CBD for IBS, menopause and pain

A number of articles are springing up to discuss the interest in CBD from an irritable bowel syndrome point of view and I was curious about this due to my own experiences in this regard, which I will relate below. The reason why cannabis is theorised to be a new and appropriate means for tackling … Continue reading CBD for IBS, menopause and pain

Itching to get there

The many and varying, often uncomfortable, symptoms of a woman's mid-life transition are all versions of this metaphorical (you could even say, metaphysical) "itch". Really, its transformation underway...a metamophosis...and in making it mundane, by denying it or even making it seem like a problem, a curse, we fight back against what is really like a spreading of wings from the chrysalis; bewilderingly, disorientingly beautiful. Our culture has done terrible things to downplay the stage of her life that is all about female empowerment and there is a minefield of superstitious beliefs and misinformation around it; no wonder we hurt and struggle our way through it. When we welcome and encourage that transition, we allow for it to be smoother...and there a number of reasons why we might want to be doing that. These are, you could say, the times we have always been waiting for...

Migraine as the primal scream of the suppressed feminine

The heat that comes up in the mature woman reaching her power-phase can feel like a primal scream trying to gain our attention...for that is what it is. It reminds us of a time before child rearing, before strict gender roles, before many of the constructs we have turned into the hardest expectations, rules and limitations of our man-made culture....Exploring the portal that can present as pain and which is really our biggest oportunity yet; individually and as a whole.

Living with electro-sensitivity

Is electro-sensitivity really "Type 3 diabetes" as research now suggests? This would certainly fit in with my experiences of it. Here's a frank discussion of the symptoms of ES plus suggestions of how to live with it and make your home habitable again...plus an invitation to talk about these things far more openly instead of discussing them in the rather embarassed and furtive way that has become the norm. If this is you, you aren't alone - a lot of people (one estimate suggests up to 60 million people) are now finding their health is being seriously affected by a sensitivity to EMFs. Its time...not to make an enemy of technology but... to open up the discussion so access to technology can evolve along side us, not at the expense of homeostasis and good quality of life. For me, its been a challenging yet enlightening journey. Throwing in my two-penneth from personal experience...(read more).

What our mothers have to teach us

Maybe thats the thing about oestrogen – it buffers us from ourselves until – suddenly no longer there, there is nothing left to stand between us and the life we have embodied for years and we are left to face up to it all, in one almighty effort. The brick walls that kept away the view we didn’t want to see, the unholy mess we didn’t want to deal with, is suddenly crumbled away, the view exposed and no avoiding it and so we either sink or swim as life’s full tidal wave comes in for us to surf or get crashed by. Put simply, we have to get our shit together really quickly or it can be all too much for us, whatever’s waiting on the other side of the thick smokescreen we put up. That mess could consist of terrible, habitual, lifestyle habits or a thoroughly rotten marriage – or it may just mean we need to make some tweaks and do some straight talking – but, whatever it is, there’s no buffer any more and we feel it – oh how we feel it all...

The oestrogen effect

By virtue of its key role - preparing for an egg - oestrogen has come to stand for and embody a protective urge. It dominates the process by which we prepare for and protect that egg before its release into the world; it safeguards the hoped-for pregnancy yet only travels as far as the threshold of that potential being realised, stepping no further forward with it, like a mother stood waving at the door. It knows only "hold" and "protect" as its inner mantra - and this is oestrogen in a nutshell, without frills and, yes, generalised down to its very essence as we all know that not every egg leads to the realisation of a new beginning, nor do we want it do. Yet there is a very real truism in this stereotype of oestrogen as the egg-holder, the homemaker, coddling her creation tightly to her bosom because, when a women is in her oestrogen phase, this is what a woman tends to do and there is very real evidence that she becomes single-minded, withdrawn and less independent during that phase. To quote Leslie Kenton (Passage to Power: Natural Menopause revolution) "She is more willing to adjust herself to the needs of others. When oestrogens are running, women like to attract a mate not so much to draw him into her body as to comfort, admire and care for her. Her ovaries seem to be smiling - 'whatever you want, I'm happy to give' they seem to say". She continues: "A few women who by nature are high oestrogen producers feel quite dependent on others for approval, and for the definition of their being". Any wonder that so many doctors, even some husbands, have been so keen on advocating oestrogen hormone replacement in order to maintain this personality type in favour of its alternative, the independent, outward-thinking woman...

Fibromyalgia & chronic fatigue – are they Epstein Barr?

If you have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue or any other seemingly unshiftable chronic illness going on then - of every post I've ever written - I would say this is the one to read as it feels like a giant dovetail joint coming together to me. Epstein Barr virus is so much more complex than I ever realised before and the gift of learning all about this is seeing how I could have - at last - a root cause for every single aspect of a lifetime's worth of health challenges; maybe you too. Better still, every chance of a recovery when you know what is being faced here.