Nature evolved the multitude of species that make up the rich tapestry of life over a period of  3.8 billion years. The 'laboratory of life' has been are remarkably successful research and development program where only those designs that augment and support life have survived. Species that weren't equipped for the long haul died out after a period of trial and error, while those that perfected their evolutionary pathways, either through design, form, behaviour or the ability to co-operate with other species, live on today as a testimony to their success.

It has been only since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries that humankind initiated major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation and technology that revolutionised the way we live. It is now, in the aftermath of the behemoth that transformed the face of the planet forever, a mere 200- 300 years later, that we are being challenged by the cumulative effects of rapid, unbalanced and short-sighted, parasitic growth.  

Waterways have been intoxicated or bled dry by human irrigators, forests denuded leaving animal species stripped of their habitats and a carbon crisis that contributes to abruptly changing weather patterns, while the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a toxic load of human by-product the size of Texas, presents numerous hazards to marine life, fishing and tourism and is said now to be almost impossible to clean up. The list goes on…….

Effectively, the swift and cataclysmic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution had the effect of not only negatively impacting the natural environment, bringing humanity almost to the brink of destruction, but of simultaneously separating and alienating human beings from the natural world, so that we were blinded to the exquisite beauty and functionality of natural design. With biomimicry, a relatively new science, we see the return to an appreciation of design principles that are rooted in the Divine Feminine. 

So what is biomimicry? According to Wikipedia, "Biomimicry is the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems". Biomimicry, as an innovating process, generally comes from one of two directions. Sometimes, the innovator sees a process in nature and connects it to an existing technology or problem. Other times, the innovator studies an existing design problem and turns to nature for help.

For example, new housing design in Africa is mimicking the construction of termite nests whose cool building strategies include aligning the nests north-south and and constructing air vents that constantly move air throughout the mound, cooling or heating it to the same temperature as the mound itself, to achieve a constant inside temperature. Architects and engineers are building several large office complexes that mimic the termite approach to temperature control.

Another of Nature's marvellous designs concerns a beetle that inhabits the searing deserts where there is no ground water. His back is constructed using a ripple effect, consisting of water-attracting molecules along the peaks and water-repelling molecules along the troughs. The beetle stands with his back to the wind on top of a sand dune and collects water from the air which collects on the peaks, and rolls down into the trough when sodden. Repelled, the water then runs along the troughs which slope down into the beetle's mouth. A company in Sydney is investigating this age-old technique for innovative inner city roofing where a 40% humidity can jackpot into a massive water-load over a single day, enough for all the household's daily needs. 

On the planet today, there are as many brilliant designs as there are remarkable species, all of which have perfected their own unique way of working co-operatively with Nature to survive. Some species survive through mutual reciprocity with other species, others by design features in their form, others through biological strategies, such as repellent surfaces that make their lives not only comfortable but enables them to survive. Ecological systems rely on mutual interaction and co-operation between species and family groups and net-working between the plant and animal kingdoms that enhances their own survival while lending support to another. The planet itself is an interacting vital collective of self-supporting eco-systems that equally enhance and support each of the individual parts for the greater good.

Nature is the Divine Feminine in action, expressed through the principles of co-operation, mutual support, conservation, net-working and working towards the good of the whole.

As humanity, in true humility, embraces the intelligence of design that has evolved over billions of years on this planet, we simultaneously step out of the ego-base of the prevailing masculine paradigm to recognise that we are a part of Nature, not some arrogant overlay that dominates and prevails. As humans being, we must acknowledge that we do not know everything – that is the realm of the Divine Goddess in conjunction with Spirit – we are merely mirrors of the Divine – both Feminine and Masculine.

Females are biologically inscribed to express Divine Feminine values in their life because they are the ones who bear, nurture and socialise their children, the adults of the future. Because life is designed to evolve, Nature well-equipped them for this role with the very principles of being that uphold and support Nature's evolutionary drive. Essentially it is females who carry the baton of evolution through to the next generation.

Males are biologically inscribed to protect the female and family. Theirs is to uphold life, honouring and protecting it's processes so that it can recycle itself for better and better outcomes with each succeeding generation.  

What has gone askew is that the Divine Feminine and the Masculine Spirit have been cycling out of balance, so dis-ease has set in. The Masculine has somehow prevailed as being the one that holds the power, over females and over Nature, while the Feminine has collaborated by dishonouring their own power base and accepting being 'second-class citizens. Although different, the two genders must stand together and collectively create a new life for humanity and the planet.

As humans being, we must redress the imbalance by bringing the Divine Feminine into the light while subduing the arrogance of the Masculine Spirit. When harmony is achieved, the Feminine and the Masculine are in balance, and we will experience the Golden Age of Peace that is just waiting around the corner.

Biomimicry is a crucial step along the way. At last the ancient wisdom of the Goddess is being recognised and harnessed for the good of the whole …….. not just for humanity but for the healing of the planet as well. Each unique design developed by one species or another both supports the integrated whole and does no harm. Both of these principles are foundational underpinnings of the art of healing…….

The Masculine Spirit, represented by Science (either female or male scientists), by drawing on the intelligence of the Divine Feminine, as intelligent design, can create heaven on Earth.

In the words of Janine Benyus, author of the 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature.: "The more our world functions like the natural world the more likely we are to endure on this home that is ours, but not ours alone"  

Please comment on this blog post….I am interested to hear your opinion……………… and enjoy the spiral…………

During pregnancy you will go through change on all levels of your being

more rapidly than at any other time in your adult life. The only other time

your body and mind changed so swiftly and dramatically is when you were

in your mother’s womb and during the first few years of your infancy and 

toddlerhood.

First pregnancy is a rite of passage, which takes you from the Maiden

phase in your life to that of the Mother. Once this passage has

occurred you will never be the same again, both in body and mind.

For some women the dawning realization as the pregnancy progresses

that they are facing a major milestone in life, closing some doors and

opening others, takes a lot of emotional and mental letting go and

can be accompanied by regret, fear and doubt. These reservations

will, in turn, trigger a lack of ease, leading to a number of classic

pregnancy symptoms, such as morning sickness, discomfort and

even aches and pains.

If this seems to be the case with you, it is highly recommended that

you talk over some of your concerns with a professional practitioner

specializing in a natural birthing approach, such as your yoga

instructor.

Unpacking these concerns often simply involves recognizing that

this is a major transition in your life that needs to be acknowledged.

Many women find it useful to ritualize or mark this process with a

special occasion with a loved person in their life, in recognition of

the significance of this rite of passage. Setting aside a special time

like this to focus on the importance of this transition in your life

can help you to embark on this new phase from a position of

awareness and joyous anticipation rather than feeling unsure

about an uncertain future filled with unknowns, and regret over

leaving a known and comfortable past behind. 

By simply talking over what it means to you to shed the past you

have known and to look into a future that is new and probably

quite scary for you can bring to the surface fears and

apprehensions that might otherwise stay buried, causing

lack of ease. Through this simple process, many women

discover that symptoms they were experiencing either

reduce in severity or simply disappear in the atmosphere

of aware expectancy that can follow such a process.

That is not to say that all symptoms are in the mind! The

body has a momentous job to do in the next short nine

months and will accomplish the task as well as well as

possible given the state of health at the time of conception.

That is why it is far better to plan a pregnancy to follow a

period of consciously nurturing and supporting the body

to a state of optimum good health. The healthier your

body is at the time of conception, the healthier your

pregnancy will be. After all it has a lot of work to do

and many changes to accommodate a new life.

Hormones mediate these changes and on the physical

level they bring about an increase in blood volume by

up to 100% to allow for placental and foetal blood

circulation and an increase in heart rate, liver metabolism,

respiration and digestion and assimilation. All of these

organ systems support maternal functioning but also

provide the flow of the life force, by way of nourishment,

oxygen and detoxification, into the growing baby via

the umbilicus.

Hormones also mediate changes on the mental level for the

new mum literally by actually altering the brain structure

functionally and irreversibly, forever, to prepare her for

motherhood. These changes, initially mediated by the

hormones of pregnancy, are further activated during the

birthing process and then reinforced by the bonding process

and by daily physical closeness between mother and baby in

early infancy and baby years.

In fact, during pregnancy the ‘brain morphing’ process involves

clipping off some of the neural pathways of Maidenhood that

will no longer be utilized. In the weeks just prior to birth,

reshaping the brain to a ‘Mummy brain’ occurs by adding

new neural-chemical pathways, constructing large networks

of maternal circuits in a process known as ‘nesting’.

Researchers tell us that a ‘Mummy brain’ is larger, more

competent and has in-built mechanisms to increase

risk-taking, grant courage and be more ‘on alert’.

In this way, Nature ensures that the new mother will be

not only physically prepared for the task ahead of her,

but also mentally prepped to ensure the best possible

survival chances for the incoming baby.

On the emotional level too big changes are taking place

in the Mummy-to-be, again mediated by the powerful

effects of hormones. Intending mothers often feel a

high degree of apprehension and fear that the baby

may not be healthy or that they may not be able to

manage the birth or motherhood. These fears are

entirely normal and are a part of the preparation

process that Nature has programmed into pregnancy

to ensure that the mother is prepared.

As discussed above, late pregnancy brings much

relief to the fears typical of the early stages, through

brain changes that alter the neuro-chemical pathways

bringing courage and an ‘on-alert’ readiness to face

the unknown with agility and fearlessness. Many

of the distressing emotional states of earlier days

of pregnancy dissolve with this late stage brain

re-structuring.

And what about baby and emotions? Because Mother

and baby are sharing the same body they are also

encapsulated in the same energy field. Emotions are

shared too – what the mother feels the baby feels

also, not on the conscious level, but as an energy

flow, which directly affects the delicate growing

organs systems of the baby. In fact, the mother’s

emotions become part of the baby’s subconscious

reality, embedded at the cellular level as the baby

lays down her physical structure. In effect, the baby

is like a sponge, soaking up the mother’s emotional

ups and downs as a kind of energetic ancestral map

for the future. It is now recognized that we carry not

only the physical characteristics of our parents, but

also the emotional tendencies, particularly of our

mother. So it is evident that the mother’s demeanor

during pregnancy has a profound influence of

shaping the baby’s personality for life.

Pregnancy can be stressful – any time we are forced

to go through major change registers as stress on the

human BodyMind….and as we have seen pregnancy

involves lightning-speed changes and being catapulted

into a new life style, situation and depth of complexity

with your current intimate relationship. The key to

riding the wave of change with relative ease is to

stay healthy physically, emotionally and mentally.

You can control your physical health through yoga and

other gentle exercise, consciously eating well and

getting plenty of sleep.

As far as your mental and emotional wellbeing is concerned,

this is where women are challenged to let go of control

and go with the flow, trusting that what Nature has

programmed into baby-making processes will ensure

the evolution of the species, not its devolution. Billions

of women ahead of you have taken this journey – and

survived. You need to be aware that encoded deep in

the inner recesses of your being is faultless programming

designed by Nature to ensure the best possible birthing

outcome for you and your baby.

So here are a few tips on how to navigate pregnancy for

the best outcome for you and your baby:

Listen to your intuition – it is your best guidance system

and it is personally tailored to your own needs ad those

of the baby you are making. YOU know best, even

though you may never have done this amazing thing before.

Be selective from whom you take advice. There will be

many offering you advice and in many cases it will be

laced with fear, as women usually like to share their

’horror’ stories. Because fear is so infectious and you

are exceedingly vulnerable when pregnant, make a

decision to listen only to those who affirm your

ability to know what is best for yourself, even your

doctor and midwife.

Inform yourself with positive stories around pregnancy

and birthing and mix with people who have an

optimistic outlook.

Seek help to calm your emotional fears if you feel

they are out of hand – your baby will be calmer and

healthier if you cn mange to treat your emotional ups

and downs with a pinch of salt rather than over-

dramatising them.

And remember, you will get your body back so rather

than bemoaning its expansion, marvel at its flexibility

and adaptability and enjoy the experience…….

How inappropriate is it that Julia Gillard’s latest foreshadowed tax cut targeting disadvantaged teenage parents who refuse to attend school or training and punishing them by taking away their benefit, hit the headlines in the week prior to Mother’s Day?

From my perspective, apart from the fact that this particular social group is often targeted due to an antiquated morality that still punishes young women who fall pregnant out of wedlock (and this is not the issue being discussed here), this proposed budget cut hits even harder at the notion of motherhood itself.

In effect, it virtually penalises a young mum for staying home during the critical infant/toddler years when the quality of the mother-child bond shapes the physical, mental and emotional health of her offspring for the duration of her child’s life. There has been a plethora of research that unequivocally validates that a close and constant interaction between mother and child (not a child-care employee) is enormously beneficial during the critical formative (nurture) years of the in-arms and early toddlerhood phase of a child’s life.

This announcement sends a very clear message to young mums: that it is NOT OK to simply nurture and support your baby during these critically important formative years, but that you need to justify your existence, by undergoing skills training or education from the time the baby is six months old. It also requires that the child attend early learning classes such as childcare or preschool care.

In both cases it promotes separation between mother and child at an age when connection and bonding is forging major positive brain changes and growth in both mother and child that support the evolution of the next generation.

Recent research is informing us that babies lucky enough to have at-home quality mothering for the early formative years, grow into more rounded, balanced adults with less likelihood that they will go off the rails and develop serious social and mental illnesses It also demonstrates that these children have less health problems and become successfully independent from their parents at an earlier age. All-round healthier children grow into functional adults whose drain on the health resources of a country are minimized.

It has also been shown in a variety of research projects that a woman’s mental and emotional health matures dramatically during pregnancy and the early mothering experience, due to the massive brain changes that result from the inflow of hormones, cleverly programmed by nature to ensure that the baby survives.  Furthermore, when a woman’s experience of mothering is happy and she produces a contented, well-developed rounded child, she will actively seek to pursue a better life for herself and her youngster, because it is also programmed into her innate biology to ensure her child is well resourced and supported. This research demonstrates that young mothers with a positive parenting experience under their belt will step into the responsibility of a job much more readily than a similar aged teen from the same disadvantaged background, who has not yet had a baby.  This maturation process is an easily observable phenomenon in new mothers of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds, and is not restricted to disadvantaged teen mothers.

However, with timely support and intervention, particularly throughout the pregnancy, during infancy and early toddlerhood, younger mums from disadvantaged backgrounds given every assistance to bond deeply with their babies and to share their experience with other young mums will blossom and mature naturally. Forcing separation between a mother and her child at too early an age will prevent this natural process from flowing smoothly and easily.

I am not suggesting that these young women do not need help, but it seems to me, that a far better way of helping them would be to instigate a plan that supports the youngsters in their parenting from within the home environment, so that the parenting experience is successful, both for them and their offspring.  They will then be better able to pass the normal milestones of parenting and be ready, in concert with the child’s readiness to reach out to the world beyond the mum, to move into training and education in preparation for entering the workforce.

When women artificially control their hormones and their fertility they are affecting more than just bodily processes. For example, taking the contraceptive pill can result in physical side-effects such as weight gain, as well as personality changes including depression. When a woman is on the pill it is so much more difficult for her to stay in touch with the truth of her own inner being.

The healthier and more attuned to her feminine core, the more readily a woman will naturally conceive a healthy child. Being in touch with her body also assists her to practice safe and natural contraception so that she consciously makes a choice about when to start a family.

The need for Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) is an indication of a compromised reproductive system. Babies conceived in this way are being cheated of the right to be born fully healthy and functioning optimally, because by forcing reproduction when the body is not ready, we create babies that are less healthy than they can be if conceived naturally. Women in touch with their feminine intelligence can actively promote reproductive health and happy, healthy off-spring through maintaining a healthy body and mind.

When a woman is true to her essential being and embraces her natural femininity she steps into her power and to that of the ancient female lineage that is as deep as time itself. From this position she effectively shapes the world around her, and that of the generations to come. 

if you would like to understand how to embrace your natural femininity, you may be interested in attending some of our Spirit of Woman workshops. Here you will learn how flower essences made from the purity of nature can help you step into your power as a woman. To view our 2011 workshop schedule, click here.

More than one in six couples in Australia experience delays in conceiving. While the common perception is still that women are largely at fault when there are fertility problems, medical researchers are stating unequivocally now that the male carries at least 50% of the responsibility.

In fact, since 2004, a flurry of research into male fertility has had alarm bells ringing. Researchers in the US, Europe and Australia have estimated at least a 50% drop-off in male potency since our grandparents time and have even identified Sick Sperm Syndrome, a phenomenon that has raised many questions about whether the decline in male fertility is really is getting worse and what, in our modern lifestyles could be causing it.

As early as 2005, Professor of Developmental Biology at Queensland University, Peter Koopman said when discussing declining male infertility, “A little like global warming, what we will see with fertility is that things will reach breaking point…We’re starting to see a precipitous decline in fertility and if that continues over the next 10, 20, 50 years, it will be impossible for men to reproduce naturally. And I think that is a grave situation for the human race and for our quality of life.”

Research has identified a number of reasons why this decline is happening. Firstly, with our new understandings of trans-generational genetic mutation, it is now acknowledged that a son can not only inherit his father’s bad habits, but also the damage done to his father’s reproductive capacity as a result of that bad habit. For example, if a father develops lung cancer, DNA damage in his spermatozoa also occurs. As a consequence of that DNA damage, there is a four-to-five fold increased chance his children will develop childhood cancers of various kinds.  So his children are genetically weaker that he was.

Moreover, the newer technologies being used in IVF clinics around the country to offset the dramatic reduction in the amount of sperm available due to the recent rapid decline, is to isolate a single sperm to fertilise the oocyte(woman’s egg). This effectively bypasses Nature’s brilliant plan of having the strongest sperm win the conception race, thus ensuring a stronger offspring. Technicians are doing the selecting based on their limited perceptions of the strongest sperm. Natural selection is being compromised and babies are being born genetically weaker than their fathers.

Secondly, not only is there a decline in the quantity of sperm, but also research is demonstrating that the rise in male infertility is directly linked to the increase in testicular cancer particularly amongst young men in their twenties. And one of the main reasons is environmental toxins which damage the sperm when it is in the vulnerable ’production line’ phase, increasing vulnerability to cancer but also impacting on the potency of the sperm itself.

It is during this production process within the testes of the male that genetic material is being packed into the microscopic head of the sperm. This cargo is designed for delivery at the crucial moment when it binds to the oocyte, after its victory swim up the vaginal canal of the woman.

A range of specific and non-specific environmental toxins have been cited as responsible for little or no sperm production, slow sperm or non-functional sperm, during the production line phase which means effectively that the chances of being a victor sperm are minimal at the least and impossible in most cases. 

Studies on male fertility over the past twenty years by the Queensland Fertility Group was based on the job that the study participants do, indicating the level of environmental toxicity that the workers were exposed to, according to the clinic’s scientific director Keith Harrison.

 The studies showed that white collar workers, people who work in offices and don’t get their hands too dirty, around a quarter of them have significant semen defects.  For blue collar workers such as transport workers 50% of them had semen defects. In occupations where the men actually get their hands dirty, such as builders, electricians, painters, plumbers, again there’s a 50% incidence of abnormal semen. However, of the men who really get their hands dirty; motor mechanics, fitters, turners, welders, machinery operators – there was an almost doubling in the incidence of semen defects. Similarly, farmers and graziers and people in mining industries demonstrated double the incidence of semen defects as office-based workers.

 And the problem may even be even closer to home – or getting home after a day's work! Italian scientists say traffic pollution can affect male fertility by damaging sperm. After studying 85 attendants at tollgates on Italian motorways, researchers at the University of Naples in southern Italy discovered that the men had poorer quality sperm than other young and middle-aged Italian workers in the same area.

"The sperm count did not differ significantly between our study group and the controls but, in general, the sperm of the study group was more feeble and less active, so it has a lower fertility potential," said Dr Michele de Rosa, a researcher at the university.

Levels of testosterone and other hormones in the men, who were exposed to pollutants for about six hours a day, were normal, but sperm motility, or ability to swim, was lower, which could affect its ability to fertilise a female egg.

"Our study demonstrates that continuous exposure to traffic pollutants impairs sperm quality in young and middle-aged men," Dr De Rosa said.

The researchers said the toll workers had been exposed to higher levels of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide and lead than the other men in the area. They identified nitrogen oxides and lead as the most likely causes of sperm damage.

Furthermore, the effect of chemical intoxication can impact more than production of sperm in the adult male. It can impair embryonic development. For example, although the issue of oestrogens in the environment is contentious, many chemicals can produce oestrogen effects in animals and especially on developing foetuses. Exposure to some pesticides and plastics at high enough levels can disrupt male hormones, particularly in the developing foetus. If this damage has happened to the male embryo during gestation, it will take at least 20 to 30 years for that damage to be identified, which is when the now adult male attempts to reproduce himself. Many of the hazardous chemicals cited have not been around for long enough to determine the degree of damage to the DNA. Laboratory testing on animals however, do not paint a promising picture for male fertility.

As well as environmental toxins there is also a concern about the toxic effect that pharmaceutical drugs are having on male fertility. The concern is that while pharmaceuticals may be tested rigorously for their sematic toxicity (do they make your hair fall out or cause kidney or liver poisoning?) there is little effort given to studying their reproductive toxicology. Anti-depressants have been cited as compromising the health of the sperm.

 Researchers at the Cornell Medical Centre in New York put 35 men on the anti-depressant drug Paroxetine for five weeks. After a month, changes in the DNA of the men's sperm were discovered. Dr Peter Schlegel was the lead researcher for the project.

"If you look at normal sperm counts and motility, the standard measures of fertility, you saw no changes, but if you looked at sperm DNA, the genetic material in more detail you actually found dramatic changes in almost half of the men, normal men, who are on this drug," he said.

Paroxetine is sold in Australia as Aropax. Millions of prescriptions for various anti-depressant drugs are written in Australia every year.

In the face of all this doom and gloom, is there any glimmer in the darkness? Well, it seems that if men are prepared to take the pill, there may well be.

 For research has found that a combination of anti-oxidants and vitamins can significantly increase a man's fertility.

A tablet (ah-ha – a pill for men?) containing vitamins C and E, folate, zinc, lycopene and garlic oil has been found to help protect a man's sperm from damage caused by smoking, toxins and infections.

The study conducted in Australia found that the success of pregnancy doubled in the infertile couples who took the pill.

So in real terms what does all this mean? Well, according to current figures, even the most fertile of couples having unprotected sex at the right time of the month have just a 1 in 4 chance of conceiving that month. So getting pregnant isn’t as easy as our mothers warned us. And given that the proportion of abnormally low semen volume, sperm concentration and motility, increases significantly with the age of the male, along with women’s tendency to put off wanting to have children until they are older, it seems that we are fast heading to a future where having children will be the exception rather than the norm.

However, the problem of male fertility is not easily resolved. The male biological inscription determines that men are often the last to admit that there is anything wrong with them. That is why it has taken so long to even recognize that half of the current fertility crisis rests with men, and is not just the domain of the female. Women have carried the larger part of responsibility for contraception for fifty years now at great expense to their procreative power (the pill decreases fertility) their emotional stability (studies show the pill causes depression) and their birthright to pleasure (the pill has been proven to permanently decrease libido).  Men have had no need for chemical interference in their hormonal functioning because it was always assumed that women would bear the load.

The problem of rising infertility rates in the human species must be addressed if we are to bequeath future generations the endowment they are entitled to: that of the right to evolve. In the opinion of those observing the downward spiral of our reproductive power, we may well be heading to a future where reproduction is so compromised that humanity is on the path to devolution: that is each generation is becoming less healthy than the one before.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the axiom for health and wellbeing is moderation in all things, including moderation. Lifestyle it seems is a major contributing factor to rising rates of infertility. This is something we can all do something about. Eating well, regular exercise, resting and recuperating in balance with work and social activities, a regular detoxification program and taking supplementation if there is a deficiency are all easy ways to bring our bodies and minds into the balance required to create healthy sperm and eggs.

Balance also means bringing the opposites into a state of equilibrium. So, as men and women, gender polar opposites, come together to take responsibility for a challenge, there is where wholeness lies. Let us work together to create a healthy future for our children

 What do you think? I would love to have your opinion.

According to two recent Radio National Health Reports (2^nd November and 9^th November) about one third of all babies being born in Australia are being delivered by Caesarean section, that is a surgical cut through the mother’s abdomen.

There are two main groups of women having caesareans: those who choose it and those who consent to it on medical advice either before or during labour.   Of those, an estimated 18% request it for no medical reason- a recent phenomenon that has increased dramatically over the last decade.    It’s not really well understood why women choose caesarean section without a medical reason. However, a study by the Cochrane Collaboration found that women’s birth choices were heavily influenced by three things:

• previous birth experience,
• their need for choice and control and
• especially their fear of a vaginal birth.

Fear of vaginal birth is very real, especially when women are at the mercy of a medical system using terminology and strategies that induce fear and lack of confidence in their bodies. And a system that promotes women to hand over the responsibility of their contraception, fertility and birthing to doctors, who in many cases are male. Because the mainstream medical system is based in the masculine principles of problem solving, and its main treatment strategies are surgery and pharmaceutical intervention, it ignores the emotional side of medical conditions.

Woman are not counseled when they express their fear of the pain of childbirth, but rather told that the solution is to remove the baby surgically – there is no ‘how come you’re feeling like that, let’s talk about it, let’s see what kinds of things can we work through to help you feel empowered and, how can we help you make an informed decision’.

Caesarean is NOT a safer option!

The truth is that caesareans involve major surgery and according to experts who have had long-term experience with the aftermath of caesareans, they are definitely not a safer option. Apart from the implications of cutting open the uterus and thereby weakening it for subsequent pregnancies, there is the problem of adhesions, which can have life-threatening effects, in the event of  second and subsequent pregnancies.

According to obstetrician David Ellwood, the gravest outcome, Caesarean Scar Pregnancy, can be life-threatening and, with the increase in CS, is on the rise. This is where the embryo actually implants in the caesarean scar and starts to develop within the scar. According to Ellwood, “the gestation sac then starts to disrupt the scar and if it develops for too long the wall of the uterus will actually rupture and the scar will break open, there will be a major haemorrhage”.

Furthermore the pregnancy cannot progress. Again says David Ellwood, the pregnancy “can progress for quite a few weeks, in fact the most dangerous types of caesarean scar pregnancies are those that have been undetected and have progressed to quite an advanced gestation.” Because the baby “couldn’t survive to full term” late-term abortion is then required which involves either an infusion of the cancer drug methotraxate that kills placental tissues, so it stops the placenta from growing and developing, or, by surgically cutting the baby out of the uterus. In the former procedure, the lethal drug has to also circulate through the mother’s system.

Another complication that arises with pregnancies following a caesarean birth can result in the placenta penetrating into the uterine wall and even through into the bladder, because it cannot attach to the scar tissue in the uterus. The inevitable outcome for this condition is that baby must be born by Caesarean Section and the uterus removed at the time of surgery, because there is no way to stop bleeding without taking out the uterus altogether.

Side Effects on Baby of Caesarean Birth

If these are the consequences of surgical birth for the mother, what is the impact on the baby? According to the report, research demonstrates that surgically delivered babies show a dramatic increase in:

• Type 1 diabetes
• Asthma
• Allergies
• Breathing problems

The report goes on to say that in many cases, intervention is often unnecessary and that the markers for foetal distress that determine a doctor recommending a caesarean during labour are often commonly over-exaggerated, causing excess caution in a process that is natural. Doctor’s fear of litigation has been cited for this extreme over-caution.

In my book, The Essence of Woman, I describe how Nature has designed stress into the birth process, balanced by the return of the vaginally-born baby to the heart-field of the mother, as she cuddles her newborn. A close, tight birth canal ensures that every inch of the baby’s skin is stimulated, cleverly planned into the birthing process to trigger the initiation of the baby’s functional systems. These are the systems that will enable baby to exist independently of the ‘mother-ship’ and include the digestive, respiratory, circulatory, nervous and elimination systems.

In a caesarean birth, these systems are not stimulated, resulting in an inefficient ‘start-up’ of the baby’s independent systems. This means that there will be functional deficiencies involving the skin, lungs, stomach, liver, bowel, heart and brain of the newborn.  The health outcomes include allergies, digestive disharmonies such as childhood and infancy diabetes (alarmingly on the rise) and colic, asthma, psychological and emotional problems such as ADD, ADHD, autism, developmental retardation and behavioural difficulties, including autism.

To understand how these health problems arise when a child is unnaturally born, read my book, The Essence of Woman, where the underlying MindBody connections are fully explained in easy readable language.

As women, we need to seriously consider how far away from our natural feminine intelligence we have strayed, when we willingly agree to have our natural processes managed for us by pharmaceutical companies that drive our mainstream medical systems for profit. In most case, this means white-washing the public into believing in the medicalisation of women’s natural reproductive processes, as with the recommended use of HRT for menopause.

Women Have Lost Confidence in Their Bodies

Many women have lost confidence in their bodies. This happens when we collaborate in the management of our reproductive processes with a medical system using toxic pharmaceutical agents that injure the body and downgrade our natural processes.

Use of the contraceptive pill has become commonplace now, and yet it has serious repercussions for the health of women. The dramatic rise in IVF (one in six couples in Australia are affected by infertility, and one in twenty babies – about 10,000 – are currently born using assisted reproductive technology) is a testimony to the fact that women’s fertility is being negatively impacted.

What’s more, the pill has been shown to reduce libido and to contribute significantly to depression.

But it doesn’t stop there. The cascade affect goes on: the more the IVF cycles, the less likely a woman is to conceive. In other words, IVF further degrades fertility and contributes to multiple births, where neither the mother nor the babies receive the optimum nutrition or energy to deliver optimum health for the newborn at birth.

Moreover, research has demonstrated that the natural gender balance is being gradually eroded with 58% of babies being born male via IVF, compared to 51% born male by natural conception.

A study, by the Key Centre for Women’s Health in Society at the University of Melbourne, found:

• IVF mothers more likely than non-IVF mothers to have a caesarean birth
• Three times more likely to seek help from an early parenting centre and
• Babies more likely to be bottle-fed by three months of age

The conclusion of the study was stated thus: “We think that experiencing infertility and the added stress of using Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) has a cumulative effect, eroding women’s confidence in themselves and in their bodies.”

IVF has a touted success rate of 15%. It is a billion dollar industry that is increasing its profits by the day. Currently, there are no quality control standards in place, nor is there any come-back for couples who pay out tens of thousands of dollars with nothing to show at the bitter end, but heartache and a stressed relationship.

Truly, it is a modern day tragedy that seems to have no end in sight.

Continuing down this path can only result in the dramatic devolution of the human race, in terms of both physical and psychological health and wellbeing of the children being born, in this denatured way.   That is unless, as women we stand up and say no, stop and enough!!

It is within our power to find other, more appropriate ways to manage our fertility that does not involve chemical castration, the expunction of natural coital conception and the slicing open of our abdomens to cut our babies from our bodies.

On Friday 21st August on Tony Eastley’s AM morning program on ABC Radio National there was a discussion on the alarming increase in juvenile diabetes in Australia. More Australian children are being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes than ever before. A new report reveals that were 900 new cases notified in 2007.

That represents a 30% increase in the number of new cases since 2000.

This means that Australia has the highest rate of Type 1 diabetes in the world – around 1000 children being diagnosed each year.

The report also looked at the increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes and that more Australians are developing the disease at a younger age.

Factors considered to contribute to the increase fell into three categories:

1/ A childhood virus that is part of a range of 17 viruses called enteroviruses – no concrete proof of this as a cause but considered by scientists to be a high likelihood (30% – >50%)

2/ Lack of Vitamin D – this consideration is based on studies, which correlate rates of diabetes in countries with low exposure to sunlight such as Finland and Scandinavia versus countries with high sunlight exposure. Again this is just considered to be a hypothesis – and a simplistic one at that.

3/ Bottle Feeding – early introduction of cow’s milk to the gut might inflame the gut or intestine of the baby and cause a development of an autoimmune response where the immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.

Personally I was alarmed and but not shocked at the statistics.

In my clinical practice, the underlying cause of so many diseases that people present with stem from a digestive weakness.

And, as we can see from the above discussion, many Australians are suffering from an inherently weak digestive system. This means that no matter how high the quality of foods that we put into our bodies, the digestive system just cannot efficiently transform the incoming food into available energy.

Diabetes is the most serious disease outcome of this weakness, along a spectrum of other disorders that effectively sabotage the joy and energy available to us in our daily lives. This gives rise to a vast range of unpleasant symptoms such as sinusitis, chronic lethargy and tiredness, menstrual difficulties, anxiety and stress symptoms, allergies, acne and so on, to mention just a few!

I believe that the scientific approach outlined above leaves out one critical factor that underpins each of the three hypotheses described. That is the crucial mother-child bond that nature built into the birthing and early infancy process, but which is being negatively impacted by unnatural birthing methods, early weaning and premature separation of mother and child through early child-care practices.

The mother-child bond is critical to the baby’s health and relies on primary contact in early infancy and toddlerhood with the mother or primary care-giver. This does not include a mother substitute who divides her time between many children under supervision.

A healthy mother-child bond assures not only the emotional and mental wellbeing of the child but also has a powerfully positive effect on triggering the integrity of the physical digestive system.

A good healthy digestive system needs a natural birth to initiate healthy functioning, and close mother-baby contact through breast-feeding to ensure that the intake of food is associated with pleasure and contentedness.

An anxious baby whose emotional and close-proximity needs are not being met becomes anxious and fearful, setting off an inflammatory process throughout the body that centres in the digestive system. This also weakens the immune system, leaving the baby open to virus proliferation in the gut, as described above.

I wonder whether the fact that Finland and Scandinavia have a more enlightened approach to early mothering, exemplified by their much more time-generous allowance for parenting leave, is not a more realistic reason why there is a lower incidence of diabetes in the young in these countries.

From a Mind-Body perspective, emotional and mental factors cannot be separated from the physical – together they interact to produce either health or disease – and even more critically in the infant, when critical body systems are being kick-started. In fact, the patterns of health or disease set during these early days, are the ones that will persist throughout a lifetime.

Let’s go deeper than the surface when looking for the patterns of a disease that is undermining the health and wellbeing of our people. Birthing practices, breast-feeding and supporting mums to stay at home with their babies for as long as possible, seem to me to be the best ways that we can prevent the rise of this life-debilitating disease that produces its insidious effect in so many areas of our daily life.

My range of flower essences has a blend which might be useful to strengthen the bond, even years later.

Introducing ……….. Blue Mink

This is one of the exciting NEW flower essences that is part of my Spirit of Woman Australian Flower Essences range. The range will be launched at the Endeavour College

on 21st June, 2009. For details and to register for an invitation click here

Blue Mink
Ageratum Houstonianum

Description:
Native to tropical Mexico, this member of the Asteraceae or Compositae family (which contains daises, sunflowers and asters) is a popular and easily grown annual that has escaped cultivated gardens and now flourishes as a classified weed.
It is fully established in Australia and is commonly known here as Blue Mink or Blue Top.
It has low sheen, heart-shaped leaves that are slightly furry, with showy blue, lavender and mauve-pink fluffy, soft flower-heads.
Medicinally, it is classed as an anodyne – an agent that soothes, comforts or relaxes. The juice of the plant is used externally to treat cuts and wounds.
An ornamental plant, the flowers are very attractive to butterflies that can be seen dancing around their soft, blue fluffy flower-heads in the sunshine.
Doctrine of signatures:
The soft, puffy appearance of this attractive little flower calls out to be touched. It gives the impression that it could be used to stroke the skin soothingly.
It has heart-shaped leaves that are soft, furry and pleasing to touch.
Its soft blue, lavender and pink colours are classically feminine and evoke a sense of tenderness.
Medicinally, it is classed as an anodyne, which is used to relax and soothe, so it carries the quality of softening the hard lines of tension and stress that grip and tauten the body.
Its use in treating cuts and wounds on the skin suggests a strong healing quality for emotional wounds that have penetrated deeply through the protective barrier of the aura which, when intact and healthy, protects the skin and keeps us feeling safe and relaxed.
It loves to grow in the filtered sun, evoking the image of lying in a relaxed state, soaking up gentle warmth and feeling no anxiety, stress, tension, pressure or sense of threat.
It likes to be protected from harsh cold windy conditions, signifying the sense of wanting to be kept safe from the outside world.
Originally a cultivar that has escaped and now roams free across the landscape, it suggests the feeling of freedom that women experience when they are liberated enough to relax and enjoy their sensuality and sexuality.
This soft and attractive little flower evokes a feeling of wanting to touch it. It resonates with women because of its tactile softness and feminine colours. It is particularly appropriate for women in the area of sexual expression and intimacy where stress is an ongoing factor in their busy lives.
Stress affects women differently to men, particularly in the areas of sex and intimacy.
The stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline boost the inflow of testosterone into a male’s bloodstream causing him to want to have sex. In fact, sexual connection relieves a man’s stress by draining the build-up of tension from his body leaving him feeling relaxed and soothed and brimming with oxytocin, the hormone that fosters connection and love of intimacy. A sexually satisfied man will sleep easy after a love-making session with his partner, feeling secure and comfortable.
But the hormonal drivers work differently in a woman’s body. They cause a distinct physical and emotional adverse response to sexual advances from her partner. Cortisol and adrenaline dampen down the oxytocin inflow into a woman’s body so that she does not respond to touch in the way that she normally would when relaxed. They also diminish the production of the neuro-chemical dopamine, which triggers her desire for pleasure.
So stress acts to restrict and harden a woman to the sexual advances of her partner.
In fact, often her stress is increased when he reaches for her because she feels so stretched already, and the last thing on her mind is sex when all she wants to do is sleep! Blue Mink relaxes and soothes, paving the way to being open to physical contact.
One of the old-fashioned advices that came to me from my grandmother was, if you want a happy marriage and you can’t ‘make it’, then fake it!
The women’s liberation movement looked sternly down its nose at this old adage as it seemed to be suggesting that a woman is acting against her best interests by giving in to her husband’s request for sex when she doesn’t really want it.
The biological reality is that, for women, all the normal triggers for sexual desire do shut down when she is stressed, making sex seem like a chore rather than a pleasure.
But the secret is that there is truth in what our grandmothers were saying.
Research demonstrates that even though we may not be open to sex at the outset, by going ahead and engaging sexually, the hormones of sexual pleasure, relaxation and satisfaction start to flow once sex begins.
Below conscious level, the ‘pleasure and connection’ hormones, stimulated by the act of sex, switch on the body’s relaxation response, causing the body-mind to unwind naturally.
The outcome is deep healing sleep and relief from the tension burden that could otherwise persist for days and even weeks, if not cleared.
Stress and tension generate an unhealthy tightening of the body musculature and debilitation of the nervous system, causing both physical and emotional pain and reduced function.
Physical symptoms can include headaches, PMT, tiredness, palpitations, acne and digestive dysfunction. Blue Mink assists with these stress-induced conditions, assisting the Body-Mind to relax and release.
Emotional repercussions can range from overwhelm, anxiety, irritability and irrational anger and striking out, to feelings of isolation, separation and a desire to escape from the world. Use Blue Mink first then follow up with another essence, appropriate to the specific emotional state.
In the long-term, chronic stress is the precursor to many debilitating disease states.
Healing Challenges:
For stress.
For dislike of intimate touch.
For feeling stressed by sexual advances from a partner.
For dislike of partner and feelings of mistrust.
For being closed off and hard-edged to children, family or friends.
For deep emotional pain from a past relationship.
For skin diseases, such as psoriasis, eczema, rosacea, neuro-dermatitis, superficial wounds and scratches.
Healing Outcomes:
Relieves stress and tension.
Opens a stressed woman to the comfort and protective energy of her partner.
Softens the hard lines of tension through gentle touch of the skin, in a non-sexual way.
Restores a sense of connection and intimacy, particularly when stressed.
Heals long-held emotional heart wounds from the past.
Has a soothing healing effect on the skin
Soothes a ruffled or torn aura.
For psoriasis, neuro-dermatitis, eczema, especially when worse with emotional stress.

To find out more about this exciting new range of flower essences specifically for women, click here

I heard recently of a medical conference being held to discuss the link between depression and heart disease. Hailed as a first in the industry, it appears to be a real ground-breaker, challenging the old Cartesian notion, which is the basis of modern medicine and emphasizes the split between Mind and Body. And not before time!

Born in 1596, Rene Descartes had a primary influence on thinking in his day, and through his book, Discourse on Method, his philosophy went on to influence the development of the underlying principles of the emerging medical model. Descartes distinguished between the res cogitans and the res extensa. The former referred to the soul or mind and was said to be essentially "a thing which thinks." The latter was the material stuff of the body, characterised primarily by the fact that it occupied space and was therefore amenable to measurement.

Descartes was a pretty smart fellow who established several patterns for modern Europe to follow: he laid down the idea that the thinking mind was somehow more real than the body in which it is housed (this is called the Cartesian mind-body split); and that emotions were due to the overall nature of the character of the individual–called Cartesian affect (i.e., emotion) theory.

From that point onwards in European culture, subjective truth would hold a higher and more important epistemological place than objective truth, skepticism would be built into every inquiry, method would hold a higher place than practice, and the mind would be separated from the body.

In recent years neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists have argued that this ontological separation of mind and body is no longer tenable.

Upheld by some of the mind-boggling discoveries concerning the interactive nature of energy and matter described in New Physics, we are charging into the new millennium knowing the ‘energy and matter are dual expressions of the same primary substance’.

So Mind and Body are interconnected after all, and Descartes was wrong.

No wonder modern medicine, with its emphasis on the split between what we think and how our body responds, is losing followers in droves – many people, these days, are more informed about the true nature of how we function as living human beings than medical doctors, who are supposed to be the experts on health and well-being.

The Mind-Body split developed in mainstream medicine as separate disciplines, each robustly defending the boundaries of their own job description. Physicians treated the body, while psychiatrists treated the mind and ‘ne’er the twain shall meet’. In fact, to emphasis the split, psychiatrists are not licensed to touch the body.

I was discussing this very topic yesterday with an ex-nurse. She said that when she was training they were told that when treating patients, any procedure or strategy that would cause their patients to close their eyes was not allowed – because such practice belongs to the realm of psychiatry, not physical medicine!

So, as practitioner myself, the notion that I would be not allowed to reach out and touch a client empathetically, during an ‘emotional storm’, is abhorrent. Touch is such a reassuring comfort, for a person who is ‘beside themselves’ with emotional distress, evoking a sense of connection and safety that assists in healing the wound for them.

True healing involves healing the mind of inconsistencies and distortions, at the same time as correcting the body function that has gone out of balance in resonance. Often we do not recognize the attitudes and mind fixations that negatively affect us, until we have them mirrored back to us by someone outside of ourselves – that is the nature of Mind – it can always defend its own position. But when some disturbing physical symptom appears to come out of nowhere, that is the time to turn inwards for a moment and reflect on what messages we have been giving our body and what parts of our lives we have been neglecting, that have resulted in dis-ease.

The Body is a reflection of the Mind – a healthy Mind results in a healthy Body and vice versa – energy and matter are dual expressions of the same primary substance. And what is that primary substance? It is the Vital Force or energy (Qi) that animates all life and is expressed through the Body-Mind as body, mind and spirit.

So pleased to know that mainstream medicine is finally getting it, as evidenced by psychiatrists and physicians getting together at this conference to discuss the connection between heart disease and depression! It stands to reason that a depressed person will not have a happy heart.

In energy medicine we say that ‘when the heart is unhappy, the organs tremble’

A book on treating cancer that grabbed my attention, when researching this post looks interesting. Let me pass it on to you:

Healing the Mind/Body Split: Bringing the Patient Back Into Oncology
Steven Greer, MD, FRCPsych
St. Raphael’s Hospice, Surrey, United Kingdom
The effect on oncology of the doctrine of Cartesian dualism is examined. It is argued that this doctrine continues to exert a baneful (though unacknowledged) influence on the practice of oncology, Descartes’s doctrine of a mind/ body split is mistaken, and mind and body (brain) are inextricably interwoven. A biopsychosocial model of disease is advocated. The role of psychooncology in healing the mind/ body split by focusing research attention on the patient is outlined.

And if you haven’t read my book, The Essence of Woman, you may be interested to follow this topic. It takes one step further, describing how the energy/matter fusion is expressed in the body, in both women and men, with especial emphasis on feminine intelligence (Yin Qi)