Category: fertility

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Conscious Conception and Ayurveda

Did I tell you I am writing a book?  I am about 55 pages in. I have been dreaming of doing this for as long as I can remember…and I guess I couldn’t force it. I just had to wait until it was all in my head, and ready to flow out on the page.  And that time is now.  (Working title is Essential Ayurveda for Women.)

I have been writing the chapter on conscious conception and Ayurveda.  Right away I am really sensitive to imply that we really have any control over conception (anything, really), though in the texts of Ayurveda, there are certain protocols one can follow to ensure one has done their best to invite in a child when it’s time.

Part of awareness of conception, is also the other side, awareness of fertility, and preventing conception when it’s not desired or ideal. So right away, this becomes a big and important topic for most women.

This is on my mind because personally, I am in a time in my life where I am preparing, once again, for our own conscious conception (not too soon, mom! 😉 ) We have also just passed the Druid holiday of Imbolc (immolk), which celebrates the ‘quickening’ within the Earth, the promise of Spring to come.  Animals like fox and coyotes will have pups soon, and even though we have had a fresh layer of snow, the light is changing, most definitely returning to longer days, and warmer rays.

We all have natural cycles of fertility.  We are not endlessly and always fertile.  This is true throughout the month, but also may be true throughout the year, and waxes and wanes throughout stages of life.  The monthly cycle is usually quite obvious, though many women do not actually know when they are most fertile, and when they are not (not you, I am sure, as you’re here and probably quite knowledgeable about your body and rhythms.)

I also notice patterns in lots of mothers – like their children are born around the same time of the year.  Perhaps in this age of perpetual warmth and light (unnatural heating methods and electric lighting) we still have our own cycles of fertility powering on.

I also subscribe to Jyotish, a form of astrology connected with Ayurveda, and within this, there can be found natural years/times of fertility in a women’s life based on her natal chart.

There are so many larger forces at work.  I find this refreshing.  I find this perspective allows me to let go – knowing that there are many big things, that I can not control (my Pitta nature wants to know, and wants to control.)

Do you see these cycles, too?

If you want to read on about Conscious Conception and Ayurveda, go to the blog post.

Just a plug to the Vermont locals – I am teaching my class, Essential Ayurveda for Women, at the Women’s Room in Burlington on Saturday March 3.  Pre-registration is required. Find more information on the class at the Facebook Event, here.

 

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More on Conscious Conception and Ayurveda:

Conscious conception is the practice and awareness of conceiving rather than just ‘leaving it up to chance.’  Of course, when it comes to creating life, it is in actuality, out of our control –  it truly is up to Spirit, God, or the Goddess, to know when or if we are to be a parent.  It is easy for me to write this, but the experience of suffering through infertility is not something to make light of, and it is not my intention to do so in saying this. I simply want to preface tht preface that all of these practice and the preparation for conception is our intention for being healthy ourselves, and inviting a healthy being into the world, mind body and spirit.

Suggestion and intention are powerful.  And if you experience healing in your body and mind from some of these practices, there is a sort of initiation in your being.  You start to have faith.

We are the living goddess when we bring life into the world.  And one of the most important gifts I have learned from her are humility and surrender to something larger than my own ego.  And the lessons keep coming.

There are plenty of reasons to bring awareness into our daily actions, and especially this one.  For karma, is, by some definition, out of our control, but also something we can only extinguish through action with awareness.

This idea of conscious conception could go two ways – the more practical side of things is that when we are aware of our fertility, we can decide if and when we try to become pregnant.  Knowing this, we can be more mentally, emotionally and physically prepared to become a parent before we become pregnant.  On a more spiritual level, Conscious Conception can involve visualizing the person and soul we are calling in, rituals between partners, prayer, and even using Jyotish (astrology) to learn the best times to conceive for ideal outcomes.

I am coming to believe that part of being human is to create the meaning in the world, the universe.  I’ve heard that “instances don’t have a meaning unless you make one,” and I believe that is part of being human – seeing the patterns, the connections, and by simply holding that awareness, we experience the connection between things.  We create it when we see it. We inspire it. We birth the meanings.

So, whether you are starting the path to pregnancy, or you are looking to prevent pregnancy at time time in your life, learning about your fertility signs will serve you.  Learning about Ayurvedic cleansing and rejuvenation will serve you.

There is a traditional protocol for preparing for pregnancy from Ayurveda.  Learning about anatomy and physiology, especially in regards to our reproductive health, and other specific womb healing practices that are appropriate for you in regards to womb healing are going to be important, alongside the traditional preparatory protocol.
The three stages or preparing for a healthy and conscious pregnancy are:

  • Cleanse
  • Nourish/Rejuvenate
  • Ritual

I lead clients through a personally guided Ayurvedic cleanse, which included kitchari mono-diet, dinacharya and self care practices, and then a post cleanse rejuvenation program with herbs and foods tailored to their needs.

Within my writings/book, I am working on outlining and cleanse, rejuvenation program options, and special foods and herbs that are appropriate.  It is always best to work with a practitioner, to be sure what you are doing is authentic, safe and effective.

Ritual is something private and sacred. It can be something you make up, and make your own meaning within. It is also very powerful to follow rituals that are written about in ancient texts, as many others have repeated them in the past with similar intentions. Making a very strong sanskara.

If you are interested to learn more, do reach out. I am glad to share more of my writing as it develops.

 

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Sisterhood Rising | Feeling empowered to heal yourself

There are more and more women’s gatherings being held – and each time I attend one, I am somehow shocked at their authenticity and power.

Perhaps it’s showing a weakness within myself, to assume that they would be full of fluff, or tainted with the energy of ‘trying to hard’ and everyone trying to sell themselves.

Women are ready to show up, and to do the work.  On the inside and outside.  We are also hungry, hungry for our great-great-grandmother’s wisdom. Not just the wisdom of childbearing or nourishing our families or herbal medicine, but what is underneath all of that.  The connection to the energy of the Earth herself, the life force that directs and fuels all their is.  And in the gathering is the power.  In the gathering we are forging the connection.

I spoke with a woman yesterday, and she expressed some interest in my Womb Healing Course.  She said, something along the lines of “I am well-trained in Ayurveda, I feel like I know alot about physical healing, but I want to know more about the virtual side of things.”

I knew what she meant, but I felt like it was a strange choice to words.  So I looked up the definition of virtual, because I was just thinking about it in relation to ‘online,’ a sort of fake world. The first listed definition is “being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted.”  She used this word, ‘virtual,’ in an attempt, perhaps in a modern way, to say, “I need spiritual healing!”

I told her that to me, it seems like a lot of the healing on the subtle layers of the body happen through intention.  I think our New Age-y downfall is that we’re looking for a mystical experience, something that feels out of body. And that somehow, this would be the real reality…the real healing, the stuff we’re seeking.

In my experience, all of the layers of our being are really just mished and mashed together, and it takes subtle awareness to create any sort of separation.  When we work with whatever layer is most tangible to us, we effectively affect the other layers.  In fact, we’re really designed that way, and that is the key to holistic medicine.

My work is outwardly, mostly on the gross, physical body, the food body, or annamaya kosha as we call it in Yoga. But what I find more and more is that it is the gateway to the subtle. Not JUST the gateway, as there is often much physical healing to happen, too!  And when physical healing happens, it’s like turning the key for those more subtle layers to come forth and also be healed.

I share vaginal steaming for healing from painful periods and pelvic pain, to healing from loss or trauma.  Uttar vasti for moving a woman’s cycle closer to the rhythm of the new moon, or for clearing up frequent infections.  Self Care massage for gently coaxing a tipped uterus back to her center, or releasing stuck emotions.  We are large, we contain multitudes.  (To butcher one of my favorite Walt Whitman quotes. 😉 )

For this Spring’s Womb Healing class, my intent is to show up, to invite a gathering, in which the power will come. Sort of like the ‘If you build it they will come,’ mentality.  There are a lot of women who might not be ready for a class like this – I talk a lot about how this stuff helps with painful periods, PMS, and more…but when I mention ‘herbal douche,’ they kind of give me a blank look, like they don’t want to do all kinds of work. Well, often, this does take dedication.  But it feels good! And it is so, so empowering to know how to help yourself, and other women.  To take back simple yet profound knowledge which can help in those in-between places where powerful emergency medicine isn’t the ideal fit.

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And, ya know, vaginal steaming can feel pretty magical in my experience.

More on the next time.

Love,

Adena

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Maya Abdominal Therapy: My Story Part 2, Conscious Conception

I am in love with Maya Abdominal Therapy, just like I am in love with Ayurveda.

Combining the two is a dream when it comes to women’s health.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post sharing my experiences with ATMAT (which I will use now instead of writing out Maya Abdominal Therapy) and how it helped to heal my extremely painful periods.

I want to continue sharing my story, and tell you how I feel this helped me into easy conception, comfortable (ish) pregnancy and vaginal home birth.

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A Recap

ATMAT is a massage technique and healing modality that comes from Belize and Mayan Medicine.  Its founder is Dr. Rosita Arvigo, and she lives and studied in Belize with a Mayan Medicine Man, Don Elijio, for years.  There may be many ‘Mayan’ abdominal massage techniques, but I come from this specific, authentic lineage.  There is use of massage, self massage, herbs, yoni steaming, and spiritual healing modalities.

I came across this technique when I was looking for additional help, beyond Ayurveda, for periods which were becoming debilitating.  According to Ayurveda, I was experiencing Vata like symptoms, and great stagnation, leading to pain and brown blood, as well as long cycles (35+ days sometimes).  You can read more details in that first blog post – basically, I found out that my uterus was tilted, leading to more stagnation. I found a therapist local to me, and received a few treatments from her.  My pain did not completely disappear, but became more of just a nuisance.

I knew I needed to study this modality, so I did. I also knew that I wanted to conceive one day, within the next year or two, and believe that healing an imbalance in my womb was vitally important before conceiving.

How it works

ATMAT works by improving blood flow and homeostasis, as well as actually sometimes changing the uterus position.  From the Eastern medical perspective, if there is pain, there is some sort of stagnation going on.  This could be stagnation of energy, prana, or emotions, mind, or actually tissues or physiology.  One affects the other, eventually, anyway, so really, no matter on what level, we know the flow is not…flowing happily.

Massage helps encourage flow.  And what can impede flow greatly are misplaced organs, especially if they are blocking veins or arteries or lymph vessels.  The uterus is relatively mobile in the abdominal cavity – its nature is to move and grow, holding and feeding the fetus as it does so.  Falls, accidents and exercise can jostle the organ very easily, especially when she is full and heavy before and during menstruation.

A misplaced uterus is not the only cause of stagnation, nor is it always the case she is misplaced when there is pain.  But it is quite common.  Many women are told this by the gynecologist, that is it ‘normal’ and that there is nothing to do about it.  I was told this.  It is very common, but it is not ‘normal’ and there are things that can be done, or at the very least help manage the symptoms, naturally. (As in, without using hormonal birth control to mask the issues.)

Homeostasis is just an awesome biproduct of proper flow.  Good stuff gets to where it needs to go, and wastes can easily leave.  This helps the body maintain health and balance, because, really, that’s what it wants to do. We just need to get out of the way.

My process | Conscious conception

I have been seeing another local practitioner for 3 years this month.  About 18 months before I conceived my son, I started receiving treatments.

She mentioned to me that I should go to at least 3 sessions. After about 2, my next cycle was closer to 28 days, and almost pain-free. I was hooked. I go for massage every other month. It’s part of my health care plan for myself.   She gives me a full body massage as well as working on the uterine/abdominal area, because she happens to be a massage therapist too (this is also how I offer my sessions). This is something not all practitioners do. So if you’re looking to book, be sure to check in ahead of time what to expect.

I also use Ayurvedic herbs, castor oil packs, uttar basti, yoni steams, and daily self care massage of my uterus to maintain the benefits.  It is important to have guidance with thee modalities, as there are times when it is contraindicated to use them, especially when trying to conceive.

About 6 months before my husband and I agreed to begin trying, we stopped drinking any alcohol, and did an Ayurveda home cleanse.  We did another, 3 months before.  We started more openly inviting a new being in.  We did some intention setting, and he even found some chants that felt important to him.

I was charting my cycles, learning about when and if I usually ovulated each month, and how the practices I was doing affected my cycle.  It was really cool to see the temperature shift each month!  I found that I usually ovulated between day 14 and day 20, depending on if my cycles were 27 or 32 days, which is what they tended to fluctuate between.

To our excitement (and surprise!) the first month we tried to conceive, which happened to be a 32 day cycle, we found out we were pregnant!  I felt excited, scared, hopeful, and all sorts of indescribable emotions.  But it was amazing knowing I did my best to bring a healthy being into the world.

Pregnancy and postpartum benefits

I also received massage during my pregnancy. ATMAT has many benefits, and can be perfectly safe after 20 weeks.  The massage helps to keep the uterus centered in the pelvis, relieve stress and strain on the ligaments, and my favorite, aid sluggish bowels.

I am a small person, and it was important to me to have the best chance at a vaginal home birth as possible.  I believe that the techniques helped keep me as aligned as possible so that could happen without any intervention.

And post partum, I have received a few treatments as well, after I stopped bleeding.  I have more awe and respect for the uterus than I ever could have imagined before, and I want to continue to care for her!  I am also extremely curious to find out what my post partum periods will be like, now that so much has changed.

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As you might have gleaned, there were multiple levels going into my journey to pregnancy and motherhood.  I started with ATMAT, but I learn how to chart my fertility signs, cleanse, and balance my hormones and my cycles with herbs.

I am more inspired than ever to put this all together for other women.  Though I really only wrote about ATMAT here, Ayurveda has an traditional and beautiful protocol for preparing for conception, as well as powerful womb healing and hormone balancing practices.  I look forward to sharing more on this on the blog in 2016.  If you’re interested for yourself, reach out and contact me  – this excites me so much, I want to talk about it, share it, and help you do the work. It really works. And it seems that, in regards to reproductive issues, western medicine stops falls in what it has to offer.

And just a note:

You don’t need to want to get pregnant to do this work.

You don’t need to be of childbearing age to do this work.

All the uteri deserve TLC!

Love,

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Ayurveda is Awareness | Your Menstrual Cycle

Ayurveda is awareness, awareness starts self healing…

We’re into week 8 of The Healing Diet – this is the second round of the 10 week program I started last Fall.  I am amazed at what the students are taking away – amazed because whatever words I am saying are somehow actually working as a catalyst for this stuff.  They are getting it. They are getting the real stuff – the real deal of Ayurveda.  Yes, they are learning the structure of this wonderful science, but behind that, in just 10 weeks, they are getting it that it all comes down to the individual, cultivating awareness through your own body, and then gathering experiences to work from.

Here are a few anonymous thoughts shared from The Healing Diet forum – Ah hah moments, if you will:

 “For me, Ayurveda is about noticing what’s happening and how I feel, and then making intentional decisions about what to do next. That feels authentic to me. One thing I’ve heard Adena say is that V-P-K is not reality but rather a way of describing reality. To me, Ayurveda is about becoming aware of a kind of ancestral wisdom–the stuff that I already know about myself but that I might not really KNOW that I know.”

“It is definitely easier said than done but I’m trying to tap into the voice deep within. I find myself plagued by indecision and am trying to slow down, quiet the chatter in my head, and create space to hear what my intuition is really saying is right for me here and now. Sometimes there is no answer and I feel a little lost. Ayurveda is definitely offering many avenues to new ideas, thoughts, patterns, and lifestyle changes that I think in time will really help cultivate this understanding of what and who I am. A loose framework to evolve within.”

This is self healing.  It can seem like a cheesy phrase – but my faith has become stronger seeing people step onto their own healing path.  As you know, it takes accountability, it takes inspiration and commitment to make the changes you want to see in yourself and you health.  This is why Ayurveda is not for everyone – well, let me rephrase that – why not everyone is ready for Ayurveda.  (Are you ready?)

Awareness is the key

I work with women who are ready to step onto this path of self-healing, and who are looking for a guide – whether that’s me, or really Ayurveda just working through me.  We all need guidance from the inner guru, and also, especially at first, guidance from someone outside of ourselves to give us the love, and help us wade through the muck. I go to other healers regularly, too.

The women I work with are looking to heal from stubborn digestive complaints, like IBS and constipation, or they are experiencing painful menstrual cycles (often both go hand in hand.)

When I work one on one with any of these clients, we have a long first visit where I take a full health history, asking about bowel habits, menstrual cycle frequency, type of pain, color of blood, etc.  Even asking these questions brings more attention to the matter, and helps the person realize the healing does start with the details of the symptoms.

Your body’s natural rhythms

Many of my clients are looking to go off of birth control, because it just doesn’t feel right to them. I went off for the same reason about 7 years ago.  Birth control has a place, and the choice to use it in itself can feel very powerful and liberating.  Then there is the next step, when your mature enough, and ready to hold space for the body’s natural rhythms – we can observe this powerful force within our body and start to see the signs. See the signs of imbalance and balance, and see the signs of our fertility, or lack thereof.

When I started doing yoga seriously, feeling cleaner and better in my body led to changing my diet, my habits, and then wanting to align with the deeper forces of nature. This led me to Ayurveda. It also led me to go off of birth control.  I felt I was having a ‘fake’ and controlled cycle, and my body was ready to return to its natural state – whatever that might look like. I didn’t even know!

Some of you have read my story of healing painful periods – and finding Maya Abdominal Therapy.

The next step was learning how to chart my fertility signs, so I’d know when I could get pregnant, and when I couldn’t. I learn the Fertility Awareness Method, and there was no turning back.  I successfully stayed ‘unpregnant’ for years, until I was ready to undertake the journey (READY?!?!) and then we conceived on our first try, me knowing when I was fertile.

 Self empowerment

If you’re a menstruating woman, who is interested in learning more about your cycles, aligning your cycles with the moon, healing from painful or irregular cycles, looking to learn about a natural and effective form of birth control, and want to get pregnant one day, I can not recommend learning about Fertility Awareness ENOUGH!

Birth control may feel very empowering for a while, but there is nothing like knowing your own body.

I help my clients chart their cycles, and understand their fertile times – though I have yet to teach a group workshop.  On Sunday May 10th, I am inviting an expert in (and my acupuncturist) Leilani Wong Navar, to teach a special 2 hour online (accessible from anywhere) course in Fertility Awareness.

Awareness is Ayurveda.  In this one of a kind workshop you’ll learn more about your anatomy, why your cycles might be painful or irregular, how to see signs of fertility, even if your cycle is irregular – and you’ll get to ask Leilani questions when you come live.

Find all the details, and how to register here.

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Share this with other women – it’s one of the most empowering things you will learn about your own body.

 

Love,