I decided to change course slightly this week and feature a tributary off the main river of focus on female pelvis wellness.  But first, I want to share some of the deep wisdom in Yoni Shakti, by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli as they do pertain to the female pelvis.  What if you had the opportunity to discover a yoga practice that didn’t directly descend from a male guru, that would accommodate the ebbs and flows of your body through the weeks of the month?  Those are the practices offered in Yoni Shakti.

Uma Dinsmore-Tuli has gathered from far and wide to share the eight Wisdom Goddesses who represent the cycles we pass through from menarche to post-menopause.

Menarche initiates us into the power, menstruation provides the opportunity to practice that power, so that by menopause we are able to inhabit the power we have been practicing all these years: to step into it and discover that we have become the power we once practiced. (pg. 215)

One thing I have really enjoyed in yoga practices led by Uma is the rhythm of the flow that connects to the source energy of the practice.  Soon after I turned 30, there was a yoga studio that right down the street from our apartment in Portland, OR.  I looked forward to one class every week.  It wasn’t a fast-class and it wasn’t focused on building strength, it fully focused on embodying the flow of the music.

There was a rhythm to both the music and to the vinyasa sequences that cycled through a sequence of asanas and then circled back again.  I ended up in what I thought would be a similar class at a yoga conference a few years ago.  I don’t know if it was me that was different or that the practice was just too dissimilar, different teacher, different music, different flow.  It wasn’t the rhythm of the yoga practice I needed at that time.

There is such an inherent rhythm and flow in so many of the Womb Yoga practices.  They are at a pace that speaks to my body and to my nervous system now in a way that is deeply nourishing.  As I see the practices described and drawn on the pages of the book.  I see the rhythm, even the ones I haven’t experienced in person.  Last week I focused on the invitation to explore the inner wisdom of Yoni Shakti.  This week I invite you to explore Yoni Shakti as a resource for new ways of deepening and expanding your personal yoga practice, whether the breathwork, the mudras or the movement flows.  They are a refreshing peak into a completely new way to experience your yoga practice.

And, as was hinted above, one of those practices is yoga nidra.  It is a such an important practice that I would like to offer the introduction, if you have not been formally introduced to, or to offer a reminder, if you have maybe taken a break from, the practice of yoga nidra.  I mentioned last week how my experience of yoga nidra with Uma was really a grounding rod both for my own practice personal practice and for the practice I wanted to train in to be able to teach.

Yoga nidra is one of the woman-centered practices shared in Yoni Shakti.  The way yoga nidra is explained and offered, just like all the other practices in the book, is unlike what you may have encountered.  And, the new book, Nidra Shaki is soon to be released.  I am so excited!  Yoni Shakti included scripts for multiple practices. There are free and for purchase practices and on the Yoga Nidra Network website   I also have a free practice available Yoga Nidra Welcome and I hope to add more practices soon.

Yoga nidra is directly helpful when you are pain.  And, and the improvements in sleep and in downregulating the nervous system are also very supportive when experiencing pain and many other conditions.  With yoga nidra you have the opportunity to just be in the liminal space in between sleep and awake, which is why the practice is called The Sleep of Awakening.

This is my last week of Pelvis Wellness Wednesday posts.  There are many other books out there that I discovered after I made the syllabus for my independent study.  I also squeezed in listening to Beyond the Pill, by Jolene Brighten, NMD, on audio book and I now have a physical copy also.  I highly recommend it if you are on the Pill, trying to get off it or have stopped and are now on a hormone roller-coaster.  Or, if you work with women in any of those situations.  I have also acquired Moody Bitches, by Dr. Julie Holland, MD, The Fifth Vital Sign, by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, and Period Repair Manual, by, Lara Briden, ND, and I am looking forward to diving into those.

Please check out my coaching page, if you would like work on pelvis wellness or any other facet of women’s wellness, virtually or in-person in Tacoma.  Thank you for reading.  I hope I have shared something useful to you along the way!