Energy Practices For Women's Health

20:49

20:49

Energy Practices For Women's Health

Rated

4.9

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

26

This track introduces gentle energy practices designed to support women’s overall health and well-being. You’ll be guided to reconnect with your body, tune into your natural rhythms, and release built-up tension. With a calm and nurturing tone, it offers simple techniques to restore balance and increase vitality. By the end, you’ll feel more grounded, supported, and in tune with your body’s needs.

Womens Health Hormonal Balance Menstrual Cycle Yin Energy Feminine Energy Womb Healing Restorative Yoga Parasympathetic Creative Expression Community Support Energy Practices Well Being Grounding Menstrual Cycle Awareness Feminine Energy Embrace

Meet your Teacher

Seattle, WA, USA

Meet your Teacher

Seattle, WA, USA

Transcript

Hello and welcome to today's talk, Energy Practices for Women's Health. Many of you know my personal story of having traveled to India, Practicing 6, 7, 9 hours a day at an ashram on my own, Studying the ancient texts and eventually having my hormones go out of balance and I stopped having my period. And it was then while I was practicing with a lot of discipline and rigor that I realized that many of our traditions in meditation have been authored by men and have a more masculine perspective and don't really take into account women's health and particularly women's reproductive health. We even see this in our yoga asanas that have inversions, Chaturangas, Even the concept of mula bandha which is squeezing the perineum and holding the energy at the root doesn't really allow for that menstruation and that flow to move down towards the earth. Women have this natural connection to the earth energy and with some of these practices that are inappropriate for women for at least a week out of each month and so we see a lot of contraindications and it's important to really look at this, Not just for yoga but also in our meditation practices because we know that these more mentally oriented, Stringent, Disciplined, Austere practices aren't always suitable for women and women's bodies. And today's talk is both for women and men so that men can also understand women's health if they want to relate to women, Connect more intimately. I think it's really important that we also come to know women's health because much of our health system today has been built on men's health including clinical studies, Just a lot of medicine even has been written and directed from the male perspective. So it's so important that we bring women's bodies into consideration especially as it pertains to our personal spiritual practices. Women have menses, We bleed once a month starting from the age anywhere from 10 to 12 and then we also give birth to life and then we go through an experience later in our life, Perimenopause and menopause. Women have estrogen, Progesterone and testosterone and our hormones are always fluctuating, They're always changing whereas men deal with one primary hormone that's steady for most of their lives, Testosterone. So even knowing that these hormones have an effect on our physiology, That we have different bodies, Our bodies have a different purpose to give birth to life and that even our brains and the way we operate are fundamentally different, That of course we would take into consideration seeing how many women participate and practice meditation and yoga and these spiritual practices, Why we need to really highlight our own health and come into touch with our own reproductive health. What happens when a woman listens to her own body? What happens when a woman does what feels good for her own body? How many of us can relate, If you are a woman, Can relate to having to go to work during your period, If you've ever had hardship, If you've had heavy periods, Painful periods and having to have the same pressure of that productive output in our masculine driven society? And how that feels, How wrong it feels, How counterintuitive it feels to be productive, Performing out there, Spending more of your energy when you're losing so much blood, Your own life force energy, When this really is a time to go inward and to take it slow and interestingly enough testosterone causes a lot more aggression and sexual drive and so it causes masculine energy to be more outward and to be more active and it's more agitated oftentimes and restless. In women's bodies we need rest, We need times of stillness, If we're pregnant, If we're postpartum, If we're going through menopause, If we're having our menstrual cycle, Those are periods of rest and women know how to go into these yin states, Women are masters at these states and so it's so important that we get in touch with this inner stillness that's required for us to come into balance during times of change and transformation. We move with the cycle of life, Our bodies move with the cycles of the moon and when we listen, When we act on what feels right for us, We become empowered. We're empowered in our health, In our energy, In who we are. It's really important through this empowerment to release the shame and the stigma that comes with being a woman, Like not being able to talk about being on your period or going through menopause, All these things that really affect our ability to show up sometimes in life. If we had the freedom to say, Hey I'm on my period, I can't come, I'm not able to do that, Then there would be a lot more ease for women and so many women struggle through menopause and perimenopause and there isn't a space to express yet, More of a platform and a voice and I think bringing this into everyday conversation is part of the healing. In ancient traditions, We have red tent, Right, This concept of the red tent where in indigenous cultures and certain cultures, Women were separated during their menses. This was a time for women because it's a very vulnerable, Raw time when you're bleeding, That's a time of cleansing and that was permission for women to have retreat and to connect with other women, To receive support, To be able to rest, To also be in isolation. Have you ever felt that when you're on your period, You don't really want to be around a lot of people, You don't want to be super active and out there and really that's a time of healing. During the time that a woman's bleeding, It's known that she's more in touch with the spirit world, Meaning that her creative energy, Her power, Her ability to have visions increases. So even noticing the quality of your dreams, The intuition that is coming to you while you're going through PMS and your cycle is important to look at, To pay attention to. So if we were to rewrite and reimagine what meditation would look like, Taking into full consideration of our own bodies, How our bodies change, They're in flux every day, Our bodies are soft, They're round, They're not rigid, Women can dance and flow and move with this grace, This beautiful femininity, What would that be like? To embrace a practice that allows for all of this feminine energy that we're in touch with, This power, This healing magic, What would that look like? What are practices that would really be in support of our own health? Well, I'd imagine that it wouldn't be this one-size-fits-all mental model, The one that where someone else, A guru who's a man, Gives you a mantra that you follow for the rest of your life. It would be something that comes from within. These would be practices that come from within you, Your own teacher, Your own heart, Your own intelligence. And you wouldn't have to follow a one-size-fits-all model, This more masculine linear model, But a model that allows for flux, Fluidity, Grace, Flow, What if you woke up every morning and asked, What feels good for my body today? What would bring me into balance today? What do I need? And while these traditions are useful and effective, I think it's important for women to really bring in their own wisdom, What's coming from within you, And to trust what's coming from within you. I know that when I'm on my period, I'm going through perimenopause right now. Sitting in lotus pose with a straight erect spine, Perfectly still, Not really something I feel like practicing every day. Doesn't feel truly honoring for my body. What I feel feeds my body during certain times, Especially if I have a lot of emotions coming up and I'm going through this deep cleansing, A lot of bleeding, Is to be in poses that allow for movement, Allow for opening, And that healing energy to flow through my body. So I'd like to share some practices, These are ideas, In addition to what comes up for you while you're going through changes, While you're experiencing emotional clearing or upheaval or anything. You can practice energy healing, And this is with hands-on healing or auric healing. And a wonderful practice is just bringing your hands and placing them over your womb space. Our womb is a place of ultimate creation, And sometimes the space gets crowded. We can have a thicker lining that forms there, We can get cysts and fibroids, We can have other people's energy that sits in our womb, Especially if we've had past lovers. And so learning how to connect to our womb space, And this is also connected to our sacral chakra, Which is connected to creativity and relationships, Another aspect of our life force energy, And just bringing your hands and placing them on your womb. And imagining that if there is any energy, Old or stagnant energy, That it's just flowing easily, Effortlessly from the womb, Also from the ovaries. This is our creative space. And in a way, When we do this, We claim this part of our body. I know when I was learning traditional meditation, I really felt cut off from the waist down. I really felt like my meditation was a head and shoulders experience, More than it was being down in the sacral space and the root space, Owning all the energy that's around our reproductive organs, Including our vagina, The womb, Our ovaries, Everything that pertains to us. How important it is to own and claim this space for ourselves, To feel the space, To be in this space. And you can even meditate being in your womb. It's a very empowering practice. Restorative yoga. It's wonderful if you have extra pillows, A yoga bolster, Blankets to rest back, To be in these poses that are supportive, That allow for a natural opening by letting go and surrendering to the earth and the props. And when you do this, I noticed when I practiced restorative yoga and I used to teach it, You really access this energy and meditation isn't so much about the form as it is about access, Access to this creative life force energy. Some people call it being present. Some people call it God. Some people call it universal energy, But it's this access and it flows in. You can actually feel it flowing down in the form of this very subtle energy. It's really blissful and it feels like it's descending down upon you through your crown chakra and it begins to open up your physical body. Literally, Almost like butterfly wings. It just expands outward and you can feel this sort of rippling pulse, Expansive effect happening. It's very healing. Get really tapped into the parasympathetic nervous system, Which is the relaxation response. And this experience is deeply restorative. It's better than sleeping. So if you can access these levels of rest and restoration, You'll feel much more balanced in your own feminine energy. We have issues with our reproductive health when we don't rest enough and we're always in that masculine energy. We're competing in that masculine energy. We're doing in that masculine energy. We're forcing in that mental energy. Learning these yin practices are so empowering. Soft is strong. Learning how to move and express creatively, Improvising. This could be toning, Singing, Humming, Moving in any way. Doesn't have to be a linear way. It can be graceful. It can be chaotic. It can be all over the place. But moving your body because only you know inside your own body what's going to open you up. So giving yourself permission to move energy in any way, Unlimited, Opens up the life force energy within you, Allows that to flow, Opens up your chakras, Connects you to the higher and the lower space of your chakra energy. What truly supports women's health? What would be more supportive to your health when you tune into that as a woman? What do you need more of? What can you tone down? It's okay to slow down and rest, To not compete in the masculine energy all the time. Take time to connect with other women. Feel that support, That community. Women receive hormones and serotonin from connecting with each other. That social bonding, Emotional connection is so important for women to experience as part of their well-being. And that it's okay to be in your own space and to ask for your own space. And noticing how having times of solitude supports you. Consider softer nurturing practices that really invite in the heart energy of the feminine. The energy where you can be contained like you're in a sacred womb. The safest space where you can completely surrender into that state of unconditional love and grace. Thank you so much for being part of today's talk.