Acknowledging our pain as prescription.

Again and again in recent weeks, I have had discussions with women ages twenty to fifty about the connection between anguished, debilitating monthly periods and sexual abuse in childhood. And although this is a difficult topic to discuss for many, it is imperative that women understand that being given birth control pills to "regulate" or "control" the cycle or prescribing irreversible and often unnecessary procedures like hysterectomies (performed disproportionately on African American Women) will not only cause other potentially grievous health issues but the root cause of so much physical suffering to our reproductive and creative center is left to fester and disseminate outward, causing other problems in other localities.

In Kundalini yoga where our entire practice centers on connecting the finite with the infinite, the yogi’s aim is to take that subconscious fear and pain -showing up in the form of ghastly periods and damaged creative energy – and infuse peace through breath, illumination through sound currents and revitalized heart-centered energy through meditation. Being able to see beneath the surface of physical pain to the psychological and emotional center can prepare us for complete healing.

Dr. Christiane Northrup, in “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom,” tells the story of a young woman who continued to have herpes flare-ups despite a cornucopia of treatments, both conventional and alternative. At some point during a discussion with the doctor she decided that she would simply put the attempts at remedy aside, take some long walks and simply say that her vagina hurt. She would do this, she told the doctor, because when she was a child she had not been allowed to. Despite the fact that throughout her childhood she was sexually abused by her father, when she had attempted to tell, her mother refused to believe. After spending time with the honest reality of her pain and the inability through all of those years to simply be able to name it and have it acknowledged by her mother, she decided to just say it. To herself. For herself.

Not long after she made that decision the flare-ups diminished without returning.

In order to heal, we must first be able to see where the source of the pain lies. This can be difficult and initially feel like the same terrible hurt, only packaged differently, but there is no other route to lasting healing without pulling the cloak back and calling the shadow out.

A meditation for dealing with our own mind:

Sit in Easy Pose (cross legged, Indian style) with a straight spine, eyes closed. Close off your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale deeply through your left nostril. Exhale completely through your mouth. Continue for 6 minutes.

To finish: Inhale deeply, interlace your fingers and stretch them over your head, palms up. Hold your breath for 10-15 seconds while you stretch your spine upward.

Commentary on this meditation by Yogi Bhajan:

"Mind is a link between Infinity and you. The mind can take you into any thought, beyond thought and unto infinity. Mind can take you into any dungeon, any pit and any negativity. Mind has no limit in it's own self But mind is your servant. If the mind becomes your master, you don't have a chance. It is very essential in yoga that we know our own mind.

Now you will ask me can the mind be controlled? Yes. Not only can your mind be controlled, your life can be controlled. A situation can be controlled. Sometimes you get into a very, very, very ugly situation. If you have the practice to switch your breath to the left nostril you will get out of it in two seconds. The moment you start breathing with your left nostril, your elementary self comes into play. The moment your elementary self comes into play, you will immediately become very pleasant and positive rather than angry and reactive. Long deep breathing through the left nostril (calming moon energy) is good for the heart and good for the health.

Normally after you have done this exercise for two minutes you will start feeling bored. Negative mind is in action: 'What are you doing this for? This is a babyish thing. We could have done something better.' In any exercise that touches the mind, a person starts getting upset in exactly two and a half minutes. That's the rule of thumb. The mind doesn't want t be caught. It wants to swing. But there are some people like us who feel that it's hard work to control the mind but once we control the mind, then we can control our whole world."


Continue this meditation for 40 days to begin to see and deal with your mind.