Why Female Reproductive And Sexual Health Issues Are On The Rise

(A spiritual approach to these health concerns and why womb healing is needed).

Can you feel it? Something has been shifting with women. The past few years have been a time of change (in more ways than one). Many astrologers, channelers, and spiritual guides have been talking about it. A common theme of these changes has included the re-awakening and reclamation of the feminine. Centuries of oppression, violence, and gaslighting are being talked about everywhere and the effects are being seen in the media, music, and movies we consume. The growing pains as all people around the world come to terms with this voice are being felt in many ways.

One of the ways the historical abuse, misrepresentation, and oppression of the feminine is coming out is in the increase of reproductive and sexual health issues. Studies are being done all over the world to understand the causes and statistics of the increase in conditions like PCOS, Endometriosis, Fibroids, and other similar diseases that affect the reproductive system.

Firstly, the main point to take away from this post is that painful periods are not “normal”. They are a sign of imbalances whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. Many of us have been taught and conditioned to believe that it is normal to have period pain, heavy bleeding, and PMS symptoms related to our menstruation. This is false. We have also been taught and conditioned that the emotional ups and downs we experience during our menstruation are a curse, an inconvenience, and a joke.

On top of that, reproductive and menstrual health do not have one function or measure of health. An imbalanced or disordered system is not only an issue for fertility (often the main reason people seek help), but they are indicators of the health of your entire system.

HORMONAL + PHYSICAL + PSYCHOLOGICAL + ENERGETIC + SPIRITUAL

All of these are interconnected and contribute to the health of your reproductive and sexual systems.

Painful periods are not “normal”. They are a sign of imbalances whether physical, emotional, or spiritual.

LET’S TALK ABOUT STATS

Iam not going to explain these conditions but instead, talk about the numbers and contributing factors. Many of the resource links at the end explain what these conditions are in detail, but you can also do a quick search if you are not aware of the terms.

Estimations on the number of women that have Endometriosis range anywhere between 6 million in the U.S. and about 1 million in Canada. Identification and diagnosis of Endometriosis is a global problem and can take between 4–12 years to complete. Likely meaning the numbers are higher than we know. This is a multi-faceted issue that I discuss more below but a major contributor to this is the stereotypes and misperceptions of what a normal female menstruation cycle is, as well as women’s health concerns being dismissed by practitioners. Dismissal of concerns like pelvic pain, ovulation pain, irregular cycles, and pain during sex, to name a few.

Studies in China have shown that around 24 million women have PCOS which was an increase of 65% from 10 years ago! In Canada, it is estimated that 1.4 million have PCOS, and in the U.S. it is around 5 million. In the Middle East and North Africa, the rate has increased by 37% since 1990. PCOS is one of the most prevalent health issues affecting women worldwide and it is linked to infertility, menstrual problems, and significant mental health deterioration. Endometriosis has similar effects on mental health, increasing anxiety, depression, and stress.

In one study, women (of reproductive age) in the U.S., Canada, and Australia were shown to have the highest rates of mental health needs compared to 8 other high-income countries. Mental health needs related to depression, anxiety, and stress. The takeaway here is that though many would believe women in the U.S. and Canada to have relatively complete freedom and decent overall health and access to healthcare, there is still something happening with our emotional and psychological well-being.

A Brief Comment

Women in North America and the UK were still being committed to asylums in the 1900s, often forcibly by their husbands, fathers, and male doctors, for showing emotions, expressing their opinions, and generally being considered disagreeable. Practices still exist worldwide where women are forcibly sterilized, undergo clitoral cutting, and are subservient to their male family members. Where one woman suffers, all women suffer. The inequality between genders is not a thing of the past.

Often, there is some combination of factors contributing to issues with sexual and reproductive systems. Over time our systems become overloaded and overstressed, and this is when the symptoms start to get our attention, though the issues have been underlying for a long time. So, what do I mean exactly by reproductive and sexual health issues?

COMMON REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL HEALTH ISSUES

• Irregular menstrual cycles, heavy bleeding, or on the other side, scant or missing periods
• Increased PMS symptoms
• Recurrent yeast infections, UTI’s, and odor
• Unexplainable pain in womb space, abdomen, and pelvic area
• Infertility
• Lowered sex drive and discomfort during sex
• Conditions such as PCOS, Endometriosis, Fibroids, and generalized pain in the womb space, abdomen, pelvic area, and lower back

Some Psychosomatic or energetic issues:

• Extra fatigue, impatience, or detachment within your relationships
• Feelings of low self-worth and self-doubt
• Co-dependence on relationships/ other people
• Unexplained pain whether during self-pleasuring or sex with another person
• Blocked creativity, life inspiration, pleasure, and energy, or a feeling of detachment from your own joy and pleasure

The concept that emotions and experiences are stored in the body is not new. For example. In many yogic practices, the hips are often considered a place where stored emotions are held, and hip releases can bring on emotional releases like deep sadness or anger. Hip openers are located within the Sacral Chakra and pelvic system (discussed more below). While psychosomatic symptoms and illnesses are disputed in the medical world, the spiritual world has been developing an understanding of them for centuries. This is part of where the Chakra systems and Meridian lines of many Eastern beliefs have come from. The recognition that we are not only physical beings, but energetic and spiritual ones is the foundation of holistic health.

A feeling of detachment from your own joy and pleasure signifies a need for womb healing.

Ready to change this? Consider my Menstrual Empowerment Course and find a balance between the physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual aspects of your health and well-being!

The Base — Sacral — Solar Plexus Chakra Connection

While the pelvic system and sexual organs are under the influence of the 2nd chakra specifically, the Sacral Chakra, it is important to notice the interconnection between the first three chakras and the heart space. The womb space encompasses the Base Chakra, Sacral, and Solar Plexus Chakra’s, with a link to the Heart chakra as well. Breast and heart health are directly connected to womb health!

For the sake of time though, let’s focus on the first three. The Base Chakra is associated with tribal connections and family identity. What disrupts this chakra is fear of abandonment and struggles with basic survival needs. The second chakra, the Sacral, is associated with sexual health and our relationships. Common reasons this chakra becomes blocked or depleted are fears of being controlled by others and loss of power over oneself. Dominating events like sexual assault, abuse, and addictions sit in this chakra. Finally, the Solar Plexus, the third chakra, is related to our personal power and self-worth where criticism and fears about our physical appearance, as well as perceived ability to live up to standards (your own and others), deplete it.

Can you see where the historical oppressions women have faced are touched on in each of these locations? Nearly every woman no matter where she was born can pinpoint experiences where her appearance was criticized and pressured in some way, where she was controlled and manipulated, where her basic survival was threatened, AND where she saw her mother, sisters, aunts, and friends experiencing the same or worse.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, issues with the menstrual cycle and the reproductive system were seen as a result of the repression women experienced regarding their sexual expression, due to societal pressures and expectations. Statements like “I feel” (associated with the Sacral Chakra) have a deep influence on well-being. Think back about your life and how many times you suppressed the words you feel when hurting from an experience or relationship? How many times have you stuffed down your emotions and stifled the expression of them? The forced silencing of the expression of our emotions has many detrimental effects on our health.

Imprints are left on our bodies and souls by each person and experience we have.

Holistic and spiritual beliefs on well-being and health take into account not only our personal experiences from childhood to our current age, but also the experiences of our mothers, grandmothers, and ancestors, as well as the collective experience of those around us. Even if you do not want to consider the ancestral and lineage impacts on your health (specifically the ways women have been oppressed for centuries), most can pinpoint moments in their own lives where they experienced oppression in some way.

The way you were treated as a young child, learning about the world and how it was safe (or not safe) to express yourself, the way you were touched or not touched, the way you received love or did not receive it, the relationships you developed (both romantically and not), all left imprints on your identity and your body. How those imprints have affected the sexual and reproductive health of women is where I aim to inform.

Other Considerations:

HISTORY/CHILDHOOD/LEARNED BELIEFS AND SOCIETY: Each of these could have entire posts written on them, I have mentioned some brief indicators above. The pressures of these factors cannot be expressed enough.

HEALTH: insulin resistance, increased obesity/ SAD diet, the heavy diet of animal-based processed meats, and stress/mental health challenges. These affect hormones and the development of diseases. Many scientists and researchers have also identified how generational health carries over. This is why when you see a doctor, they ask about your family’s history of diseases and conditions.

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS: Endocrine disruptors and toxins found in food, water, air, and in personal care products and packaging that overwhelm our body’s systems, disrupt hormones, and impact immune function.

WHERE WOMB HEALING COMES IN

Womb Healing takes into consideration the multi-faceted contributors to sexual and reproductive health issues. The medical aspects recommended by your doctor, combined with womb healing and energy techniques address the issues from a holistic approach. A holistic approach is important, as you can take a treatment for the physical symptoms but if you make no changes to the emotional or spiritual reasons for the disease it will likely not get better or will resurface somewhere else in your body, life, and relationships.

Womb healing work addresses the storing of emotions and memories in our womb spaces and bodies. It teaches awareness of where and how this is happening and how to clear and remove these from the body so that they do not build up and contribute to health issues. It also works on the need to clear the energy of past lovers from this space, whether these experiences were considered positive or not. Though those that were harmful or involved trauma or deterioration of self and self-esteem especially need to be cleared from the body. Womb healing and shamanic medicine or energy work help address these pieces while also helping to build up inner wisdom, self-worth, and intelligent awareness.

When reading all of this and more (if you decide to do your own research), it can feel extremely overwhelming. But there is support! There are programs and modern medicine women all over the world rediscovering and sharing wisdom about how to balance well-being in relation to our bodies, the world around us, and our Spirits.

If you are interested in working with me, reach out here! Or take a look at my Menstrual Empowerment Course!

When looking at the rise and prevalence of reproductive and sexual health issues around the world, one needs to contemplate the way our spiritual and emotional health contributes to it. This is a new age, where the feminine is being called to re-awaken and remember the inner wisdom and interconnection that can heal us all.

RESOURCES

Overview of conditions: https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/womensrh/healthconcerns.html

PCOS Booklet: https://orwh.od.nih.gov/sites/orwh/files/docs/PCOS_Booklet_508.pdf#page=12&zoom=100,0,0

Books: Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss and Frontiers of Health by Dr. Christine Page

Interested in learning more about me and the way I work with people? Visit my personal site or IG!

NOTES

One factor to note in the increase in female reproductive health issues is the fact that there is more knowledge, awareness, and research. When this happens, inevitably there will be an increase in numbers/stats and shared experiences as people, media, and health professionals pick it up. This is also seen with reporting of sexual abuse and harassment as more people are aware of their options for reporting their experiences and societal acceptance of the issue increases.

It is also important to mention that many women with precarious immigration statuses, newcomers, and refugees, as well as many racialized women, experience more under-reporting and dismissal of their symptoms. We cannot know the full extent until we erase discrimination and xenophobia. In some studies, racialized women have been shown to have more instances of PCOS and other reproductive health-related disorders/issues like uterine fibroids, as well as higher mortality rates during pregnancy.

This post discusses issues related more specifically to women and does not take into account those that identify as female or another gender identity, nor does it discuss men. The focus on female bodies is due to the large rate of these issues being experienced by females and is not meant to be inconsiderate of those who have the same symptoms or health problems regardless of gender identity. Gender non-conforming, non-binary, transgender, and other identities can and do experience reproductive and sexual health issues, often with deep mental health stressors at the same time.

Males worldwide are shown to have a consistent 1% decrease in sperm count, decreasing testosterone, and increased ED and testicular cancer, every year! This is very alarming and indicates a need to also reflect on the energetics, pressures, and health considerations experienced by males and on all people as a species.