With this first issue of the Sage Medicine Woman Newsletter, I hope to foster a community discussion about things that are important to aware, progressive women like you and me. Health and well being, particularly as they relate to our breasts, are the focus. In essay and blog format, lets share inspiration, information and an empowered approach to healing and wholeness of mind, body and spirit. Your ideas, suggestions and connections are what its all about! Please take the time to share. The goal is an interactive exchange of the best we have to offer one another.
Right now, with the Winter Solstice upon us, it seems appropriate to open our discussion with a tribute to the sage medicine women of olden times. Often called witches, pagans or oracles, these were often just women who really paid attention to the events occurring in the natural world and the events and feelings occurring in their own bodies. These women made the connection.
As women, our bodies are intimately connected with the cycles of nature.
When we menstruate, our bodies respond to patterns of light and darkness that correlate to the new and full moons. The gravitational pull of the moon affects the salty waters of the womb, tugging them to the breaking point, birthing more babies on full moon nights than any others. Even our moods change, fluctuating like high and low tides, with our own moon cycles.
We are created from the same carbon-based substance as the rest of the natural world. And we are always resonating in the microcosm of our own cellular matrix, what is occurring in the macrocosm of the world at large. At the most fundamental level, we are touched by everything that happens everywhere. When the natural cycles become disrupted and the natural balance gets thrown off kilter, so do we.
So, global warming, droughts, pollution, starvation, endangered species, and other manifestations of a stressed planet reverberate constantly within all of us. In other words, as our planet becomes more stressed, so do we.
The poisons that are polluting our planet are also polluting our bodies, our babies and our breast milk. They are compromising our reproductive abilities, and those of other species in the kingdom as well. The pure, life-giving waters of Earth's streams and oceans have been dumped in. Now, the once pure, life-giving milk from women's breasts can be tested and found to have hundreds of identifiable toxic chemical residues. She gives these unsuspectingly to her infant and may unwittingly be affecting her child's reproductive ability through these early exposures to toxins through her breast milk. Notice what a big problem infertility is these days? These chemicals lower sperm counts and make the ovaries less productive.
The estrogen mimicking quality of many of these poisons, known collectively as "xeno-estrogens" ("xeno" meaning foreign), is also having a negative effect on the breast itself. These toxic chemical residues are termed "persistant", which means once the exposure has occurred, the residue tends to remain present for a very, very long time, often indefinitely. They accumulate in the fatty tissues, especially in the breast, and contribute to the DNA damage that causes malignancies. They are strongly implicated in the initiation and promotion of breast cancer. They also seem to have a detrimental effect on other glands and hormones, particularly the thyroid. Hypothyroid, or underactive thyroid is a huge problem, especially among women Avoiding these chemicals will help your thyroid health, too.
What are these poisons and what can you do to protect yourself from them?
We can group many of them loosely into a category called "organochlorines". These are chlorine based-chemicals and include some of the deadliest, such as DDT, Dioxin and perchlorate. Many household items we use routinely, such as chlorine bleach and bleached paper products, like toilet paper and tampons will cause organochlorine exposure. Public drinking water, believe it or not has been well-documented to contain perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel. Check out the Organic Consumers Association's Perchlorate News. www.organicconsumers.org/perchlorate.cmf to learn more. Dioxins are probably one of the greatest public health threats we currently face, so why aren't we hearing more about them? I strongly urge you to visit the Dioxin Homepage to educate yourself of this subject. Go to www.ejnet.org/dioxin to read the National Academy of Science's devastating assessment.
Herbicides, pesticides, most disinfectants, chlorinated water and many plastics, especially vinyl chloride (PVC) contain organochlorines. They can enter our bodies through agricultural chemicals (via the food we eat). Drinking, swimming and showering in chlorinated water exposes us. Plastics migrating into canned and microwaved food are another source. So is body contact with bleached paper products.
There is a great deal of research that points at organochlorines as a major factor in the current epidemic of breast cancer. Women with high organochlorine levels in their blood are 4 - 10 times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with low levels.
So, What is the solution?
Awareness and Action! Here are some concrete steps you can take to reduce your organochlorine exposures:
*Use only organic butter, dairy, meats, produce, grains and beans
*Avoid produce from countries whose pesticide standards are lax, e.g, Chile & Mexico
*Buy and store food in glass, not plastic
*Never microwave food in a plastic container
*NEVER, EVER MICROWAVE A BABY'S BOTTLE!
*Don't leave a plastic water bottle in a warm car
*Don't drink chlorinated, unfiltered water
*Avoid showering or swimming in chlorinated water
*Buy peroxide bleached or unbleached paper products
*Use non-chemical cleaning supplies and no bleach
*Use an "environmental" dry cleaner
*Take an Indol-3-carbinol supplement which helps the liver to metabolize organochlorines
What will heal us will also heal our planet.
By rejecting those poisons which are making us sick AND making our planet sick, we are making a statement to the manufacturers of those chemicals: NO MORE! Remember, you vote with your dollar! Who and what do you support when you buy a bottle of chlorox? I am asking you to think it through. When you go to the store to buy groceries and household products, will your purchases support a healthier, greener planet? Will they help you maintain a healthy, cancer-free body? If its not good for the planet, its not good for you. And visa versa.
I believe we can heal the world. If each of us would just start in our own backyard by doing all we can to heal ourselves. As we increase our awareness and decrease our use of dangerous chemicals, our bodies and our planet will come into greater health, balance and well being.
As we honor the Solstice and this celebration of light in a time of darkness, let us resolve to "keep a light on". Become a beacon of enlighted awareness for those around you. Set an example by the way you live, the way you eat, the way you buy, and think and act. Share this information with others. Our enlightened collective consciousness can drive back the darkness of ignorance and greed. The darkest hour is just before the dawn. As we wake up from the sleep of mass deception, a light goes on....
Remember the old church hymn, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, shine, shine."
LET IT SHINE!
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