Contraception Contra-nature
Contraception implant.
How convenient!
I remember my 19 years old self bursting with excitement, telling all my friends about it.
''Listen, listen!!! There's this incredible implant that basically stops your period and prevents you from getting pregnant! How amazing!''
My 29 years old self is writing this post to say ''DO NOT EVER PUT THIS SHIT IN YOUR ARM!!!''.
By using any type of hormonal contraception we are messing with the natural cycle of life. We are disconnecting ourselves from a source of a beautiful, feminine power.
As Mother Nature goes through cycles, so do we.
There is a reason we were designed this way.
We try tame and control Nature and we try to control women bodies as well. Our nature became inconvenient nowadays...
But there is a big price to pay for the convenience birth control offers.
Our health and spirituality is being compromised.
Do you realise how powerful we are when we are connected?
I believe the more balanced we are, the more balanced world we can create.
How does it work?
''People using the most common forms of hormonal contraception don’t ovulate. These methods stop the usual production patterns of reproductive hormones and prevent the ovaries from releasing eggs. They do this by stopping or changing the usual hormonal “cycling.'' ''
Source HERE
You can find plenty of info about side effects of hormonal contraception online so I won't include it in this post.
I'm a storyteller so let me tell you my story instead.
After using implant for maybe 3 or 4 years I started to question it.
I haven't had period for years. Is this normal?...
I spoke to gynecologist in my local clinic in London and she confirmed it is perfectly normal and I can safely continue using the implant.
At that time, like many people, I still believed the doctors know best so I was relieved to hear it. I happily let her put another implant in my arm.
A few years later, I met a shaman from Guyana. He looked at me with a concerned/ surprised look on his face and asked: what is in your arm??
Bear in mind the implant is totally invisible. How the hell did he know there was something in my arm?
I explained there is a contraceptive implant there. He has never heard of such thing but could see see whatever is there is creating a blockage.
He advised me to remove it as soon as possible.
It made me think a lot but I still wasn't ready to say goodbye to the convenience of it even though I was already after a few ceremonies with plant medicine and I totally changed my worldview.
Now let's take it back to February 2018. I was in a beautiful Thai island Koh Phangan, running around from one thing to another on a quest to heal my traumas. One day a man named Tobias contacted me and offered a Kambo session. Hell no! My first Kambo session was such a terrible experience I swore I'd never again put a poisonous frog secretion on my body to violently puke in agony for hours. I refused straight away and told him about my experience. Somehow, he managed to convince me to give it another try and I am forever grateful for his persistence. We became good friends and he has helped me tremendously. More about my life changing Kambo experience HERE.
Back to the implant- when I told Tobias I have it in my arm he advised me to remove it IMMEDIATELY. At this point I was ready to get rid of it and I fully understood why he's saying it. I decided I will remove it as soon as I am back in the UK but he was having none of it! ''No, Marta. You need to remove it NOW so we can continue working without this obstacle''. Shortly after I found myself in a hospital on a nearby island of Koh Samui, talking to a receptionist about implant removal. She had no clue what I wanted and I went through several people until someone understood me.
The implant needs to be changed every 2 years so I already had the experience of its removal in London. It is a super casual thing, you go to the doctor, she makes a small cut and removes it while chatting to you. The whole thing takes maybe a minute.
Not in Thailand though!
It was so surreal I absolutely love this story!
I was taken to a room and asked to lie down on a table. I had 6 nurses and a surgeon around, looking at me as if I had two heads. They asked if I wanted anesthesia! I tried to tell them it is not a big deal and they just needed to make a small cut to take it out but it looks like nobody has ever seen this before and they were really fascinated. I was asked when was my last period- ''ummm, about 7 years ago''-I answered. I saw everyone's eyes opening wide. I don't blame them- who the hell goes 7 years without period in their twenties?! Shortly after, a man in a suit arrived- I think they said he was a director of the hospital. Once again I explained what I knew about the implant and he listened with curiosity. I felt like I was in a comedy show but I was also realising even more how stupid and unnatural this thing in my arm was...
Anyway, strong lights switched on, ''surgery'' began and the surgeon with an extremely focused look on his face took the implant out! I am free, wohoo!!! They asked me if I wanted to stay in a hospital until the next day... 😂
I refused and made my way out to return to Koh Phangan as a new woman.
I started to feel really different. I'd say I was becoming more and more juicy. I noticed big changes in my body and emotions. I started to FEEL so much.
My period didn't return straight away and I know many women have huge difficulties to bring their body back to balance after messing with it with by different forms of contraception.
I was lucky though because the same year, in April, I went to Peru to work with plant medicines deep in the Amazon jungle.
After my first Ayahuasca ceremony there, my period came back straight away! I am so grateful to the Mother for bringing me back to balance! It periods have been very regular and painless ever since.
(More about my experience in Peru HERE).
Thankfully, when I met Malaya's father, my body was fully ready to become a vessel for her to come through.
So what's the big deal ?
I won't go into medical stuff because you can google it but let's look at it from a different angle.
In some traditions, menstruation is referred to as ''Moon'' because of our connection to the Moon.
Let me tell you something I learned during my experiences with plant medicine.
In many traditions, menstruating women are not allowed during ceremonies because their energy is so powerful during this time they can totally disrupt the whole ceremony. They can even block everyone's visions. In some other traditions, they are allowed to attend but need to wear some form of protection and follow certain rules. In Peru they gave me some substance to put on my belly, in some other places I was given a pouch with tobacco and other herbs to put around my waist.
In many traditions, women on their Moon are not allowed in the sweat lodge (Temazcal) with men. One day, a Maestro whom I respect a lot explained it. He said this rule is not to protect women, it is to protect men. And certainly it is not because of any negative beliefs about menstruation. He told us he once experimented and lead a sweatlodge for menstruating women. Without clearing the space, he then lead another one for men. What happened? Most of the men fainted...! 🤣 That's how powerful this energy is.
I personally had an experience in Nepal while I was on my Moon. I was on a roof with a male friend and looked at the Moon that was full at that moment. I felt an incredible connection, flood of thoughts that were too fast to grasp and a powerful rush of energy going through my body. I turned back after a moment to see my friend looking rather disoriented so I asked what happened. He said he felt a wave of energy coming out of me, hitting him. He's never felt anything like this before.
I also had a special experience during one of my inner dance sessions- I saw in a vision my connection to the Moon- more about it HERE.
Back in the days women gathered in special places while menstruating. We are highly intuitive during this time and open to receive visions from other places. Nowadays, women stick tampons into their yonis and go to work... Can you imagine the reaction of most workplaces if women said they need 4-6 days off every month because they are bleeding? But the traditional way is slowly making its way back as women create initiatives that help them to claim their power back and to decondition harmful beliefs about our nature. We have women's circles, red tents and workshops that helps us to connect to our power and each other again.
Menstruation is not dirty. It is not disgusting. It is not something that needs to be hidden and ashamed of. It is not an inconvenience.
There are many natural ways of contraception that do not interfere with our connection and I strongly encourage women to stop messing with the nature.
