INTRODUCTION:

Ayurveda teaches us of the power of aligning with nature’s cycles and this includes the solar and lunar cycles. For women in particular, the forces of the moon can be used to support our physical, mental-emotional and spiritual vitality and longevity. Find out more here about Ayurveda practices for the new and full moon,just one of the ways that Ayurveda works to strengthen and sustain women’s health and well-being. Alongside Ayurveda nutrition, herbal and lifestyle therapies, aligning with the lunar rhythms can be powerfully restorative. 

And please don’t miss the details of my NEW Ayurveda Woman consultations at the end of the blog. I explain how Ayurveda can successfully address women’s health issues such as menopausal discomforts, menstrual irregularities, endometriosis and infertility. 

WOMEN’S HEALTH AND THE LUNAR CYCLES:

Just as throughout the 24hr rotation of the earth around it’s axis, we find appropriate times to eat, to be active, to rest,  to wake up and to sleep, and just as during the journey of earth around the sun we experience the effect of the changing seasons on our bodies and minds, so the cycles of the moon affect us. We know the moon affects the tides, and farmers aware of nature’s rhythms still know that the moon gives nourishment to plants. In biodynamic farming, plants growing above the ground are harvested during the full moon time, root vegetables and medicines might be harvested during the new moon time when the nutrients move back into the roots.  it is known to affect the mind (we see this in the root of the words like “lunatic” and “looney”). Women’s menstrual cycle is naturally, roughly a monthly cycle and so close to one lunar cycle.

In traditional Vedic societies where people lived in total harmony with nature’s rhythms, women would menstruate around the new moon time when the ojas (nurturing nectar like energy of the moon) is at it’s lowest and the sun’s energies peak. The focus was on self-renewal and self-care in the company of other women, also menstruating in alignment with the new moon. The women would go outside of the village together for a communal female time of withdrawal, reflection, rest and replenishment. And just as the new moon is the natural time of menstruation when our own biorhythms are aligned with the cosmic rhythms, then the full moon time is a natural the time of ovulation. It is the the time when we should naturally be at our most potent and creative on physical, spiritual and energetic dimensions of being.

In our 21st century lifestyles we have lost these natural rhythms through daily rhythms changed by the artificial lighting, post-industrial working schedules, and exposure to chemicals, antiobiotics and artificial hormones. This is impairing our natural female strength and vitality, our shakti energy and plays a part in our susceptibility to hormonal imbalances and disease. That female force which we call Shakti energy moves through and around the womb and in this way can play a huge part in restoring our physical and emotional imbalances and strengthening any weaknesses..

Realigning our inner rhythms with those of the natural world around us, not least as women with the lunar cycles, not only nourishes our hearts and minds as we awaken to that inner female force, but also our physiology. That potent force that grows with the fullness of the moon and can affect tides and plants and human minds, also can rise within us once we begin to live in accord with nature’s cycles again. Simply marking the cycles of the moon and applying the wisdom of the ancients to adjust our days accordingly can play a wonderful part in reclaiming our vitality and sustaining longevity. 

There are specific practices to replenish the female physiology and spirit during new moon time, and to prepare body and mind for the new lunar cycle. And likewise, there are practices which are engaged with to help reawaken and strengthen our Shakti, feminine force, during full moon time. These practices increase our female potency on all levels of being, and this can serve to carry us through each month with more aliveness of spirit, with an inspired sense of purpose and creativity, and with our physical health and energy also cleansed and replenished.

Our menstrual cycle is the means by which this female power we are calling Shakti is cleansed, recharged and replenished. The woman’s blood carries the Shakti prana. It is within this blood that as women we carry the potential to create new life. It contains within it that same Divine Feminine force, or greater Shakti that permeates all creation, as it is by that same cosmic intelligence that it becomes a life-giving force. When shakti-prana dwelling in the womb is strong, the nourishing energy of the moon is drawn in to further nourish and strengthen the womb. And when the energy of the moon is at it’s lowest, that same centre of shakti energy in the womb allows the uterine lining to be discharged to aid in the resetting of our female biorhythms. 

Not only our exposure to unnatural ways of life and chemical and medical products of the post-industrial era, but also poor nutrition, stress, lack of or excessive exercise, and also deep emotional wounds can tip the balance of our hormone levels adversely and lead to the numerous problems women face these days from fertility to menstruation and through to menopause. 

With herbs, nutrition, lifestyle practices and certain wonderful sadhanas, Ayurveda promises women much support in reclaiming female vitality and  creativity, and in sustaining longevity through middle age and into the golden years of life. 

AYURVEDA WOMAN CONSULTATIONS:

Ayurveda has a good track record in treating and relieving women’s health conditions….a track record of thousands of years using totally natural methods. Herbs and nutritional programmes are created according to your metabolic type, age and presenting symptoms for a wide range of conditions including:

• Menopause and peri-menopausal symptoms
• Menstrual problems such as dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, menorraghia
• Endometriosis
• Infertility

Ayurveda also has a wonderful understanding of how best to prepare the body for menopause and how to sustain hormonal balance, and general health and well-being  post-menopause. 

FOR AN AYURVEDA WOMAN 1-1 CONSULTATION PLEASE CONTACT ME.

In an Ayurveda Woman consultation, we will investigate the root cause of presenting symptoms by enquiry into your medical history, diagnostic techniques such as tongue and pulse diagnosis, and identification of your natal metabolic typing and the current metabolic imbalance which maybe giving rise to conditions.

Following a detailed consultation and diagnosis, we will work together to create a do-able personalised nutritional, herbal and lifestyle programme for you. Where required, a supporting personalised Ayurveda Yoga and meditation programme can be added to your treatment prescriptions.  Often simple dietary protocols and the intake of specific hormone balancing herbs, alongside simple lifestyle adjustments can soon begin to reap results. I may also recommend some lovely Ayurveda body treatments to ease symptoms. 

Ayurveda Woman Consultations take place in my welcoming, newly decorated consultation room in Tiddington. I will be seeing people face-to-face once government restrictions ease. If you require a consultation urgently, we can meet via zoom or skype. 

NEW MOON DAYS AND FULL MOON WORKSHOPS WILL HELP TO RESET AND REPLENISH YOUR SHAKTI ENERGY:

NEW MOON DAYS FOR RESETTING BODY AND MIND 

FULL MOON SUNDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS