Puberty, the menstrual cycle and aging
This is the second blog I wrote for the French website info-lux.com. It is in three parts. If you would like to read it in French, please click the link.
The first part is in this blog
Supporting puberty
Ideally we want to support adolescents to integrate the changes in their hormones and brain. These changes affect their whole being. Puberty is a gateway when past traumas can be cleared, but it can also be a time when new ones can be created. Support to pass through this gateway is vital for our future, including fertility. Working with the Extraordinary Vessels is the most effective way. Sometimes it is more healing if the parents work with their children and so I teach them how to work the Vessels. Other times it is more helpful if I work directly with the child.
These changes take time to integrate, and it is normal for early periods to be uncomfortable, for boys and girls to have acne and skin issues, and perhaps headaches and mood swings. Our system only stabilises in our twenties – another cycle of Essence.
Mainstream medicine tends to pathologise and girls are often told that they have endometriosis or PCOS (polycystic ovaries) and prescribed artificial hormones which have both short and long term side effects. I feel that Shiatsu and lifestyle suggestions are worth trying first.
Endometriosis is when some cells of the womb (endometrium) are outside the womb. It can create painful and heavy periods. In TCM this means that the body is not holding Blood where it should. This primarily shows weakness in the Penetrating Vessel – Sea of Blood. From a TCM perspective PCOS shows a lack of Yang, the energy of spring- time, movement and activity and release in our body. This indicates the need to work with the Girdle Vessel. This Vessel encircles our centre between our perineum and our ribs and one of its functions is to allow movement, circulation and release.
Supporting the phases of the menstrual cycle -for men as well as women
With all my female clients, whether they are trying to conceive or not, my baseline assessment is to support the menstrual cycle in its different phases. This helps me decide which of the Vessels is most important to work but also helps them to be more in tune with their body.
I have made some videos on YouTube on the qualities of the different phases of the menstrual cycle and how it prepares a woman for other phases of her life.
Men can also focus on the qualities in their own bodies. In this chart you can also see how there is a quality relating to the outer world during each phase as well as which of the Extraordinary Vessels are most important.
Many women do not experience all the phases of a natural cycle because they are on hormonal contraceptives which suppress ovulation. In a natural cycle, Girdle Vessel is active during ovulation helping to release the egg and during menstruation to release the endometrium. If there is no ovulation, none of the follicles release their egg and so none develop into the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum increases the levels of progesterone, oestrogen and relaxin (hence the name of the phase – luteal) to continue building the lining of the womb in readiness for a fertilised egg to implant. Without ovulation the endometrium does not build in the same way. This creates a depletion in Blood. The Penetrating Vessel is important to support..
If women want to conceive, it is helpful to spend some cycles reconnect with the natural phases and build up their Essence through work with the Extraordinary Vessels.
Quality of Essence and Age
The ancient Chinese understood that both male and female fertility declines with age. However this is relative, because it depends on what we have inherited from our parents and how we live our lives. Women can remain fertile even into their mid-40’s and men into their fifties.
Some women get worried about their declining numbers of eggs. Yet they have been declining since we were 20 weeks in the womb when we had 5 to 7 million. Already by birth we only have 1-2 million and by puberty 300,000 – 400,000. With the onset of the menstrual cycle 5 to 12 eggs start their final process of maturation but only 1, occasionally 2, will mature for ovulation. The nature of the egg is that only a few will mature to be fertilised in a woman’s life. We are like an oak tree, producing millions of acorns for only a few to mature. We only need one egg and we can support this “golden egg” through nourishing ourselves. We can always modify our Essence.
Eventually the eggs run out and a women’s fertile cycle ends. However the ancient Chinese saw this as a woman’s “ second spring.” She needs her Essence to nourish herself in her ageing process.
The nature of sperm is more about expansion and increasing numbers. Sperm are present in small numbers in the womb and do not increase until puberty. Eventually men produce 200 to 300 million sperm each day. Only about half mature fully and at least one billion per month are shed through ejaculation or degeneration of cells. With age, the DNA starts to become damaged and their fertility declines. It doesn’t end because their Essence isn’t needed to nourish a baby during the 9 months of pregnancy and the first year after birth. Yet ageing men would be wise also to recognise that their Essence is declining and they need to take more care of themselves.
I have made two visualisations on the different journeys of the egg and the sperm.
Egg
Sperm
