Womanhood: THE HIDDEN advantage

“In the past, women were considered the embodiment of the Divine Mother. But today, the situation is different. The time has come for women to rise and awaken their inherent strength.” -Amma

I give thanks to the Great Mother who has taught me to stop resisting womanhood and to empower myself. I thank you, dear reader, for listening.

Since I was a child, I always wondered what the big deal was with genders. I remember specifically seeing shirts that said “I play ball like a girl!”, as if that was intended as an honor…or maybe an insult? I wasn’t sure. Why not just say “I play ball!” or “I play ball like a champion!”. Why like a girl? Was that a good or bad thing? As I grew up in society (as one does), I came to take that shirt to mean that being a girl was a bad thing. I began to form beliefs that girls were weaker and less important. That women were not as powerful as men. That it is a disadvantage to be a woman. All the things women have to go through- periods, pregnancy, giving birth, breastfeeding, menopause, body image fixation, being afraid to run at night. All of these beliefs were unconscious at the time, but they were informing everything I did. The oxymoron is my exterior personality told a different story: I thought I was a boss babe, I marched for women’s rights, I said “women can do anything”. I thought my costume of a pantsuit and a corporate badge meant that I was “equal”. On the inside, I felt inferior and disconnected.

When I left the corporate world and started my work with the medicine, all of my hidden feelings around gender began to surface. In the Yage traditions of the native Amazonian tribes, there is an infinite wealth of knowledge around the woman. The tradition speaks about the roles of women and men not to create separation, but to pass wisdom down about our gifts. What the elders say is that we are all Nature, we are all Creation. Each creature and movement has its place in this grand tapestry of Existence. We are all the same thread making up different parts of the picture. We are all the same. Nobody is more important, bigger, better than anyone else. Men are not better than women. Women are not better than men. We are equal. Each one of us has both masculine and feminine within us. Even if you are a woman, within you resides the Father. If you are a man, within you resides the Mother. When we put our male counterparts down, or vice-versa, we are attacking a part of ourselves. We are attacking a sacred part of creation. This is not to say there are not large issues in the world around gender, there are many. We see violence and fear and pain from both men and women from being put into tiny boxes, from dogmas, false beliefs, etc. These are inventions of the misused mind, by fear and pain, not by gender itself. When the ancient sages and masters talk about God/the Universe, they say that God goes beyond all such labels. The study for all of us is to go beyond the limitations the mind has created about gender and simply Be.

And so why is womanhood an advantage? One simple reason: women have wombs. The womb is the source of all life. Both men and women come from this place- a portal to Creation, to the spiritual, to God. It is from the Mother that all life must come. Being a woman and carrying the responsibility of creating new life is not a small task. Whether we decide to have children or not, all women have the Mother within them and embody Creation. For me, going through the whole process of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum is what awakened me. My journey with bringing my daughter into the world was intense, beautiful, and consciousness-altering. Giving birth isn’t the only way, however. In the work with the Yage, when we are in ceremony and drunk with the medicine, we are in direct contact with the spirits. For men, this is the path to walk. To clean themselves and open their consciousness by drinking the medicine. In other traditions, it could be through meditation or yoga, etc. For women, we are in direct contact with the spirits from 2-5 whole DAYS of the month- menstruation. When we are menstruating, the same channel that we receive in ceremony or deep meditation is open. We are in direct contact with the spirits/God/angels/guides. Our body, mind, and spirit is in a time of purification. We are releasing built-up emotions, illnesses, thoughts, beliefs, and purifying them through the blood. In ancient spiritual traditions, womanhood is seen as a great advantage because we are already programmed with medicine within.

In our society, we see menstruation as a burden because we may feel pain, fatigue, emotions or have to “deal with” the blood. Nobody said that being in direct contact with the spirits of nature and with God is easy! Of course it’s normal to feel all of the mind-created turmoil to surface during this time. This is the spirit’s way of releasing and cleansing. You are in an altered state of consciousness, a divine encounter. It is up to us how we decide to spend our menstruation time. When we spend it fighting, eating junk food, worrying about past mistakes, and going to bed late, we may bring illness to our bodies and minds. When we spend this time instead in internal reflection, allowing emotions to fully surface without identifying, and taking care of our body to support its detox process, we hold true power. We can transform our families, our work, our emotions, and our thoughts. God has gifted us as women the chance to purify our lives and start fresh once a month. A built-in detox into our design. If you ask me, that is a huge advantage. All we have to do is open our hearts to the gift.

Ayurvedic Perspective on the Menstrual Cycle

Ayurveda views menstruation as a detox- emotionally, physically, spiritually. It is a time to rest and go deep within- NOT to go about business as usual. The body is doing all it can to move toxins down and out through the blood. When there is pain, irregularity, off-colored blood, or other symptoms, this is a sign that something, somewhere in the body, is off. Menstruation, and how we feel during it, is a window into our overall health. Depending on the emotional state, color, consistency, and flow of the blood, you can begin to trace your body’s clues.

Ayurveda recommends adhering to a diet that supports Agni (digestive fire) and aids the body’s natural detoxification process. When we give into our ice cream cravings, we make it harder on the body. Avoid cold dairy and iced beverages. Opt instead for a warm cacao drink or baked apples, coconut butter and cinnamon. Even some dark chocolate can soothe the sugar craving without putting out your Agni. If there is a time of the month to put discipline forward, it is during this time. Your body will thank you and you will start to see drastic changes in your health.

Similarly, Ayurveda supports rest during this time. Especially during the first two days, you must slow down. Even if you have to go to work, save extra work or other commitments for another day. Go home, make yourself a delicious, easy-to-digest dinner, and let your body rest. Unwind, meditate, journal, spend time with yourself. Speak your needs to your family and loved ones. Tell them you are in a process with your health and need some extra time to rest. People that love you will support you and understand. Just communicate!

Exercise should be tapered- absolutely nothing strenuous. Go for a brisk walk or do some gentle yoga, but do not deplete yourself by doing anything draining or extreme. Avoid Pranayama. Save Abhyanga for before and after your cycle, not during. The goal of this time is to let your body push toxins down and out, purifying the organism. When we move too much energy up through running around, being busy, exercising, doing Pranayama- we impede this process.

Amazonian Perspective on the Menstrual Cycle

In the traditions of Yage in the Amazon, the menstrual cycle is often referred to as “la luna”, or “the moon”. Just like the moon cycle lasts 28 days, so does the general menstrual cycle last ~28 days. As women, we can look to the moon as a guide and teacher of how to live. We do not compete with the sun, we shine in infinite mystery and illuminate the night sky with a cooling, calming light. The moon is not the same even one day of the month. Each day is a different level of light emitted as she waxes and wanes. Similarly, women are always in change. We were not built to be the same everyday. The sun shines consistently everyday to bring warmth and strength to all of life. Each day it sets and rises again at the same time the next day. Our society is programmed around the sun system. We are all expected to perform the same each day. The only issue is that women are waxing and waning every day. Sometimes we are in a phase of intense external energy, and sometimes we are in a phase of deep inner reflection.

In ancient cultures, grandmothers teach their daughters and granddaughters how to care for themselves in their womanhood. In the not-so-distant past, there were few diseases in native communities. Diseases of the womb were uncommon. For me, walking the path with native elders of the Amazon has helped me remember this nature that is within. I changed my perspective from womanhood as a burden and disadvantage to womanhood as a blessing, an opportunity, and a responsibility. The design of the ancient cultures is not a design invented by the human mind; it is a design given by Creation. When we follow these ancient designs, we begin to empower ourselves into true wellbeing.

Some recommendations the ancient Amazonian traditions tell us are to collect our blood and plant it back into the Earth. This is a form of a spiritual payment. We are returning all that is on our heart- no matter how difficult or confusing- back to the Earth. The tradition teaches that the Earth is our Mother. She loves us as her children and we should remember we can always come to Her. Giving our blood back as a spiritual payment, our life force, is an act of reverence, of dedication, and of prayer.

Like Ayurveda, the native Amazonian tribes adhere to cautious food diets while menstruating. This is to protect the health of the uterus. Cold drinks, processed or oily foods, can be too heavy for us at this time. Basil tea with a little bit of honey is a great way to keep yourself emotionally “sweet” and to assist the uterus. You can wear a chumbe (woven belt) below your belly button to protect yourself energetically or use a pouch to carry some protective plants like tobacco. Making yourself a plant “bath” or lotion can be very supportive for maintaining emotional and spiritual stability. For me, the most powerful practice has been sitting in meditation and cleansing myself with cotton. Cotton is an absorber of energies. Cleanse the cotton with sage or palo santo or other energetic clearer and begin to rub the cotton all over your body. Be very focused and feel where there are pains or traumas or sadnesses in different regions. Ask the cotton to cleanse this. When you are done, save the cotton for the next day or keep it and start a new one. At the end of your cycle, burn this cotton. Do not let anyone else touch it.

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There are many things I have learned from the beautiful ancient traditions I study with and infinite things I still don’t know. What I find in so much wisdom is true hope. I feel hope for the harmony between men and women, hope for the healing of mankind, hope that there is a solution to every challenge, and hope that the power and depth of love is greater than all fear. This is what being a woman has taught me.