Cathleen McCauley L.M.T.

By Cathy McCauley, LMT, NCTMB

Spring has officially sprung and a multitude of signs show the season is upon us. Take a walk through your neighborhood and you see crocuses blooming and green buds taking shape. The earth is fertile and bursting with life.

With spring here, it’s the time for rejuvenation and cleansing. The longer days bring a renewed boost of energy. With spring, you receive the opportunity to release any stagnation that has accumulated during the winter and start fresh in mind and body. You can look ahead and make plans for the coming year.

A Chinese proverb says, “Make your whole year’s plans in the spring, and your day’s plans early in the morning.”  The proverb comes from the fact that farmers sow their seeds in early spring to ensure a good harvest and highlights the importance of being proactive.  Applying this concept to fertility, you can see the importance of starting early in taking care of your reproductive health. When you begin to pay attention to your bodies’ rhythms, cycles, signs and symptoms, your chances can increase in creating a fertile environment.

If you haven’t been as proactive about fertility as you’d like, spring is the perfect time to make plans for the future. It might be time to talk to your doctor about a fertility blood work up to determine what’s really going on with your hormones. You could make an appointment with a nutritionist to overhaul your eating habits to be more fertility friendly or take a yoga class to learn some breathing and relaxation techniques for stress reduction.

Click here to learn about the Fertility Awareness Check-Up available from Fertility Centers of Illinois for just $90

Also, the concept of spring cleaning our bodies can become an important ritual. You need to clear out the toxins and rejuvenate any stagnate energy in the body to boost immunity and increase fertility health. Since spring is the time for new beginnings, it’s a good opportunity to experience something new. Acupuncture helps balance the energy in the body and stabilize the organs and bodily functions. Reiki, a gentle form of vibrational energy healing, helps restore harmony in the body, mind and soul and clears emotional blockages. Fertility massage focuses on opening up the abdominal and reproductive organs to promote the immune system and assist in blood flow. Massage also greatly reduces tension and helps you feel great.

In the spring, people begin to feel better as the temperatures increase, the sunlight shines and the world turns green. Pour some of that warmth and light into your reproductive health to invigorate and rejuvenate your personal fertility journey.

We’re here to guide you along your path and hope to see you soon!

 by Beth Heller, MS RYT

Chicago has had an amazing winter and a very early spring.  This past week has found us meditating on flip-flops…in March!

 While it’s super fun to slip on a pair of summery wedges and paint our toenails pink, open toed shoes and flip-flops aren’t the only reason to pay attention to our piggies.  When it comes to the holistic view of fertility  feet occupy a place of honor.  If you’ve ever had fertility acupuncture you know that many of the points that support the reproductive system are located in the feet and ankles.  Reflexologists assert that the feet literally provide a map of the body and that we can use foot manipulation to impact different physical organs.  Yoga, too, teaches that healthy feet are important for better menstrual function, dispelling toxins and improving immunity.

So what’s so special about our feet?  In yoga, the feet are seen as the foundation of our being that is connected with the earth.  The most basic of yoga poses, mountain pose, challenges us to simply stand and find balance from our feet to the top of our head.  If we close our eyes in mountain pose, we can visualize the outlines of our feet on our yoga mat…literally our footprint in the world.  One of the strangest things for the new yoga practitioner is exercising in bare feet rather than sneakers.   Postures are practiced barefoot to maximize our awareness of our feet.  Yoga postures also stretch and stimulate different points on the feet that are associated with different organ systems in the body.

Symbolically, the challenges of fertility lead us away from our feet into our head as we spin our mental wheels searching for the silver bullet that will blast us past “trying” time into mommy time.  Our feet, particularly when we practice yoga asana, bring us home from our imaginings and projections to the here and now.

On an energetic level, the feet are associated with our first chakra.  Chakras are energy wheels located along our spine and each chakra is associated with both physiological functions and spiritual life-lessons.  On a psycho-spiritual level the first chakra is associated with security, trust and our sense of belonging.  Physically, the first chakra governs our immune system, gut health and lower back.  The feet are also very important for the flow of apana energy, the energy current in our body that moves downward from the pelvis to the soles of the feet, governs the menstrual cycle and the ability for our body to dispel toxins.

So, be kind to your feet.   Try not to cram them into uncomfortable shoes and make sure they  are frequently touched or nurtured.   Here are some tips for fertility-friendly feet:

1.  Shake hands with your feet once a day.  To do this, take your fingers and thread them between your toes (pinky finger between pinky and second toe, ring finger between second and middle toe, etc.).  Once your fingers are threaded, gently squeeze and massage the ball of the foot.   Repeat on the other side.
2. Keep your feet warm.  Cold feet mean decreased circulation.  With summer coming we face “air conditioner freeze syndrome.”  Keep a pair of fuzzy socks in your bag or desk for the days when you feel like you work in a refrigerator!
3. Experiment with reflexology, the science of foot massage.  Either see a professional reflexologist or try out “reflexology socks,” that actually outline the different areas of the foot and their associated organ system.
4. Try yoga.  If you’re a runner or walker, your feet may need a good stretch.  Time spent in yoga class in bare feet can help feet become more flexible and improve circulation to these important fertility “organs.”  Click here to view our upcoming Yoga for Fertility schedule for DC Metro and Chicagoland.

Cathleen McCauley L.M.T.

by Cathy McCauley, LMT

If painful periods plague you, massage may reduce your discomfort, according to a recent study by the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Isfahan, Iran. Conducted in 2010, the research studied the effects of massage therapy on dysmenorrhea, also referred to as painful periods, caused by endometriosis.

“Endometriosis is one of the prevalent diseases highly affecting women’s quality of life during childbearing ages…it can cause side effects such as severe pelvic pain, painful intercourse, abnormal uterine bleeding, painful menstruation and decreased fertility. All this can negatively affect women’s ability to work and have familial relations, and reduce their self-confidence,” states the study’s authors.

The study included 23 female patients, ranging in age from 21 to 40, who had been diagnosed with endometriosis and suffering from dysmenorrhea. Prior to the study nearly 70 percent of the women reported having menstrual pain before and after menstruation. A visual analog scale was used for each patient to rate menstrual pain on three occasions: before receiving any massage treatments, immediately following the first menstruation after the treatments and again six weeks later.

Treatments consisted of 20 massage sessions, each 20 minutes in length. The participants were treated with massage to specific points on their abdomen, sides and back.

Results of the study found that massage therapy has immediate and long-term effects on reduction of menstrual pain caused by endometriosis. In fact, pain reduction reached 65.2 percent six weeks after the massage treatments up from 34.8 percent immediately after treatments, showing long-term pain reduction being a significant.

So whether you’re experiencing painful menstruation, pelvic pain or decreased infertility due to endometriosis, massage may be able to help lessen your pain. To learn more about Pulling Down the Moon’s massage protocols, please contact me at cathleen@pullingdownthemoon.com or 312.321.0004. I look forward to working with you!  To schedule an appointment click here!

References

P Bahadoran, N. Ghasemi, R. Heshmat, M. Valiani. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2010 Autumn; 15(4): 167–171. Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran; International Manual Medicine College of France; and Acupuncture School of Shanghai, Shanghai, China.

Cathleen McCauley L.M.T.

By Cathleen McCauley, LMT

At Pulling Down the Moon, we often advise clients on ways to clear the body of toxicity. Detoxification helps eliminate harmful substances in your body, boosts your body’s systems to function properly and optimally, and enhances your body’s ability to handle the toxins of every day life.

Pulling Down the Moon’s Cleanse the Body massage session is one way to assist you in detoxification. The session incorporates lymph drainage massage to stimulate the lymphatic system, purify the body and build immunity. It helps prepare your body before attempting pregnancy or beginning fertility treatments. And in between treatments or after a miscarriage, lymph massage helps to clear your body of old medications and hormones.

The Lymphatic System

I like to describe the lymphatic system as your body’s garbage collector and filtration system. A network of organs, nodes, ducts, and vessels, the lymphatic system produces a substance called lymph and transports it from tissues to the bloodstream. As lymph circulates the body, it absorbs fluid, waste products, dead cells, bacteria, viruses, fats, and proteins and promotes the production of immune cells. Working closely with the circulatory system, it delivers nutrients, oxygen and hormones to the body’s tissue.

When a client experiences poor health or stress, eats a poor diet, takes medications or is surrounded by chemicals, pollution or free radicals, the lymph system may become overtaxed, sluggish or stagnant. As toxic buildup occurs in your body, it may become difficult for your body to balance hormones, build immunity and create energy.

Lymphatic Drainage Technique

Unlike the circulatory system, which uses the heart to pump blood through the arteries and veins, the lymph system does not have a central pump. It does, however, have minor contractile ability with a “pulse” of one to 30 beats per minute.  Muscle contraction─ through movement like exercise—and diaphragmatic or belly breathing are the key methods for pushing lymph through the body; light massage techniques also acts as a pump to stimulate the lymphatic system.

During the Cleanse the Body massage session, a series of light, repetitive movements are used to encourage lymph fluid to flow through the system. The technique kick-starts the removal of waste and toxicity and delivers nutritive substances and hormones to your body. By promoting lymph flow to the nodes, filtration and purification occurs enhancing liver function, building the immune system and increasing fluid movement to and from organs and tissues.

The Client Experience

Often, clients say they feel very little happening when they receive a lymphatic drainage, especially those clients who typically receive deep massage treatments.  But shortly after the session begins, clients are lulled into a deep state of relaxation by the light and rhythmic nature of the work.

Each client’s response to lymphatic drainage differs depending on the body’s individual toxicity levels. Some clients feel a deep sense of relaxation; others experience a burst of energy; and a handful of clients may experience fatigue or mild flu-like symptoms. These are normal responses that may last up to two days. Drinking extra water can help to eliminate toxins and flush the system.

For more information about the Cleanse the Body massage session or the benefits of lymph drainage, please contact me at cathleen@pullingdownthemoon.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

References

Osborn, K. (2005). Lymph Massage, Armoring the Immune System. Retrieved May 30, 2011 from http://www.massagetherapy.com/articles/index.php/article_id/937/Lymph-Massage

Rattray, F; Ludwig, L. (2000). Clinical Massage Therapy: Understanding, Assessing and Treating Over 70 Conditions. Toronto, Talus Incorporated.

Shier, D.; Butler, J; Lewis R. (2007). Hole’s Human Anatomy and Physiology, 11th Ed. New York, McGraw-Hill.

West, Z. (2011). Massage, Manual Lymphatic Drainage. Retrieved May 30, 2011 from http://www.zitawest.com/area.php?section=14&item=88

by Cathleen McCauley, LMT

Cathleen McCauley L.M.T.

Recently we held an open house at Pulling Down the Moon, and a perspective client asked me about the benefits of receiving fertility massage. I am happy she asked this question! I’d like to share with you some of the positive outcomes that clients experience from fertility massage.

Fertility Enhancing Massage (FEM) Protocol

At Pulling Down the Moon, we offer the Fertility Enhancing Massage (FEM) protocol. Exclusive to the center, the sequence is a series of four 60-minute fertility-specific massages designed to enhance the health and functioning of the pelvic and abdominal organs and promote mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. Each FEM session has its own unique benefits. Below are just a few:

Cleanse the Body: The first session in the FEM protocol, this massage helps clear the body of toxins. A few of the benefits clients receive from this session include a heightened sense of relaxation aiding in stress and pain reduction; stimulation of the lymph system to detoxify, purify and balance the body; and a feeling of emotional and mental well-being.

Enhance the Blood: Focused on promoting circulation, the second massage in the FEM series offers numerous benefits to fertility clients. By increasing blood flow, tissue and organs are nourished, helping them to function properly. As blood is pumped to the ovaries and uterus, egg health is supported and the lining of the uterus may increase. The abdominal region relaxes, reducing stagnation and rigidity; scar tissue or adhesions may be released.

Open the Breath: To breathe is to be alive, and in the third FEM session, your body will benefit from increased oxygen intake. Sufficient air flow creates organ movement. When your diaphragm muscle functions correctly, fluids like blood are renewed and stagnation flushed.  You experience increased blood flow to the ovaries and uterus. Deep breathing creates tone and alignment in the pelvic muscles while reducing stress throughout the body.

Relax and Integrate: The final session in the series aims to calm your body. Benefits often include deep, restorative states of restfulness. Your heart rate and blood pressure decreases, muscular tension releases, breathing slows and pain decreases.

I hope this brief overview provides you with a little more insight about the benefits of fertility massage. If you’d like more information about any of the sessions, on Sunday, June 12, I will be offering a one-hour patient education seminar on the FEM protocol. It is free. I encourage you to attend or contact me. You may reach me at cathleen@pullingdownthemoon. I look forward to hearing from you!

Cathleen McCauley L.M.T.

By Cathleen McCauley LMT

Imagine for a moment that you feel completely healed. What does that feel like to you? Maybe you feel well, your reproductive system or other body parts functioning healthily. You may feel spiritually whole, filled with understanding and purpose. Or perhaps for you, feeling healed equates to emotional balance and ease.

As you focus your awareness on your personal healing, know in your heart that it is possible. During growth or crisis phases in life, healing takes courage and dedication as you sift through your feelings and sit with them. Oftentimes it requires outside assistance, a trusted companion to help you dig deep into the parts of you that need some attention.  Above all, it calls for gentleness with self and spirit.

Turning to the chakra system to help you find your way through your experiences can be a great first step. Let’s look at how the first and second chakras, known as the lower chakras, can bring healing awareness.

The Root Chakra

The first chakra, known as the Root Chakra or Muladhara in Sanskrit, spins from the base of the spine. It relates to procreation and Mother Earth as well as to birth, receiving unconditional love from your parents and the beginning of your life. Oftentimes it is described as the place where physical energy, instinct and vitality are born.  From the Root Chakra, your kundalini, or pure desire, rises.

Meditation on the first chakra can help you feel safe, secure, grounded and stable as you navigate the fertility journey. When you are rooted, you feel fully alive, joyful, curious and able to trust. This chakra teaches that all is one.

Working with this chakra allows you access to greater self-nourishment should you have healing to do from early childhood. When you spend time nurturing and supporting your inner child, your first chakra blooms.  Healing on this level also plants the seeds for the future. What you do now to heal yourself opens the way for your children to have fulfilling early experiences when they come into the world.

Being disconnected from Root Chakra energy can manifest as high levels of fear or stress, addictions, depression, obsessive disorders or an extreme need for control. Physically, this chakra relates to the spine, kidneys, adrenal glands, immune system, skeletal system and reproductive organs. Cold hands and feet, frequent urination, high-blood pressure, low back pain, difficulties in the feet, legs or hips, low sex drive, and infertility or impotence are common ailments associated with an unbalanced first chakra.

The Sacral Chakra

As the energy of the first chakra opens, it moves up to the lower abdomen two fingers below the navel to closely relate to Swadhisthana or the Sacral Chakra. The center for emotion, desire and passion, the second chakra brings creativity, empowerment, sincerity and sexual energy into your life. Its symbol is a crescent moon, representing femininity and the womb.

As you open awareness to Sacral Chakra energy, you begin to explore your true feminine nature. You embrace your compassionate and nurturing qualities; you trust your intuition. Creativity blossoms and your emotions feel in balance. Relationships, both casual and intimate, are satisfying. You experience and enjoy sensual sexual experiences. Your female reproductive organs function healthfully.

As a child, if you were unable to express your feelings, emotions or desires, your second chakra may need attention. Some characteristics of an unbalanced second chakra include fear of pleasure, being out of touch with your feelings, resistance to change, acting overly emotional or dramatic, sexual addiction or poor boundaries.

In her book Anatomy of the Spirit, The Seven Stages of Power and Healing (Three Rivers Press, 1996) author and medical intuitive Carolyn Myss, Ph.D., explains that many female health problems stem from second chakra issues. “Problems with menstruation, cramps and PMS are classic indications that she is in some kind of conflict with being a woman…,” writes Myss.  Problems with bleeding or irregular periods frequently occur due to emotional stress and the feeling that a woman doesn’t have control over her choices, she says.

Further, Myss’ writes that tubal problems and infertility are centered on a woman’s inner child. The flow of eggs, she writes, can be blocked because the woman’s inner being does not feel nurtured or mature enough to feel fertile.

The Journey

Opening awareness to the parts of you that may need healing attention can be difficult. Take small steps. Remember to treat yourself with gentle care and nurturing commitment. Honor yourself for where you are right now on your journey, and be well in knowing you are whole.

As you ground yourself and connect with your feminine energy, I encourage you to contact me for more information or to make an appointment for the Enhance the Blood massage session. This healing massage treatment focuses on opening circulatory pathways to bathe the reproductive organs in blood and bring regeneration and nourishment to your whole body.

I look forward to assisting you as you connect with the sacredness of your body. You may contact me at Cathleen@pullingdownthemoon.com.

We hope you will take the time to read this wonderful article by Jenny Rough from Bethesda Magazine.   In the article Jenny shares her personal journey, interviews Reproductive Endocrinologists and speaks to women who used techniques like yoga, nutrition and Traditional Chinese Medicine to support their fertility journey.

We’re also excited to share that Jenny will be offering a FREE writing workshop at Pulling Down the Moon in Rockville on Saturday March 26 from 1 to 4 p.m.  Read more about this event here.

Cathleen

By Cathleen McCauley, LMT

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I encourage you to take the opportunity to reflect on your Heart Chakra, and your openness to its energy in your life.

Known in Sanskrit as Anahata, the Heart Chakra resides in the center of your chest. It is the fourth major energy center in the chakra system from where love, understanding, compassion and forgiveness emanate. Oftentimes, it is described as the center of your being, where the lower and upper chakras of the body and spirit unite. It teaches that love is the most powerful energy you have; it is the Divine within.

When open, balanced and realized, the fourth chakra allows you to experience unconditional love for yourself and others. It gives way to compassion, being in touch with your feelings, a desire to nurture others and empathy. In times of loss, a balanced Heart Chakra guides you to acceptance. It gives you the opportunity to grieve fully and experience your pain, anger and sadness so you can continue living with an open heart. At its core, the fourth chakra coincides with emotional development and being able to live “by heart.”

An unbalanced fourth chakra may manifest as fear—of loneliness, commitment, letting go, getting hurt or following your heart. It can be characterized by negativity, anger, moodiness, being demanding, possessive or overly critical. Pain between the shoulder blades, tension, high blood pressure, heart pain, fatigue and difficulty breathing are common ailments associated with an unbalanced fourth chakra.

When meeting with a client for fertility massage, the first question I usually ask is, “How are you feeling?” Most times, clients tell me what they are doing to become pregnant. Often they mention stress and the areas of the body that are physically painful; less frequently do they mention emotional feelings.

The Heart Chakra shows us how emotions play a vital role in our lives. And while exploring your heart can be a difficult process, taking gentle steps towards conscious awareness can bring greater love, healing and balance to your journey toward conception.

Pulling Down the Moon offers you many options as you open your heart energy, including yoga, meditation and Reiki. I also encourage you to contact us for more information or make an appointment for the Open the Breath massage session. This interactive treatment helps clients breathe more fully, clears stagnation and bathes the belly and organs in oxygen. As you release certain breathing patterns, you may also release emotions, helping you to delve into the depths of your Heart Chakra.

Questions?  Please contact me at cathleen@pullingdownthemoon.com.

Lisa Espinosa, Reiki Master

Ann Michaels, Reiki Master

Ann Michels and Lisa Espinosa

This past summer Ann and I were fortunate enough to become certified in the Sacred Childbirth with Reiki (SCR) process. Currently there are only eleven SCR practitioners in the country and we are very excited to bring this modality to Pulling Down the Moon. Our teacher, the creator of this process, Cori Nielsen, is a Dar Shem Reiki Master with 15 years experience as a healer. Cori has written numerous articles about SCR and earlier this year she wrote a piece for Reiki News Magazine describing the benefits of this process.

It’s important to explain that this is a powerful and gentle modality that helps bring healing to the reproductive system whether you are trying to conceive or are already pregnant. An important component of our intense training was that each of us experienced an SCR healing. We both experienced deep healing of old emotional wounds that we had been carrying around in our physical body, specifically in the area of the second chakra which houses all of our reproductive organs.  During the training we were also awakened to all the ways that SCR could help women at PDtM.  This process aims to  help heal and harmonize the  reproductive system, potentially enhancing and supporting fertility.  Once pregnant, SCR can be a valuable tool for creating a relaxed and empowered pregnancy and delivery.   Of course this is meant to be a supplement to any medical care that you are receiving, not a replacement.

Because we work within the medical community, it is important for us to say that there is no current clinical evidence looking at the efficacy of reiki for fertility.  It is, in fact, difficult to “prove” healing on a cellular level.  There are, however, numerous studies that support the use of reiki for different medical conditions.  Our commitment to this process is based upon our own personal experience and the feedback of the women who have come to us for reiki treatments and reported extensive benefits.

1. Healing the Reproductive System
Sacred Childbirth with Reiki clears cellular memory of pain and trauma to our reproductive organs bringing balance and harmony to our overall system. In addition, it helps you process emotions that may be locked in your body and blocking prana from flowing.

Possible traumatic experiences that can affect a woman’s well-being, include:

• miscarriages and other birth terminations
• diseases and disorders of sacred organs (for example, cysts, cervical cancer, endometriosis)
• all forms of sexual trauma (child abuse, harassment, rape)

How the SCR process can help:

• Helps you connect with a deep relaxed state
• Clears the cellular memory of the traumatic event
• Helps blocked emotions from trauma to get processed in a safe and gentle way
• Helps you embody a feeling of empowerment and wholeness
• Helps release blockages connected to speaking your truth in this way supporting you to express yourself clearly and lovingly
• Helps release deep-rooted beliefs of inferiority and worthlessness
• Helps you tap into your inner wisdom and intuition
• Helps you regain trust in yourself

2. Empowered Childbirth
Below are some of the tools Sacred Childbirth with Reiki can equip you with so you can  have a beautiful, empowered childbirth.

• Deep relaxation at the core of your being
• Clearing of fear, trauma and negativity about birth
• Practice assessing your body’s knowledge on how to birth with ease
• Visualize your dream birth
• Specific tools for building partner involvement

*Please note that Sacred Childbirth with Reiki is meant to be a complement, not a replacement, for your prenatal care.

Please look at PDM’s website for upcoming free Reiki seminars where we will describe more about Reiki, the SCR process and offer you a mini sample Reiki session. Also, if you’re interested in hearing more details about our experiences with SCR or Reiki in general please call either one of us or send us an email.  We’d love to hear from you.

PDtM Acupuncturist Anna Pyne has this fabulous self-care suggestion for fertility.  Read her post on Pulling Down the Moon’s blog at Fertility Authority!

And for more about those sweet little piggies…check out this previous post on our FA blog about the importance of feet for fertility.