From generations women have been culturally trained that pain is quite normal. It is normal to have painful menses, it is normal to have painful intercourse sometimes, it is normal to give birth with a lot of pain and finally it is normal to suffer for menopause with hot flashes and so on.
Are you sure that this is ‘normal’? Are you sure that taking pain killers every month is the way we are supposed to live? Before I met ATMAT I was quite sure that was ok to have some pain and headache during my menses, actually I took it as a normal path and I was reassured from the fact that every month I would have to take a little medication or give myself a day off, not to have fun but to lay on the couch... And if I think back this is very not like me, I have been an holistic practitioner for 12 years now and I was aware that if there is pain it means that the body is trying to talk to us and we should listen and adjust in order not to have pain. But for the menses it was ‘normal’ couldn’t be a symptom. Why is that? Why do society believe that pain must be there and therefore we need ‘special’ medications for ‘those days’? Female body (just like the male one) is been made in such a wonderful way that we should always address if there is something bothering us, symptoms, I believe, is a way of communication, is the way the body has to remind something to us. Our womb is one of the most intimate part and it contains our emotions, experiences, our relationships, life starts there and when we are in our mother womb we built up our basic structure and our ability to love and care for ourself and for the others. If this very important part is having pain we need to listen carefully and connect. Normally the uterus leans slightly over the bladder in the center of the pelvis, about one and a half inches above the pubic bone. It is held in this position by muscles, the vaginal wall and ligaments that attach it to the back, front, and sides of the pelvis. Uterine ligaments are made to stretch to accommodate a growing fetus inside and to move freely when the bladder or bowel is full. The ligaments and muscles can weaken and loosen, causing the uterus to fall downward, forward, backward or to either side. A uterus in any of these positions is often referred to as being "tilted or prolapsed" that can result in many symptoms. Women are often told, "you have a tilted uterus, there is nothing that can be done, or it's normal don't worry about it ". Depending on the symptoms a woman experiences, treatment options may include the birth control pill, muscle relaxants, or surgery. Yet women have a laundry list of physical and emotional symptoms that can be addressed and prevented with these simple, noninvasive massage techniques. When reproductive organs shift, they can constrict normal flow of blood and lymph, and disrupt nerve connections. Just a few extra ounces sitting on blood and lymph vessels can cause havoc throughout the different systems in the body. By shifting the uterus back into place, homeostasis, or the natural balance of the body, is restored in the pelvic area and the surrounding organs. Toxins are flushed and nutrients that help to tone tissue and balance hormones are restored to normal order. This is essential for healthy reproductive functioning, such as painless menses, healthy pregnancy, effective labor and birth. Old adhesions from invasive treatments to the pelvic and abdominal area, including fibroid tumors, endometriosis, and cesarean delivery are diminished when addressed by uterine massage. In addition, digestion, urinary and bladder problems can be helped. (www.arvigotherapy.com) If there is pain the best thing we can do is understanding what it’s causing it and find a good solution for us in order to feel better. It is a very old paradigm that says that women have to suffer, and it’s cultural, our body is made just perfectly not to be in pain and pain should only be the voice that speak up for you.
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What happens to the uterus during and after childbirth is something pretty amazing, Mother Nature created us in a such perfect way that we should only respect & love it. Before the conception your uterus is the side of an avocado and during menses it becomes about double size to shrink back after the bleeding if the pregnancy didn’t take place.
(Image from cookin’ cowgirl) Keep in mind that the uterus is kept in position thanks to many ligaments that are all around her (for us Uterus is a female). During pregnancy the uterus is your kid's cradle and she has to grow to allow your baby’s development, providing all that is needed in order to keep your baby in and let him/her grow for 40 weeks (more or less) and than she has to let the baby go and get back to her normality. Isn’t it amazing? Around 12 weeks pregnant, the special female organ is a size of a grapefruit and she is still within the pelvis. For some women it is not visible yet that the baby is growing inside of them. If you are expecting twins, the uterus is growing faster than this. During the second phase of the pregnancy the uterus keep growing and you can imagine she is becoming the size of a papaya, the superior part of the uterus is now situated somewhere between the navel and the stomach area. The surrounding organs, during this peculiar period of a woman life, will be pushed in a different place, to make room for the baby and all the ligaments and muscles are stretched and pushed, they have some hard work to accomplish. You might feel different, maybe you could have some pain and your navel could be pushed out, but no worries it should get back later on. During the last part of your pregnancy the uterus becomes the size of a watermelonand she reaches the area of the rib cage. When it’s about to give birth, the baby moves toward the lower part, entering in your pelvis. During birth the uterus has to finally open up, allowing to birth your baby, she moves and contract in order to push your baby out. The pelvic floor has to release what for 9 long months had to keep in, so this very tight muscles finally have to let go from a very strong and tight position. After birth your uterus gradually returns to her normal size and close back her mouth, the process can take something like 6 weeks. All the organs are also getting back in the right position and the pelvic floor returns to be the strong muscles that keep our bladder and intestine closed, opening only when we need to go to the toilet. Now we are just simplifying a huge process, but we just need to have a sneak peak of the great change the uterus and the belly have to go through in order to give birth to a baby. We said that the uterus is kept in position by a bunch of ligaments, we said that the ligaments and muscles stretch in order to allow the growth that this process requires and than she has to go back in position and the ligaments has to get back in their ordinary shape, the Maya Abdominal Treatment can help to nourish all this area and help all the organs to get back to the normality. I just met a client that gave birth several years ago, but she came to me saying that she ‘needed to put her organs back in position’ even thought many years passed by. So Post Natal Care it is not only for soon after birth, anyway before a treatment you need to recover and after a C section we wait at least 6 weeks, said that it is very good to help our belly’s health. It is also very important to have a space in which you can talk about your birth, being a doula I have learnt that the memory of birth is very important and stays with the mother forever. During a lecture I was told that several women with alzheimer could vividly remember the birth of their children. Anybody can actually feel in the Post Natal phase, even after 20 years from birth, after a miscarriage, after an abortion, the body needs to be taken care of and the emotions too. |
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May 2018
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