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Menopause is puberty prime, and the change from a familiar, known self to new and unknown self is the same: amazing, difficult, rewarding, exasperating, and momentous.
THE STORY OF MENOPAUSE
If we expect our new self to be more powerful, more exciting, more interesting than our old self, we willingly undergo discomfort, pain, sleeplessness, emotional variability, and a host of annoyances and distresses. In America today, this is may be the case when we experience puberty, pregnancy, birth, and lactation.
The purpose of this article is not to examine why this is so, or how it came to be so, but to offer a different view of menopause. I want to share with you the teachings I have received from the Ancient Ones, the ancient grandmothers who tell the women's mystery stories. That your journey may be made richer.
GREEN BLESSINGS
Nourishing herbal infusions provide an abundance of minerals, vitamins, proteins, and phytoestrogens (plant hormones that are similar to estrogen) at low cost and with little effort.
- Place one ounce by weight (about a cup by volume) of dried herb (do not use fresh) in a quart jar and fill to the top with boiling water.
- Cover tightly and allow to steep for at least four hours. Overnight is fine.
- Strain and refrigerate.
- Drink 2-4 cups a day, hot or cold, mixed with other liquids (water, juice, rum, coffee for example) or taken neat.
But before we go further, let's talk about the purpose of menopause.
THE PURPOSE OF MENOPAUSE
Dr. Kristen Hawkes of the University of Utah reports that Hadza women in their 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond gather more food than men or women of other ages and they are as important to the survival of their grandchildren as the children’s mothers are.(2)
Dr. Hawkes believes that not only did prehistoric women survive past the age of menopause, but that they were instrumental in freeing our ancestors to exploit new habitats, explore new places, and ultimately to spread across the entire planet. (4)
MENOPAUSE AS ENLIGHTENMENT
Kundalini is a special kind of energy known in many cultures, including Tibetan, Indian, Sumerian, Chinese, Irish, Aztec, and Greek. Kundalini is said to be hot, fast, powerful, and large. It exists within the earth, within all life, and within each person.
Yogis spend lifetimes learning how to wake up their Kundalini so they may experience enlightenment. Success causes a surge of super-heated energy to travel through the body, firing the nerves, dilating blood vessels, and altering the nature of reality. Sounds like a hot flash to me.
Wise women use nourishing herbal infusions, especially nervous-system strengthening oatstraw, fermented foods, such as yogurt, and seaweed (as a food, not a supplement), to help ensure that these changes add to their vitality and longevity, creating what Margaret Mead called "postmenopausal zest".
When we are children, we exist within Kundalini; it is primarily outside the body. At puberty, a two-valved energy “gate" opens, and Kundalini circulates up from the earth and into the root chakra. The maiden becomes the mother. Kundalini builds up in the uterus and pelvic tissues, ready to create a new life. This stored Kundalini can intensify emotions and sensations, expose powerful feelings, trigger creative outpourings, and generate house-cleaning frenzies. If pregnancy occurs, the Kundalini continues to build for the duration of the pregnancy and is used in the act of birth. If no egg is fertilized, the Kundalini flows out with the menstrual blood, returning to the earth.
STINGING NETTLE
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a wonderful ally for the woman who is awakened by night sweats, whose hair is falling out or becoming brittle, whose energy is flagging (or gone!), whose vagina is dry, who wants to avoid adult-onset diabetes, for the woman who wants to increase her metabolic rate, improve the flexibility of her blood vessels, strengthen her immune system, and find ease for sore joints.
SEVEN ENERGY CENTERS
It is important to remember that the vast majority of uncomfortable symptoms caused by menopause and the movement of Kundalini will be short-lived (less than a year).
- Menopausal symptoms at the root center include menstrual pain, growth of fibroid tumors, flooding, urinary problems, cervical/uterine/endometrial growths/cancers, brittle hips, constipation, diarrhea, vaginal infections and irritations, and hemorrhoids.
Motherwort tincture (Leonurus cardiaca). A dose of 10-15 drops counters cramps as it eases hot flashes.
Whole grains and lentils, beets and burdock are also allies of the root chakra.
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Additionally, orange foods (especially baked winter squash and sweet potatoes) bring ease and health, improving energy and mood.
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Motherwort tincture (not capsules). A dropperful stops palpitations in minutes. Regular use helps stabilize the heart, decreases blood pressure, improves blood flow, and eases emotional distress.
Seaweeds, the specific ally of the throat chakra. Soak kombu or wakame with beans and cook, add hijiki or alaria to soups, snack on dulse and kelp. I don't use tablets or powdered products, finding them inferior.
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Comfrey leaf (not root) infusion (not capsules); it's brain food.
Hypericum perforatum (St. Joan's/John's Wort) tincture (not capsules), used freely (a dropperful every 2-4 hours) can relieve the pain of shingles within a day and often cure it within three. Eases sore muscles anywhere; helps prevent muscle aches too.
As we leave our fertile years behind, so we leave behind our identity as "mother" (irrespective of whether we have physically had children or not). Ready or not, we are introduced to ourselves as old women. Yes, we are yet baby crones, not yet prepared to wield the Kundalini that now flows through us toe to tip. Yet we are crones, women of wisdom, women of power.
Quiet time alone in nature, or sitting in a comfortable chair listening to soothing music allows thoughts and feelings to arise and opens the way for the flow of Kundalini. Specific exercises, such as those in Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and yoga can also be used to help ease into the increased energy flow. Green allies such as oatstraw, nettles, red clover, comfrey leaf, and motherwort strengthen us for the increased power. Because we know the outcome is worth it, the day-to-day annoyances are easier to take.
Footnotes:
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