful herbs such as Shatavari, meaning “she who has one hundred husbands” which is quite self explanatory of the potent strength it has for the female reproductive system. A nice formula to take is Pukka’s Womankind capsules, a lovely blend of herbs for supporting reproductive strength.

 

The other days of the month, start oiling yourself up with very warm untoasted sesame oil giving yourself a wonderful oil massage before you shower. Yes, before you shower.  Allow the oil to absorb for half an hour, then shower, make sure to wipe feet to not slip. If you have no time for the absorption, then shower right after massaging the whole body with the oil and perhaps do the longer version on the week-end or when it is your day off. Do not oil during menstruation as that is when the body is cleaning and oil slows down cleansing.

Giving yourself the sacred “abhyanga” (warm oil massage), will start charging your battery which is the adrenals, the hormones, the nervous system and you will feel energized, relaxed, present and clear in the mind, and full and juicy in the body.

You could do this in the morning to start your day and have an extra energetic layer into the day or after a long day to unwind before bed.

Make sure to get into bed by 21:30 and lights off by 22:00 every night.

Make Friday evening/night as your romantic night with your partner as it is the connected to Venus, the energy of love, intimacy, music, arts, poetry, all feminine energies. You don’t have to become uptight about this, but perhaps nice to keep in mind and both make an effort to be home a little earlier and eat a nice warm but easy to digest meal around 17:30, have fresh sheets on the bed and fresh flowers in the bedroom.

 

Feeling well rested through regular early bedtimes, nourished through your daily oil massage, your menstruation, relationship to your self, your partner and to life will become a whole new relationship and you will fall in love with life, which is the ultimate recipe for fertility!