As someone who's dealt with a lot of different chronic vaginal conditions over my years,
I know how frustrating and freaking confusing it can be to figure it out,
especially when conventional Western medicine seems to throw up their hands and really doesn't
have any solutions that actually work. I've learned so much in the past 13 years
of studying different vaginal health conditions, both within my body, my clients, and my students,
that I feel I found some answers that really illuminate some of the roots of why these
conditions are happening and why they persist. So if you're confused about why you keep having
certain chronic vaginal health conditions then one of your answers might be in this video. I
am Asia Suler of One WIllow Apothecaries and this is "Why vaginal health issues manifest."
First things first, I'm glad we're here talking about this. I think is weird how much silence
there is around anything having to do with genitals when it comes to health. I mean this
is an essential part of who we are, it's how we come into this world. So the more we talk about
it the more that we can just normalize this. Shy should this be any different than talking about
a health issue with our skin, or our heart, or our stomach? It shouldn't. I will say this though
about vaginal health issues in particular, that they're complex. There's often many different
facets involved that end up resulting in a chronic health issue in this part of our body,
so it can be a little complicated sometimes to tease it out. And you might already feel this,
having gone to different doctors, or have trying a lot of different remedies and feeling like
nothing quite stuck or that nothing was the exact answer to what you were searching for.
One of the reasons why I think it can be so complicated to figure out, is because this
part of our body is one of our most sacred communicators. Because this is literally in
the root of our body— in the chakra system the roots are where we connect to the earth,
it's where we feel safe and secure— because this is encompassed in the root of our body,
often times other issues just involving being here on earth, being in a body,
will manifest here in order to be heard. Anything that is disrupting our sense of safety, security,
or groundedness can manifest in this part of our body. That said, sometimes when we can receive
the message that's trying to be communicated, when we can understand the meaning behind it, then the
messenger which are the symptoms can be released. So I realize that vaginal health issues are often
communicating about one of four different facets of relationship and I'm going to talk about them
now. The first facet is relationship to self. So sometimes vaginal health issues are manifesting to
alert us about a disconnect in our relationship to our own being. Now this disconnect can look like
a bunch of different things. It can look like a disconnect in understanding how to actually
take care of our bodies. So for examples some vaginal health issues will manifest because we're
using soap in our vaginas and that's simply too strong for our vaginal environments. Or
because our microbiome is disrupted, maybe from eating processed foods or taking antibiotics,
and this can affect the microbiomes inside of our vaginal environments— which is essential for our
health and wellness. So one of the first things you want to ask yourself obviously is "is this
vaginal health condition actually communicating to me about a way in which I can work with my overall
bodily health, another issue of imbalance inside of my body that might need attention or care." So
many of us aren't actually taught how to take care of this part of our body. It's like a "put it away
in the corner, don't talk about it, don't touch it" kind of deal. And it's ridiculous because this
is an essential part of how we stay healthy and whole, it's how many babies come into the world,
so it's crazy to me that we're not given even super basic information about what this part of
our body needs to be healthy, whole and vibrant. Some really basic pointers with this are 1. just
clean with water. 2. make sure you have good airflow, so taking off your underwear at night,
wearing cotton underwear, not wearing things that are too restrictive. And having a diet
that really supports a healthy microbiome. So that includes lots of vegetables, high-fiber foods, and
getting probiotics and prebiotics—the food that feeds beneficial bacteria into your diet. Now for
some of you this might be seeming kind of simple. I know for me I went to so many different doctors
trying to figure out my chronic yeast infections, my chronic pelvic pain, and then dealing with
chronic BV as well—bacterial vaginosis—so if this is seeming simplistic to you it might be
because there's actually a deeper level here of needing to connect to yourself. And this can mean
reconnecting to your sensuality, yourself as a sensual being. This can mean examining trauma
from earlier in your life. Because our pelvis is intimately connected into our nervous system,
often times when we have trauma in our body it can manifest in this part of ourselves. So if
you are dealing with chronic health issues in this area, it might be calling you to do this
work of reconnecting to parts of yourself that might have been wounded in the past or that
are simply asking for more attention, love and care. The second facet of relationships that your
chronic health condition might be pointing you towards here are your relationships with others.
So continuing this conversation around trauma, sometimes we're having chronic issues manifest
in this part of our body because this is a part of our body that has experienced relationship trauma,
or trauma in relationship to other people. And it's actually a pretty amazing adaption of our
body, the way we hold on to trauma inside of our muscle states, inside of our tissues,
and we release it at other times in our lives when it's safe enough to do so. So you might be having
something come up in a particular relationship because it's a message about that relationship,
if you are currently in relationship, or it could come up at another point in time when you're
feeling safe enough to start releasing it. So you might be with a partner where you are finally
in a position where it's just safe enough to totally be yourself and feel how you're feeling,
and that might be when things start manifesting. Which can be really annoying, but ultimately it's
a sign that you are feeling safe enough to have this arise. I've also found that this part of my
body will communicate to me even when it's not a one-on-one romantic relationship, but simply about
how I'm feeling at large in terms of my sense of safety and security. So I know that I started
experiencing chronic pain in this area of my body for the first time when I was studying abroad in
a country where I was experiencing a lot of street harassment. And so because I was experiencing this
street harassment, there was a part of me that was realizing a breach of security and shutting
down. And I started manifesting this breach of security as pain in this part of my body.
So as people with vaginas in this world, we aren't always in safe spaces. And even just the media can
cause an actual cascade on our body of going into this fight or flight response. So really
being gentle with yourself and realizing that some areas of our body are manifesting issues to help
us understand that we are in a time in which our culture itself is being examined, and really needs
to be transformed in order for everyone to feel safe. The third facet that your vaginal health
issue might be asking you to examine is your relationship with your ancestors. So there's solid
evidence now that things like intergenerational and transgenerational trauma are very real. That
these things get passed on into our bodies, and they actually will move through generations until
they find the person that has the space and the capacity to release the built-up issues, burdens
and traumas that have accumulated in our lineages. So many of us, if not all of us, have some sort of
trauma most likely around this area of our body in our lineage‚ whether that's sexual violence,
traumatic birth, or simply pain, discomfort, disconnection. So if you are manifesting an issue
in this area of your body, it could be a call to actually do some ancestral work, to heal a part
of yourself that is actually carrying on a burden from your ancestry and those who came before you.
The truth is that sometimes, what's happening in your body, what's being manifested in this sacred
part of you, is not actually yours. It could be something that you're carrying. Let alone what
we're carrying for the collective. And I think this is one reason why I see so many health issues
in this area of people's bodies manifesting now is because we're in a time where we're really doing
some deep healing work, with the ways in which we've disconnected ourselves from our sexuality,
from our empowerment and also from our connection to the earth. And so that's the fourth facet that
your health issue might be asking you to examine is your connection to the earth. Because this part
of our bodies— our vaginas, our pelvic bowl— are directly connected into our root chakra,
this is actually how we connect to the earth. Very literally, this is where we drop a cord down,
an energetic cord, into the earth in order to connect. So sometimes symptoms in this area of
our body are symptomatic of the way in which we have been disconnected from the earth. It's no
coincidence that the pictorial vulva is one of the oldest images of human creation and imagination.
From ancient sacred caves, to the way in which megaliths were created and built, this gateway
of the vagina, of the vulva, of the pelvis, has been an intimate part of the ways in which the
human imagination sees itself in relation to the world. And there has long been a link between this
portal in our bodies, and the earth herself. So I do think that we can get this big in our thinking,
that sometimes we are manifesting issues in our body because it's a big clarion call to come
back into a sacred relationship with the earth. To examine the umbilical cord that we have from
our pelvises down into this planet. This is how we connect, this is how we came into this world,
and this is how we're meant to be continually checking in with our roots here on this planet.
So I truly believe that healing in this area of our body is meant to be multi-dimensional. After
so many years of being handed prescriptions that simply didn't work, it took me getting to this
point of realizing that there's actually so much depth and complexity, and that this is actually
a deeply spiritual journey and experience. And when I can approach my healing and my vaginal
healing as multi-dimensional, so many gateways of wonder and self-awareness and purpose can open
for me here on this planet. So if any of this is resonating with you and you're interested
in learning more, I have an online class called Multidimensional Vaginal Healing. In the class,
I go so much more deeply into these four facets of relationship reconnection. I help you to be able
to communicate with this area of your body, and I have recipes, tools, and practices to help you
address some of the most common issues that will come up when there are imbalances in this area of
your body. So if you're looking for a perspective that really takes into account the wholeness of
yourself, in healing such a sacred part of you, I recommend you check out this course. And if you
like this smaller course, then I invite you to step into the [ __ ] portal. The [ __ ] portal
is my in-depth online library resource, jam-packed full of information all about vaginal healing. And
yes I do use the word [ __ ] in the course, so if that word's a trigger word for you,
just know that that is part of that material. But if you sign up for Multidimensional Vaginal
Healing, you can upgrade to this larger library of information including guest contributors who are
really emergent leaders in this field at any time. So if you're interested in these portals, in these
sources of information in these classes, I'm gonna put the link here below and I would love to see
you there. If you know anyone who would benefit from seeing this video, please pass it on to them
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here and for being willing to show up to do this vulnerable, precious, and totally sacred work.