As part of my holistic healing approach to managing the RA, after sorting out my physical health, I embarked on a quest to improve my mental and emotional health. A great part of my healing journey was dealing with my emotional issues.
The journey was long and I had to face a lot of issues that I had suppressed for many years. I watched many TED talks, youtube videos and read many books in order to best assist myself.
At the early stage of the RA diagnosis, I was on a clinical trial for two years and there were lots of ups and downs and in summary I would say that it worked out well for me. I was on methotrexate tablets and an immune-suppressor that I used to inject myself weekly. If you are not familiar with methotrexate, due to its side-effects profile, I needed to take folic acid daily. Being on the trial, also meant that I could not fall pregnant. So for those two years, I was on hormonal contraception. To tell you the truth, I was frustrated emotionally as I did not feel myself. I felt that I was losing sense of who I am. So when I completed the clinical trial, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I was free to make my own choices. So, I decided to go off the pill and read about alternative methods of contraception.
What an amazing discovery of supportive women that lead me to a happy life with happy periods – a new level of mindfulness.
As I went off the birth-control pill, I discovered a wonderful lady Rona Mirimi that was giving a class called Fertility Awareness Method (FAM). I was truly desperate to go natural as I was highly disappointed on how my hormones got all messed up with being on the pill. I loved doing the classes on FAM and have been practising that method since June 2019. A whole world about my body opened up. I slowly started to feel myself again and it took many months for my menstrual cycle to become a so-called regular cycle. Using FAM, I am now expecting my second baby – who is due very soon 🙂 Rona’s website: https://ronamirimi.co.za
As my quest continued, I came across Julie Mosmuller doing a facebook live where she was doing dance and explaining the different seasons of a menstrual cycle. I had no clue what was going on but totally enjoyed doing the different dances and had made some quick notes about what she was saying. These things resonated with me – I was experiencing that all the time! I then reached out to Julie via her Facebook page: New Moon Sisters.
I then did a series of workshops/circles as part of the “The Wild Heart Journey” with Julie in 2020. That journey was life changing for me. I finally understood the emotional roller coaster that I was experiencing. There was a lot of self-discoveries and lots of self-healing that took place and lots of learning. Finally the pieces of the puzzle fitted together. It made sense why I would feel so happy and energetic and then days later feel tired and sad. And the anger and frustration made sense. For me, that really played a role in managing the RA as by then I was off chronic medications. I would find that I often would get a flare up if my emotions got out of hand. It happened a few times and then I started noticing a trend. This was my own epic discovery. I have definitely had a better quality of life since being in awareness of my periods- health wise as well as my relationship with myself, my family and the people that I interact with regularly.
I have since then fully embraced my periods with FAM and practice cyclical living, which has led me to live a more mindful life. I am now very in-tune with my womb and the moon. I plan my schedule around my menstrual cycle and this has been a game changer in terms of stress management. I am less stressed and have not experienced burnt out since I started practicing cyclical living. Managing my stress levels has been a very important aspect of managing my physical health and preventing any RA flare-ups.
In essence, cyclical living is a mindful lifestyle that a woman adopts based on the different stages of her menstrual cycle.
I have since then completed a few workshops with Julie, including soul purpose journey circles and a six-series coaching training.
Reach out if you would like to find out more information regarding details for the next cyclical living workshop for 2022.
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