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31 days of sensuality day 18-24

Source: iOne

If you were anything like me as a teenager, you probably gave your menstrual cycle a nickname like, “Aunt Flow,” the bitchy aunt who comes once a month to terrorize you! In this phase of my life, I was adamant that periods were a curse to women.  Why are we the ones who have to bleed, cramp, bloat and feel depleted once a month and men don’t? Now, 20 years after starting my first period, I’m learning that instead of seeing my period as a monthly occurrence that keeps me down, I am finding sacredness and love for this time of the month. 

Before finding this sacredness, my periods used to be  heavy. The kind of periods where on day one, I couldn’t get out of bed. My skin would break out in horrible acne, and my body would swell up as I become engorged with fluid. I would bleed through all of my underwear and my mental and emotional state of mind had me feeling irrational, emotional, and erratic. My periods had me feeling like I was  spiraling out of control for 7 days straight. I would take the heavy medicine prescribed by doctors which would leave my body and vulva feeling broken down. This just couldn’t be life. 

 In the past year most of this has stopped due to cleaner eating and exercise. I’ve started reading the black woman’s bible for ultimate holistic healing – The Sacred Woman by Queen Afua which has started me on a path to overall healing for my mind, body and soul. In this, I’m exploring the womb and the magic and power that lives there. The womb is the soul of the woman and the space where creation lies. Being that we experience periods in the womb space, it is our duty to harness the energy of our periods and our wombs for healing ourselves and for creating new possibilities. I’m also learning that your period should be a time when you do nothing. You literally are supposed to pause and reflect, write, manifest and be in tune with what your womb is telling you! 

Ladies, sensuality is more than just wearing lingerie, dancing and being sexy. Sensuality is well being and taking care of your body ( especially your vulva)  from the inside out. Sensuality is radical self love! 

I reached out to healer, alchemist and Integrative Nutrition Health Coach,  Robin Brown of The Tea Womb to learn how to holistically care for myself during my monthly cycle. Robin specializes in Ayurveda medicine  in which she uses herbs to treat & prevent and health problems while activating well being.  Through The Tea Womb, Robin’s intention is to inspirit women to quantify their health. “Health” expands beyond the plate- that’s secondary nourishment compared to the other elements that feed you- i.e. relationships, career path, spiritual practice, those are your primary foods. 

31 days of sensuality day 18-24

Photography By: Darren M. @darrenmallett & Zanetta P. @symplicated

On the eve of my period, we had a pamper party in which Robin taught me how to make three of her signature Menses “ Holy Trinity” Elixirs to help me take care of my body during this sacred time of the month. The Term “ Holy” came from the Holy Basil which is the key ingredient in all three of the items we made. According to Ayurveda, Holy Basis promotes purity & lightness in the body, relaxing digestive gas and bloating. The best part of making these potions were that most of the ingredients were already in my kitchen cabinet! We made the following: 

31 days of sensuality day 18-24

Photography By: Darren M. @darrenmallett & Zanetta P. @symplicated

Holy Hormones Tea: 

Tea made to maintain  homeostasis in the body, promotes mental acuity to combat scattered thinking and relieve menstrual cramps. Drink the tea hot or cold.

 Ingredients: Holy Basil, Fennel, Goji Berries. We steeped the tea in a traditional Chinese tea set. 

Holy Breakouts: 

A skin tonic that treat pimples and breakouts. This mask was calming, it smelled great and it absorbed all of the access oil in my face. 

Ingredients:  Bentonite clay, Holy Basil Essential Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Holy Hormones Tea. 

Holy Cramps!: 

Muscle Relaxant that relaxes the nerve impulses, stimulate proper hormone levels to create balance and relieves stress and anxiety.  Put this oil on your wrists, temples, lower back and abdomen.

Ingredients: Holy Basil Oil, Clary Sage oil, Rose oil. 

 

Photo by: William Ellis @mrwilliamellis

Photography by: William Ellis @mrwilliamellis

Y’all I slept like a baby after drinking the tea, woke up with a clear and soft skin after the mask and felt grounded and calm with the muscle relaxant! The best part of all of this is that I enjoyed making my own medicine! Becoming the alchemist of my life is liberation and baby, i’m on it! 

 

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Here’s a fun fact, Robin is my best friend! We sat and had a ki-ki about radical self care, holistic womb health and living a WHOLE LIFE as part of our monthly sisterhood check-in! Get into this goodness below: 

Tell me about The Tea Womb. What do you offer? 

The Tea Womb is a metaphor for mind, body & Spirit connection surmising that most of us have not been well nourished since the womb. In 2013 I found myself in the dark night of the soul and I chose prayer over prescription in every way. Doctors tried to prescribe me a bevvy of meds for depression and I refused. Even antibiotics from my OBGYN for continual yeast infections were not getting filled. And dermatological topical ointments for my acute adult acne was a refusal, too. I rebelled against all of it!  Instead, I chose to research natural remedies for all of my ailments then got in my kitchen and handled myself. That’s when I literally heard God say “The Tea Womb”. The Tea Womb provides health coaching services and earth based medicinal products that activate your life force energy. 

Why is it important for women to learn how to take care of their womb regardless of if they’ve had children or not? 

On a medical level Womb health/care is responsible self-awareness. Getting your hormones and thyroid levels checked, routine OB GYN exams for fibroids and polyps and fearlessly speak to you doctor about frequent urination or pelvic pain, heavy/painful or abnormal menses and fertility concerns/options or multiple miscarriages. Overall, Womb health is about nurturing your central wellbeing both on a Spiritual level and a physiological level- equally- and choosing to do your deep healing work so you can tap your conscious center and create whatsoever you desire.

I love that you make things from herbs, spices, and other natural elements. These all feel like products that our grandmothers and great grandmother’s cooked up in their kitchen. Why is doing things the natural way important to you?

God is so intentional He put the medicine in nature’s bounty. I truly believe that the Earth supplies everything we need to heal ourselves.

Photography by William Ellis @mrwilliamellis

Photography by William Ellis @mrwilliamellis

What do you want Black women to know about their bodies? 

That you have dominion to pray over yourself. Literally lay hands on yourself and pray over yourself, prophesy over your own life, speak to your healing- call it forward. Call love forward, call your finances forward, call the life you seek forward then walk with an expectant heart. Be expecting change. Repeat.  

What magic lies in a woman’s Womb?

Tupac’s verse on Keep Ya Head Up has always wow’d me. “And since we all came from a woman. Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman…”  That is our one common thread, we are all here by way of a woman’s womb.  That’s the collective magic of womanhood- we have populated an entire planet.  

What does radical self love mean to you? 

I take my rest very seriously; I tend to power off my phone by 7/8p daily to fully tap out. On weekends my rule is not to leave my home until after 12 noon. Furthermore, I honor my menses by making time for it and I give myself permission to be lazy that week; the week of my period I will not put anything nor anyone on my calendar- that entire week is blocked out- I don’t create, I don’t work out, I don’t force anything and I don’t push myself because there was already a time for that. To me period is literal. It means end, stop, complete. Our menstruation signifies newness so I reflect on what I’ve accomplished since my last cycle and I ask myself what can I do before the next one begins?  By the last day of my period I have some clear goals to hit within 21 days. 

Ladies, your healing is your birthright! Robin reminded me that your healing should be a personal vendetta. Sis said, “ You have to be willing to shadowbox your own demons for it.. Killing poor habits. Re-orienting your self-talk. Gutting your relationship with discipline & urgency. Those demons. It’s you vs. you.”  

The Tea Womb provides a space for ultimate healing. Healing is important because it’s a prerequisite for living a purpose driven life; this planet is in desperate need of your contribution, your ideas, your voice, your formula for cure, your political lobbying, your book.

Learn more about The Tea Womb at https://www.theteawomb.com/

 

Love, 

Empress

 

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