What fibroids can tell you about how you feel

Uterine fibroids are one of the most common reproductive health issues. In fact, a study from the National Institute of Health discovered that the majority of women will have fibroids at some point during her life. So, what’s going on? What is causing so many women to develop fibroids? The cause of this health issue is both physical and emotional. Fibroids are a product of your internal environment, but also a consequence of the external environment we all live in. There are certain experiences, challenges, and feelings that many women share that can bring about fibroids.

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The physical root of fibroids is estrogen dominance - this is when your body is overloaded with estrogens from both an excess taken in via plastics, pesticides, and synthetic chemicals and from a liver that is not working at its optimal point to process that excess estrogen. However, chronic stress contributes to this estrogen soup. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol, plus low levels of progesterone, and elevated estrogen interplay - create an ideal environment for fibroids to develop.

The feminist psychologist

From another viewpoint - women hold a lot of emotion in their womb-space. This is why, from a Traditional Chinese Medicine angle, the uterus is known as the “second heart.” In the 1980s, feminist psychologist Marion Woodman, a student of Carl Jung, created the concept of “feminine psychology.” This described the impact of the mind-body connection on women specifically, drawing on their shared experiences as differentiated from how men move through the world, to understand female health issues. You can read more about this in my previous posts on the emotional connection with endometriosis and ovarian cysts.

When I work with women at FLO Living to address fibroids, we start by tackling diet and lifestyle to strategize around lowering estrogen levels in the body, reducing the amount of fuel available for growth and development of fibroids. Then we layer in the emotional factor and this comes quite organically in the process. Supporting women in overcoming painful, difficult health issues is intimate work and inevitably we share so much about our personal lives, our hopes, and our fears.

Fibroids and your feelings

The development of any reproductive health issue can be understand as your body talking to you, urgently and loudly, to take action. With the growth of fibroids, a specific internal environment of estrogen dominance is being flagged. But fibroids also reflect an emotional experience - specifically fibroids reflect the anger and frustration many women hold as a direct result of their day-to-day lives.

To give you an example, I once presented at the health fair for a large, successful law firm on Wall Street here in NYC. Almost every woman that came to talk to me at this event was dealing with fibroids that were causing serious health problems - pain, bleeding, discomfort. These women were making their way in a workplace populated in the majority by men, and heavily influenced by masculine energy. They were coming against roadblocks, obstacles, and the glass ceiling as they forged their careers, overcoming them but still taking on much frustration and stress. They were having to bend and change their core selves to fit the male expectations and compete in the only way that was encouraged and rewarded. They were working in this “bear cave” of men and while they were doing very well, it was coming at a personal cost. Why? Because patriarchy demands we live like men in this man’s world, and not honor our female nature, instead suppressing this part of ourselves as though it were a weakness.

That said, it’s not just lawyers who are susceptible to fibroids - it makes sense that this is one of the most common menstrual issues.  Many women, of many different races and ethnicities beyond career type are fibroid sufferers due to experiencing the patriarchy and experiencing racism simultaneously. Many women feel a daily sense of anger, frustration, and emotional exhaustion in struggling against their own tides. All women are constantly working to overcome aggressions large and small that undermine their worth, value, and abilities.

An opportunity for change

Understanding this aspect of your reproductive health can be eye-opening and life-changing. It may not feel like it to you today, but consider this viewpoint - your uterus is offering you an opportunity to reflect on your feelings, how you process them, and what you will do about them in the future. You are not alone in this experience, there are women in circles around you, near and far, who are experiencing this alongside you - whether they have fibroids, ovarian cysts, or endometriosis. Your reproductive organs are pointing you in the right direction for your life as a woman and for the lives of all women.

This is why cycle-syncing™- living according to your cyclical patterns - is so healing. This is the 4th step of the MonthlyFLO Protocol and has been at the core of my work for over 15 years.  Practically - it will help address the functional causes of your fibroids.  Psychologically, it will give you the structure and practice to help you step out of a masculine paradigm and into your own feminine energy - allowing you to reduce the sense of friction and frustration that underpins fibroids.

Always remember, that once you have the right information about how your body really works, you can start making health choices that finally start to work for you! You can do this – the science of your body is on your side!

To your FLO,

Alisa