Release control

Surrender to Flow

When I was asked to write about female energy in relation to women’s health, for the Yoga Therapy Ireland magazine, I wondered how I would do so within a brief article, because this is not only a vast subject, but one close to my heart, based on my own experience of this life in a female body, and one that has guided my work with women, young and old, to help them re-member who they are, within a world that would have them forget.

Severe dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) from the onset of menstruation at thirteen, combined with a hefty dose of pre-menstrual tension prior to every bleed, causing unpredictable mental turbulence; endometriosis, adrenal fatigue and ultimately, infertility; led me on a long, challenging and fascinating journey of research, education, training and learning with some extraordinary teachers and guides. The most instructive and constant of these, was my own heart, which yearned to be heard above the din of mental abstraction.

I am deeply grateful for all of the aforementioned because it has brought me to a place of understanding and compassion, not only for myself, but for others on this path of life in female form, at a time when balance has been lost in the world and Yin is smothered by Yang. Based on the principle ‘as within, so without’, the world-at-large, is a reflection of our inner turmoil as a species, but for women, I would counter with a chicken-and-egg question: Which came first?

When I think of female energy, the words that come are: cycles, flow, creativity, receptivity, surrender, fertility, abundance, softness, yield, strength, resilience, source, vessel, incubate, release. In a healthy system, these aspects are complemented and balanced by male energy (Yang), which brings structure, form, clarity, boundary etc. However, when they are subjugated to male energy, problems arise inside and out, on every level - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually; individually and collectively.

When female energy is thwarted in this way, flow is blocked and like any body of water, stagnation occurs. This is when shadow arises - dark and mercurial, spitting fire and hot ash like a volcano, within which, the pressure grows to eruption. Thus, the madness of Pre-menstural Syndrome (PMS), could be seen as a reflection of madness playing out in the world-at-large today and vice-versa.

Female energy is the creative force within us, moving in cycles and seasons, with the earth, moon and stars. To deny this in our everyday experience, is to deny life itself; to prevent life from moving through us and expressing itself into the world. We are conduits between the divine and the earthly. Our unique expression of life force flowing through us, is our gift to the world. When we try to control and contain the flow, it will find a release somehow - usually in ways that are damaging to ourselves and those around us.

Cycles and seasons of nature are most vividly evident in the female body, which needs to flow with them. Unfortunately, modern life, for so many females, dictates that we live in a way far more suited to a male body, which wreaks havoc on the female endocrine system, interwoven as it is with the nervous system and, of course with the internal organs, most especially, the adrenals and reproductive organs. The body is wise. It will not prioritise reproduction over survival. Hence, if there is a prolonged, heightened stress-state, these organs will be the first foot-soldiers to fall, setting up a cycle of dis-ease, that has a cascade effect on every level.

Instead of flowing with the natural cycles of a female body, far too many women are encouraged to ‘push through’ the ‘inconvenience’ of their natural cycles. Thus, they end up on an adrenaline-fuelled roller-coaster, which crashes through every aspect of their lives, beginning at a younger age now, than ever before. So, how do we step off the roller-coaster?

For most, it is not possible to leave the fairground entirely. Alternatively then, is it possible to choose a gentler ride, which allows for a different posture; a shape that encompasses all of who we are, rather than trying to squash into the hard box with the re-inforced holder, that locks into place?

In such a tight grip, we cannot re-member who we are. Amidst all of the noise and flashing lights, we cannot hear the heart-beat that guides us. For this, we need to move and flow, meander along, creating new and interesting channels, where joy might bubble up spontaneously and overflow, saturating us in oxytocin, the hormone stimulated by love and nurture, sense-pleasure and connection; all of which are provided in abundance by nature. There are myriad ways to receive this bounty, limited only by imagination and desire.

We are made from the clay of the earth and stardust, which provides iron for the blood we bleed, moved in an eternal cycle by moon-tides - a ceaseless flow that heals us, if we are open to receiving. In a world that exhorts us to ‘indulge’ in ‘guilty pleasure’, that we have ‘earned’ and paid for, with the curren(t)cy (flow) of our life force; choose instead, to receive that, which is given freely. Walk away from the noise, barefoot, so you can feel the Mother’s heart-beat. She is waiting for you to come Home, just where she has always been.

éiriú mo mháthair - éiriú my mother

A carpet of green you lay at my feet 
in your rolling hills, my body I see
my soft belly yields to the flood of your waters
by moon or by sun, I am always yours

Torn from you at birth, your beauty yet mesmerised
soft, gentle breeze, my wounded heart caressed
still now enthralled by your wildest delights 
the taste of your fruit, is my love at first sight.

Oh Sacred Mother, who gives me life
take me back now, to the depths of your fire
that I may be cleansed, purified, whole
and arise once again, to the purpose of my soul.

© Áine Fortune 2016

Image Credit: 1tamara2