You have come searching for a solution to your menstrual problems. Perhaps you suffer from debilitating period pain each month, emotional upheavals, your cycle is very erratic, or you bleed heavily. Whatever your condition, the first step in healing is to make peace with your body, to begin to rediscover the inherent wisdom and healing power in your cyclical nature. With this as your foundation you will find the various other healing practices easier to do and more potent in their effect.
Knowing about my cycle protects me from pursuing paths or actions that don’t fit with who I am or the way I want to live my life. It does this by revealing to me, pre-menstrually, anything that I am uncomfortable with or which has caused me stress recently. I don’t get away with much!
Fran Montague, Business Development Manager,
Ashridge Business School, UK
Menstrual symptoms are like a wild disturbing spirit, a genie, bursting forth from the bottle each month. Rather than try and push the genie back into the bottle, we need to learn more about this spirit; to embrace it as something useful and powerful that we don't yet know how to handle. The word "genie" speaks of power, magic and spiritedness. These are qualities that, with awareness and time, can be found in the menstrual experience.
Western orthodox medicine is limited in its approach as it generally regards menstrual problems as pathology. It focuses on "treating" or "managing" symptoms rather than healing. The "wild genie" approach offers alternatives to encourage you to heal without using toxic drugs or invasive surgery (which although giving respite, may lead to further problems). When you combine this self–care approach with natural medicine such as acupuncture, Chinese or Western herbs, homeopathy, naturopathy, Maya abdominal massage, chiropractic or osteopathy you have effective means to ease and heal your symptoms.
I came to this work on the cycle because of my own intense suffering. I know what it feels like to have one’s life governed or messed around by chronic and disabling symptoms. I also know something of what it takes to heal, and I have gathered a lot of really useful health information.
As a hypnotherapist specialising in the treatment of fertility problems, I have found Alexandra's work invaluable. I often recommend her books to my patients, and invariably they benefit profoundly. My personal experience of her work has literally been life changing. I am very passionate about helping more women to understand the wisdom of menstruation.
Sjanie Hugo, Clinical Hypnotherapist and author, UK
In my writings, workshops and coaching you will:
For information on Alexandra’s workshops click here or to book a health coaching session click here.
When I don’t fight my cycle and rest, pain and discomfort are greatly reduced and some months I feel a quiet joy in my femininity.
Kelly, Australia.
If you want to get started on your healing journey right away there are various things that you can do. It is vital to reduce your stress load and to listen to your body more deeply. Here are some simple tips:
To get more specific health guidelines for your condition and support to create your own healing program contact Alexandra.
I have a sense that the really beneficial changes were detoxifying my home and body products, and prioritizing rest during the ‘winter’ aspect of the cycle.
Annalise, Australia
Menstruation was not high on my list of priorities in my twenties and awareness of my menstrual cycle only came through charting it for contraceptive purposes. I rarely changed my rhythm to match my changing internal states, although I had noticed the natural high the coming of my period brought.
The pain from hell
Then a pain so debilitating hit me in my early thirties that I was left feeling gutted. Intense pain, vomiting and diahorrea that could last on and off for 3 to 4 days, followed by complete exhaustion. Menstruation became an enormous monthly upheaval, completely disrupting my life.
It also became the opening to a wonderful appreciation of the power and magic of a woman's cyclical nature, knowledge that helped heal my body. This pain had a way of focusing my attention like nothing else! My odyssey unfolded. Central to my journey was the rediscovery of the inner life of women through the cycle. Menstruation as a monthly initiatory process that, with awareness, can deepen and strengthen ones sense of self.
Healing without drugs or surgery
To get well took time and enormous dedication. After a brief foray into orthodox medicine, I realised it had nothing to offer me that was truly healing. My body was already in distress and I felt that drugs, in the long term, would only contribute to that distress. I wanted to get to the root of the problem and to experience pain–free periods without drugs or surgery. My healing would be an investment for life. My overall health was poor—fatigue, allergies, poor digestion, insomnia and frequent bouts of flu. I never got a name from the medical establishment for my menstrual problems, because to do so would have required surgery. However, I believe I had endometriosis and possibly a prolapsed uterus.
The bedrock of my healing was a combination of self–care practices (in particular diet and minimising environmental pollutants), wonderful support from natural health practitioners, and my growing appreciation of the talents and strengths of the menstrual cycle. I also developed my capacity to enter the experience of the symptoms on their own terms, to allow myself to be changed and led somewhere new.
I began to see my problems as more than purely personal. I suffered in part because of the cultural devaluation of the Feminine, the lack of respect for woman's ways of accessing and expressing knowledge and power. To heal I had to lift the curse on the menstrual cycle. This was and is public work and meant being an activist in the world.
Pain free
Gradually over eleven years the pain diminished and I continued pain–free my uterus intact and my health transformed for the rest of my menstruating years. And I was also well prepared for the changes involved in my body and psyche at menopause.
Alexandra runs workshops for women, health professionals, counsellors and psychotherapists. Partners are also welcome.