It is official. I am in menopause. The time in a woman’s life when we finally figure out who we are. Fearless and unconcerned about the opinion of others, living from our heart and manifesting our true essence. I feel fantastic!
It did not happen easily. Last year, for three months straight I was experiencing hot flashes that were waking me up every 2 to 3 hours during the night. For those who haven’t experienced a hot flash it is an internal fire breathing dragon that awakens without warning at the most inopportune times. The heat is felt most often over the face, neck and chest. It may be accompanied by sweating and quickly followed by feeling chilled. You cannot sleep through a hot flash. The disrupted sleep leaves you feeling tired and exhausted and unfit for human consumption. I followed all the recommended guidelines, dressed in layers, kept cold water by my bedside, and took my herbs all to no effect.
In September I had to travel to Phoenix Arizona for a medical conference. Sedona was only 2 hours away. Having never gone there before, I decided to extend my trip to include the side trip there. I also booked a tour of the energy vortexes as I was afraid that I might not find them! Sedona was beautiful, awe inspiring, energizing and calming all at the same time. I need not have feared missing the energy. It was everywhere. My guide was a kind older gentleman who was also a Native American healer when he wasn’t schlepping the likes of me around.
We started our tour at the Airport mesa where he invited me to walk barefoot. As I stepped gingerly on the pointy rocks he noticed my limp. This eventually got us talking about my hot flashes. He immediately knew what I needed. My masculine and feminine energies were out of balance. He next took me to a place behind the Stupa in a dry creek bed where the energy was supposedly balanced. At the bottom of the dry creek I was instructed to lay down and allow mother nature to reboot me. That night I only had two hot flashes! He suggested I hike to and meditate at the Seven Sacred Pools which I did the following day. I felt my “craziness” dissolve and dissipate completely. It was time to come home.
We all have masculine and feminine energies coursing through us. Maintaining a balance keeps us on an even keel. The ancient Eastern traditions had it figured out long ago. The good news is that we don’t have to travel to Sedona to balance our energies. Here are some of the techniques I learned that I would like to share with you.
First of all I have to clarify that having male or female energy has nothing to do with being a man, or a woman. It has more to do with the reservoir of energy we draw from to accomplish a task that can be either male”/masculine or “female/feminine.
For example if someone cuts in front of us in traffic. We can either respond with aggression (male) or surrender (female). Being creative taps into our feminine energy while being analytical uses our masculine energy. Both are essential for our survival and ultimately balance is key.
I believe that in menopause, due to declining female hormones there is a relative increase in masculine energy which promotes hot flashes.
There are several ways in which we can bring balance back into our nature. We can use our right brain by indulging in art, music, and other creative activities. Practicing Yin yoga, alternate nostril breathing and meditation regularly will buffers us from our daily stress. At the very least, without any investment in time we can learn to breathe. By allowing the in-breath to be shorter than the out-breath we can calm ourselves down in an instant while the opposite can activate and energizes us.
And this is how my friends, I tamed the dragon!
Salutogenesis 
I absolutely love the title. Brilliant. Interesting to learn about feminine and musculine energy in Native American way. Just like ying and yang in Chinese culture just like purush and prakriti in Hinduism. Your analogy about decline in female hormone and meditation with focus on breathing to calm and male energy and getting involved in art/music to invoke right brain involves deep thinking. Good job in explaining.
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