Learn how Ayurvedic practices of seed cycling and food intake can manage your gynaecological health

side view of woman lying under shirodhara vessel during ayurvedic procedure

The uterus is a curious organ. It becomes tense when exposed to physical, emotional, and mental duress. It relaxes, when you relax. It holds celestial space to nurture new life and can even reverse diseases like cancer with superior stem cells produced in cord and menstrual blood.

The Body Remembers

Spiritually speaking; the uterus stores memories and emotional trauma. A female body is born with a fixed number of eggs, from which you were born. So, biologically you were part of your grandmother’s womb too. You have within you, all the memories of your grandmother, and she has the memories of her grandmother. It is generations of memories and even trauma that is inherited.

Emotionally speaking it is vital to forgive all those who hurt you. Lovers who didn’t live up to your expectations; friends, family, and society, who failed to protect you. When you forgive, you are releasing those negative memories from your body, and you start healing not only yourself, but future generations and all those women who came before you.

Medical Management

Medically speaking, stay away from practices that are weakening the uterus. The worst is over abuse of birth control pills prescribed without adequate cause. When someone complains of skin issues, PCOS, PCOD, Endometriosis, infertility, hormonal issues, irregular period cycle, she is often prescribed birth control without even addressing the root cause of the diseases or taking into consideration long-term side-effects of drugs. When we externally instruct the body to not get pregnant with artificial hormones, we are breaking the natural rhythm and cycle within the uterus. And when you get off long-term birth control usage, absolute chaos hits the uterus which is suddenly put in charge again. Even women in menopause are often put on hormonal pills to increase oestrogen which contradicts the natural cycle.

The second biggest danger to the uterus are hormones found in dairy products, meat-based foods and soya-based products which have high levels of isoflavones that mimic oestrogen in the body and can lead to hormonal disruptions. Dairy products sourced from factory-farmed cows are often filled with pus, blood, oestrogen and cortisol.

The second biggest danger to the uterus are hormones found in dairy products, meat-based foods and soya-based products which have high levels of isoflavones that mimic oestrogen in the body and can lead to hormonal disruptions

Food is Medicine

In the past few years of my practice, I have met many women who have survived double mastectomies, hysterectois, oophorectomies, and even cancer. I had a cancer scare at the age of 16, and underwent four painful surgeries before I turned 18 for multiple fibrocystic benign lumps that were ravaging my body. After a successful career in television and investment banking, I took an indefinite sabbatical to heal my body and in the pursuit of this found Ayurveda.

Ayurveda allows you to address the root cause of the diseases with diet, lifestyle changes, and naturally found herbs. The uterus responds to the cycle of the moon, releases blood every 28 days which has a direct impact on haemoglobin levels, skin, hair, and emotional health. Choose foods that are green in colour, loaded with iron, which helps in building RBC. Foods like spinach, celery, cilantro, curry leaves, moringa, spirulina, french beans, peas, asparagus, green gourd, bitter gourd, fresh fenugreek and carrom leaves are excellent sources of iron. Include foods that are red in colour, like carrots, beetroots, turnips, pomegranate, and black grapes, which helps heal the uterus. Include bitter herbs like fenugreek, carrom seeds to purify the blood, and seeds like cumin and fennel to prevent frequent UTI.

Get Cyclical

Seed cycling is another powerful remedy. During the follicular phase, consume 2 teaspoons of pumpkin and flax seeds to boost oestrogen in your body. For the next fifteen days of luteal phase starting from ovulation to period day, consume 2 teaspoons of sunflower and sesame seeds to boost progesterone in your body. You can also include herbs like shatavari, guduchi, ashwagandha, sukumaran kashayam to reverse health issues with doctors advice. If you are planning to have children, remember the foetus’s health completely depends on the health of the egg, sperm, uterus and the kind of diet you follow during pregnancy. You can do an ayurvedic panchakarma cleanse before conceiving, and during pregnancy incorporate sweet herbs like shatavari, yastimadhu, gulkand, brahmi, vidari to improve foetal health and lactation.

Also remember, to sync your clock with mother nature, rise with the sun, set with the sun, eat seasonal, locally available foods devoid of preservatives. Exercise regularly, engage in self massage to improve blood circulation, and you can introduce one drop of sesame oil in your naval at bedtime. Work on your Gut health which has a direct impact on your gynaecological health.

Ayurveda is the road to health that helps you honour your body gently and naturally, respecting the power of creation and choice. The ultimate goal for us, as women, to evolve into the healthiest and kindest version of the divine feminine we can be, aligned to our highest purpose. Ayurveda can help you do this.

Dr Dimple Jangda is an ex-investment banker, celebrity Ayurveda health coach, Times Brand Icon and influencer. She has an honorary doctorate from National American University. Her venture Prana Healthcare Centre and Prana Academy has introduced ayurveda to over 85,000 students and patients in 61 countries. Her TV show, Ayurveda Diaries was viewed by 45+ million viewers, she has two podcasts on Amazon and Spotify and has been published on multiple media platforms.