uttara vasti sadhana

Introduction to Uttara Vasti: Healing the Womb

Bri. Maya Tiwari, Wise Earth Monastery, Candler, North Carolina

A Woman’s Moon Cycle

Mother Shakti’s rhythms move within us through a specific prana that circulates the two lower chakras located around the perineum and sacrum.  This prana is called shakti-prana and it circulates and protects the primordial feminine energy carried within the genitals, womb and belly.  It gives us tremendous power to move energy and to heal ourselves.

Long before modern science learned how to manipulate a woman’s intrinsic rhythms, the Vedic seers knew that a woman’s fertility, abundance and glory were tied to the movement of shakti-prana.  They recognized that her physical body, mind, womb and spirit grew out of the sacred essence of the shakti – primordial feminine energy.  Ancient Vaidyas (Ayurvedic physicians) noted that women naturally possess a delicate and fragile balance within the body due to their shakti-prana and its extensive powers.  When this equanimity is disturbed, the seers recognized that it would have long-term effects on all aspects of life.  They protected what we have neglected to preserve – a woman’s primordial energy.  They saw what we have forgotten to see – a woman’s splendor.  They knew that the health of the entire Earth lies in honoring the female energy and its interconnection to nature’s rhythms.

A woman’s magic is irretrievably linked to the moon.  The ancients called the dark days of the moon “woman’s moon,” “resting moon,” linking a woman’s physical, emotional and spiritual state to the lunar wheel.  The dark moon provides a cozy climate for a woman’s sadhana of rest, reprieve and replenishment.  Mother Moon takes to recharging her shakti during this time.  A woman must also create the space to conserve her feminine powers and inculcate her creative potential during this time.

At its first sighting from below the depths of the Western horizon, the rising moon was once hailed with joy and celebration.  It stood for the Mother’s act of resurrection – a metaphor for the woman’s menstrual cycle.  A woman’s menses greatly affects her shakti-prana.  Her monthly cycle is the primary means through which this prana is revitalized, cleansed and restored.

The Vedic culture honors the shakti-prana.  It recognizes that a woman’s blood preserves her shakti and that this blood carries the Divine Mother’s potential for bringing new life and rebirth.  This phenomenon may be attributed to the workings of the red bindu, located within the root chakra.  A symbol of a woman’t monthly blood, the bindu is the cosmic ‘seed’ of Goddess Shakti, located in the root chakra, where Kundalini lies.  When shakti-prana is strong the bindu acts as magnetic lodestone, drawing the energy of the moon to revitalize the womb.  For this reason, the blood vessels within a woman’s vulva carry the magnetic energies of the moon.  The rhythm of the red bindu also causes a woman to discharge her uterine lining at the appropriate cyclical time during the new moon phase.  As a result, her hormone levels are naturally reset.  The process we call menses does not consider the far-reaching magic and miracle of a woman’s blood.

All native cultures revered a woman’s sacred connection to the lunar wheel.  German peasants called the menstrual bood, die Mond, the moon.  The French called the monthly blood, le moment de la lune, the movement of the moon.  In India , a particular blood vessel in the vulva is called chandra-mauli, moon crested, and the vagina itself is known as chandra-mukha, moon-faced.  The cycle of the moon is suggested in the commonplace metaphor, “a woman’s period”. “Period” comes from the Greek term for “going round”, the circular, cyclical whole round of life.  The ebb and flow of a woman’s monthly blood is akin to the new moon’s cycle.

A woman’s rhythms are kept by her monthly menstrual cycle.  Once every month, her menstrual cycle should occur with the new moon.  At this time, menstruation is set in motion by the sun absorbing energies from the earth, which in turn draws the menstrual waste from the body.  When the woman’s monthly cycle has not been tampered with by the use of contraceptive pills and other birth control devices, harmful foods and activities, and disruptive sexual activities, the natural ebb and flow of her cycle remains in harmony with the new moon.

Not surprisingly then, the time of the menstrual cycle is a very vulnerable period for a woman.  During this time you are required to go at a slower pace and to allow the body to cleanse itself and regulate shakti-prana before it is once more renewed.  You are also advised to pare down your activities to the bare essentials so that your body experiences the least degree of intrusion.  A minimum of bodily cleansing is advocated at this time.  Quick, cool showers, or wiping down of the body will do.  Refrain from sexual activities, as well as from all cooking sadhanas [Woo hoo!].  The latter measure is to prevent the energies from the powerful menstrual blood to pervade the foods.  Maintain a light wholesome diet of salads, fresh juices, light grains (basmati rice, millet, cous-cous, amaranth), pasta, tofu, leafy greens, and fresh fruits.  Herbal teas such as raspberry, rose flower (organic), peppermint, ginger, lemon balm, hops, and chamomile are also revitalizing during this time.  Healthy ancestral foods that lighten your spirit are also appropriate fare at this time.

Even if your cycles no longer coincide with the moon rhythms, you may use the Uttara Vasti sadhana, set out below, in order to restore your natural cycle.  For those whose monthly cycle has ceased, continue to practice this sadhana for a few days during the new moon cycle until you are sixty years of age.  This practice will help to maintain healthy levels of hormones in the body, recall the natural rhythms of your shakti-prana and vitality of your womanly spirit.

Bri. Maya, Wise Earth Monastery

Candler, North Carolina

  

Cleansing and Nourishing the Womb

Uttara Vasti: Guiding a Home Application

Alignment of Woman’s Cycle with Lunar Rhythms

In a healthy organism, women menstruate with the new moon and ovulate with the full moon. [Uttara Vasti should not be practiced if you are using the birth control pill].

Wise Earth Douching Schedules for:

Cycle in Harmony with Rhythms: 

 

Begin the cleansing practice three days after your menstrual cycle ends.  Use the douching cleanser three times every month, once daily on alternating days. [Best time to do 6:00 to 10:00 am – Kapha time.  Shouldn’t go beyond midway of waxing chart, or within 6 days of Full Moon.  Not on Sunday.]

Menopausal Conditions and Cycles Out of Harmony with Rhythms:

 

Begin the cleansing practice the day after the new moon.  Use the douching cleanser three times every month, once daily on alternating days.

 

 

Checklist

Uttara Vasti Therapy -

Ingredients:

Red Raspberry Leaves 

 

Pink or Red Rose Petals (organic)

Aloe Vera (gel better than juice)

Triphala powder (usually available in Indian grocery shops)

Purified water

Utensils and Equipment:

Stove

Double-boiler or, alternately, 1 large pot and 1 small bowl which fits loosely inside

Metal strainer (4 to 5 inches in diameter)

1 reusable douche bag with nozzle (enema bag which hangs, long hose is best,       usually sold with douche nozzle also – drug store or surgical supply)

Large bath towel

2 clear glass jugs (for decoctions)

Season:  monthly, 3 days after the end of menstrual cycle

Time of application: 3 alternating days (not on a Sunday – Monday, Wednesday, Friday suggested)

Conditions:  Hormonal imbalance

                       Vaginal infections

                   Malodor, dryness or soreness of vaginal passage

                       PMS

                   Irregular or excess menstrual flow

                   Venereal disease

                   Infertility

                   Disorders of the uterus

                   Breast cancer

                   Directly after sexual intercourse, as a birth control measure

NOTE: For ovarian and uterine cancers, supervision by a qualified Ayurvedic physician is mandatory.

Contra-indications

Do not use during these conditions:

                       During or directly after menstruation

                    During pregnancy

                      Vaginal bleeding or hemorrhaging (should be NO flow at all)

                    Excess heat or cold weather

                    Directly after eating

                    Diarrhea

                    After emesis, purgation or enema

                    Emaciation

 Neither children nor the aged should use this therapy.

Inappropriate Times

Do not use during these times:

                    Yama Damstra (November 20 – December 9)

                    Sundays and holy days

                Death anniversary of parents, spouse or children

                Dawn, dusk, noon, or midnight

                Full moon and 6 days to full moon

Yama Damstra occurs while the earth is reversing its course around the sun, from a southerly to northerly direction.  At this time, it is said that Yama, Lord of Death, ventures out in earnest to collect the souls of the deceased.  Because it is considered to be a time of heightened fear and disturbance for a human being, all cleansing and depleting sadhanas [spiritual practices] are not advised during this period.

Douching Formulas

Use a double boiler to prepare all douching solutions.  All formulas listed yield one application.  Use only organically grown ingredients.

Aloe-Triphala Douche

Conditions: painful menstruation, pre-menstrual cramps, sterility, stagnation, venereal disease, prolapsed rectum

                       2 cups water

                    1 tsp triphala powder

                    1 Tbl aloe vera gel

Bring water to boil in double boiler.  Add triphala powder, then cover and allow to simmer for approximately 3 minutes.  Remove the container from heat and allow solution to steep for 15 minutes.  Strain through a fine sieve, retaining the sediment.  Pour the aloe vera gel into the solution and administer while still warm. (You may add the sediment to your bath water following the treatment.)

Rose-Raspberry Douche

Conditions:  scanty menstrual flow, irregular or excessive menstrual flow, vaginal dryness, uterine disorders, vaginal malodor, soreness or dryness of the vaginal passage, breast cancer

                       2 cups water

                    1 Tbl dried red rose buds

                    1 Tbl dried raspberry leaves

Bring water to boil in a double boiler.  Add dried leaves and buds.  Cover and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes.  Strain, keeping the herbal roughage to add to your bath water following the treatment.  Administer while still lukewarm.

Instructions for Use of Uttara Vasti:

 ¨        An oil massage or self massage is recommended before douching.

 ¨        Observe a light diet on the douching days.

 ¨        Spread a clean towel in the bathtub.

 ¨        Attach the nozzle to the douche bag and close the shut-off clip.

 ¨        Smear the nozzle with an ample amount of sesame oil or cocoa butter.

 ¨        Hang the douche bag containing the solution approximately 3 feet above where you will be lying.

 ¨        Undress and rest comfortably on your back in the tub with the legs apart and knees bent.

 ¨        Take a few deep breaths.

 ¨        Close your eyes and feel every limb in your body relaxing.

 ¨        Insert the nozzle into the vaginal passage.

 ¨        Squeeze your buttocks firmly together and lift the hips slightly off the ground. (Some solution will spill in the process.) [You may use a little of the solution at a time, clamping off the bag in-between, and holding the solution inside for a few breaths.]

 ¨        As soon as the douche bag is empty, relax the hips, release the nozzle from the vaginal passage, and allow the douching solution to flow out gradually.

 ¨        Gently get up and remove the wet towel from the tub.

 ¨        Since the retention of decoction is so brief, you may immediately repeat the process. [Better to use a little at a time as described above.]

 ¨        Afterwards, half-fill the bathtub, adding drops of essential oil to the warm water [and the herbal roughage if you like].

 ¨        Allow yourself to sit and luxuriate in the bath until it cools.

 ¨        Dry yourself with the bath towel and gently massage your belly for a few minutes.

 ¨        Rest for a few hours after douching.

  

 

  May take several months of practice of Uttara Vasti to align menstruation with lunar cycle.]