Hilary and Amanda talk about the anatomy of digestion and how our emotions affect function. Amanda shares her experience of dissecting and holding the digestive system with Gil Hedley and how Arvigo® Therapy supports optimal digestive health.
Hilary Talks- Menopause and the Beginners Mind
Hilary Talks: With Rosita Arvigo about her work
The second in the series of Hilary Talks, Dr Rosita Arvigo shares her current work and the reasons why she developed her unique self-care massage which has empowered thousands of people around the world.
We discuss the joy of working with families across generations and seeing how this work once again can be handed down from parent to child.
Hear stories of her teacher and mentor Don Elijio Panti and the importance of Forest Bathing for Mind, Body and Spirit.
Hilary and Rosita get excited about their upcoming trip to Australia and continuing to spread this work around the world.
Hilary Talks: With Lou Crockart about her Uterus Suit
In the first of a new series of talks with incredible women, I talk to friend and fellow collaborator, Lou Crockart about Arvigo Therapies and her self-made Uterus Suit.
The Doula Dispensary speaks to Hilary Lewin - Doula UK Founder and ATMAT Therapist
The Doula Dispensary is a weekly podcast, prescribing a weekly dose of all things doula. Siobhan and Kicki bring you a show which is a bit like sitting down with your mates for a cup of tea... So put the kettle on, sit down and enjoy listening to familiar issues as a working doula, woman and mother. This week, Kicki and Hilary Lewin chat about the birth of Doula UK and The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy® (ATMAT). They explore how this holistic therapy can help with painful periods, infertility problems and peri-menopause. A very interesting episode for anyone interested in women's health and who would like to understand more about Arvigo. You can follow Siobhan and Kicki on social media -@siobhan_thebirthdoula@kickihansard
Hilary talks Prolapse and Periods: an interview with FemFusionFitness
We discuss the techniques and how you can apply them to your own daily life, how massage can help women with pelvic organ prolapse, changes associated with the menstrual cycle, menopause and SO MUCH MORE!
Poor womb esteem and the baby quest
Do you suffer from poor womb esteem?
Ever felt like a failure because you can’t do something ‘simple’ like have a baby? That teenager with a pushchair, smoking a fag managed it and you with all your intelligence, organic lifestyle and acupuncture can’t even get a regular cycle together!
Another month, another period, another disappointment? What comes next? Loss of libido is often one of the first things to happen when trying for a baby becomes an all out strategic campaign and the healthiest of relationships can take a hammering.
Trying to put a brave face on it when yet another friend or colleague announces their pregnancy and a surfeit of well-meant advice may be making you want to do some quite nasty things. That obsessive merry-go-round of thoughts, hormones and appointments are likely to make the sanest woman a little deranged at times and childlessness can feel like the loneliest place on the planet.
In my clinic supporting women on their own particular fertility journey I often see a complete loss of trust in parts of the body, mostly their wombs. These ‘empty’ holes inside us, what do we really get taught about them and when we want to fill them with growing babies how does it feel when they let us down?
I’d like you to think about a colleague or a friend – if every time you meet you criticise their size, shape or the quality of their work you are soon to create a pretty toxic relationship. The same goes for you. If after years of yet another period or worse a miscarriage you may not be feeling so positive about this remarkable organ housed in the belly of your body.
Learning to trust the innate wisdom of our wombs is the first step to healing the trauma that comes with this territory and understanding what a magnificent organ she really is. Whether you get to birth that baby or not you will be left with a womb when the story is done, you’d best make friends with her if you want to achieve any thing like a harmonious relationship.
She is doing the best she can, she is the repository of all our female wisdom, the throne of creativity, if you’re not creating a baby what else can you do with that energy? A failing womb can bring a whole heap of pain, what would you do if this was a friend? You might wrap her up in fluffy blankets, mummer words of encouragement and support, run her a bath, even take her out and get her drunk whilst she weeps into the vino and pushes chocolate mousse round her bowl.
Our work teaches you how to care for your womb, to love her and nurture her just as you want to love and care for a baby. When we start with our selves we send a powerful message to our body that we will support it no matter what the out come. As parents we would love our children through thick and thin and it’s important to do the same for our selves.
As part of the treatment you get taught a self-care massage which not only may help the womb to optimum health but will also keep that positive relationship between you and your womb. Just by putting your hands on your womb and sending love can be the first step of the healing process for many women.
Take the time to love your self and you may not feel less disappointed next time you see that period but you may be able to wrap your self up in that fluffy blanket and take care of your self a little better.
How do you really feel about your womb and do you need to give her a little boost? Healthy womb esteem is good for you, good for making babies and good for all those around you, take the time right now to tell her you love her, give her a rub and send a smile down there. I know, yet another bit of annoying advice but what have you got to lose? Its easier than doing hand stands after sex…
To learn more abut your womb or to receive a treatment drop me a line hilarylewin@gmail.com and I can help you find your nearest practitioner.
Kitchen table to the world
I often get asked about how I started my work, as with all the best ideas this one occurred at the kitchen table. My son was 3 months old and miraculously sleeping whilst his big sister was scissor snipping things in the corner. I was 25 and WHAT was I going to do with the rest of my life?
These times were pre Internet for me so a magazine provided inspiration, a few phone calls later I was booked on my first massage training. The rest as they say is history. It was, I have to confess, an impulse decision but one that has served me well.
Since those days I have travelled right around the world, Central America, the States, Japan, Australia. I have meet countless inspirational women, wept, laughed and been swept along on a wave that has never let me down.
As my children grew I became a Doula, founding Doula UK with some like-minded women, no budget and a blind optimism. I sent my first e-mail, chaired my first meeting and later found myself at the Houses of Parliament helping to shape childbirth in the UK.
During this time I heard of Dr Rosita Arvigo, she had trained with a Traditional Healer from Belize in the art of abdominal massage. A flame was lit and off I went again. This work was unknown outside the States so with that same naïve belief I set off and brought the work home to the UK.
The treatment is simplicity its self but the results are profound, by working deeply into the pelvis and diaphragm as part of a full body treatment we improve circulation and support female health conditions from painful periods to fertility problems, menopause, prolapse and more.
My favourite part of our therapy is teaching the client a form of self-care massage. This is powerful stuff and I have seen it change lives, not only my own but those of the business women, the lawyers, the mothers, the childless, those who have been abused and those young women who have yet to grow and find their way.
As I approach the age of ‘wise woman’ in my own life and 25 years in business I increasingly feel the need to spread this work. I now teach workshops and train others in this wonderful modality worldwide. I’ve come a long way since that kitchen table, my daughter ‘snips’ things for a living and my son stays up all night for his career, some things never change.
The Art of Aging. Certain? Then you are indeed a woman of age.
Ladies what we are talking about here is the ‘M’ word, the time when M no longer stands for Mother – for all of us the letter M will eventually become one thing, MENOPAUSE.
Not all women will have had the chance or made the choice to become a mother but if luck is on our side, we will all get to enjoy our menopause. Yes, you heard right I said ‘you will enjoy your menopause’, if we were in the same room I would be waving my arms and shouting this sentence, one thing that happens to us all as we get older is we do indeed become more certain.
Over time women become less grey in opinions and that little bit bolder, no longer likely to ‘shut up’ or ‘put up’ we are far more likely to shout out and yes, ‘put out’ too.
We don’t have to look far back and women were old in their 60’s, go not much further back than that and women just didn’t get to reach that age at all. For the first time in history we are a fast growing generation of peri/menopausal woman. The baby boomers have reached that ‘certain ‘ age and with a force of numbers women are redefining the menopause.
In puberty our wombs grow and double with each cycle. As we menopause, our womb shrinks back to a pre pubescent size, she hardens, becomes a nugget of wisdom; compressed by the force of nature she eventually becomes our own sparkling diamond. Our shining wombs are the light that can carry us into that third age, the age of the wise woman or as others might say the crone.
It’s a journey and the way can be complicated, but for those of us who approach peri menopause we have some fine sisters to follow and we in turn will light the way for those behind.
As we increasingly celebrate a girl’s coming of age once she reaches puberty, now is the time to celebrate woman’s coming of wisdom as she reaches menopause.To feel that shining strength, whether we still have our wombs or not, the energy is there and its time to listen.
Through the busy years of earning money, making babies, handling relationships our focus is outward bound, a time of looking inward will ease the transition of this third age, a time to say what you mean and mean what you say. A time to put one hand on your heart, one hand on your womb and listen.
Listen, because your womb holds your story and she needs to be heard. She demands to be heard. Hot flashes, heavy bleeding, sleepless nights, these are some of the ways she is shouting out. If we stop to hear she may teach us a lesson and you know, we are never too old to learn. Of that, I am certain.
More information coming soon on an exciting collaboration between Artist @marybranson and womb worker @hilarylewin . Follow for details on how you can participate in workshops and art installation for hundreds of women of a ‘certain age’.
Thinking, with heart, head and womb
A woman at a recent workshop coined this thought after hearing what we had to share about wombs, I loved the concept and it is now my newest mantra.
What does your head say, does your heart agree and how does your womb feel about it? We could call them ‘gut instincts’ but for us ladies it’s more likely to be our womb talking and maybe its time to start listening.
The womb is the most creative organ in the body and so much of the time we ignore her, only stopping to pay attention when some thing goes wrong but when we wait a moment and listen we just might get that little extra insight we need.
So what is your womb saying? Is she desperate for a baby or terrified of getting pregnant? Maybe she hates the clothes you are wearing and is screaming out for an elasticated waist and comfy shoes or maybe she wants to stay up all night and go dancing. Does your womb really want that sex and have you got your head and your heart on board too? When we listen to our wombs, we make healthy choices and that’s something we could all do to learn.
Did you know your womb doubles in size every cycle? Not only that but she is held in place by ligaments and if for any reason these have become stretched then your womb may be less than perfectly positioned. This may result in less than perfect behaviour from our personal female throne.
No wonder we can feel full and bloated when our period comes, the womb can double from between 2 and 4 ounces to 4 or 8 ounces over one cycle – that’s a whole lot of womb and she’s going to make her self heard if she’s not happy. Painful periods, endometriosis, lack of libido, constipation, mood swings may all result from a womb that’s out of balance.
So what can you do?
Learn to listen with our self-care massage, even simply holding your womb and breathing into that space right now is a wonderful place to start and regular massage can help your womb into a great place both physically and emotionally.
Women make choices for all sorts of reasons but when we have our head, our heart and our womb singing from the same page – that’s when our dreams really can come true.
If you would like to know more about this then take a look at our website or drop me a line for information on workshops and massage therapy.
From my womb to your womb I think you might just like it.