Help for PMS

Bloated belly

Every time I work on a female client (who's not pregnant), I ask, politely, how's her period and elimination.  It's not a traditionally exciting subject, or because I'm trying to get personal, but from a Thai yoga massage practitioner's point of view, your organs are one of the most important regions for me to cover.  Why? Your organs are your engine.  In my experience, however, it's also one of the least talked about, and neglected regions.  Yet, it's also one of the most loaded.

Been there, done that!

PMS, peri-menopause, and constipation: these are all issues I've addressed with my stomach massage.  The massage, at first, isn't the most fun thing in the world, but as a woman speaking to another woman, I can only empathize with experiencing my fair share of heavy flow, soaking over my panties, having to wear two pads at once, cramps, headaches, constipation, and overall irritable moods.  It completely sucks, and through swimming, diet, yoga, and meditation, I refuse to just give into my PMS...there are definite healthy routines we, as women, can do, in order to stabilize our hormones.  We just have to search for what fits us, apply ourselves, and not resign ourselves to the hype (how many of you hate hearing, "Oh, you must be on the rag!" GROAN!).  

The belly and pelvic area is also a center of creativity.  Heck, babies come from there.  If I were to get all yogic on you, the 2nd chakra is one of creativity.  Sexual intercourse and sexuality also are associated.  And yet, the hip region is one of the most consistently neglected spots on the body (I can't tell you how many times a client says to me, as I'm working around there, "Wow, that's super sensitive!"  Probably 90%).  I don't know why, but I'm not really interested in that: I'm all about pain relief.  

I'll just give some case studies:

1. Client A, aged 37, told me she absolutely dreaded her periods.  For as long as she remembered, they were fraught with pain, misery, and sometimes a visit to the hospital.  The pain was so intense, she sometimes passed out.  In the course of our working relationship, she revealed she'd been molested at an early age, but showed signs of denial too.  Not being a psycho-therapist, all I could do was work on her belly.  After 3 months of consistent work, her periods came and went with no drama, which flabbergasted my client, because it seemed too good to be true.  The massage work also reduced her lower back pain, which had been constant.  By not dealing with the emotions surrounding the molestation, however, as soon as she quit seeing me, the period pains came back with a vengeance.  And her back flared up to the point where she had a couple of operations (not good in my book...I abhor operations and think they should be total last resort).
2. Client B, aged 45, was experiencing peri-menopausal symptoms, and hadn't had her period in several months.  She was super bloated, and constantly had her not-happening-period on her brain.  It was revealed also that she'd been a victim of child molestation.  I worked on her 5 weeks in a row, and she finally did get her period.  Much to her amazement, it was without pain or cramps.  The period, she said, just came.  And it wasn't it's usual clottiness.  Nope, it was light and clear, and no fuss.  She thanked me profusely.
3. Client C, aged 50, sees me just so she can have regular bowel movements.  When we first started working together, she felt lucky to poo once every four days.  Wow, I said.  Client C was not willing to try a different nutritional diet, but willingly let me work on her.  Her BM's come every other day now.

I've noticed my women clients are more open to my working on them in this manner (men are a bit closed off, which is a bummer, since I'm guessing they probably have their fair share of BM issues).  Something about the pressure of being a woman -- the double standards, the desire to have a flat stomach -- we suck and hold so much in that it's just not good for us in the long run.