A Journey Into My Womb. The Myth of Menopause

Lucid Dreaming

In April 2017, I had a lucid dream, surely not the first time I have one of those. It was the first time I had journeyed into my womb. I was on a silent retreat with Aisha Salem in the Valencia area in Spain.  This dream felt like real life and as I went around I was awestruck. I was walking about in this luminous and yet dark cave, which was my uterus, and really carefully trying to understand every cell of it. It seemed like I was looking at and admiring every ovule that my body had ever made. I was counting the ovules one by one, like precious gems that I needed to understand their dimensions, roundedness, size, and health.

When I awakened I wrote the dream down in my dream journal in hopes of greater insights as to what this dream was telling me.  I wondered if it was about the retreat I had led in Costa Rica at Philia Center in January of that same year, as the retreat was titled “Womb Healing”.  I really could not understand this dream , aside from the fact that my womb is such a precious part of me.  To behold it from the inside was way beyond fantastical. The timing was strange and yet here it was me walking around in my uterus inspecting my ovules. Soon after I returned home I painted the painting  which I titled Womb Awakening,  featured below in this blog.

In this dream where I visit my uterus, it seemed that it was my unconscious thanking my womb for all the creations it had bestowed upon me, the two beautiful beings who are my children and all the millions of ovules that had such potential. It is okay that these ovules never made it to human form. It is enough that my uterus was actually able to produce them. What miracles. What mysteries.  Thanking it for being so fertile, healthy and giving. For standing strong in the face of many storms. For forgiving me for all the times when I forgot my no was sacred. For gifting me so much creative energy to combine with my wild imaginings. For understanding that sometimes I had other priorities and responsibilities than to care for her. She has been the nourisher of my dreams. She has helped me manifest this life.

Precious Gifts

This is my 50thyear and despite this,  she keeps offering me precious gifts. The gift of feeling and knowing. I can feel my ovaries turning around, returning to their origin. I feel when I will be bleeding and when I will not. I am in tune with my body so much so that I can sense the slightest shift.  I have also been experiencing insane physical pain in my abdomen that has not received any medical diagnosis.  When the pain hits, it feels as if my sides have flaming hot coals in them.

Every test I have done so far has returned negative. Is it because I am that sensitive that I can literally feel this menopause thing as it takes over my body? Is this a past life karma? an archetypal karma? No one ever prepares us for this.  I surely was never prepared for it. I have heard about it and never realized that it will arrive one day in this way, and this quickly. Could it be that I am feeling on behalf of those who cannot feel it? Regardless, the intensity has been real for an entire year now.

I have to let you know my dear sisters, it is one of the most mystical experiences you will ever have. It is sacred time. Whatever you do, do not disown it, fight it or ignore it. Be in communion with this season of your life, dedicate your self to understanding it for that is how it will gift you several wisdoms.

Have you heard of andropause?

I have an intuition this goes for men too. I am sure they experience such growing pains as they approach the prime years of their life.  This makes me feel so much compassion as most men have no way of expressing or addressing this let alone dealing with it. They can’t walk into the doctor’s office and say please help my hormones are helter skelter!  So, yes it actually happens and it is called andropause. Now can someone please explain to me why we only hear of menopause and not andropause? I mean seriously, what misogyny is this? What discrimination, and racism!

Menopause or andropause are not the end of the road as society would have us think.  In my experience so far, it actually is a literal re-birth. It is not easy I have to admit, there are physical symptoms that accompany it that are different for each one of us. There are days where I literally feel like I am dying. Society would have us believe that when we reach this stage we no longer desire physical intimacy, that our life is over and we might as well be dead.  Some of us will go to great lengths in the hopes of preserving our youth. There is nothing that can preserve it. The harder you try, the more difficult it gets.

Energy is Energy

What if you just let it be? Let it happen? What would it be like to relinquish control and let nature take its course?

It helps to recall the words of Albert Einstein: energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another. Each form has its blessings and gifts to bestow upon us if we learn to harvest them. Instead of lamenting the loss of something, we can rejoice in the birth of what is new.

I am still in the throes of it believe me, and there are days where I have to drag myself out of bed.  As a result, of this learning adventure,  I have decided to concoct a retreat for women of all ages to learn ways to support and nourish around this season of life.

This retreat will take place in September of 2019 at Rocca Massima.  Since this has to do with our creative power, the sacral chakra, svadhisthana, which is also the sexual center you bet I have some juicy creativity stuff up my sleeve. From tips to relieve symptoms without a single hormonal patch, harnessing your creative energy, what to eat, when to eat, treating injuries, and being your own best healer,  to planning your new chapter in life.  Look for more details as we get closer to September on the FB page under Journey Into the Womb.

Wishing you many seasons of beauty.

Eve of Silence

This Eve …

Around this time last year  I did all I can to run away from my feelings. Yes, I resort to such patterns as well.  I wanted to disappear,  and not feel what I was going through.

As if by leaving the space I am in, the feelings will stay behind and I would not have to feel them.  I was in disbelief that this breakup thing was happening to me yet again.   I decided to drive thirteen hours to see a friend I had not seen in over twenty years. While that was a gift in so many ways, the running away was not. The feelings I was trying to escape drove thirteen hours with me.

I have had two years now to process the resolution of this fated relationship.  A person I opened up to and let into my heart, my home, and my soul, suddenly walked out of my life as quickly as he had walked in. I know I am not alone and  many can identify with this feeling.  As difficult as this was, I finally found closure in the course of this year. The gift of 2018 to me.  A closure that I have had to source from deep within my soul.

How did I find closure?  I spent a lot of time in solitude, and naturally in silence.

The more silent and alone I was, the more I was able to see things I had not seen before.  I saw my shadow so clearly, I saw his shadow as clearly.  I understood my role and the part I played in the outcome, and I understood his role as well.

I am not writing this post as a lament or to play victim. On the contrary, I wanted to say that if I did this, anyone can! I share this incase any of my readers are going through something similar, I highly recommend solitary confinement. Ha!

Jokes aside, really I recommend spending a lot of time alone. I mean really alone.  I am actually planning a silent solo- at home retreat for myself this New Year’s Eve.    Incase you wanted to try this with me here is an idea of what my day will look like.

I will be avoiding human interaction of any kind, and sitting in meditation for most of the day and evening.  I may end the silence towards late evening and get together with a friend, and I may not. If not, I will sleep while still in silence. I am just going to flow and see how my day turns out while holding the intention of silence.

…the Silence

As soon as I arise on December 31, 2018,  I will meditate and do a few simple stretches. Nothing too intense, just enough  to get the blood flowing.  I will have a simple breakfast of kitchari ( I have come across many recipes over the years and my favorite remains the one by Doctor Blossom) and proceed to meditate until I feel I have digested my food.  Next I will do a full yoga class that lasts at least an hour long. I will include a variety of poses and make sure I have toned and stretched  my major muscles.  This I shall follow with more meditation and perhaps a cup or two of tea.  I will play and chant mantras for the remainder of the day and use some of this time to prepare food, organize, clean or paint.  Anything that does not require me to use my brain.  Lunch will be kitchari followed by more meditation.  Just before dinner I will do a full body abyangha (self-oil massage).  Each person can use the oil best suited for their dosha. If you are not sure what your dosha is, check out this quiz from Banyan Botanicals. After the oil massage, I will most likely stretch a bit more depending on what my body needs.  It could be 15 minutes to half an hour.  I shall have kitchari for dinner. After dinner I will meditate, reflect, and write in my journal and set intentions for 2019.

This can be done for several days, not just one day. One can also disperse such days throughout the entire year.

The benefits you ask?

Aside from extreme presence, multiple insights, and stress release your New Year’s Eve party will have more color, flavor and texture~ guaranteed!

May we all  reap what we sow this coming year!!!