Shamanic healers from around the world offer a different perspective of what it means for a woman to transition from a regular menstrual cycle and fertility, through to menopause. I asked our shamanic practitioner, Lisa Sabatini, to share her insight with us.
Many of us are familiar with the image of someone “hyperventilating” (breathing rapidly) as a reaction to stress. However, the opposite is also true from periods of prolonged stress: In times of continued mental, emotional, or physical stress (such as chronic physical pain), our breathing can become shallow and we may even hold our breath without realizing it.
These days it seems everyone has elevated stress levels. Most of us don’t realize just how much that affects our health and wellbeing. Our nervous system acts as an information superhighway, delivering messages throughout our body regarding stress management. From a Shamanic Healing perspective, this is how and why it matters:
Change can be tricky to navigate. Creating and keeping new habits can be even trickier. It’s important for us to remember that anything new will take some time and effort to become part of our new “normal”.
What is “normal”? The truth is, “normal” is different for each of us. What’s normal for my body, my thoughts, my emotions, and energy, is likely very different than yours. Just because something is normal for us, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. So, we are talking about creating wonderful new habits, right? Then why are we talking about unhealthy habits? Here’s the thing: If we just mask over poor habits with new ones, the old ones can sabotage our efforts for change. We need to dismantle them first.
There was a time in my life when I was so busy and stressed, I couldn’t stop for a single minute. I mean that quite literally. I flew through the day, from one thing to the next on “autopilot” (going through the motions), and everything became a blur. By the end of the day, when it was time to sleep, I’d lay in bed awake for hours. My mind still thinking, wheels turning, about what I had done that day and what I needed to do the next day.
When I was introduced to mindfulness, I was confused. It never occurred to me that the healthiest place for my mind to be (and amazingly the most productive!) was in the present. Not thinking ahead, nor about what had already been done, but in the present moment.
