Body Mind Spirit

Body     Mind     Spirit

Jing      Qi          Shen

The Buddha said that with our thoughts we create our world.

I emphasize the strength of Shen over Qi, and Qi over Form.

When we know ourselves as and reside in the source, or Spirit, we are no longer limited by the filters of our own interactive perception.

At the level of qi, when our energy is being pulled into our subconscious beliefs, we project this onto a world that is only a projection of our internal state of consciousness.

When we interact only at the level of form, believing that the manifest world is all there is, we have made ourselves small and weak, needing protection. Very little can change at this level. When we can see through and beyond our present limiting patterns of perception, we actually change the way the world appears and the way in which we interact in it.

True change happens at the Source/Spirit level, and opens up our filters of perception so that we are not limited by the manifest world. In the image above, the yellow color could be seen as the illuminating source of existence itself that shows up at the energy level, and at the level of manifestation. Thus, when we know our own source, the way we interact in the manifest world opens up to that light, and reflects it. This source energy is in everything that shows up in the manifest world. When we recognize it, the manifestation opens up to that spiritual axiom that every atom contains the entire universe.

When we change the way we perceive things, the things we perceive change.

So, what does this have to do with fertility? Everything. The way that your potential is manifest is through the hypothalamic filter that causes your hormones to manifest in the way they do. You simply cannot change your hormones at the level of the body. The qi of perception must change, that the light of spirit shines through. Then, as the Taoist origins of Chinese medicine suggest, you embody the spirit of evolution. You are creation itself.

This is not as daunting as it might appear. It is the very essence of what we attempt to accomplish at retreat. Then we work with the body at the level to support these modifications at the level of spirit and energy, rather than the other way around.

Absolute vs. Relative

For the purpose of our discussion of where babies come from, we could say that all life begins in the Absolute, or Tao. We can also call it the unborn, or that which has not yet been made manifest. Yet once things are made manifest, they operate via specific and inviolate laws that govern existence or that which we see – the manifest world. The manifest world is governed by laws such as relativity: E = mc2.

When we can’t explain some particular phenomenon according to these natural laws, we call it “a miracle.” It seems to have defied the laws of gravity, relativity, or thermodynamics.

The study of the entirety of existence is referred to as cosmology. Yet, when we are dealing with where it comes from, we call it cosmogony. TCM views the body as a microcosm of the macrocosm. This is the view of the manifest, cosmological world. It governs the forward movement of the interaction of the elements. Yet, when we are dipping into the Unborn, we are delving into cosmogony – where pre-heavenly and post-heavenly essence intersect in order to bring a new possibility into existence.

This doesn’t only happen when babies are born. It happens when any new possibility emerges which had not been. We see it all the time – a new insight changes the way you view things. Something previously hidden comes into view. Spontaneous remissions from incurable diseases. In all these cases, the Absolute was made relative.

Einstein, who fathered the theory of relativity, spent his life looking for the unifying principle, beyond the relative, that would link all of existence. The relative world can be explained by the friction of opposites, yin and yang. Egg and sperm. Good and bad. Father and mother. Right and wrong. There is something to the left of the equal sign and something  else relating to it on the right. Yet right in the center of the equal sign is something that can’t be measured, something which can’t be put on either side, yet shows up on both sides. It defies science, because it is beyond that which can be segmented and studied. It unifies. It is the source. It is love.

Love is that which gives rise to all of existence. This is not the gooey emotional love. This is the fierce spark that ignites life, which then vibrates into the opposing forces – male and female, love and hate, fear and safety. This love is unconditional. It is beyond all conditions, and yet shines through them all.

So, the source of this love vibrated into the desire for a child to be made manifest. At one side of the equation is child (love), and the other side of the equation is no child (fear). Yet, where did the desire come from? Did you make it happen or did it arise on its own from the source? Can you trust it without taking it into the place of opposites and perceived control – where you think the manifest world is in charge? Can you let it go and return to its source, that arises from your own heart, and leave the outcome to Love itself?

The Return

The Way of the Tao is YieldingThe Movement of the Tao is Return.

This time of year represents the beginning of the annual return. Life moves from the external abundance of the harvest, and into the potential within that will give rise to the next cycle of fulfillment.

Nights will get longer as days get shorter. Weather patterns become more erratic. Yet there is great potential during the return. In the menstrual cycle, the return is the junction ? through the menstrual cycle where the cosmic qi, deep within the womb, is ignited to bring forth life. Invisible and beyond control, when we honor the return, we open up to the fertile potential of the origin itself.

I hope you will be able to join us for one of our upcoming return retreats, where together we will maximize the potential of the return and its ability to bring forth the unimaginable powers of creation itself.

Newcomers and returners are welcome.

With love and blessings,

Randine

Holding Your Dream

Hope is the thing with feathersThat perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all. -Emily Dickinson

When your dream hasn’t become a reality, do you continue to pursue it, or do you let it go? Many people I have worked with over the years have great difficulty relating to their dream when it remains elusive. Some continue to hold it tightly, and pursue it with everything they have; others let it slip away, little by little, until there is nothing left but despair.

A dream, a goal, a vision pursued, is a function of the right brain, governed by the Liver system of energies, according to Chinese medicine. We create an image in our mind’s eye, and muster up the energy and resources to pursue it. The desire often becomes a reality. But not always. Difficulty arises when we hold tightly to desire and don't let it go. Most liver qi stagnation is caused by the resistance to unfulfilled desires. Look back over your life and recall all of the desires you have had. Have they all become a reality? Not mine. When I was ten, I wanted to live on a ranch in Montana with my husband and three kids and be a roller skating waitress at a drive-in. When I was a teenager, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with my first boyfriend. When I started college, I decided to major in journalism. None of these deeply held dreams came to fruition, but that doesn’t mean they were wrong.  Life molded itself so that my life could fulfill its destiny; not so I would get all that I wanted in the way I wanted it.

When life doesn’t participate with you according to the way you are holding your dream, perhaps you need to hold it differently. Perhaps the thing with feathers that is perched in the soul is molding you, rather than the other way around.

Don’t give it words; don’t give it an image. Let it provide one for you. Open your heart to allow hope to speak in its own language. My longing for children was not a mistake, but the way I pursued it was. I thought I could make it happen according to my timeline, in my way. My children came in their own way. The dreams I held in my heart guided me – I didn’t guide them. My children didn’t come because of my desire or what I did with it. True desires are unselfish and emerge from the heart – the same place through which our fertility comes forth.

Hold the feeling of the dream in your heart. Let it sing its wordless tune through your heart and guide you to its fruition.

Fertility Supplement Call Series

Join us for our most informative conference call series, as Dr. Lewis reveals the most important supplements for specific fertility related cases.  A not-to-be missed series that will answer your questions and leave you confident with your vitamin choices. Conference Call schedule:

General Nutritional Supplementation for Fertility and Ovarian Health:

August 8th at 8 p.m. EST

Endometriosis Supplementation:

August 12th at 2 p.m. EST

PCOS & Sugar Metabolism:

August 19th at 2 p.m. EST

Call-In Instructions:

To join in dial 605-475-4000 then access code 794774#. Those calling from Canada should call 805-360-1075 and then you will be prompted to enter the original number and access code.

1. Please DON'T announce your name when you dial in - there will be many callers on the line and the conference call may have already begun.

2. Immediately press *6 to MUTE your phone line (or use the Mute button on your phone) - this will prevent any unnecessary background noise and static on the line. You can press *6 to unmute your line once the call is opened up for discussion.

3. There are only 100 callers allowed on the call - make sure to call-in early to reserve your space.

4. Please keep topics and questions during the discussion related to the specific call.

Red Thread

There is an ancient Chinese legend about the red thread of destiny. In the midst of the chaos of life, and seemingly random events, according to myth, the gods tie an invisible red thread around the ankles of those that are destined to meet each other in a certain situation or help each other in a certain way. They might become lovers or partners; they might work together or become lifelong friends. One might help another to open their life in miraculous ways. But we can be sure, there is no mistake in our meeting. The further on in life we go, the less random it seems. We can recognize the interconnectedness of everything. We see that even in the midst of overwhelm, there are certain patterns to the workings of life. These patterns are easy to recognize in nature – predictable changes in seasons, weather patterns, growth and life cycles, the way flowers bloom in predictable ways, the perfect spiral of a sea shell…

Eight days after the eighth full moon of each year, the coral reefs spawn throughout the seas, beginning the predictable but hidden renewal of ocean life. The entire universe runs by the laws of nature. So do you. Have you ever met someone and immediately recognized each other as if you had always known each other? Red thread.

Have you ever felt like your whole world was falling apart, like everything you cherished and held dear was crumbling, but didn’t know why or what was on the horizon? A few months or years later, it was clear how destiny was unfolding perfectly. As the old pattern was being destroyed, a new pattern was emerging. More red thread action.

It’s hard to fathom that we are not controlling every aspect of our lives. We tend to get stuck in our beliefs about the way it’s all “supposed to be.” And we lose sight of the fact that it is always working for our highest good. We reach out for something that is within. Your life up to this point has not gotten off track. You haven’t waited too long, missed the right opportunity, or messed up your destiny in any way. The longing for a child is even divinely given. Here is a test: just see if you can get rid of it. If you were in charge of your destiny, you would either be able to manifest a child, or annihilate the desire. You can’t do either. It is being done. You can, however, let go into the miraculous flow of life itself so that it may happen.

A woman I recently worked with, now pregnant, told me that every moment of her life seemed to bring her to the point where this miracle could occur. Every setback, every doctor’s negative diagnosis, every high FSH reading, every sleepless night, was not a mistake. It proved to her that the faith in her heart was stronger than any external circumstance. Red thread.

Retreat Reflections

We just finished an amazingly transformative retreat. It continues to put me in awe when those struggling with “infertility” open up to their true fertility, and become liberated. It isn’t that they let go of trying to have a baby; they let go of the struggling, suffering and agony over not having a baby. Somehow, this helps open the way. One woman who shared that she and her husband love being Fertile Souls, said: “I have experienced a profound shift in my consciousness in regards to what is possible for me, both as future mother and as a woman who strives to be fully expressed.”

Another woman responded after the group-healing circle, “This is, hands down, the best acupuncture I have ever had.”

When couples arrive on retreat, often there is so much pain and despair that this type of shift would seem impossible for them. All that is necessary is the right environment for the heart to open, the body to respond, and life to come pouring through.

I always leave retreat feeling so full – wishing, as they do, that retreat would never end. But life goes on. We return to our lives and our jobs; which oftentimes become transformed by the retreat experience as well.

What is the takeaway? Hope. Abundance. A shift in consciousness like the one described above changes the entire physiology. It becomes irresistible to life.

Summer CEFP Retreat - All Practitioners Welcome!

NEW 2012 RETREAT DATE - Tell your local Practitioner!

August 24 - 26, 2012 Palmer House Hilton - Chicago IL

Cost: $350 (current CEFP members); $500 for all non-members

Continuing Education: 19 CEU hours

Contact us for registration information or for any further questions - http://www.thefertilesoulcefp.org/contact

True Healing True healing involves transformation, at the deepest levels. Instead of merely addressing the branch aspects of an individual’s presentation, we will work down to our own root level, learn and experientially practice how to come to the root level with a patient. Transformation begins by rooting oneself in the Tao. Our fall retreat will focus on taking our entire beings into the Tao, and then working our way out to the two, the three, and the ten thousand things. The movement of the Tao is return.

Friday

4 - 7 p ~ Opening Circle (3 CEU's) Personal and professional issues that impact our practice.

Saturday

8:30 - 9:30 a ~ Qi Gong (1 CEU)

10 a - 1 p ~ Morning Session with Randine  (3 CEU's)

Lecture - Rooting in the Tao

2 - 6 p ~ Afternoon Session with Randine (4 CEU's)

Body wisdom check-in Lecture - The dualistic aspect of fertility

Sunday

8:30 - 10:30 a ~ Qi Gong (1 CEU)

10 a - 1 p ~ Morning Session with Randine (3 CEU's)

Lecture - The three treasures and the forward sheng cycle of the endocrine system

2 - 6 p ~ Afternoon Session with Randine (4 CEU's)

Lecture - The backward sheng cycle of the gynecological and embryological systems Closing Circle

Fertility Acupressure - Luteal and Pre-Mentrual Phase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdnni2i6mdE

Fertility Massage - Femoral Reproductive Massage Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBhifKPeqg0

Can Women Make New Eggs?

A new study confirmed the underlying belief, unproven, that the ovary contains deep, hidden stem cells, capable of becoming new eggs. It was previously believed that a woman’s ovarian potential was determined before birth, and was incapable of being improved upon. While science hasn’t been able to study ovarian potential from healthy, living ovarian tissue, rodent studies have supported the idea that mammalian ovarian cells have a potential to produce new cells. Yet, the only tissue science has previously had to study was pathological or diseased tissue, removed from the body. It was previously proven that menopausal ovaries, when placed in a younger, healthier body, were capable of ovulating again. Science does not know how, why, or under what circumstances those stem cells can produce eggs. The ovaries respond to cues from the internal environment (the blood circulation, hormones, nutritional status, oxygenation, stress hormones in the blood., toxin and antioxidant levels…) and create a follicular environment to mimic the body’s internal response to its external environment. It is within that follicular environment that the eggs (which have been in a dormant state since before birth) undergo meiosis, and wait to see if they will be selected for maturation and ovulation.

Knowing that ovarian tissue is capable of producing new eggs, and knowing that primordial follicles remain dormant until called into circulation by communicating with the body’s internal environment (which is based on her emotional interpretation of the external environment), let me provide a couple of stories from women I have treated.

A woman underwent high dose radiation and chemotherapy, which “killed” her ovaries. She conceived naturally.

A woman in ovarian failure, with an FSH value over 100, conceived naturally.

A woman conceived during her 7^th IVF at age 47.

A woman conceived naturally with ¼ of one ovary.

A woman conceived naturally with only one ovary on the left, and only one fallopian tube, on the right.

A woman gave birth to her first child, conceived naturally, at age 48.

The body is capable of miraculous feats, when provided the right cues. I am less concerned with how to manipulate stem cells in the lab ten years from now, than I am with providing the right environment where the body can call upon its deepest, dormant potential now. While the examples might be clinical anecdotes and not research worthy, the beauty of these stories is that each of the women above had to call upon a higher potential within. According to Chinese medicine, the energy that stirs this primordial potential comes not from the Kidneys (which govern the ovaries), but from the Heart (Spirit’s) interaction with the primordial potential within the ovaries. Energetically, ones highest potential must reach into one’s most basic potential. When an internal pressure cooker is provided (like the fertility journey,) an internal state of tension is produced, requiring one to call upon this higher level of interaction. If it isn’t accessed, the HPO axis continues on its previous (horizontal) pathway of decline. When a woman can access her heart’s highest potential, we can consider it an evolutionary jump, calling upon that hidden (vertical) potential to now manifest at a higher level.

The Fertile Soul Comes to Omaha - March 23-25

Dr. Randine Lewis, author of The Infertility Cure and founder of The Fertile Soul Method^TM, will offer this Workshop in conjunction with Donna Huber (Thirteen Moons Acupuncture) to focus on the unique challenges couples and individuals face through the fertility journey. We will incorporate five-element energetics, our foundational retreat process, diagnosis, qi gong exercises, diet, massage/acupressure, energy healing, nutritional enhancement, and healing support in a comfortable group environment. Our LOWEST tuition of the YEAR is offered for this event ONLY! The retreat begins on Friday, March 23 (starting time around 3pm) and goes through Sunday, March 25 (closing time around 6pm).

For more information and registration, check out our site here: http://thefertilesoul.com/shop/retreats/re12-0323-the-fertile-soul-retreat

or contact us: info@thefertilesoul.com

Dr. Randine Lewis hosts Fall Retreat in Asheville, NC

Fall Retreats: $250 off with Registration with code: "THANKSGIVING" Join Randine Lewis for The Fertile Soul Retreat experience, this November and December, in the beautiful city of Asheville, NC. The holidays are a wonderful time to reconnect with your deepest energies and replenish. If you want to find out more about payment plans or scholarships please contact our registrations department. We hope you will be able to join us at either of our Asheville NC retreats this fall (November 3-6 or December 9-12) and share in the bounty that is there for the taking. Please use the code "thanksgiving" at checkout to take advantage of the $250 off fall retreats.

Secondary Infertility

Next week, one of our Continuing Excellence in Fertility Professionals (CEFP) members will be co-leading an educational call with me on secondary infertility. There arises a whole host of confusing body-mind issues when there is difficulty after one already has one or more children. Wikepedia defines secondary infertility as difficulty conceiving after already having conceived (and either carried the pregnancy to term or had a miscarriage). Secondary infertility is not present if there has been a change of partners (this follows tautologically from the convention of speaking of couples, rather than individuals, as being infertile; if there is a change of partners, then a new couple is created, with its own chances to be infertile.)

I can’t help but snicker at the last comment, “with its own chances to be infertile.” The conventional medical approach always focuses on what can possibly go wrong. Unfortunately, the more one focuses on what can go wrong, the more likely it will manifest. But I digress.

I suffered from “secondary” issues. I had no trouble conceiving my daughter. Once you have experienced the miracle of giving birth to a child, it brings up an added element of frustration – why can’t I do what came so easily before? Now you compound that with a hefty dose of guilt for wanting more of what you already have, and you become an energetic mess inside.

After you give birth to a child, your entire physiology can change. Energetically you might become deficient in blood or essence. Your spirit energies might be scattered. Your qi may become depleted. Your body may become more reactive, and reject another pregnancy. Your relationship with your partner may have changed. You may feel more strain in your life with less support. The demands of motherhood change you at every level. If you “try” from a deficient energetic starting point, it will be more difficult. When you add the guilt and frustration to the equation, the pattern of imbalance can consist of deficient blood, and stagnated qi, not allowing access to the already deficient reproductive essence.

When we view the individual presentation through the lens of TCM, we address the pattern, deal with the stagnated qi brought about by the conflicted emotions, and open up to life again.

Every pregnancy is different. You are a different person with every pregnancy. In fact, you change with every menstrual cycle. Certain patterns repeat themselves, especially the more you have habituated yourself in these imbalanced patterns of expression.

The good news is, when these patterns are identified and corrected, fertility can open up again. I’d like to make a new definition of secondary infertility that includes a deeper ability to pay attention to how life is affecting an individual, right now, that may be different than in the past. It actually provides us with an opportunity to become more fertile than ever before.

Lack of Inspiration

I haven’t felt very inspired lately. Yet, I looked up the word, and the dictionary said inspiration has its origins in theology: a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.

Now, that I have been experiencing, but it sure hasn’t shown up in the way I am used to feeling inspired. My inspiration used to come from this unbounded, almost infectious joy, which I felt could be conveyed to another. I have had such a passion for what the human spirit is capable of; the ability to overcome almost any odds one encounters. No matter the dilemma or apparent obstacle life seems to throw ones way, I am amazed how, given the right context, anybody can come through it shining.

Over the past year, I have been challenged to the core. And I haven’t felt very inspired. I’ve felt heavy, sluggish, and at times bogged down by grief. Yet, in practicing what I preach, I haven’t avoided it. I’ve been with it. And at its core, I have found this divine influence exerting itself on my soul. Tempering me. And in the depths of the lack of inspiration, there is inspiration. There is this enormous desire to live from a new perspective, not held down by the structures in my life that I have had to let go. I am amazed that whatever life brings my way – whether it is a welcome gift or an unfathomable sorrow – if I don’t resist it, it opens me up to the miraculous wonder which cannot be contained. My heart has broken. My life has fallen apart. Yet, out of the ashes there rises a new me, with a greater capacity for love. I feel inspired again.

Today I was given the gift of meeting with a Fertile Soul retreat participant who has gone through her own dark night; whose life has taken an unexpected turn. We connected as two souls, sharing this journey, where there are no promises of secure happy endings. When we can accept that fully, we can live in the wonder and delight of the ever-unfolding unknown. She stepped out of the Cinderella story and into a breath taking, adventurous, razor’s edge life. She’s living a lion-hearted courageous existence where life is living her, fully, finally! We shared again in this infectious inspiration. No need for a comfortable, happy ending; there is no ending.