Food of the Month
By Esther-Maria April 26 2012
1 Avocado a week balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and has been reported to prevent cervical cancer!
Avocado – rich in oleic acid, carotenoid lutein, Vitamin E & monounsaturated fats. These goodies aid you in your protection of breast, uterine and cervical cancers, it targets the entire endocrine reproductive system, protects the nerves and enhances the feminine hormonal balance.
NATURAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALING – PERSONAL
REFLECTIONS
This is a little personal reflection on my journey with the Arvigo Technique of Mayan Abdominal Therapy. What triggered the sharing of my own story so publicly is that I have personally managed to heal my own reproductive and digestive conditions through the help of combination of therapies which western medicine would have never acknowledged.
In my own practice I meet many women who have been traumatised, just as I was, on their journey to natural ferility, painful symptomatology of reproductive conditions, and a strive to conception.
It is sad to see that in the western world so few women know of the natural therapies available to them and by the time they literally only stumble upon them they are so raw emotionally that they give up as they just can’t handle any more psychologically / emotionally.
So what is my story then and how did I heal and manage my conditions?
Well my digestive health was tested significantly from young age, even pre-menstrual. Due to eating disorders that I got really young from the pressures of ballet, I’ve had a screwed up relationship with food and the elemination of it from young on. The constant starvation then binging has taken its tall on my digestive and I’ve had surgery at the age of 13.
In addition the beginning of my menstruation, although celebrated by my family as a coming of age, was nevertheless quite traumatic. For some reason the day before my period my blood pressure and blood sugar would always plummet and I would faint – every month, in the mornings on the bus on my way to school! This fainting was then followed by a 7-9 day period with super pains. Naturally the western medicine could not help it in other ways then putting me on the pill.
The next 11 years on the pill saw me feeling more and more disconnected from being a women, from my sexual sensations and an overall numbness seemed to surround me, until I decided to ditch the contraceptive pill for good at the age of 25. And that was the best decision ever. Although the contraceptive pill was meant to manage my PCOS it actually did nothing for me. At the age of 21 I have had to have surgery on both ovaries removing 7 cysts on the one and 9 on the other ovary. Thanks to Reiki my recovery was according to the surgeon much faster then he would have anticipated.
In addition to the PCOS I’ve suffered from typical light symptomatology of Endometriosis, and so my struggle with extreme painful periods starting a day before the flow and strong PMS symptoms continued for nearly another decade. Although Reiki helped me with the pain management the cysts returned at the age of 29, when I have had to experience a burst cyst. A pain that I would not wish onto my worst enemy. At about that time a friend of mine told me about Andrea Lopez who was doing these Mayan Abdominal Treatments which according to my friend really supported her with hr IBS and also the reproductive system. And as I’ve been over doctors telling me that the only thing they can do is put me on the contraceptive pill or perform surgery I was more then happy to give Andrea a go.
My journey with her was amazing. From the first treatment onwards I started feeling more connected with my female aspect of myself again. I felt empowered of my health, as she taught me how to massage my own belly, and how to apply a castor oil pack. Already after 2 treatements did I feel significant, positive changes – my food sensitivity seemed reduced, my chronic constipation seemed relieved and my blood flow during menstruation changed. After initial monthly visits, I’ve been seeing Andrea for about 2 years on an infrequent basis while religiously applying my self-care. In that time my period pain was massively reduced, my cysts on my ovaries were significantly reduced, and overal my health has significantly improved.
In 2010 Andrea brought out teachers of the Arvigo Therapy of Mayan Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT) from the US to teach clients of the Australian practitioners the theory behind ATMAT and how to perform self-care, teaching us some additional methods and even covering the profound support of herbs and tinctures with this.
Naturally, the nerd that I am, I’ve religously applied the self-care and continued to see another ATMAT practitioner twice yearly as Andrea moved to the Sunshine Coast, and in late 2010 I for the first time in my life have been 100% clear of ovarian cysts!!! If you have ever suffered from PCOS you know what astonishing achievement that is. In addition I have come to such strong awareness on how my pelvis responds to my emotional life, and to my personal care. On a month where I did not perform all the self-care and was stressed my painful periods and heavy painful pelvis days before menstruation returned, and on months where I performed self-care and lived a balanced life I could go about my life during my period. Consequently the Arvigo Technique of Mayan Abdominal Therapy changed my life, which is why I signed up for the practitioner course run for the first time in Australia in January 2011. Having personally experienced the powerful healing of ATMAT I felt driven to support women in through this work in the same manner as did Andrea for me.
It’s now been a little over a year since the first batch of Australian practitioners graduated from ATMAT, and it is sad to see that still today barely anyone knows about this powerful modality. Clients who’ve stumbled upon me in the past year all said the same “Why didn’t we know about this?”
So here is my story, to showcase to you that healing is possible! Each and every ATMAT Practitioner stands testament to that as each and every practitioner was guided to do this work through their own personal healing.
Now if you wish to learn more about the Arvigo Technique of Mayan Abdominal therapy. Call me on 0423949377 or email me on esther@kindledspirit.com.au.
CONCEPTION GUIDED BY THE MOON
Over the past couple of month I’ve had the honor of witnessing the journey of women in their quest to conception. What baffled me was that despite them following the rhythm method (not for contraception but reversed) for conception, their partners or husbands having good sperm count and the women following nutrition, self-massage, and arvigo practice to a tee, how come they still did not conceive when pathologically everything should be right?!
So the naturally curiosity stirred within me, and got me talking to various practitioners, as well as looking at various literature, which is when I stumbled across some literature regarding the re-discovery of the lunar influence on a women’s conception.
According to the rediscovery of ancient lunar charting by Dr. Eugen Jonas in the 1950’s a woman’s conception is guided by the lunar phase she was born in. Dr. Jonas’s research and observation revealed that women who followed the rhythm method for contraception were still falling pregnant, despite pathological theories deeming them as being in an infertile period. When looking at their conception dates and analysing the data from an astrological viewpoint, it showed that women were conceiving on times when the moon was in the exact lunar phase of their own time of birth! Consequently if a woman knows her lunar position at time of birth and gets an astrologer to draw up a timeline of moonphases for the next 12 month she can discover the best days for conception. More over according to Dr. Jonas’s research a woman could even influence the sex of the child – if the child was conceived when the moon was in an air or fire sign (which is the masculine sign) the child had a greater potential of becoming a boy, and when conception occured with the moon in an earth or water sign (feminine sign) the child had a greater chance of becoming a girl.
If you think about it this theory deeper, it makes complete sense! If a woman has discontinued hormonal treatment for a couple of months, her monthly cycle is re-aligning itself with the moon phases. Most women when becoming more aware record their alignment of their menstruation with a particular moon phase – which is how the synonym “moontime” is often used to describe one’s period. Moreover we all know that if women live together their cycles align with each other and women start bleeding together. In ancient times this generally was recorded to be aligned with the dark moon. In these times women gathered together in tents, special huts, or other sacred places where the young women who haven’t bled yet, and the wise women who have finished bleeding will care for the sacred women who shed the blood, the life force into straw or hey or else, to then be buried or burned so that the sacred gift of life is returned to mother earth and the creator. In these ancient times women were considered sacred during their “moontime” and treated as such. Modern society, and especially feminist movements often pre-maturely condemn the moon lodges as they believe women in their moontime were seen as dirty and outcasts. On the contrary, women in their moon were believed to be more powerful, too powerful for men to handle, with greater psychic ability. Because of the envy men had for the monthly sacredness and ritual of shedding life and conducting ceremony a lot of ancient cultures created masculine ceremonies of sacrifice and self-sacrifice in order to take part in the giving of life for receiving life, to complete the cycle of life and death, and give of oneself in gratitude of the power and blessings bestowed by the creator.
But I’m going of track. The crux is that women, human beings are guided by the moon, as the oceans and seas of the earth. Ancient cultures such as the Maya, Incan and Babylonian knew this long ago, and thankfully modern day science is rediscovering it and making the wisdom available again to the public.
So if you are trying to conceive, or if you are using the rhythm method for contraception I like to highly recommend to you to dwelve deeper into the science of your personal lunar phase, and the theories of Dr. Eugen Jonas. Please see below some interesting sources online.
Astro Elite on Dr. Eugen Jonas
Lunar Conception on Conception Contraception & Gender Selection
Menstruation.com.au on Charting with the Moon
Felicity Oswell on Your Lunar Fertile Cycle
REIKI AND CHILDREN
A little known fact is that Reiki is perfectly safe to use on children. In general children respond very positive to Reiki treatments. Please allow me to give you a few case study examples:
Firstly couple of years ago when my little niece was only 2.5 years old she had a little pain around her face as she bumped into something. I then told her that I will help her take the pain away and give her some healing but that it might hurt a little more in the first 30 seconds but it will then go very quickly. Reassured, and knowing what to expect she allowed me to place my hands onto her cheek. She enjoyed the Reiki so much that throughout my visit there she conjured up “face pain” in order to get some Reiki until I told her she didn’t need to have pain to receive Reiki and could just receive it when she wishes. A few years later, she is now 5 years old and at her last visit she was again so interested in the Reiki energy that she constantly wanted to receive it, but also learn how to use it. As children of that age are still open they don’t need attunements, they don’t need to have a class and I believe they are to young to actually learn, I would only teach her what to visualise and feel when she would place her hands on others. So my mother, her grandmother, has Rheumatism and Multiple Sclerosis, and as I was giving her a treatment for her pain relief, my niece participated, and my mother said that she could absolutely feel the energy through her as she generally experiences it through me. So yes, children are still connected and can learn this if THEY WISH. Not if the parents wish it. Also their attention span isn’t as strong so allow them to just do it and receive it at their own space, their own decision.
Another example is the son of the Yoga studio I am practicing at. He’s been so fascinated by the crystals in my healing room that he has often snug in to just sit with them. When he then observed me treating their dogs with Reiki he started bugging his mum that he wanted a treatment and so we did. With children again, keep in mind they don’t need as much as adults, so tell them that at any point when they don’t want anymore they can just get up. This little boy just loved the energy and when I finished the Reiki he actually did not want to get of the treatment table but wanted to stay and get more Reiki!!!! hahahaha. It was just so cute. Again as with my niece I told him what to visualise and feel if he wanted to give someone else a healing and according to a family friend he’s been doing healings on his brother since :).
A final little example are newborns. As a doula I naturally work a lot with newborns and support mothers in their first days after birth. Throughout the handling of multiple baby’s over the past years I’ve come to notice that babies respond particularly well.
Gentle Baby Essential Oil
Dilute 1 drop Gentle Baby to 1 teaspoon V-6 (a carrier oil) Apply topically for dry, chapped skin or diaper rash.
Diffuse (do NOT add a carrier oil when diffusing as it could ruin your diffuser).
Apply over mother’s abdomen, on feet, lower back, face, and neck areas.
Dilute with 1-2 tablespoons V-6 for body massage and for applying on baby’s skin, tips for foot massage.
For Pregnancy and Delivery: Use for massage throughout entire pregnancy for relieving stress and anxiety, and to prevent scarring and creating serenity. Massage on the perineum to help it stretch for easier birthing.
Mix a drop of Gentle Baby with a dab of Tender Tush for softening skin anywhere on the body – this is excellent for heels, knees, legs, elbows, tummies, or hands!
Use in the same dilution with V-6 for birthing mother dogs.
Multidimensional Healing = Transformation
What do I mean by multidimensional healing? We are multidimensional beings. We have our physical body, emotional body, mental body, spiritual body, and we are connected to the universal energy field. All these bodies are connected by our chakras and our chakras are connected via nadi channels.
Now if we extend beyond this physical body, and if all bodies are connected, don’t you think you need to address all levels when trying to transform and heal yourself?
In my own practice I can often see how we start on one of the healing paths (physical, mental emotional, spiritual) and how that often sets off a natural chain in which we are drawn to start working on another level as well.
For example we sometimes have such mental, spiritual or emotional energy embodied in our physical bodies, that sometimes it’s not enough to just do a spiritual healing, but we actually need to combine spiritual healing energies, with physical touch too move the blockages, or we need to add good nutrition and exercise into our system in order to create a physical body that supports that journey to enlightment.
In my practice I’ve often observed clients or students who are only keen on developing the upper chakras that are important for opening to your spiritual gifts, and connecting with spirit, god, your higher self. But how do you think you can experience those energies and utilise those energies if you are not grounded, if you don’t have a strong foundation?
In the end we are multidimensional beings. Our souls decided to incarnate into this physical reality in order to experience physical life, on all multidimensional levels. So in order to be able to fully experience life we need to be grounded, we need to be connected, we need to be in the here and now and also focus on all levels.
Other people for example come to those ways from the physical side. Sometimes I have observed clients / students or friends and friends of friends, who started their journey through fitness, and weightloss. That journey however will most definitely lead you to another level. Cause again if we only address the physical body and not address emotional, mental and spiritual body we remain disconnected, we will not be able to find true fulfilment.
Consequently I believe we need to nurture all these levels in order to bring balance, harmony, healing and wellbeing into our life.
So how can you do that? How can you address all levels? Start learning about yourself. Start learning about the wisdom that sits behind creation and also your own bodies and chakras. Start developing a weekly – monthly balanced schedule that addresses each level. As an example this is how I would address the different levels in my own life:
Physical
- Bikram Yoga or Power Yoga at the Bikram Yoga Gosford, Beach Walks, Massage, Arvigo Technique of Mayan Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT), Nutrition (Young Living & Floradix), Healthy Food, Sexuality, Accupuncture, Naturopaths, Osteopaths, Crystal Healing.
Spiritual
- Reiki Jin Kei Do, Meditation, Sweat Lodges, Readings, Chakra Balances, Observing Nature, Observing Myself, Philosophy, Sacred Sexuality, Crystal Healing, Smudging, Ceremony.
Emotional
- Reiki Jin Kei Do, ATMAT, Sweat Lodges, Being in the Now, Young Living Oils, Sacred Sexuality, Kinesiology, Crystal Healing.
Mental
- Meditations, Reading, Studying, Chakra Work, Self-Analysis / Understanding of one’s believes and perceptions that underline all thoughts, psychoanalysis, Crystal Healing.
So take a look at your life and see which components you are already nourishing. Are you following a healthy wholesome diet, are you exercising frequently? Do you practice meditation or reiki? Have you ever questioned yourself about why you believe what you believe? Do you read or learn something new? How are you nurturing your spiritual self? What part of yourself have you neglected and how can you bring equality into the nurturing and healing of yourself?