The Sacred Womb

Salena Walker; Herbalist, Naturapath and Nutritionist joins us to talk about what’s going on during menopause and how we can support ourselves with what we drink, eat, think and excrete!

She talks us through what’s going on with our hormones, what we need to consider to take care of ourselves, plus herbs and supplements to support the transformation.

ABOUT SALENA

Salena has over twenty years of teaching experience and offers many of her courses both in person in her woodland classroom in West Wales and online. Her course ‘Hormones and Menopause’ is now available online.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

I want to set up the context for this episode because it’s so important that you know I’m sharing this from a place of love, years of experience working with women, compassion, understanding and no judgment. 

My perspective is non-religious, non-dogmatic, and most importantly – comes from an experience of working in an environment of respect. 

Here are the main elements to consider when healing after abortion:

Identifying What’s Stuck

Themes and beliefs can get stuck when we’ve had an abortion. So that is where we need to start in our healing process because if we try and do the other steps before, it doesn’t work. Our starting point is to tune into the body and feel into what’s the belief about oneself that means we can’t come to peace with what happened. 

Once we identify what’s looping around, we then take our focus off healing from the abortion and work with the theme within our psyche; in this life, through our soul’s journey, and from any generational imprints.

Communing With The Spirit That Didn’t Come Through

Every woman I have worked with to heal after abortion – the spirit is okay, they’re not harmed. Knowing that they’re okay often comes as a huge relief, and helps bring a sense of peace and completion to the experience.

Recalibrating The Body

At conception, our maternal instinct gets activated and there’s an alchemical process that prepares our body for gestation, birth and motherhood.

So it’s really helpful to do some deep, slow bodywork to allow for the completion of that somatically.

Grieving

Having space to grieve with no time limit is helpful, and if your grief feels like it’s dissipating gradually over time, then that’s the natural process of it. 

However, if the grief keeps looping around, then it becomes a trauma loop in itself, and that’s when we need to get underneath it and have a look at what the stuck themes are. 

Self-Compassion vs ‘Forgiveness’

Forgiveness is banded around in the new age psychology world, and my experience of it is that forgiveness doesn’t truly exist. 

What I’ve discovered is that 100% of the time there is no judgment from source energy – NONE – because Source is love. Once we experience that for ourselves, the self-judgement dismantles, all the distorted beliefs about ourselves dissolve, and we can truly come to peace within. 

Energising The Womb Centre

We need to help our womb centre to re-energize because we’ve often pulled away from it due to the emotional, spiritual and physical stress we’ve been through. 

We need to have a good amount of energy in our womb to help our cycle clear out debris; physically or spiritually.

3 Ceremonies To Heal After Abortion

Miscarriage: 9 Guidelines To Heal Emotionally & Spiritually

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

To heal our womb means to dissolve all the ‘stuff’ we’ve been holding in there, restore its true purpose and reconnect the whole womb centre with the rest of our system.

To do this we need to consider six aspects:

• the physical womb
• the metaphysical womb
• gestation: time in our mothers’ womb
• the split of unified energy into masculine and feminine
• the collective womb
• detox and nutrition

This episode is an overview of these elements – and over the coming few months I’ll be releasing an episode going deeper into each aspect.

THE PHYSICAL WOMB: THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE
The menstrual cycle is a whole cycle, and its purpose is to guide us to embody our full range of states of being each month. This range differs during different chapters in our lives. So to restore the true purpose of the cycle, we need to be able to tune into the natural undercurrent of this cycle every day. 

THE METAPHYSICAL WOMB: THE ENERGETIC WOMB
The blueprint upon which the physical womb forms. It contains all the information about how we feel about being a woman:

• generational imprints
• subconscious beliefs from other lifetimes and our soul’s journey
• cultural & social programming

These beliefs can have to do with what it is to be a woman, disliking the subjugated position we’ve held in society is a big one, deep down for women. It often shows up as not wanting to be a woman, and that needs unblending from not liking the position women have collectively been in.

GESTATION: THE TIME IN OUR MOTHERS’ WOMB
During our time in our mother’s womb, we are alive, we are conscious and our attachment template, brain and nervous system are all forming in response to mum and our environment. 

This process incorporates not only gestation but also:

• The place we were at before we incarnated ‘between lives’
• conception
• landing in the womb
• gestation
• landmark events
• birth

This is powerful work and I will be releasing an episode solely on this topic.

UNIFICATION OF OUR MASCULINE & FEMININE ASPECTS
I have produced a full podcast on this, so I’ll just summarise it here. 

So basically, as women – when we restore our true masculine nature and unify it in the body with our feminine energy, it helps to restore and embody our internal authority, internal structure and ability to bring energy into matter.

THE COLLECTIVE WOMB: RESTORING OUR CREATIVE SOVEREIGNTY
Our metaphysical womb is connected to The Great Mother, to which all wombs are connected. Even if we don’t feel it, have turned away, or don’t believe it exists, the connection is there.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

I explore 3 core issues that I see over and over again in my work, particularly with women. I describe how each particular aspect shows up, the root cause, and what to do about it.

Perpetually Putting Others’ Needs Before Our Own

THIS LOOKS LIKE

A hypersensitivity to what others are feeling and what they possibly need. After very quickly and automatically scanning the other person, we quickly attempt to regulate, fix, and advise them (without them asking) into a state where we have some sense of safety or security.

When we have this pattern of relating in our nervous system, people often describe themselves as empaths or highly sensitive. However, the reality is that we’re hypervigilant.

I should add that our current societal structure rewards women for doing this! 

Over-Functioning In Relationships
believing it’s our partner that needs to get help

THIS LOOKS LIKE

Becoming fixated on our partner needing to change so that the relationship can work; where they can grow, what they need to do, believing that IF ONLY they would go to therapy, stop doing this or start doing that, then the relationship would be ok. 

If we’re genuinely doing our healing work, then we also need to look at why we are with someone who isn’t. That IS our attachment work. Parts of us that might be waiting or hoping for connection, rather than being able to assess if we’re still a good match. The perpetual trying to make things work is part of our attachment wounding and attempts to get a parent to love us.

So if you’re persuading someone to be nice to you, to like or love you, then it’s time to look at that perpetual try. Once that is understood and mostly dissolved, we can think more clearly, assess the situation as it is, and make a clear decision from our adult selves.

Staying in love-less relationships (particularly thinking it’s for the children’s sake), getting breadcrumbs of something that looks or feels like love, over-understanding a partner (you’re not his psychologist), we’re enabling the notion that he’s a little boy, and ignoring that we are also operating from a younger wounded place.

Trying To Get Unmet Childhood Needs To Be Met By Parents – As An Adult

THIS LOOKS LIKE

It’s the perpetual hoping, waiting, trying, longing for the love we didn’t get, and trying to get that from the people who couldn’t give that when we were young.

Yes, sometimes we humans do change, we do wake up. However, if your parents weren’t in a state of growth and development when we were children, the chances are high that they won’t be for the duration of their lifetime.

Sometimes, parents do awaken and do the work needed to develop themselves and have better relationships. In these cases, it comes from the parents’ decision. It doesn’t come from their adult children persuading them. It’s their decision entirely to look within themsel

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

Have you ever felt an insatiable hunger for love and validation?

In this episode, I explore ‘The Hungry Mother,’ a medicine poem that speaks to the experience of, and healing from, narcissistic parenting.

Put simply, narcissistic parenting is where the parenting is all about the parent; the two main features of which are where the parent wants to be seen as perfect, and they feel entitled to ‘get’ love and their childhood unmet needs met – from the child.

This medicine poem is written in deep devotion to our wild and humbling human nature.

The word ‘Mother’ is interchangeable with father, leader, school teacher, guru, partner, organisation, friend, foe or self. The hunger is within us all…until.

It’s going to land differently for each of us at different stages of our journey. It might sting or bring tears. It might nudge denial or ignite rage. It might also validate years of confusion.

This is a medicine poem about re-parenting ourselves, about healing, and about coming home to our true nature.

The hungry mother,
A child starved of love, 
Pregnant and hoping,
Fresh blood will fill the void.

Save me, sweet babe,
For that’s why you’re here,
Be grateful to me though, 
Otherwise you’re out on your ear.

Grow my dear child,
But not too much, 
For I will hold you as a trophy,
Then be seen as good enough.

Also be my bad,
The things I hate about me, 
And I will be disgusted, 
With all that I see.

Perform when I need you to,
Be quiet when I say,
Be good with no definition, 
Meet my unmet needs, every day.

Don’t ever challenge me,
For if you dare do, 
I will discombobulate, 
And blame – yes – YOU!

The roles are reversed,
But so what? you need me,
Put up, shut up, 
And get crumbs in exchange.

For I am your Mother,
Without me you’ll die,
So be what I need,
And never, ever fly.

How on earth do we stop,
This cycle of pain?
We stop needing others,
To fill us up in vain.

This impossible task,
Of trying to get love,
Leads us to remember,
Our core essence IS love.

There will be temporary pain,
And yes, it will be hard,
But what’s the alternative,
Getting constantly charred?

The antidote is to love,
Without thirst and fear, 
ALL of ourselves, 
And walk away clear.

Free from the clutches,
Of a contract doomed to fail, 
I am now my own Mother, 
And live to tell this tale!

I realised my own Soul,
Was also seeking outside,
That – which was deep within,
Yet forgotten and denied.

And now the freedom is breathtaking,
This feeling of love,
Of Being All That Is,
I AM home, I AM love.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

Welcome to another episode where Kim and I discuss the growing divine feminine movement and its pitfalls…

…as many women who are in this movement are struggling to turn ideas into reality, have a lack of internal authority and are using ‘the masculine’ as a dumping ground for traits that are not liked or deemed to be ‘feminine’.

In the first half, we examine why and how our masculine part is often projected outwards, and in the second, we challenge the idea of labelling certain characteristics as masculine or feminine, emphasising the need to own our shadows (that which we think we are not) to reclaim our authentic masculine energy – which naturally restores our feminine energy.

We also define and question the patriarchy, our role in its creation and sustanance, and explore what’s needed to dissolve the trauma preventing us from fully embracing and unifying both energies within.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

Ready to debunk some myths about your menstrual cycle?

I talk about 6 of the most common myths in the realm of ‘womb work’ that are limiting our experience of what the menstrual cycle truly is, and get clear on what the antidotes are.

PMS is not a foregone conclusion!
Rather, it's an access point to our subconscious, a time to listen to and align with our truth. Our pre-menstrual time can be SO powerful, and is natures way of helping us to see what’s really going on. As we start to understand and clear the what caused the underlying rage, anger, frustration - and are able to into alignment with ourselves, PMS symptoms disappear.

Chasing the ‘perfect cycle’ is a fallacy.
Our menstrual cycle is a barometer of our our spiritual, physical and emotional health. In the absence of a genuine connection with the ever changing undercurrent of our menstrual cycle, we can take on ideals that our outside of us and try to conform to them, resulting in trying to ‘fit’ our cycle with expectations, that inevitably don’t match. The way forwards is to clear the trauma that is blocking a genuine connection.

Tired of battling your inner critic?
This is a wounded part of us that we don’t have to manage, put up with or work around. It’s a part of us the NEEDS our attention, connection and love. Criticism comes from fear and this needs processing and integrating so that we can see clearly. It’s totally possible to do this!

Bleeding On The New Or Full Moon Means Something Specific
Nope! Only we know how the interaction between our unique menstrual cycle and the moon cycle is both supporting and challenging us. Again, when we don’t have a genuine connection, we can take on external beliefs and structures that keep us stuck in a certain way of  being. The antidote, as always is to do the work to get a genuine connection.

Blaming The Moon or Astrology On Our State Of Being
Not necessarily directly related to our menstrual cycle, but very popular in the work of cycle attunement and women’s work….Attributing our state of being solely to the moon phases or astrological climate blinds us to what is really going on within. The antidote again, is to look within, understand what’s going on and then look at how the moon phase or astrological climate is amplifying that.

The false premise that hormones are the only drivers of our health.
I discuss how factors like trauma, synthetic hormones, the pill and toxins affect our hormones, and that we need a wholistic approach to heal and take care of our menstrual cycle.

The antidote to all of this is to look within, attune to our unique cycle and listen to the information it’s giving us.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

Many women I come across talk of keeping themselves small. It's one of the core wounds that women in particular struggle with.

In this episode, Kim Barnard and I explore the 4 aspects that form the 'root system' that keep us living with tethers on our life force, and how to heal.

There are several expressions of keeping ourselves small, which are (but aren't limited to):

• Feeling not good enough, or unworthy
• Believing that somehow we don't deserve love / money / success
• Imposter syndrome (fearful that people will find out who we really are underneath)
• Feeling afraid to embody our life force and what will happen
• Scared to share an opinion
• Afraid to do what the work we want to in the world

The 4 areas of the root system and how to heal it are:

• Cultural influences
• Past life roots:  exploring the 'trauma triangle' - victim, perpetrator and failed rescuer states of being within within our consciousness.
• Roots in this life that are part of our attachment template.
• Generational roots that amplify what's already running in our consciousness.
  
  

The main take away from this episode, is that it IS possible to heal this, for the tethers to come off our energy, and to embody our life force again.

We would love to hear how this lands with you, head on over to Instagram to share your experience.

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

A short and sweet episode to share with you a Womb Medicine Poem to restore the beauty and wonder of the womb centre. 

It starts with a brief introduction, and then there's a guided practice to listen to the poem with your womb.

I invite you to attune to the feel of the words, the energy, and the response from your womb.

It’s a chance to dip your toe into the potency of your womb, to tap into the void from which all of life is born, and to resonate with the frequency of creation.

I'd love to hear your reflections and experiences— it's your time to shine!

See The Moon shine
Regardless of phase
This is your time beauty
To shine in all ways.

No more push on regardless
No more have to’s or should’s
This is your time beauty
To be as wild as wild woods.

From the depths of your soul
Go with your flow
This is your time beauty
Let go, let go, let flow.

Your womb is the void
From which you create
This is your time beauty
To connect and activate.

Be lovingly ruthless
As you intuit your way
This is your time beauty
Don’t waste another day.

So shine beauty, shine
This is your time
This is your time
This is our time.

By MELANIE SWAN

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Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.

I applaud and welcome a more inclusive, accepting, loving world. 

To love each other in our unique expression is wonderful, it’s progress, it’s needed.

In reference to a woman’s cycle, I’ve seen the word WOMAN replaced with ‘menstruators’, ‘people with womb’s’, ‘people with periods’. 

If that’s what a person wants to call themselves – fine. 

But, nothing changes that fact that women have wombs. Women have a cycle, Women have periods. Women birth babies. Trans women don’t. Men don’t. 

This is not to diminish anyone’s abilities, or unique expression of who they are within.

I have noticed in order to be current and trending and liked, there is an attempt not to say WOMAN. 

I believe this to be the slow, gradual, eradication of the word woman from our everyday language. 

It’s subtle, it’s done in the guise of trying to be respectful.

But, let’s not include different expressions of humanity by diluting or dimishing another. 

Woman. Let’s say it again. Woman. 

A woman’s cycle – a woman’s period – women give birth – women breast feed – women go through menopause – women have womb’s. 

Women’s only circles are Sacred. Women NEED women’s only spaces to heal, to share, to be with each other – just as men, trans men and trans women do.

This isn’t exclusion, it’s an honouring of woman in her essence, so that we may come home to our true nature, and meet the world from that place.

Women – let’s not give away our true essence in an attempt to be liked, to be seen or experienced as inclusive, or for fear of being trolled/cancelled.

I know many women who think like this but are scared to actually say it in our current climate.

Join the conversation Instagram post, I’d love to hear your experience.

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Support the show

Melanie Swan is regarded as a leader in healing the physical womb, restoring the metaphysical womb, and connecting with the cosmic womb.

She’s a Womb Medicine Woman and Soul Worker with 20 year’s experience – who guides and empowers women to come home to their true nature.

She hosts The Sacred Womb Podcast and runs The Womb Healing Training, and is currently writing her first book The Sacred Womb, which is, at its core, a handbook for the empowerment of womankind; due for release in late 2025.