The Universe is in Your Uterus

Let’s talk about a female organ that needs some attention - the uterus. Hey MEN…don’t go tip-toeing off anywhere – you are included in this conversation and need this information too. It amazes me how little is understood about the uterus; its sacred power, its connectivity to everything else in the body and how to care for it.

Much of our uterine care advice comes from a medical community, which disregards the power of the female body to regulate itself through a natural ebb and flow of hormones throughout the month.

As a species, we have gotten so far away from our raw natural state, that we see our periods as an inconvenience and our uterus as an expendable organ to be conquered and controlled rather than honored and nurtured.

I got a call from a friend the other day. She said, “I need to talk to you about something. Sex is becoming very painful. My sex drive is good. But my tissue is just so tight. I’m so uncomfortable. It is really becoming an issue, and I don’t know what to do.”

We talked some more. We talked about lubrication options, which could help to buy some time while we figure out what’s going on. And then things got interesting. I asked her, “What do you use for birth control?”

She said, “A copper IUD. I figured that it is the least invasive with no hormones.”

IUD stands for intrauterine device. Lots of women opt in for this contraceptive device based on the statement above.

I said, “Ok. You are not going to like what I have to say, but here we go. First, let’s talk about invasive. There is a foreign, metal object in your vagina. That is invasive. You already have an autoimmune disease (she has Hashimoto’s). Once again, you have a foreign object inside of your body that could elicit even more inflammation. My vagina gets tense just talking about it!” [laughter]

“Do you see that this IUD isn’t doing you any favors? I’ve even seen this argument extend to wearing contact lenses, which is a foreign object in your eye. I’ve even seen it extend to vasectomies in men. They don’t stop producing sperm when they cut the tube that carries them. The body absorbs the sperm. For some people, none of this means anything. There is little to no known impact. But for others like yourself, who already have a chronic inflammatory disease, well, it could tip the scales even further away from your favor.”

“There is no easy way to prevent what Mother Nature wants to have happen, which is get you impregnated. But making your vagina an inhospitable place with an IUD is disrupting the core of your entire being. The uterus is this open space where life happens. Out of nothing, an egg and sperm meet and make a baby. The uterus is the ultimate source of creativity and right now yours is not happy. It is inflamed.”

“We can try herbal smooth muscle relaxants. We can try nervine herbs to help relax your nervous system. We can try to moisten your vaginal tissue from the inside out with appropriate nutritional and herbal support. There are lots of options. I do not want to tell you what to do. My job is to educate. If you decide to remove it, you can always get another one. I will support you either way. I just hate chasing symptoms on people and wasting resources when there is something obvious that needs to be addressed, like a foreign object up inside your body. Obviously, I am biased [more laughter].”

She thanked me for my feedback, and I told her to call me if she needed anything else.

Whew! What would she decide to do?

Within 48 hours she made an appointment to remove the IUD, and I received this text message:

“Holy shit! Just left the doctor’s office and I swear to God it feels like this dark cloud has lifted. It’s like my vagina just took a deep breath of fresh air, ha ha! I had no idea it would be so immediate and noticeable.”

She had her IUD for 21 months before taking it out. Then, a few days later, I get this message:

“Light bulb moment! I would bet money that my iritis was an inflammatory response to the IUD. It started shortly after having the IUD put in and nothing I did diet wise seemed to keep it at bay.”

So in addition to an autoimmune pattern in her body, she has had this mysterious inflammation in her eye, which is called iritis. Now, she thinks the two are connected.

Everything is connected.

You cannot imagine the joy I feel for the possibilities of this young woman’s life. She is ready for change. She is motivated. She is committed to the unfolding of her vitality. I have had this same conversation with many women. She was ready to hear it.

She gives me hope.

Ladies, your uterus is not an expendable organ. The two most unnecessary and destructive surgeries I see happening are cholecystectomies, which is the removal of the gall bladder, and hysterectomies, which is the removal of the uterus. The fact that both of these are hollow organs intrigues me. I wonder what that means, if anything. Beyond that fascination, I am pissed.

If you have had one or both of these organs removed, I am so, so sorry.

If you still have yours, do everything you can to keep them.

Women deserve better.

Just because you can live without it, does not mean that you don’t need it.

This is one of the reasons the medical system is so quick to schedule these surgeries. Technically, you can live without these organs, but my question is: CAN YOU LIVE WELL?

When women fail to honor their reproductive capacity, they fail to honor themselves.

The energetic function of your uterus is to ground you, to help you feel a connection with the earth, and to inspire your creativity. The vaginal canal is an opening for the exchange of energy into and out of the body. I am not just talking about sexual activity. I am talking about the kind of connection that reminds you that you are part of the tides and the seasons and yes, the cycles of the moon! Once again, the IUD is not going to facilitate this healthy flow of energy.

When the uterus is understood as a sacred space, we no longer feel at odds with the emotions that arise because of our menstrual cycle. The positive emotion associated with the uterus is containment. The negative emotion is histrionic, which means overly dramatic or theatrical; essentially, the opposite of containment. Both emotions are important and reveal to us secrets from our subconscious.

You know what happens right before my period? I might get sensitive. I might get weepy. I might get angry. I might not have any energy. These symptoms are not a pathology. This is the wisdom of the body at work. When my estrogen and progesterone start to drop, my body has to adapt to that. Sometimes it doesn’t adapt all that well, and what gets revealed to me is what I am overlooking in my day-to-day life. All of a sudden, I can’t contain myself as well I could earlier in the month. At this point, my life shows itself to me. The things I have ignored, I can’t ignore anymore.

These insights are painful gifts.

Maybe I need to get more sleep this coming month.

Maybe I need to eat better foods this coming month.

Maybe I need to have that hard conversation with my spouse, co-worker, boss, family member, or friend that I have been avoiding.

You don’t want to make your menstrual cycle go away. You want to harness the power it brings each month. Use it to learn about yourself. Use it to connect with the moon. If your menstrual cycle disables you, then get to work on your self-care. You need support. On the other end of the spectrum, you may not have a menstrual cycle. That is another kind of problem, and you need help, too.

The emotional expression around a woman's period is raw. It is primal and often uncomfortable. Instead of making it wrong or viewing it as a weakness, I think women and men would be far better off to embrace it and look for its wisdom.

We can either think…I am a beacon of light and truth when my menstrual cycle comes along. What will I learn about myself and life this month?

Or...

I shouldn't feel so strongly or be so weepy or be so angry or be so irritated. What is wrong with me?

I think the first perspective is much more empowering. Don't fight it; lean into it.

Let’s examine another method of birth control: The Pill. Women’s hormones are cycling all month long. In the first half of the cycle, estrogen is high. As a hormone of proliferation, it builds the endometrial lining of the uterus. Then, the woman ovulates, and egg white-like vaginal discharge appears, marking the beginning of the second half of the cycle. Next, progesterone takes over, which helps to hold onto the endometrial lining, making sure your uterus is a nice, soft space for an egg and sperm to unite and make a baby. If pregnancy does not happen, then the estrogen and progesterone both drop and the woman has her period, effectively shedding the lining.

That’s the simple story. The menstrual cycle is very complex. The thing to know about hormones is that they exert powerful influences in the body in very small amounts, and they all affect each other.

Everything is connected.

Now that you understand, the ups and downs of hormones and how they dance together with all the other hormones, you understand why The Pill is a horrific intervention:

It takes this glorious cycle out of the equation and introduces a flat line of hormones.

It removes the essence of what it means to be a woman. It introduces male energy to the body. Let a man be a man. I want women to be women.

What I mean by that is that your menstrual cycle isn’t something that holds you back in life. It is NOT an inconvenience. It is something to celebrate – these are your reproductive years! And this cycle you live with, that resides inside you, makes you strong. It makes you adaptable to change. It’s wonderful!

But The Pill, an IUD, or an hysterectomy are NOT viable solutions. While it may make your symptoms go away, it is driving your imbalance deeper…and deeper!

I said this earlier and it is worth repeating: the universe is in the uterus; the empty space where the possibility to new life resides. Please respect and preserve this sacred space.

So here's my primer on how to take care of your uterus...

There are targeted nutritional and herbal solutions that can help you. There are dietary and lifestyle changes that can help you. You have options, but they require your participation.

My number one nutritional supplement for supporting the health of the uterus is from Standard Process. It is called Utrophin PMG, which is available through qualified health professionals. This supplement comes from the traditional wisdom of ‘like restores like’, meaning that our ancestors believed that if you had a problem with a specific tissue, then you need to eat it. This is still true today.

My number one herb for the health of the uterus is Rubus idaeus, also knowns as raspberry leaf. Many herbs have an affinity for specific tissues or organs. This is something that our ancestors figured out and is often observable. That is what is useful to me - observable phenomenon, observable changes. Raspberry helps the uterus be a better uterus. A few years ago, I suffered from menstrual cramps. After a few months taking raspberry leaf, my cramps subsided.

For thousands of years, women have also employed this herb to ensure healthy childbirth. I drank raspberry tea every day when I was pregnant. The easiest means of consuming it is in a teabag from Traditional Medicinals. Consume 4 teabags every day, steeped overnight in a quart of hot water, for the best extraction. Traditional Medicinals teas are available at most health food stores, and you can refer to my previous blog about herbal medicine for more information and resources on this topic.

And if you have feelings to coldness, add a little ginger to your raspberry tea. Sometimes all the uterus needs is a little bit more blood flow, and she will feel much better. Once again, herbs have different affinities in the body and ginger likes to support the health of the pelvic floor, which includes the uterus.

If birth control is your main focus...

Outside of creating hormonal imbalance and an inflammatory cascade, well, like I said earlier, it is hard to prevent what Mother Nature has wired us for. On that basis, my advice is simple: don’t have sex unless you are prepared to have a child. Another way to say it, there is no such thing as casual sex. Any act of creation is sacred, and birthing a child is at the top of the heap.

The two most non-invasive and viable forms of birth control are family planning and condoms. I like Katie Singer’s work – gardenoffertility.com. This is win-win because whe teaches a woman how to embrace her menstrual cycle, know herself in a new, refreshing way and understand how her fertility works. It just requires participation and presence, which are wonderful ways of being that will seep into every aspect of your life. As far as condoms go, what a small price to pay.

If you are intrigued by the possibility of investing in uterine care, I recommend a woman here in Austin named Michelle Brown who can teach you how to care for your uterus, if you still have one. She can help you repair and heal, if it has been damaged. She can help you grieve your loss, if your uterus is gone. Whatever your phase in life, she can bring honor to you and your uterus. She specializes in Mayan Abdominal Massage, among other techniques. Michelle travels to Belize to study and is committed to her craft.

Barbara Christman is another woman I highly respect and I wouldn’t get a vaginal exam from anyone else. She is the female embodiment of Mother Earth; kind, gentle and knowledgeable.

If you doubt what I have said so far, or if it interests you, then you will want to read Mothering From Your Center by Tami Lynn Kent. It could just as well be titled living from your center. Tami specializes in holistic pelvic care, and Barbara Christman has trained with her.

I love these women and what they bring to the world and what they stand for, which is healing the female form. I am so happy to share them with you.

My hope is that after reading this, you will never look at a uterus in the same way. When you hear the word, you will think: universe. The universe is in the uterus. Love it. Respect it. Cherish it. Beyond that, get the help you need for true, deep healing. You’re worth it.

Eat in Peace. Live in Peace.

Love,

Charlotte

Herbal Knowledge is Power: Be an Educated Consumer

Let me guess – you’re attracted to the idea of healing with herbs, but find they just are not that effective? Maybe you are already committed to living a holistic lifestyle, eating organic foods and avoiding environmental toxins, but when it comes to medicine, the many herbs you’ve tried feel like a hocus-pocus approach to healing. They just don’t work.

I’m here to tell you, I know what you’re going through! Until I learned what I know now about the complexity of sourcing herbs, I felt powerless in my quest to heal holistically.

But here’s what I learned about herbs that changed my life…

Quality means everything when it comes to effective herbal medicine. Unfortunately, just like our food supply, people often make purchases based on the lowest price or because they are mislead by what’s on the label.

We must purchase food for its nutritional density, not price. The same goes for herbal medicine. You get what you pay for. Now, does this mean go to the store, buy the most expensive product you can get your hands on and all will be well?

Nope. The next question to ask is: who is behind the company? Who formulated the products? This is just as important as knowing your farmer when you buy your food.

The harsh reality is this:

When a company makes an herbal product, there is a rarely an herbalist behind the scenes creating the formula. Similarly, when a study is done to test the quality and effectiveness of that herbal medicine, there is rarely an herbalist on board giving their input. This dynamic causes two major problems.

To begin with, we’re not asking the right questions, such as do we have the right plant part? Sometimes I browse the retail section of health food stores just to see what’s happening on their shelves, or maybe a client brings me their supplement regimen. I am amazed at how many products aren’t even using the right plant part.

We’re also not asking what the quality is of the starting plant material. Whether you’re making a tea, purchasing a water and alcohol extract, using a powder or a tablet or capsule, your plant medicine is only as good as the starting plant material. Most often herbal products contain dried flowers, leaves, berries, roots, and/or bark. The rule of thumb is that it must resemble what that plant looked like when it was alive.

So technically, drying an herb is the act of removing moisture, while retaining all the medicinal properties, right? But think about this drying process. What if the person uses too much heat? The heat will suck out the medicine leaving you with brown plant material that used to be green, or tan flowers that used to yellow. What if the environment is too damp and takes too long to dry? Then, you have mold.

Can you begin to see the complexity of making good quality herbal medicine?

I didn’t even mention the fact that where and how the plant is grown matters. Any farmer of herbal medicine will tell you that one of the biggest challenges is creating the right environment for an herb. Plants, just like us, are stronger when they are stressed. If you over-tend an herb, it will have weak medicine, just like over-parenting a child will result in a weak spirit.

On this basis, you would think that wildcrafting, i.e. going out into nature and harvesting the herb from its native habitat would be desirable. But if the wildcrafter fails to be a steward of the land, then the entire species of plants can be threatened through overharvesting, not to mention there is risk of inappropriate plant identification.

One of my herbal teachers used to say: “You take what you need and when you stand back to look at where you harvested the plant material, it shouldn’t look like you took anything.” Good advice, but this approach takes a level of consciousness that is likely to be absent when someone is being paid to harvest plant material for money.

So after you have the right part and the quality has been preserved, then you have another question to ask: how do I make good medicine out of this herb? Would it be most effective as a tea? Or do I need to make a water and alcohol preparation?

The medicine of some herbs likes to come out in water, others in alcohol. This has to be taken into account. I must also mention that it is very important to make herbal medicine that has the whole herb present. Many companies boast of their standardized herbal extracts. They pull the active constituent out of the plant and give it in high amounts. This reductionist approach can be appropriate - sometimes. But generally speaking, there is more power in the whole herb than a part of it.

Finally, there is the issue of dosage: is there enough herb in this product to get the job done?

If you buy herbs from a store, instead of from a professional trained in the use of herbal medicine, then you often end up buying what herbalists call a “kitchen sink” formula. These formulas contain a bunch of liver herbs or a bunch of digestive herbs or things to calm your nervous system or give you energy.

By trying to cover all your basis with one product, the herbal medicine gets diluted, and it loses effectiveness. The whole scene is very unfortunate. “Everything but the kitchen sink” formulas will not have enough herbal material to get the job done, nor will it be targeted to shift the physiology in a meaningful way. The shotgun approach rarely works in herbal medicine.

Think of it this way. An herb has a personality just like you do. It has a certain way of being in the world. Who you partner that herb with matters, just like whom you partner with in life matters, right? The people you hang out with bring out certain aspects of yourself. I am different hanging out with my family then I am at work. I am different going to a professional training, than I would be hanging out with friends at a restaurant. My essence would be the same, but I would behave differently.

So it goes with herbs. Plants have personalities just like we do, and putting them into a formula requires a certain expertise. An herbal formula could turn into a bar fight where the plants just cancel each other out! Or as I was saying earlier, maybe there’s so much going on in the formula that you can’t even find the plant, just like you disappear in a large group of people at a concert. The effectiveness of the herb can get lost when there are too many herbs in a formula.

You want an herbal formula that brings out the best in the plants being used. Just like you want to be in an environment that brings out the best in you.

I prefer sharp shooters when it comes to herbal interventions. In other words, let’s aim to get the job done. Let’s make it worth our while. That plant gives up its life for us. Let’s have some respect when we transform it into medicine.

Is your mind ready to explode? Do you see that herbal medicine is not a casual encounter? Knowing what you know now, do you really think that buying herbs at a drugstore is going to facilitate meaningful change in your body and life? Probably not. You deserve more and so do these precious plants.

So what to do now? I’m going to share with you who I trust in the realm of herbal medicine, both globally and locally. I am going to point you in different directions and then you can decide which path is right for you.

Purchasing high quality bulk herbal material is just like buying food: know your farmer! I do everything I can to purchase herbs from these two vendors. They know how to grow, harvest and dry the plant matter:

Zach Woods Farms

Heartsong Farm Healing Herbs

Other options include purchasing from a large vendor. These are a few of my favorites, depending on what I’m looking for:

Pacific Botanicals

Mountain Rose

Oregon’s Wild Harvest

Banyan Botanicals

Now, we get to the good stuff…professional herbal product lines.

These herbal products are available through trained health professionals, which has its advantages in terms of quality and consistent clinical results.

I discovered MediHerb in 2006 when my teacher made the comment that Kerry Bone, the founder of MediHerb, makes the best herbal medicine in the world. I signed up for an account the next day and have not stopped studying this company’s formulation since that time. MediHerb comes to us from Australia and I have had the honor of visiting their facility and witnessed the integrity of this company first hand. They have an expert in the raw materials department who has spent decades working with vendors to get the highest quality herbal material possible.

Then, MediHerb devotes one entire section of their facility to the science of asking this question: do we have the right plant and plant part? Then, they say, great, the plant made has made it this far: now is it worth a damn? And another team of people come together to make sure the plant has the phytochemical profile that will get the job done. I want to be transparent with you – Mediherb represents the bulk of the herbal products that I use in my practice because they are the best of the best.

I have heard stories where MediHerb tries a new vendor and the first batch of plant material passes with flying colors. But the second batch fails. MediHerb tests every single batch, leaving nothing to chance. They uncover adulteration in the market place where some herbs are being died to look like good quality plant material. Given the complexity I described earlier, you can see how this can happen!

Let me highlight the difference between high quality and drugstore herbs.

I want to tell you about two herbs that I tried on the retail market before discovering MediHerb. I share this because I didn’t think that either one of these herbs were for me, but as it turns out, there were quality issues at hand. First, was an experience I had with Rhodiola rosea. This is an adaptogenic herb that supports a healthy stress response, along with offering nervous system and immune support. After a week of taking it, I realized that there was a problem. I was revved up. I was working non-stop 16 hour days. I wasn’t sleeping well, and I got hot flushes a few times each day to the point where people would ask me if I was ok. My face was beet red. I could see that something was not right, so I stopped taking it and told myself – no more of that herb. Until I tried a rhodiola product from MediHerb and none of that happened. I felt a sense of wellbeing and relaxed, not stimulated to the point of no return.

Then, there is Piper mythisticum, also known as kava, which is a key herb to support a healthy nervous system and stress response. I have tried a lot of kava over the years. I would often get headaches. Sometimes, my body would get really heavy and my mind would race. It was very uncomfortable. And often, I would just feel depressed and have a generally unpleasant experience. Based on my past experience with this plant, I was hesitant to try MediHerb’s kava product. I shouldn’t have been hesitant at all. This is the luxury car of kava. I have never had an adverse reaction to their product. It is what the kava experience should be: a relaxed feeling of alertness and sociability. It’s wonderful. I use it very frequently.

I said this earlier but it is worth repeating: ensuring the quality of plant material, making the medicine in the right way, and taking enough to get the job done are the issues at hand. MediHerb makes using herbal medicine easy and effective. They make their medicine with a cold-percolation technique over the span of one to two weeks. This is like making drip coffee using room temperature water for days. They never apply heat and know exactly how much water and alcohol to use in the process. They preserve the presence of the whole herb in their final product, just like Mother Nature intended.

MediHerb has simplified the very complex task of making good quality herbal medicine. I feel very blessed to work with these leaders who respect both traditional knowledge of plants and the gifts of modern science.

If I cannot get what I need to from Mediherb, then I will also use Galen’s Way and Blue Heron. I know the people behind these companies as well and they do good work. Galen’s Way has an incredible herbal skin care line called Riot of Roses.

In terms of the retail market, I would trust the following companies:

Gaia

HerbPharm

Natura Health

Urban Moonshine

While People’s Pharmacy is not a line of herbal products, I feel compelled to mention them. This is a store in Austin, Texas with four locations that carry good quality herbal medicine and has trained health professionals working in the wellness department. When I first landed in Austin, I worked at the Lakeline store for about a year and learned so much.

There are also local herbalists here in Austin, Texas and the surrounding area who make good medicine and teach the appropriate use of herbs. Studying local herbs is an essential part of herbal medicine, and something that I hope to do more of in the future.

Niki Telkes with the Wildflower School of Botanical Medicine

Ellen Zimmerman

Ginger Webb

And then of course, there is ME!

I hope that this thread has some useful information for you. The use of herbal medicine has been a physically and spiritually transformative practice in my life. I want more people to have access to these amazing tools. Herbal medicine is Nature’s medicine. Just like good food, your body deserves the best herb it can get!

Why Cigarettes Are Good For You

Is it possible that our “bad habits” actually nurture us in some way? Usually there is so much shame and scrutiny about our unhealthy rituals, we don’t see how they are actually contributing to our wellbeing.

Many years ago, I was dating someone who was going through a stressful time in his life. He took up smoking American Spirits a few times per day. He was very health conscious and not a smoker when we met. As a former asthmatic, smoke is not my friend and that would have been a deal breaker in terms of the relationship. I had never even been around someone who smoked, so this was a new experience for me.

We spent a lot of time together, so when he went to smoke his cigarettes, I would go outside with him. We would sit and chat on the patio for ten to fifteen minutes. A few months passed. It wasn’t a big deal until… he stopped smoking.

I missed our time together, but it was more than that. I watched my discontent grow, and I sat with it. I didn’t just miss our conversations, I missed going outside, taking a break, and connecting with someone. I now felt true compassion for smokers. I get it!

You go outside.

You breathe.

You talk with some friends.

You bond.

You consciously relax for a few minutes.

It feels good! It feels damn good. And it’s not just about the nicotine or drug of choice because I wasn’t the one smoking. I still fondly remember those times. Most importantly, I don’t judge people who smoke. I feel for them, and I ask questions, like: How can we create healthy rituals?

Why can’t we just get up from our desks and go outside to take a break a few times a day? Do we have to have a reason or an activity associated with the break? Think about this...How do our so-called “bad habits” serve our wellbeing? They all benefit us somehow or we wouldn’t engage in the activity.

Relieving shame around our “bad habits” and looking for the wisdom can sometimes facilitate healing better than just stopping cold turkey. While guilt can point to something that needs to change, it is not a healing emotion. In the stress of the modern world, we need things during our day to look forward to.

I have a friend who worked 13-hour shifts in a restaurant, and got so fed up that only the smokers got to go outside to take breaks that she started going outside for two-minute NOT smoke breaks. Sometimes you have to go against the grain or piss off your boss to take care of yourself. It's worth it.

We need things that make us feel alive.

Parenting, for instance, has turned me into a coffee drinker. I used to be a green tea drinker (and still am). But parenting is a game changer. It is intense, and I needed a beverage to match the intensity of this new phase of my life. Tea is just too soft for what we have going on! The coffee feels good to me, just a cup or two, and I am a happier mother and wife, but most importantly, my husband and I take time to connect. We sit down and enjoy our coffee together. It is a nice way to start the day.

Human beings are wired for rituals, so much so that I think rituals and stress-relieving activities find us…our responsibility is to be co-creators in this process. I am not delusional. Smoking and drinking pots of coffee are not the answers.

Here are some of the habits I have established in my life that both facilitate my wellbeing and are enjoyable:

Daily walks.

Having a cup of tea mid-day.

Taking time to prepare and eat my meals.

Drinking a Live Soda Kombucha in the afternoon.

Bathing with my child at night.

Reading before I go to bed.

These are the things sprinkled throughout my day that nourish me. I would love to hear what nourishes you. How have you designed your life to honor your vitality and have fun in the process? Let’s learn together…and find a deep compassion for these “bad habits” we have.

Eat in Peace and Live in Peace!

Love,

Charlotte