Are You Getting Your RDA of Pleasure?
Darlings,
- photo: lizlinder.com
Did you ever have a wish that was so deeply held that you never ever even thought about it coming true?
You just loved having it?
Well, I had a wish inside me that I would not only get a chance to one day meet the incredible and inspiring Dr. Christiane Northrup, and express my gratitude to her for the incredible pioneer that she has been in the field of woman’s health–but also to open the doors of pleasure for her. I have had the privilege of both. And, deeper still, this woman has become my esteemed friend and colleague, and shares her genius as an honored speaker and student at the School of Womanly Arts Mastery Program.
Enjoy this special guest post from Dr. Northrup…
As I sit here, I am filled with pleasure. I’m holding the third edition of The Wisdom of Menopause, hot off the presses. The Wisdom of Menopause is a manual for negotiating the mother of all wake-up calls—perimenopause. And it’s loaded with new, fun, and life-saving information for women age 35 and up. The book and I have both come a long way since 2001, the year the very first edition of The Wisdom of Menopause was released. I see so clearly that the missing ingredient in my life (and in the first edition) was….you guessed it—pleasure. Yes. Pleasure. That thing we’re made to feel guilty about. The thing we don’t dare talk about lest we make someone else uncomfortable.
I’m not talking about sex here—though that’s what almost everyone thinks of when you say the word pleasure. No, I’m talking about a feeling of exhilaration, ecstasy, joy, and delight. The pursuit of pleasure is intentionally choosing activities and thoughts that bring about this feeling. Of course, sex can be included in the list. And your sex life will likely improve astronomically as you welcome more pleasure into your life. I can also tell you, emphatically, that the deliberate pursuit of enjoyable activities of all kinds is health-enhancing, too.
Let me explain. Back in 2005 when I was first invited to teach at Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts, I sensed, intuitively, that the women who were learning about the deliberate pursuit of pleasure were healing physical illnesses. To test this, I asked the students of the Womanly Arts to raise their hands if they had noticed an improvement in their health since starting the Mastery program. Hands went up all over the room. And as each woman spoke, I learned that pleasure was a key ingredient in improving everything from abnormal pap smears to lung cancer.
Like any good scientist, I decided to put pleasure to the test—in both my personal and professional life. I also began to study the biochemistry of joy and pleasure to find out why feeling good was such a key component in health. And this is how I made the connection between pleasure and the gas nitric oxide, which rises in response to all kinds of pleasurable activities.
Nitric oxide is produced by the endothelial lining of every blood vessel in the body. (It sounds like nitrous oxide, but isn’t the same at all. Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, is given by the dentist.) Nitric oxide levels rise in response to all kinds of pleasurable activities, including eating dark green leafy vegetables, laughing ’til you pee your pants, and having orgasms. In fact, an orgasm (and also the fertilization of an egg by a sperm) is accompanied by a huge burst of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide increases the circulation of blood, thus bringing more nutrients to all our cells.
But it does even more than that. It is an “uber neurotransmitter” that actually helps balance the levels of all the other neurotransmitters (like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and beta-endorphin) in the brain and body. These are the very chemicals for which so many women are prescribed drugs such as Prozac and Paxil. I’ve found that the deliberate pursuit of pleasure in a circle of supportive women is usually all that is necessary to help lift depression and free a woman’s soul.
Make no mistake. The deliberate pursuit of pleasure is a path that requires great courage. It’s incredibly easy to follow the well-worn path of martyrdom, pain, suffering, disease, and anger. And yes, there are hundreds of valid reasons why women are angry and depressed and sick. I have spent a lifetime documenting them, writing about them, and helping women heal from them. Besides, many are convinced that suffering “buys” you something. It doesn’t.
To truly change the conditions of our lives, we women must have the courage to end the pain. And the way to do this is to bring more pleasure into your life. And to realize that every woman who rests, who sits down to enjoy a meal, and who says YES to herself and her deepest desires, helps the next women do the same. And the next one after that. This is the new feminism. This is how we change the world and uplift humanity. One woman at a time. Pure and simple. Now doesn’t that feel good?
This information is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease. All material in this article is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise, or other health program.
© Christiane Northrup, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Christiane Northrup, M.D., a board-certified ob/gyn, is a visionary pioneer, beloved authority in women’s health and wellness, and the author of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” and “The Wisdom of Menopause.” Following a 25-year career in both academic medicine and private practice, Dr. Northrup devotes her time to helping women truly flourish. Her bestselling classic “The Wisdom of Menopause” is now completely revised. In the new edition of “The Wisdom of Menopause,” Dr. Northrup tackles everything a woman needs to navigate “the change.” Women will return to this treasured reference time and again for advice on breast health, bone health, pelvic health, and heart health as well as diet, supplementation, sexuality—and of course, hormone support. To read an excerpt, click here .You can purchase a copy on Amazon by clicking here . Follow Dr. Christiane Northrup on Facebook, Twitter, at www.drnorthrup.com, and by listening to her weekly Hay House Internet radio show “Flourish!”
Did this leave you wanting more? Dr. Northrup will be speaking at this year’s Mastery Program. If you’d like to experience a taste of Mastery firsthand, join us at our LIVE Intro event, The Radical Step That Changes Everything, on February 9th in NYC.
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
A Million Moments in 52 Seconds
Darlings,
There were a million moments I will never forget.
Like a piece of classical music, connecting me to places in my soul which are parts of my invisible architecture. Or, a visit to Stonehenge, the Parthenon, the Pyramids—places in time which have shaped me, but I never inhabited. That is how the last live weekend of Mastery lives within me.
I can hardly believe it was only four months ago that this class poured through the doors of The School of Womanly Arts, nervous, excited, scared, and wondering what was going to happen. Who were all these strange women who were taking the class together? And now, we have a new family of 200 plus Sister Goddesses and a box of Tools and Arts so relevant, so practical, so essential that we can barely get through an hour of our lives, or a decision of our lives, without reaching for a Tool or an Art to give us a leg up.
I mean, I just logged onto Sistergoddess.com this morning, and this is the first brag I read from Sister Goddess Sarah:
I brag that as my husband and I flew into Roanoke, Virginia, and I looked out the window, Roanoke looked different. It isn’t different, but I am. I felt (and feel) different. I’m not a different woman; I am a goddess with clarity.
I brag that now I’m Sarah with glitter, Sarah with a new outlook, Sarah with greater potential for joy and peace.
I brag that as I unpacked my suitcase, rather than putting my fairy goddess skirt back in the attic with my other infrequently worn outfits, I put it in my closet. I wasn’t ready to put it away. The crown …oh, the crown …it’s residing on the top shelf beside my pink tutu where I can see it everyday. It will be a reminder.
A reminder of 5 weekends of confusion, struggle, awakening and beauty.
A reminder of the potential my life is offering.
A reminder of the beauty I have within me.
A reminder to use the tools.
A reminder of my new family of sisterhood.
A reminder of the divine.
A reminder of the goddess I am.
I am grateful for my husband and family.
I am grateful for Mastery.
I am grateful for my BSG Sonia.
I am grateful for my Pod sisters and new goddess sisters.
I am grateful for change and chance.
SG Sarah
See, with Sisterhood like this, we are never alone.
With support like this, we can do anything we dream.
With this kind of cheering section, there is no way we cannot get anything and everything we want.
I want to give you my deepest gratitude for the extraordinary experience that Spring Mastery 2011 has been for me. This was, without a doubt, the best Mastery class, ever. You created so much ravishing beauty for yourselves and each other. It was unforgettable—from Victoria’s song on the courtesan couch, to Merry and Faith’s courage and power, the beach in Miami, Elvira’s sacred dance, the incredible Big Sisters, Dara’s Empire State brag, Dr. Northrup’s powerful commencement address, Team Pleasure, the gorgeous men from Men’s Night and the panel, the sexperts, Camilla’s swamp run, Halie’s prom brag, the Sister Goddess Gospel Choir (featuring Alfa Anderson of the band Chic, who also sang backup on the original studio recording of “We Are Family”), the heart-stopping talent show, oh, I could go on and on and on…
And I will go on. With each of you, living inside me, inspiring me, encouraging me with your marvelous outrageous Pleasure Revolutionary actions, out in the world.
Thank you, thank you, and then, again, thank you.
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
Want to Know the Moment That Started the Pleasure Revolution?
Sisters,
Want to know the moment that started the Pleasure Revolution?
Giving birth to my daughter, Maggie.
Having a baby was one of the most fun, ecstatic, exciting, empowering moments of my life.
I loved it.
And consequently, I am THRILLED to announce that I will be one of the featured teachers in the Ecstatic Birth Tele-Summit: The Body Series–LIVE!, which kicks off April 20th, hosted by SG Sheila Kamara Hay!
Intended for future parents and birth professionals, this 10-week Tele-Summit is bringing together some of the hottest teachers across disciplines to talk about living in your body, tapping into its innate power, pleasure and wisdom, AND how to integrate that into childbirth!!
This information is going to turn your conception of childbirth upside down AND inside out! We will be empowering you to deepen your connection to your body, whether you are giving birth in the near or far future, or supporting someone in preparation for a deeply connected and ecstatic birth experience!
Topics include:
- The interwoven nature of a woman’s birthing and sexual anatomy and how deeply this informs our birth experience
- How to get out of our heads and prepare for “birth as a body trip”
- The importance of a woman’s relationship to her sensuality, and how to deepen this connection and tap into it during birth
- Concrete tools and exercises for ecstatic and potentially orgasmic birth preparation
- The underlying physiology inherent in the ecstatic birth experience
- Practices to fully inhabit the body and connect to its innate wisdom
- Guidance for birth professionals on how to incorporate all of the above into their services
The Ecstatic Birth Tele-summit is facilitated by Sheila Kamara Hay LIVE via teleconference, and features me and a different teacher each week for 10 weeks. Check out this INCREDIBLE roster:
Ina May Gaskin, the “Mother of Modern Midwifery”
Sheri Winston, award-winning sexual educator and former midwife
Regena Thomashauer (Mama Gena), pioneer in the field of pleasure
Nekole Shapiro, Tantric Birth founder
Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova, visionary and director of Birth As We Know It
Sheila Kelley, founder of feminine movement revolution S Factor
Saida Désilets, author of The Emergence of the Sensual Woman
Aviva Romm, MD, midwife, and award-winning author
Akal Kaur, pregnancy kundalini yoga teacher trainer and registered nurse
Sarah Buckley, family physician and Ecstatic Birth writer and advocate
Click here for the full curriculum and calendar.
There will be plenty of opportunity for Q&A during the live sessions, and you’ll also be invited to join supplementary discussion sessions to support the integration of this revolutionary information into your personal realities, as future parents or birth professionals. To top it all off—all sessions are recorded and you will have unlimited access to these recordings throughout the course and beyond.
This is an incredible opportunity for future moms and birthworkers to tap into such a wealth of information for inhabiting the body and preparing for an Ecstatic Birth. I recommend you join us!
The Ecstatic Birth Tele-Summit: The Body Series
Wednesday evenings from 8-9:30 pm EST
April 20th-June 22nd
Cost is $595. Register by April 10th for the early bird price of $495.
HOT Bonus!!
The first 50 registrants for this spring’s Ecstatic Birth Tele-Summit: The Body Series—LIVE! get complimentary access to the recordings of the first Ecstatic Birth Tele-Summit: The Foundation Series. That’s over 15 hours of recordings that lay the foundation for Ecstatic Birth preparation and support, featuring powerful transformative talks with teachers such as Dr. Christiane Northrup. This is a $450 value that the first 50 to register will have access to FOR FREE up until the launch of the live series on April 20th, 2011.
Looking forward to connecting at the Tele-Summit!
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
P.S. Please share this information with your friends, your colleagues, your daughters, your cousins, anyone who you think could benefit. This is important work. We owe it to every woman to get this information out there!
The End of the Great Depression
Sisters,
Depression. Numbness. Anger.
When there’s no enthusiasm, no turn-on, it bleeds the energy from every part of your life.
And we have all been there.
Every time we are faced with a situation that we don’t feel thrilled with, we are overwhelmed. And when we are overwhelmed, doubts about ourselves, and our decisions, suck us down that old familiar drain.
Anytime there is something in our lives that’s making us unhappy, it’s like a slow leak in a tire. Until we find what the leak is, we can’t really get the tire all filled and fat and ready to roll us down the highway toward our desires because we’re limping along, losing steam, losing energy.
This is where Mastery comes in. Within the context of the course and the support of the Sister Goddess community, you will begin the art of learning–step-by-step, with baby steps–how to love yourself, how to really cherish yourself, how to prioritize yourself and how to consider your desires as being primary and important.
Your pleasure is not FRIVOLOUS. It is a profound essential element for women. And without it, a woman finds herself cut off from herself, her wisdom, her life force. Hence the host of eating disorders, autoimmune diseases, cancers, depression, anxiety, overspending, and all around ANGER that plague women today.
Yes. Your pleasure is that important.
And The School of Womanly Arts is the ONLY school of its kind. I designed my Mastery Program to reconnect you with your desires, your pleasure and an incredible community of women to take the journey with you.
SG Varkoshka’s Mastery journey did just that. After years of suffering from severe depression, she learned to not only live depression free–but in PLEASURE! That’s right…bye-bye antidepressants!
*
I found out about Mama Gena from one of my best friends, who brought me to a Mastery Intro session that featured Dr. Christiane Northrup as a guest speaker. I have huge respect for Dr. Northrup, and when I heard that her daughters were enrolled, I figured it must be an amazing program, so I signed up right then and there. As an artist working in the non-profit sector, the cost of the program was a major expenditure. And it was worth every penny.
Before Mama Gena, I didn’t know how to be a woman. Mastery allowed me to take huge steps toward living my life to the fullest, as a woman exploring her pleasure potential in many ways. But the area of my life that has been most significantly impacted by my Mastery experience stems from the age of about fourteen, when I developed anorexia.
Living in rural Pennsylvania at that time, no one had a clue what was wrong with me. The doctor prescribed Valium because he thought I was just nervous. My parents punished me if I didn’t eat by not allowing me to go out with my friends. But anorexia is much stronger than any threats of punishment. By the time I finished my first year of college, I was admitted into the hospital for four months, weighing in at 67 pounds (I am 5’8’’, and even at my current weight of 115 pounds, I am considered underweight).
Although the odds were against me, I somehow managed to physically survive and return to college, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. But of course the underlying issues of my anorexia persisted. It wasn’t until I was about 30 years old that I could eat food in the presence of other people without having a panic attack.
Over the years, I continued to suffer from severe depression. During Mastery, I was taking antidepressants, which helped a lot, however, they took a drastic toll on my libido. I felt dead sexually. After getting all juiced up from Mastery, I decided it was critical that I wean myself off the medication. I wanted my sexuality, my power source, back. Mama Gena gave me the tools to get myself off the meds and live depression-free—not just depression-free but in pleasure!
One of the most valuable tools I learned was expressing gratitude. “Spring cleaning” has also allowed me to achieve clarity and recognize and process my underlying emotions. The “desire list” is another one of my favorites. Before Mastery, I always had a lot of trouble even feeling desire. Hearing other women express their desires has helped me uncover and own what I want. Mostly, though, I think the highest value of the Sister Goddess network is the comfort in finding commonality. During Mastery, we were all in it together. I no longer felt alone in struggling to make sense of women’s shifting roles and expectations. Every single woman’s power and pleasure was a benefit to us all (one of my mottos is now “Pleasure to the People”). It was incredibly informative to witness other women’s blocks and triumphs and apply it to my own experience. I am now 50, and it is especially inspiring to see ladies in their 60s and 70s who are totally rocking.
It’s been over three years since I’ve been completely off antidepressants, and not once have I dipped into the depths I used to visit regularly. I recently had a conversation with my mother, who told me how well I’ve been doing and how I haven’t been depressed in years. She was absolutely shocked when I told her I hadn’t been taking medication. I am now brimming with desires, one of which is a fulfilling long-term relationship.
I have two graduate degrees, and I genuinely feel that my training with Mama Gena is vastly more important. If you’re not able to locate and radiate pleasure in your life, everything else is meaningless. Thank you again to Mama, all of you in Mama’s crew, and all the women in Mastery whose energy and experiences propelled me into a new way of living!
Love,
SG Varkoshka
Depression, numbness, anxiety, anger–these are all signs that something’s not quite right. When used to go higher, you can see that these signs are your wake-up calls that it’s time for something to change.
The question is: Are you ready to take it on?
Mastery is designed to provide you with a community in which you will receive the kind of support, inspiration, encouragement and infusion of enthusiasm and joy that will permit you to regard every aspect of your life with a sense of objectivity—enough so that you can begin to facilitate change.
It would be my honor and my privilege to have you in this class.
It’s going to be OFF. THE. CHARTS.
Enrollment ends TODAY, Wednesday, March 2nd at 5pm EST.
Call the Palace at 212-787-2411 x1 to grab your spot–and find out about our incredible payment plans! OR ENROLL ONLINE. When you pay in full, you save $200 off the tuition.
Bring it on, Sisters.
The games begin this Saturday!
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
A Whole New Kind of Abundance
Sheri Winston has got it going on. I took one of her workshops this spring, and I loved her so much that I’m bringing her in to be a guest speaker for the women in this round of Inner Circle. In the meantime, I want EVERY WOMAN who wants to expand her sensuality to take advantage of her upcoming class in NYC. She’s teaching a FULL DAY ORGASMIC ABUNDANCE CLASS on September 19th!!!
Sheri has become incredibly popular since her book, Woman’s Anatomy of Arousal, won THE 2010 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD FROM AASECT (American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists)! This is the absolute top award given to sexual educators in the country!!!
Sheri’s understanding of our female body, stemming from her background as a midwife, doula, and childbirth educator, is unsurpassed and will blow your mind!!! In the words of our Divine Doctor of Sensuality, Christiane Northrup:
“Sheri Winston’s anatomical model of the female erogenous anatomy exceeds ANYTHING found in the Harvard Medical Library or standard medical anatomy texts. Talk about BURIED pleasure! Sheri Winston’s work is a major step in female sexual reclamation!”
Orgasmic Abundance for Women – Beyond Your Wildest Dreams
Learn the skills to create arousal and experience orgasm in a safe and comfortable clothes-on, hands-off environment. Learn the truth about your anatomy and what to do with it, using skills of breath, movement, imagery, and sound that can expand arousal, intensify the ability to focus and become absorbed in sensation and to learn to surrender and relax into orgasm.
Date: Sunday, September 19th
Topic: Orgasmic Abundance for Women
Time: 11am-2pm and 3pm-6pm with optional one-hour Q and A afterwards
Location: 300 East 85th Street, condo meeting space
Cost: $125/person until 9/15, $150 after
Pre-register at: http://intimateartscenter.com/orgasmic_abundance_9-19-10
ENJOY!
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
You’re Invited to the Biggest Virtual Women’s Event of the Year
Darlings,
As you know, I have a passion for continually putting you in front of the cutting edge voices of women speaking on behalf of women in the world today. That is why I am delighted to invite you to join me for the Inspiring Women Summit, an unprecedented teleseminar event designed to help women activate their full potential. It runs from May 1st to May 8th and is completely free.
Besides me, the seminar features dozens of top women leaders — I’m talking powerhouses — such as Marianne Williamson, Christiane Northrup, Riane Eisler, Joan Borysenko, Sonia Choquette, Marci Shimoff, and on and on and on.
As part of the summit, I have the distinct honor and pleasure to be participating in a dialogue with Dr. Christiane Northrup and Joan Borysenko, during which we’ll discuss how joy and ecstasy are linked to women’s health and well-being. Our call is on May 3rd from 9-10:30pm EST.
The entire Summit will explore many facets of being an inspired woman including: feminine leadership, women’s health, communication, relationships, manifestation skills, sensuality, community organizing, spirituality, and much more. Panel dialogues will focus on questions of importance to women, which will then seed your conversation with other participants.
Each day will also include networking opportunities to advance your work.
Never before have so many top women leaders gathered on the phone to offer their secrets, stories, advice, and encouragement to other women. It promises to be a dynamic week of personal transformation, powerful dialogues, and inspiring circles –- all without expense or travel. This event is not like other teleseminar series — you will be an active co-creator and collaborator through breakout groups, collaboration circles, and more.
You can participate live on as few or as many calls as you like and interact with both the leaders and other participants via a state-of-the-art MaestroConference platform. Or, if you can’t make the live calls, you can listen to recordings later at your convenience. Simply register, and they’ll send you all the call-in details as well as the calendar of calls.
Again, the Summit runs from May 1st to May 8th and is completely free. Please do share this invitation with friends and allies –- all are warmly welcomed to participate. While the event is geared towards women, men may participate as well.
Find Out More: http://inspiringwomensummit.com/spotlight/Mama-Gena
I hope to connect with you at the Summit!
With so much love and pleasure,
Mama Gena
P.S. The Inspiring Women Summit gives you personal access to the following inspiring women leaders:
Marianne Williamson, Christiane Northrup, Riane Eisler, Jehmu Greene, Deva Premal, Joan Borysenko, Monica Sharma, Marci Shimoff, Ariane de Bonvoisin, Sonia Choquette, Mona Polacca, Hazel Henderson, Jan Yanehiro, Nina Rothschild Utne, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Angel Kyodo Williams, Margaret Wheatley, Kristine Carlson, Belvie Rooks, Elza Maalouf, Daphne Rose Kingma, Juanita Brown, Marcia Wieder, Anodea Judith, Susan Davis, Beth Wilson, Tami Simon, Rita Lustgarten, Lama Palden, Michelle Price, Dorka Keehn, Lisa Schrader, Claire Zammit, Liana Chaouli, Elayne Doughty, Charlotte Shelton, Durre Ahmed, Agapi Stassinopoulos, Zem Joaquin, Susan Collin Marks, Katherine Woodward Thomas, Johanina Wikoff, Sherry Anderson, Hala Khouri, Suzanne Sterling, Zen DeBrucke, Miranda MacPherson, Osprey Orielle Lake, Sheva Carr, Jalaja Bonheim, Chameli Ardagh, Gail Straub, Jessica Roemischer
Series Host: Devaa Haley Mitchell
Event Co-sponsors:
MaestroConference, MaestroPath, First 30 Days, Women on the Edge of Evolution, FemininePower, Wisdom of the World, Sounds True, Unity, Dream University, WOW Magazine, Women of Wisdom, SpiralMuse.
