Period Drama - Connection To Our Menstrual Cycle

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Posted:
March 26, 2012
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4

Period Drama – Connection To Our Menstrual Cycle

Clearly experiencing a period drama

Period Drama. No I’m not talking Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs. Im talking about downstairs downstairs.

Periods, menses, on the blob, having the decorators in, moon cycle. It has many names and usually causes the same reaction in us – that “here we go again” feeling.

Its no wonder we feel like this and are generally disconnected from our cycle when aeons ago we would have been considered unclean and sent away from our village until we stopped bleeding. Whilst today’s response is less extreme the mystery surrounding the menstrual cycle is still pretty tricky to figure out during puberty.  I remember countless girls in my school being comforted as they mourned and coped with the shock of “coming on”.

The general outlook is that we are  “inconvenienced” by our cycle and this is exacerbated by the media – we are inundated with adverts telling us that we can still jump out of a plane whilst bleeding but only if we use their sanitary products as, without them we aren’t able to function.  Even the word ” sanitary” annoys me, its clinical and suggests we can make it “clean”.

We can make the cycle go away with the plethora of hormone contraceptives available now. However a really healthy menstrual bleed relies on an extremely delicate balance of hormones in our endocrine system . Contraceptives totally confuse this balance as do chemicals such as parabens (which are called Endocrine Disruptor Chemicals or EDC’s)

It’s actually strange that we think that hormone medications are a good idea when you sit back and think about what they do. I often see huge fallout when someone chooses to come off contraceptives and it can take alot of boosting to get the body to get back to normal. Not to mention the environmental and physiological issue of having so many hormones excreted into water and getting into the food chain!

I recently read a crazy article by Walter Last who actually believes that a menstrual bleed is toxic and symptomatic of ill health. He would probably still have us banished from our houses chased by pitchfork wielding villagers. He recommends eating a raw food diet to stop your periods. This is called ammenorhea and is, in fact, a medical condition sometimes caused by being anemic, underweight or having a vitamin B12 deficiency which can be extremely dangerous!

According to many acupuncturists there will be different qualities of blood depending  on how healthy your cycle is. This is a huge subject but in short its healthy to bleed on the full or half moon. Flow shouldn’t be too fast and shouldn’t hurt or feel difficult.

Blood needs to be a good red, not brown, or pink. It needs to be free flowing without clots or lumps and be viscose but not thick or watery. Your cycle is often the first sign of an imbalance in your body, so don’t just ignore it. See a practitioner and get it sorted out.

Good solutions are not tampons. These are horrific for your body as they stuff up your flow and can lead to re-absorption of the stuff your body is trying to get rid of. Tampons are a possible cause of Endometriosis not to mention thrush,TSS, vestibulitis and terrible environmental waste.

Pads are okay but personally I favour Mooncup, They are easy, fuss free and environment friendly. I love seeing how my cycle changes each day and I’ve become really tuned in to what my body is doing. You don’t get that with tampons there is no discernible daily difference as the tampon sucks up everything.

Of course if you have problems with your periods or are going through the menopause it can be tough to celebrate it but by working with a Kinesiologist or other alternative health practitioner you can get to the bottom of the problem and be free to really admire this incredible process.

It is the deep source of our feminine power, that we can have an entire cycle of life and death take place in our body every month. To really embrace your flow it’s important to stop being embarrassed by it. If you have never let your blood actually run free down your leg and watched it in awe and honour, you really wanna give it a go. You can shower afterwards but just try watching it for a minute or two and ignore the ridiculous conditioned “eugh” thoughts. This isn’t an injury or a problem,  it’s our deep mystery, it’s the reason men don’t get us and the reason that the feminine was deeply suppressed for thousands of years.

Wear it like a badge of honour it makes you  part of the womens army.  I know an incredible woman who has been known to smear her face like war paint with her menstrual blood. Another I know empties her moon cup on her roses. I for one love my cycle and feel deeply in touch with my body now I witness it doing its thing and not just stuffing it up with tampons.

So I ask you to reconsider your period, not as an inconvenience but as this incredible cycle that shows how inextricably we are linked to nature. Our emotions change every 60 hours because of our hormone response to our cycle, explains a lot. The hugest changes in a woman’s life are marked by the coming and going of this cycle – puberty, childbearing and then becoming a tribe elder. Ultimately  It is the sign we women and our amazing, strong and gorgeous magical bodies have the power to grow and support a life. What’s not to like about that?

Posted:
March 20, 2012
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0
Colonic therapy anyone?

Colonic therapy anyone?

Spring Cleaning – 8 Ways To Detox

Spring has sprung. Oh sun in the sky, blossom on the trees, you know how I feel. Forget the ‘after Christmas bloats’ in January – Spring is the perfect time to cleanse ourselves and have a good detox.

I have tried so many weird and wonderful detoxes in my time, from gall bladder cleansing, colonic therapy, fasts to 40 day mono diets, it’s almost a rite of passage when becoming a naturopath I believe. And although now I’m much tamer with my detox experiments, I still see the purpose and value of a ruddy good clear out.

We are the first generation to be exposed to such a high level of man-made chemicals on a daily basis. Synthetic chemicals are everywhere – in the air we breathe, food, drinking water, carpets, wall-paint, foam-filled furniture and household products. We smoke, drink alcohol, eat junk food, take medicines and cover ourselves in personal care products loaded with chemicals and synthetic additives. How we react to this chemical onslaught is very individual. Some of us are lucky and have good bio-chemistry, strong genes and it doesn’t seem to impact our health at all. Some of us are a little more delicate and suffer with low immune systems, asthma, irritated skin, poor digestion, lethargy and weight gain – all of which can be common symptoms of a toxic overload. And as chemicals increase so do the number of people who are beginning to react to them, even the hardy types are not as resistant as they once were.

I often meet clients who struggle with their ideal weight. A diet can shift some of the weight but then it just seems to stick or it piles back on again. Why is this? The answer is often toxins. Weight is not our enemy. Actually it’s our friend, our protector. Weight protects the body from toxins by encasing them in a safe layer of fat. The difficulty is when we lose the weight the toxins are released into the system and the body responds in one of two ways – by piling the weight back on to protect itself or the immune system crashes and we suffer with reoccurring colds and illnesses. To stop this cycle we need to lose the weight whilst gently removing the toxins. The body will then keep the weight off.

Here are our tried and tested recommendations for detoxing.

  1. Food. Firstly cut out the refined and processed food, wheat, alcohol, fizzy drinks, red meat and dairy and instead enjoy organic, seasonal fruit, veggies, wild fish, nuts and seeds for 10 days. Go for organic fruits and vegetables that contain more vitamins and trace elements and are free from chemical fertilisers and insecticides.
  2. Water. Drink lots of fresh filtered water. Now Spring is here we can enjoy organic homemade juices (I don’t recommend cold juices in the colder months.) Make sure you overload on the veg and not the fruit. Fruit naturally has fibre in it to balance the sugar. When you remove the pulp, you remove the fibre and up spikes the blood sugar. So go veg crazy and go easy on the fruit.
  3. Herbal Cleanse. Many detoxes are a bit rough and ready and make you feel rubbish as the liver tries to process the toxins too quickly. Like a big fat hangover but without the night before. It’s much nicer to have a gentle cleanse which is why we recommend the Healthy Starter Pack by Natures Sunshine. It’s designed to support all the key elimination systems of the body – Liver, Intestines, Digestive, Circulatory and Urinary – so the liver doesn’t go into overdrive and you don’t have that nasty detox feeling for 3 days. Take the Healthy Starter Pack with an Omega to ensure the healthy fats are replacing the nasty ones that are being eliminated by the body. We recommend 10 days on, 1 day off, 10 days on again.
  4. Skincare. Cleansing the outside is as important as cleansing the inside. Change your skincare and toiletries to lovely chemical free. We like Neals Yard because they smell gorgeous and contain no nasties whatsoever. The Honey and Orange face scrub is so lovely you can actually eat it (I know this, I’ve tried it)
  5. Body Brushing. Invest in a body brush and start dry skin brushing first thing in the morning.
  6. Detox your home. Goodbye Cillit BANG! With all your toxic ingredients. Hello Method or Natures Sunshine Concentrate which can be used safely on just about everything in the home.
  7. Detox your emotions. Negativity breeds toxicity in the body. Watch your thought patterns. Are you being kind to yourself? A really nice approach is to talk to yourself like you would a child. Forgive your mistakes, be gentle with yourself.
  8. Breathe. Go and sit in nature and just be. As you breathe in picture your belly, your abdomen and your lungs filling with fresh cleansing oxygen and when you exhale release and let go carbon dioxide. Delicious.

Whats the point in all this detoxing? It’s the secret to feeling lighter, brighter, energetic and having that much loved spring in your step. And it’s as good as Honey and Orange face scrub on toast.

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Posted:
March 14, 2012
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0

Desperately Seeking Normal – The Search For Real Women

Beauty in the good old days

In 1986 Morrissey wisely professed “some girls are bigger than others, some girls mothers are bigger than other girls mothers”. Sounds obvious but we seem to have forgotten this fact. You may have noticed I’m interested by society stereotyping of how women (and men) “should” be. This is mostly because I (like millions of others) will never fit the parameters of what is considered “gorgeous” by the media. At my healthiest  I am a size 14, but for the majority of my life I was a 16/18 or sometimes even a 20.

This exclusion has caused me serious pain throughout my life and the journey to loving myself unconditionally despite societies perceptions has been and will continue to be a long one.

It’s ridiculous that I am judged on the size of my bum or the perkiness of my boobs. I’m a highly intelligent, successful, attractive business woman and mother. But in truth it takes me a huge amount of energy to not be obese anymore, I have to really work at it. I’m okay with that because I know I’m worth the work but if I slip into negativity the constant judging myself by what we think is attractive these days is exhausting. I can see why others can’t be bothered or on the flip side pursue being thin like The Holy Grail crusaders.

It seems that people are either skinny or obese. We celebrate the skinny-minnies until they get too skinny then we  criticise them. We also degrade the overweight. Where are the normal people celebrated? We have a totally skewed notion of what is attractive and in the media, normal people seem to be in a minority.

This was highlighted recently by an Ann Summers campaign. They wanted a ” real” woman to become the face of their Valentines range. The model chosen wasn’t normal she was quite overweight. I’m not judging anyone by their weight (people in glass houses and all that) but why are we celebrating unhealthiness ? The message going out to kids is either a) starve yourself or b) be overweight and eat badly.  I want health, in all it’s natural configurations, to be celebrated (my willful hips included) and not just accepting obesity or the anorexic look as the norm which is sadly what is happening.

The work of Charles Poliquin is fascinating with regards to why some people struggle to lose weight. His work has shown that we store weight over areas of hormone imbalance for example storing fat on the bottom is because you aren’t taking in enough plant oestrogens, storing on the thighs is an imbalance of oestrogen made by your body, excess flesh on the triceps is an insulin imbalance due to sugar abuse. It’s interesting because it puts us back in that place where we have the power to change if we really want to.

The only way to lose weight long term is by loving yourself and making food choices that nourish and revitalise you as opposed to food choices that deplete you. If you desperately want a plan to follow we recommend starting with an elimination detox including a herbal detox then following the blood group diet, but Ed Victor once wrote a book called The Obvious Diet - he says we know what foods aren’t good for us we just choose to ignore ourselves.

With Kinesiology we can find what foods are the best for you through food testing. It’s a totally individual process based on how your body reacts to food and we call it Biochemic Individuality. It’s quick and cheap compared to other tests involving blood work or hair.

Food however is only part of the issue. Love yourself deeply and you will eat well. Love yourself deeply and you won’t worry about being heavier than you were at 21. Love yourself deeply and you will choose to exercise in a way you enjoy. Let’s teach kids THAT message and get the media interested in normal again. Let’s celebrate the normal beautiful myriad shapes of the healthy human body. They are truly bootilicious.

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