Un-Strap and Let Go!

Hours of thought provoking, humorous reading today, along with some hilarious conversation, sparked this entry. I spent the afternoon reading a series of articles that were written and contributed to the Women’s radio website by one of my teachers, Susun Weed. Many of them covered topics as per usual of hers, such as how to prepare nourishing herbal infusions, menstruation, identifying wild edibles, etc. However, two articles in particular caught my attention. Not because they were of a different subject matter than what Susun usually covers, but the way she wrote them seemed to resonate with the theme of my day. Susun has eloquent speech, incorporating a unique sense of humor and emanating wisdom.

The two articles which I was especially intrigued by, were titled “The Vagina” and “Ancient Breasts”. The article “The Vagina” was introduced by Susun in her humorous way.

“I am the sheath of the sword. I am toothed, armed, and ready to bite. I have the power to defend, to keep women safe. I am not passive, accepting, ready to be filled. I am aware, watchful, ready to reject what I don’t want and to seize what I will.

Listen to me and I will tell you how safe we are, right now, in this moment. When we are secure, I am open and receptive, moist and inviting. When we feel threatened, I become cold and hard, hot and tight, irritated, and inflamed. If the danger goes on and on, I weep, I am overrun.

In health and joy, I am a rich and thriving ecosystem: friendly yeasts, beneficial bacteria, and a generous assortment of slippery, slidey lubricants thrive in my tangy-tasting depths.

I am stretchy. I am expansive. Fill me and I yearn for more. I am yielding; I melt, I surrender. Yet in yielding, I deliver. I am the victor. I clench my fist and grab the prize. Mine.

Do you think that I drool? I do. Do you think that I dribble, leak, and flood? I do. I am messy. I push the boundaries. I am greedy. I am slick. I am sleek.

I lie between what is shown and what is hidden. I am both public and private. I am not visible, yet I am the identity of a woman. By my name is woman named. By my power is woman empowered.”

The rest of the article was very informational, describing common issues that come up among Women and practices to maintain vaginal health. I would recommend checking it out, so if you would like to read more of the article, you can find it here.

It was the “Ancient Breasts” article which really got me thinking, in a positive and negative manner. Susun details the sacredness of a Woman’s breasts in the article. The emphasis she put on them set me on the course of pondering a topic that is familiar to me.

I frequently think about the suppression of Women. We currently live in a patriarchal society, where Women have forgotten the sacred Shakti embodiment, that we all have deep within us. Thankfully, there is a growing community of Women out there, working towards facilitating us in remembering our power and loving our bodies. Instead of worshipping their bodies, generally speaking, Women – Young and old – Cake their face with chemical based make-up, stuff themselves with tampons made of toxic chemicals to hide the blood they excrete, and ingest synthetic hormones to try and make the “monthly curse” go away. What if I told you that the “monthly curse” really wasn’t a curse at all? What if I took it further, and said that it is a holy blessing, that provides us with wisdom and guidance? What if I told you that it isn’t natural to strap your breasts down with wire-lined traps, we refer to today as “bras”? If I said your breasts were blissful, flowing with the energy of life, would you agree with me? Ever thought about opening the strapped traps and letting your breasts hang freely?

Unfortunately, Women have been confused into thinking that all of those unnatural practices are normal. Is it really normal to hide your natural beauty and suppress your feminine bodily functions? I certainly don’t think so, and I know a whole lot of Women who would agree with me. Did you know that traditional cultures worshipped Women? Not only did they worship Women, but they viewed functions like menstruation as holy. Elaborate ceremonies were held for young Women upon the beginning of their cycle, aiding in a feeling of reverence for their monthly BLESSING – In comparison to the young girls of today who usually dread it, and immediately want to pretend like it is not there through the use of tampons. The lunar cycles govern the tides and fluids of the female body and our continually shifting balance of hormones. We were created to menstruate with the New Moon and ovulate with the Full Moon every month. Of course this is far from true nowadays because there are so many external chemicals and other factors that cause irregular cycles for Women, but in the perfect world – One without xeno-estrogens and unnatural lighting – This is how the female body functioned. With each New Moon, all of the Women in the village of these ancient cultures would retreat to a sacred space to honor, embrace, and meditate with their menstrual cycle. Today, we are expected to attend work and follow the demands of every day life with no breaks, rather than retreat and meditate.

“From the very flesh and blood and from the constant cycles of filling and emptying the red vase in her belly, a woman understands physically, emotionally, and spiritually that zeniths fade and expire, and what is left is reborn in unexpected ways and inspired means, only to fall back to nothing, and yet be reconceived again in full glory.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Did our ancestors have tampons made of rayon and dioxin (two chemicals that have been found to cause cancer and TSS) which they would absorb their blood with? No way! They would bleed into Mother Earth, their gardens, nourishing her and their plant, making the connection for the celestial bodies of the Moon and Earth. What about bras? Were they sporting lacy, pink Victoria’s Secret bras all day everyday… Sleeping in them, for that matter?! Heck no! They were letting their bountiful mounds of bliss free and probably not even wearing clothes most of the time! What about birth control? How did they stay fertile or control pregnancy? They used whole herbs that they harvested from the wild by hand, like red clover and oatstraw to increase fertility, and wild carrot (queen anne’s lace) and neem leaf to keep from becoming pregnant.

The negative aspect of all this for me, is that there are still Women out there who are lost. Still out of touch with their birth right of power, strength, and wisdom. The beautiful and oh-so-positive aspect is, we are only moving forward and upward. There are so many Women out there spreading the message of empowerment and our community is growing. Everyday I find a new teacher to further facilitate my expansion of knowledge and discovery of my innate Goddess.

What I am getting at here, is the fact that being a Woman is a gift – As are our breasts, our yoni’s, our ability to give life, our monthly blood, and so on. We should be embracing our feminine nature and honoring our bodies as the holy temples that they are. Our curves are Mother Natures way of representing the cycles of life that we possess. We are wise and divine Goddesses. All of us.

Women rise up, for all we are worth.
~ ALisa Starkweather

I know this entry is full on, but I am simply trying to express is my passion for empowering my SiStars. Susun Weed was one of many Wise Women who set me on my path of remembering and awakening, and I feel like it is my duty to continue spreading the memories to more Women. So, instead of putting on that make-up, let your beautiful face shine with its natural light! Ditch the bra, even get rid of your panties and go dance to your favorite song – Like no one is watching! How about running outside naked, and letting the sun’s rays nourish the places that it doesn’t usually have the opportunity to? Just don’t let the neighbors see

I would like to share a few resources, for those who would like to delve into this matter further:

Websites:
www.susunweed.com
www.womensradio.com
www.alisastarkweather.com
www.natural-progesterone-advisory.com

Books:
Her Blood is Gold by Lara Owen
Women’s Rituals by Barbara G. Walker
Having Faith by Sandra Steingraber
Woman’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup

Music:
Just for Today by India Arie
Because I am a Queen by India Arie
Tell Him by Lauryn Hill
Empire State of Mind (pt. 2) by Alicia Keyes
Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin
Right to Be Wrong by Joss Stone
Wild Child by Enya
The Healer by Erykah Badu
Something On My Mind by Paula Fuga

There is a wealth of information out there, and it will come to you as you open up to it… As it probably already has for most of you! So, un-strap, open the traps, and let the Wild Woman out!

Experiments and Exposures of the Hormones

It may be apparent to you at this point, due to previous blog posts, that hormones are a strong point of interest of mine currently. I did not choose to dive head first into the research of them at random. My body pretty much decided for me, that was what I was going to when hormonal imbalances began to manifest in my health. I am going to hold off on getting into detail about all the areas I have researched, experimented, and learned through hormonal health because it would turn into a book, and instead focus on an experiment I recently did with my body/hormones which has been producing great results.

Like any teenager moving through puberty, I dealt with the occasional breakouts of acne, never lasting long and far from what I would label as “severe”. In High School, I rarely had any skin troubles, minus a small pimple here and there. Post-High School was when I really became immersed in my health quest. I converted my S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) into a diet comprised of strictly raw foods over the course of a month, and stuck to it religiously. In the beginning of my change in health practices, I was maintaining the radiant skin I had possessed all my life. Feeling great, looking great – I was stoked!

Things changed rapidly for me.

After a few months of my eating only raw foods, my skin began to break out in acne. It started in waves; I would have a break out, it would clear up – Break out again, clear up. Then, it started to hang around consistently. I found that I always had some acne around my forehead area that was recurring. First, I attempted to battle it with topical washes and creams. Nothing changed. Reading into the issue more, I found that frequently acne is a manifestation of internal issues, usually found in the liver. Many resources suggested to do liver flushes! Aha! I thought, that must be the answer. So, I initially tried a flush using a common method of drinking acidic juice and flushing with epsom salts and olive oil. No dice. Acne remained the same, if not worsened. I guessed I just did the flush wrong, or something. More people told me I should do enemas that would go deep into my intestines, reaching my liver and that would help a lot to clear my liver. While I highly advocate using enemas to aid other bodily functions, these did not help my skin troubles. I played with a various other liver flushes involving herbs, supplements, certain foods, etc. My certainly cleared some stuff out of there, but the acne remained the same.

That is when my hormonal research began. I found information stating that acne was a result of an imbalance in hormones. So, I started looking for ways to get my hormones back in balance. Knowing of the ridiculous amounts of estrogen pollution in the world from all of the chemical toxins in our environment, I knew I needed the hormone to counter act the excessive estrogen. If you read my previous post about the female hormone progesterone, you know that progesterone was the answer to counter acting the estrogen and aiding in the hormonal balance in my body (refer to my post about progesterone for a more in depth description about it.) I began working with several herbs that are known to help balance female hormones, such as vitex, passionflower, nettle, red clover, oatstraw, wild yam, etc. I saw results occur from the use of these plants in the form of relief of all physical pre-menstrual symptoms, a more toned moon cycle that didn’t last a long time, and a deeper sense of love and reverence for my Womanhood. These were all amazing results from these plants which I have the utmost gratitude for. However, the acne was still present.

At some point along this journey, I discontinued my consumption of strictly raw foods and began to cook frequently and incorporate local, organic, grass-fed meats and raw dairy into my diet again. This was the first point at which I saw some changes in my skin. The acne became more controlled, and didn’t look quite so severe. It was still there though and I wanted it all gone. Delving deeper into my research, I found that organic, raw dairy is full of progesterone because the lactating female cows are channeling their progesterone right into the dairy they produce. OK – So, progesterone was obviously the fitting part of the puzzle for battling my skin troubles. Then, I learned that progesterone is strictly fat soluble, and that is why the female body can convert the progesterone in dairy into our own bodies so successfully.

Now – How was I going to derive higher levels of progesterone to beat this acne? Well, in conversation with my close friend, we were going back and forth about what has worked in balancing our hormones. She mentioned to me that she had used an all natural progesterone cream to much success. I had heard and looked into progesterone creams a bit with the intent to try one, but it never clicked for me that this could be the answer to my problem! The cream would be a great method for sourcing progesterone for my body, through the fatty oils of my skin! I ordered some right away. (At this point, all this is taking place recently, in this past month/cycle.) Progesterone cream is only to be used on days 14-28 of your cycle, when your levels of progesterone are the highest. Yes, this means tracking your cycle, day 1 being the first day of your moon time. Coincidentally, my progesterone cream arrived in the mail on day 14 of my cycle so I was able to start it right on time! I applied it twice a day, morning and night, to areas of my body such as my breasts, inner arms, neck, belly, and all over my face.

Currently, I am on day 26 of my cycle, 12 days into using the progesterone cream. I am happy to say that in this short amount of usage, I am seeing huge results in my skin. Basically, the day after I began it, results set in. Every day I wake up to more improvements in the well-being of my skin. Larger pimples have vanished, the acne is generally very tame, and I can see the severity decreasing quickly. Not to mention, I feel amazing! I feel healthier and happier than ever. It is empowering to finally have a grasp on my hormonal health, bringing them into more of a balance. Like I always say, healthy (or balanced) hormones lead to a happy person!

I still have a ways to go with completely curing my skin troubles, but it is such a relief to see improvement after so much hard work, for so long. The hormone journey is probably a never-ending one, nor do I particularly want it to end. Healers have to walk the healing path, and I enjoy learning about my body through enduring physical challenges and successes! It furthers my knowledge about the female body which facilitates me in helping other Women achieve higher states of health, well-being, and thus – Empowerment. That is really my path in life; Helping others to heal. Its in my cards, literally

The Cycles of Cholesterol

This may blow some peoples socks off, but guess what… Cholesterol is necessary for our health! (gasp)

What many people are unaware of, is that most of the cholesterol in our bodies does not come from food. Our bodies produce cholesterol as necessary. Almost every single cell in our bodies produces cholesterol all of the time. The cells do this, because every cell and its surrounding membranes which make up every organ is partially structured by cholesterol. Nearly half of each membrane is made of cholesterol!

What does cholesterol do for us? Well, a variety of things!

Cholesterol is what substantiates our tissues and allows their permeability and fluidity. Our bodies distribute different levels of cholesterol to each cell of the body, depending on its function. Where we need strong, protective cells – We will have a lot of cholesterol. If a cell needs to be soft and moveable, it will have small amounts of cholesterol. Cholesterol is essential to any mammalian cell membrane, for without cholesterol, we would be like worms – Structure~less!

Our cells need protein in order to communicate with one another, leading to the function of our body. These proteins reside in the cell membranes, fixed there by cholesterol. So, cholesterol builds our body and facilitates its function! Cool! About 25 percent of the body’s amount of cholesterol is found in the brain. There is a large amount of it in the brain, because our brain is abundant in myelin (coating which protects and nourishes our nerves) and 20 percent of myelin is made of cholesterol! Interference with the production of cholesterol in the body has been found to cause the disease multiple sclerosis; the loss of memory. It has also been found that babies deprived of cholesterol during infancy have wound up with poor eyesight and memory. Therefore, cholesterol plays a huge role in the development and health of our memory and brain function as a whole!

The health of our immune system, or ability to fight bacteria and disease, relies strongly on cholesterol. It uses the cholesterol to bind to the toxic bacteria and inactivate it, preventing illness and damage to the body. Cholesterol plays the role of infection fighter. The specific kind of cholesterol which does this is LDL-cholesterol, which has been referred to as the “bad” cholesterol by general society. Therefore, people with low levels of cholesterol are more prone to getting sick! We can not heal infections of wounds without cholesterol and fat, so our livers send cholesterol right to the area in distress to aid the healing process. Interesting fact: Staphylococcus aureus, or Staph infection, which has become an epidemic in the world, is literally unable to work in the presence of LDL-cholesterol. Wow!

Cholesterol also plays a large role in the production of hormones (my favorite topic)! The hormones thrive in cholesterol, as they do in fat as well. They are the carriers for hormones. Cholesterol is the precursor for all steroid, sex, and adrenal hormones, and is necessary for the production of them. Women ~ In relation to my previous post regarding our hormone Progesterone: Cholesterol converts the hormone pregnenolone into Progesterone for us, so it totally essential for us! So, lack of cholesterol can lead to serious hormonal imbalances, which as we know from my last post can bring on a variety of other disorders. On the note of infertility: Could that be any relation to the excessive deficiency and fight against cholesterol, thus decreasing the production of sex hormones within their bodies? Hmm…

With that being said, it is quite obvious the importance of cholesterol for our health. From my research and experience, I see it to be very important to maintain and build our cholesterol levels. Even those people out there attempting to eliminate all of the cholesterol out of their bodies in fear of disease will find this impossible to do, considering our bodies are made of it and constantly producing it! Maybe, instead of trying to rid ourselves of our cholesterol, we should be working to build and maintain our cholesterol levels! Knowing this information, I see it to be important to ingest cholesterol through high quality, grass-fed animal products. Sources I use are raw, organic dairy such as eggs, butter, milk, cream, chicken, buffalo, venison, some occasional beef and turkey, and  if I am lucky – Moose or bear! Yum! Doesn’t it make sense to consume the foods containing cholesterol to support all of the work that it does for our system? I say yes!

In health, happiness, and high cholesterol levels…

Back in Action!

About time I got this back up and running, eh?

Other callings in Life have had my attention recently, leaving little time for entries on here! Well, now I am back with more to share than ever.

My blogs purpose initially was to share stories about my Life Experiences that I felt would inspire and/or aid people on their Path. I plan to continue sharing profound Experiences I have as they arise (which is frequent but I am also going to focus on writing about topics, mainly in the area of Women’s Health (for that is where my passion lies), that will provide beneficial knowledge to You All!

On that note, today I want to discuss the importance of the Female hormone, <strong>Progesterone</strong>. For Women, Progesterone is considered our “happy” hormone. It is the precursor of all other steroid and sex hormones, and allows their production ~ Vital for hormonal health. Healthy hormones are important for a variety of physical and emotional reasons which I could go on about for hours; Basically, hormonal balance avoids the series of health issues that arise from a dominance of any one hormone (such as excessive Estrogen leading to breast cancer,) helps to create a fully functioning immune system, allows us to deal with stress properly, and have general happiness!  Not only is Progesterone the precursor for the other steroid and sex hormones, but it also modulates those hormones to create balance. Balanced hormones aid balanced health in many areas.

Back to our happy hormone ~ Progesterone is our Essence (or Essential) hormone. As Women, Progesterone helps us to tune into our bodies and reconnect with our Feminine. Women have a powerful and nurturing connection to the Earth/life in general, and all it takes is tapping into our inner Goddess to resurface that connection which has simply been lost, or forgotten over the years for many Women. Balancing our hormones is a step toward tuning back in. Stress is an epidemic in Western society today. Progesterone is anti-stress, and plays a huge role in our ability to process stressful situations and emotions. Coping with stress in a calm manner leads to stable emotions, therefore ~ A happy Woman!

Progesterone protects against disease and dysfunction common amongst Women these days, such as breast cancer, uterine cancer, fibrocystic breasts, endometriosis, and general premenstrual symptoms. This amazing hormone is totally necessary for the survival of the embryo and fetus through pregnancy. A deficiency of Progesterone, or dominance of estrogen can cause a miscarriage. Progesterone facilitates the proper function of the thyroid hormones, as well. A regulated thyroid maintains a weight that is healthy for our individual body. Hypothyroidism (excessive weight gain) and hyperthyroidism (excessive weight loss) are common amongst the population today, especially hypothyroidism due to lack of exercise and the plague of processed and fast foods (which will for sure, aid in imbalanced hormones!) That said, Progesterone helps us to sustain our healthy body size; Along with a proper diet, exercise, and state of mind of course!

It is all about rebuilding. Yes, there is a significant pollution of xenostrogens (industrial made compounds that differ chemically, but mimic naturally occurring estrogens) in the world through our overuse of chemicals and plastics which are leading to many degenerative diseases and reproductive issues. How can we move forward from this? Lets look at ways to build our Progesterone levels as Women, empowering our health and therefore well-being! There are over 5,000 plants containing Progesterone. Wow. I still have a lot of learning to do in what those 5,000 plants are, but I do know some easily accessible sources for getting Progesterone into your body.

The plant source that I am most familiar with which helps to increase the production of Progesterone is Wild Yam. There is conflicting information out there about Wild Yam, saying that it contains high amounts of Progesterone, but I have also heard is that contains no Progesterone; It just contains constituents which facilitate the production of Progesterone. I have used this herb for quite some time and I have experienced success with relieving pre-menstrual symptoms; the use of Wild Yam being a part of that. Large doses of Wild Yam can be work as a contraceptive as well, so if you are trying to become pregnant, I would avoid excessive use of this herb. If you are interested in details about using Wild Yam, feel free to consult me for more information (<strong>gaiascouts@gmail.com</strong>)

In my experience, the source that has elevated my levels of Progesterone most significantly, has been raw dairy. As a hormone, Progesterone is strictly fat-soluble. Hence, Progesterone creams which are used commonly these days among Women, because the creams are absorbed through the oils of the skin.  What I have discovered as to why raw dairy is so successful in getting Progesterone into the body is because the animal producing the milk has elevated levels of Progesterone due to ovulation (the time when Progesterone levels are highest) which makes its transferred into the milk. I have found that raw butter is the most superior source to derive Progesterone from, because it is the fat from the milk, thus having the most concentration of Progesterone. Because raw butter is pure fat and Progesterone is fat-soluble, it is a perfect solution to sourcing Progesterone! I came to this conclusion after I restarted my menstrual cycle after eating raw butter consistently for two weeks, after not having my cycle for three months. I also researched my conclusion to find the data to back it up.

I must emphasize the importance that the dairy be raw, organic, and grass-fed! Pasteurized dairy will eliminate all of the vital minerals and importantly, the Progesterone. Raw butter and cream will be a Women’s best bet for getting Progesterone into the body efficiently. Fat is essential for Women’s Health. We need a whole lot of it! Good fat, that is. Cream and butter are great. Go ahead and eat as much of it as you want! Don’t worry about gaining weight from it either. When you have raw, organic cream and butter for your first time, you will want a lot of it! Trust me Raw dairy is illegal to sell in stores, so you will have to source out a local farm. You can do this through word of mouth, of course ~ But a great source online to find a farm near you is <strong>www.realmilk.com</strong> ~ They list tons of farms in every state! You can also try googling farms in your state as well and places will usually come up.

Heres to healthy, happy hormones ladies!