**This post has been updated!**
I’ve got a question for all those Party Girls, both old, new, past and present.
When you are / were necking vodka red bull’s like it was nobody’s business, were you giving much thought to the health of your reproductive system?
Yeah. Me either.
In fact, I laughed behind the backs of my peers that chose the path of motherhood. Breeders, I would think to myself. As if you’d start breeding when you can live the type of life I’M living! Said the girl that would fold herself into a mess of creases and blankets and darkness and shiver away comedowns and hangovers until it was time to shower and face the day like a sunlight-allergic vampire. I was a bit of an asshole.
Hindsight, though always fashionable late, is incredibly useful. Through mentoring with Belinda, I uncovered that my second chakra (located under the belly button) had taken a beating, largely due to the addictive, pleasure hunting behaviours in my late teens and early twenties. I wanted more. More attention. More alcohol. Louder music. Later nights. More love. Chakra Two bore the grunt of my Gimme Gimme Gimme energy, and eventually, it got tired.
Guess which bodily system is governed by Chakra Two. Yep, the reproductive system.
And guess which system is one of the first to shut down when the body experiences stress and strain.
Bingo!
I’m still healing Chakra Two – with love and heart and plenty of belly rubs – and after connecting with the many girls I’ve worked with inside The Party Girls Guide to Peace, it became crystal clear that almost all of them were having one trouble or another downstairs, too; whether it be polycystic ovaries, irregular periods, no periods at all, pre-cancerous cells or STI’s… the list goes on.
When we’re deep in the grip of a sauvignon blanc seduction, we’re barely thinking about what’s on tomorrow’s agenda, let alone whether we’re going to be physically fit enough for motherhood one day…
Well, that day has come for me. Am I physically fit to be mother? Is it possible? Can I undo the damage that I’ve done?
I adore Nat Kringoudis. She’s been featured as a Such Different Vixen in the past, and I was thrilled to bring her on board for the PGG2P as well. I wanted to bring a conversation about fertility into the program, and am excited to share this five and a half minute snippet with you.
Giveaway time!
TWO of my readers have the opportunity to win membership into Nat’s Debunking Ovulation site, home to:
- Two x 40 minute segmenets chock full of everything you need to know around ovulation and your menstrual cycle
- The Ovulation Kit which contains all the charts and info covered in the event
- A copy of Nat’s ebook Fertilise Yourself
- The Fertilise Yourself mini site
- How to understand your menstrual cycle for conception AND contraception
- Fertility awareness methods
- Contraception options
- How to understand ovulation
- How to pin point ovulation (key for those with PCOS or hormone imbalance)
- Understanding diet, lifestyle and environmental influences that are affecting fertility
To enter, share this post with your community and leave me a comment below. I’m interested to know how you FEEL about this topic.
What comes up for you in your body when you read about and listen to the topic of reproductive health? I’ll hold space for you in the comments.
And remember, as Nat says:
Fertility isn’t just about having babies. It’s about having a healthy reproductive system from 13 right the way through to 63.
I’ll draw the winner this Thursday!
Hey! Awesome post and great question. I feel super passionately about this topic!! As a 38 yr old woman and health professional who probably isn’t going to have children I am really conscious of taking care of myself + keeping that 2nd chakra happy. My ovaries are creating and I’m birthing so many other things than babies ( babies are cool I’m not anti kids;) and all of these creative and business ventures rely on healthy body systems. It’s so essential to be having these convos and not just waiting till your trying to fall preggers. Thanks ladies ! X
So, so true. Thanks Keri x
This is absolutely true. Not only is the 2nd chakra the home for these issues, but adding stress to your liver with booze inhibits its ability to regular your hormones, causing big period problems. I also love Alisa Vitti’s work on this subject – http://www.floliving.com.
Amen, sista!
Up until 3 weeks ago I’ve loved shunning this movement and turning a blind eye to it all. I didn’t want to go off the pill – It made me feel invincible, in control of my body and it being an easy form of contraception. I’ve been on the pill since I was sexually active and so it’s almost a part of me. I’d declare it to my friends loud and proud. As if something that could control cramps and bleeding was bad for me.
And then three weeks ago I just stopped. Without thinking. I stopped taking it. And I have no idea what I’m doing and I’ve realised how disconnected from my body I’ve been and so it’s a slow process of getting to know myself again. I am so seriously clueless when it comes to this stuff because I was allowed to be.
Thanks for opening me up to this ladies!
I love that you’re allowing yourself to be ‘broken open’ and that you trusted that intuitive pull to change your strategy, babe.
One day at a time xxx
This was a great video, all things fertility have always been a big issue for me, I went through so my different versions of the pill with each one having a disastrous effect on my body both physically and mentally and having had endometriosis from a young age, there is so much that could have been prevented had I known what I know now. I would never have even considered the pill as an option for me as I have never felt better since not taking it.
Opening the conversation, educating and creating a safe environment for discussion is very much what is needed for the younger generation. Start it early, let them know it’s more than fine to ask questions and to talk about it and I’m sure a lot of common problems will decrease or there will at least be a wider variety of advice and support available!
Love this topic xo
I love it too Jessie.
Thanks as always for your love xx
A topic that sits, somehow, really deep in my belly. It’s about being fundamentally female isn’t it? I’ve learnt to love my body for the amazingness that it is since coming off the pill. I didn’t realise how much it had changed and disconnected me from my body. It is such a relief to realise the cycles my body is meant to flow in now, I feel quite sad I missed out on a good 10 years of it before. Love what Nat is doing, and love the conversations popping up all over the place about it too.
Thanks for this comment babe. It’s SO important! The cards I pulled this morning were: ‘health’ and ‘cycles and rhythms’. Coincidence? I think not!
Love youx
I have recently become very curious about my lovely lady parts, how they work and how to embrace my menstrual cycle. After being on the pill for 8 years, even using those little pills to skip periods for a day at the beach. I learnt how damaging it was to my health and removed the pill from my life a year ago but that was only the start of a whole new world of information that has being coming my way.
Hormones never used to interest me in the slightest. It was complicated and far beyond my understanding. Yet when I faced my own hormonal complications I became very intrigued and now realise I have been missing vital information that is so important for your over all health.
Nat Makes it so much easier to understand. Its not so overwhelming when its coming from her and I really trust in her knowledge. I still have so much to learn and I was pretty bummed I missed this event.
Ooh love this video and the topic!
I *love* this topic and think it’s so sad that periods and menstrual cycles are such a taboo and aren’t factored in to a woman’s (or her man’s!) reality!
Totally agree with the idea that your fertility is affected by loads of things. I know that for me my horrific period pain stemmed from having a bad relationship with my dad and feeling very abused by him and his alcoholism (not to mention his borderline psychopathic personality).
It was as if my womb absorbed everything I felt about him, about me, about men, and all the trauma, and once a month got a chance to release some of it.
After over a year of not speaking, we recently met up, talked, and the story literally fell away. I literally hallucinated the story of abuser/victim disappearing (no drugs/alcohol involved!) and since then my periods have been fine!
Not painful, not difficult. Quite nice if anything. So I totally agree that painful periods are a symptom of something, and that medicating it away doesn’t solve it at all.
Thanks for bringing up such a good subject. I don’t wanna sound self-righteous or pious, but I really do think it’s so important that both men and women become more conscious around fertility, and open up our lives to include it rather than women being shocked/annoyed/embarrassed by it, and men being totally grossed out.
xxx
I absolutely love Nat’s message- her enthusiasm just shines out of her when she speaks, it’s such a pleasure to see!
We really need this message more than ever. As a former High School teacher, I used to absolutely despair at the potential we had as educators to talk about these things, but we either weren’t allowed to or it wasn’t deemed appropriate. Currently struggling with hormonal/chakra 2 issues myself, I would’ve loved to have had the chance to find out about this earlier on in life and so, thank you both for bringing this to our attention. It’s so important!
Thank you lovelies- xxx
Two of my favourite ladies in the one video! Eek!
I got to attend one of Nat’s seminars on Saturday (and hereby formally take myself out of the running for the prize), and the number of game-changing sentences that came out of her mouth blew me away. The disconnect from our bodies is universal, whatever the cause, and its so inspiring to see her spreading the word on fertility.
I totally understand that physical disconnect you talked about Tara, and I’m so glad to be working on it. x
Beautiful. Empowering young women! Love this!
This was so encouraging to hear and read…I didn’t ever really think that I would have issues reproductively and wouldn’t you know, I go to start trying and discover this whole process may not happen straight away! Interested to read and know more…thanks!
It’s amazing how much information isn’t relayed to us as women, I am appreciative I choose to learn about it now though. Thanks for sharing this important information. Xx
I love Nat! I have come in contact with her before because I have problems with my period. I am 17 and I have not had it since I was 14 or 15. There are a lot of reasons why, but I just have not experimented with all of them. I eat all organic, but one of the biggest reasons why I am not having it is because I do not eat meat and my body is calling me to. This book would help me out immensely!
THANK YOU, TARA! <3
Welcome back gorgeous one!
This stuff both interests and scares the shit out of me as it is one of those dances I feel will be coming up soon. Leaving a legacy, the challenge that presents, insists you move beyond the ego. To truly step into you and be the most authentic version of yourself to empower your little life apprentice is a pretty big reality slap. And none of that happens without a little self lovin’ first!
Joined PGGTP while you were in Bali, starting lesson two, loving it and feeling oh so challenged all at once. Feels like coming home. Thank you xxx
This is so valuable for me to read, that I’m not the only one going through this. I have only just realised just how badly I have abused myself in this manner. I can rationalise and understand all the psychological reasons for why I turned to sex as my addiction but I am only just now feeling the hurt of that whereas before I had suppressed it deeply. I haven’t even begun to heal, I’m still struggling with acknowledging the pain. Women need to learn just how sacred their body truly is and either begin to heal for the sake of teaching our daughters or learn before this self-abuse begins in a world where sex is treated so casually and women are turning to pimping themselves out to find ‘love’ when in reality they should be practising self-love.
Wow – this post is so timely. I have recently decided to stop taking the pill due to having health problems and also as a woman in my early 30s, I need to prepare my body for being able to conceive. It has started to dawn on me how astounding it is that I don’t (and many other women my age don’t) have any understanding of our menstrual cycles. This is such a part of the functioning of our bodies and we have no idea about it! As an educator, I now find it mortifying that we aren’t teaching young women this. By gaining more knowledge about my menstrual cycle (which I am still rather clueless about) I hope to also help young women understand their menstrual cycles and be proactive about making choices that are best for their bodies, instead of them simply being told to go on the pill. If I had this awareness 10-15 years ago I would have definitely made different choices and maybe not have found myself in the situation I am today with my health.
This is so timely and I love how so many women are passionate about getting and applying this. I decided to go off the pill about 2-3 months ago now after being on it for years and more often than not, never getting my period — just signed up for Nat’s Debunking Ovulation program and STOKED to learn more of this invaluable info! Thanks for having her on, Tara! x
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