Womb and Period Health: What Your Doctor (or Mom) Never Told You

Photographed by Caique Silva.

This modern society that we live in has worked overtime (yes, I said worked, as in intentional action) to detach women from their wombs and their bodies. Evidence of women being detached from their bodies today can be seen in the types of poisonous food they eat, the toxic makeup and beauty products they put on their skin, the harmful tampons and IUDs they stick up their vagina, the dangerous birth control and medications they ingest on a daily basis, and their sick attitudes toward pregnancy and childbirth.

They are disrespecting their physical vessels and cutting themselves off from having divine communication transmitted through their bodies — for example, through the pineal gland (“third eye”), through the gut (“intuition”), or through the womb (“spiritual wisdom”). Many women do not realize this because they have bought into the programming that says doing all of these things are okay.

But these women also often find themselves in the doctor’s office, dealing with severe periods, fibroids, cysts, endometriosis, adenomyosis, cancer and many other health issues that are, in reality, a sign that they are out of alignment with their healthy and natural state. Our ancestors did not need a doctor to tell them they were out of alignment because they were raised in a community of women and elders who helped them learn how to be in constant communication with their bodies. They were raised to be intimate with their own physical anatomy; to have respect for the physiological changes in accordance with the cycle of life and womanhood (birth, menstruation, motherhood, elder, death); and to understand the spiritual power that comes from being in one’s body, empowered and healthy. (So-called “conscious” people who tell you that the physical body doesn’t matter in spirituality are uninformed and you should run far away from them!)

As women, our bodies — and the state of our wombs — are a key expression of our divine femininity. If you are not in tune with yourself, then you are not in tune with your own magic! Our community has been pulled apart in an effort to keep us from remembering our own power; the ways of grandmother have been lost, but through physical and spiritual purification, such as juice fasting, detoxing and womb wellness work, we can reconnect with our divinity again.

Below are some things I’ve learned about the womb (also known as the “uterus,” including your ovaries and fallopian tubes) throughout my healing journey that no OBGYN (or family member) has ever shared with me. I hope this clears up misconceptions about your womb’s role in helping your body stay in a balanced and healthy state — and about your menstrual cycle’s role as more than just an inconvenience that happens every month. Most of all, I desire for you to understand how powerful and beautiful you are as a woman, and for you to reclaim your connection with your body and learn your magic. (P.S., I will continue to update this page so check back and subscribe for updates!)

1. Do you know where your womb Is Located in your body?

How to locate your uterus and ovaries via Healing Love Through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy.

This healing process has brought me inward a lot — not only to become more in tune with my emotions and quieting my mind, but also understanding what’s happening inside my body. Before then, I’d never really thought about where my womb is located. Of course I knew the general area — especially when I was cramping during my periods! — but it wasn’t until I read Healing Love Through the Tao: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy that I learned how to identify exactly where my uterus exists in the body. There is such power in being more connected physically to your own body; knowing, for example, exactly where to place your hands and send healing energy when doing womb work. Here’s how to pinpoint your own uterus and ovaries in your body:

“Place both thumbs on your navel and use your index fingers to form a triangle. [The place where your index fingers touch is your uterus]… Spread out your little fingers evenly. Under the points where they rest are the ovaries.” — Healing Love Through the Tao

2. Your womb is both a physical and spiritual organ.

Yes, our wombs serve a physical purpose, including, but not limited to, creating new life and purifying the body each month (more on that next). But they also serve a spiritual purpose. Our wombs are a divine source of creativity — not just in birthing human life, but also in birthing new ideas, manifesting new realities, and creating art on the physical plane. When your womb is full of physical dis-ease and imbalance, it will reflect in your life as imbalanced relationships, uncontrollable emotional responses, and a lack of creativity (or, in other words, infertility creatively). When your womb is healthy, pure, and light, it will reflect in your life as loving relationships, emotional stability, and creative fire — all sure signs that you are walking in your divine femininity.

3. Your womb stores positive and negative emotions!

Photographed by Chris Ensey.

Emotional attitudes, mental patterns, and generational traumas are stored in your womb. (Think of how the Sacral chakra, located at the womb, is an energy point for our emotions.) It’s important to release negative emotions instead of holding onto it, because it can lead to illness not only in spirit and mental health, but also physically in your womb.

4. Your womb is in constant communication with your body and spirit.

That being said, when you are off-balance and walking away from your divinity, your womb will let you know it. Diseases such as cysts, endometriosis, or even an STD are an indication that you need to make some energetic changes: remove toxic food, people, and products from your life. Focus on healing yourself physically and healing the things you cannot see but that you feel are there — emotional attitudes, mental patterns, and generational traumas — because these things are stored directly in your womb. When your attitude and life are feeling light and free of dis-ease, your womb will reflect this peace and joy to you via painless menstrual cycles and general health and well-being.

Also, as a woman, when your womb is off-balance, the rest of your body is not able to function at its highest level. Our wombs are a key to our overall immune systems: the ovaries are part of the endocrine system, which regulates our hormones and allows the body to communicate with itself in order to maintain balance and optimal health.

5. Your period is a time of detoxification.

Our menstrual cycles are one of the most misunderstood occurrences today, thanks to the campaign to separate women from understanding their power. When a girl has her first period, this is an important rite of passage for her in the overall cycle of womanhood. She should be nurtured and treated with care, and made to understand how beautiful her period is. One way that our menstruation protects us is that, as it sheds the blood lining the uterus, it also sheds whatever toxins and impurities that exist in the womb (or that may have traveled there via your blood).

For this reason, if your period is very heavy (including blood clotting), very long (5+ days), and/or very painful, this is an indication that you are in need of a serious detox. It means that your womb is working overtime to release impurities and toxins from the body and that it is experiencing dis-ease. You can also tell by the color of the blood while menstruating — if it isn’t fresh, red blood, and you’re shedding brown, dark blood instead, it may mean your body isn’t getting enough oxygen. It’s your job to learn how to communicate with your reproductive system and take cues on when it’s time to detox.

6. Your womb’s energy is warm.

A cold womb signifies infertility and imbalance. A warm womb is full of life! And your ovaries, which are full of the creative life force, are even hotter! They’re full of hot yang energy. Whenever you say positive womb affirmations or are sending healing love vibrations to your womb, imagine your womb as being warm.