Uncategorized Archives - Ayllu Medicina

Five Ways to Connect to Your Cycle

by Emma Reeves | Apr 8, 2024 | Uncategorized

Do you feel connected to your menstrual cycle? In many societies, rites of passage through menstruation to menopause and invaluable knowledge about the power of our wombs has been forgotten. It is time to remember this knowledge.

Our cyclical nature has been painted as a burden, as something to hide, as something we are victims of and should try to forget about. When actually, connecting with your moon cycle (menstrual cycle) brings empowerment and understanding of your true nature.

So, where do you begin?

Ayllu Medicina’s guide, Hwaneetah, has been studying womb technology for over 20 years, sharing through 1:1 sessions, on retreats, and during a recent interview with Breathe and Flow (you can watch the full video at the end of this article!). She is currently writing her first book about womb technology and the feminine principle.

We give thanks for Hwaneetah’s invaluable knowledge and want to share five ways to connect to your cycle once more.

1. Understand Your Four Seasons

The Earth goes through four seasons each year, which are essential for all life to continue and thrive. Did you know that women also experience these seasons, every month?

As Hwaneetah explains in detail, Winter is when you are menstruating, which is when you are at your lowest energy point. Spring comes next, which is when you begin to open again and your energy begins to rise. Then you are in Summer, which is when you can reach 100% of your energy capacity, before Autumn, which is the week before your period.

Each season is 7 days of the 28-day cycle, so for example, Winter is seven days even if you only bleed for several days. A good place to begin this cycle synching is to download our Ayllu Medicina Moon Clock, so you can begin to track your seasons.

If you do not have a period for another reason, you can sync your cycle with the moon, by picking a moon phase for your Winter time each month. You can learn more about how to live cyclically during menopause, the seasons, and male dynamics by watching Hwaneetah’s full womb wisdom interview at the end of this post.

2. Recap and Rest

As Hwaneetah says, red is the color to signal stop for many reasons, from traffic lights to if we cut ourselves and see blood. So, why isn’t this applied to our menstruation time? Women bleed for days during their winter time, however, often it is expected that they carry on as if they are at their 100% capacity.

A good place to begin to connect with your cycle is to honor your winter time by taking a break. This may be by taking a few days rest, or being mindful to go slower these days. You will begin to see the difference it makes during your month when you work with the process of purification, which happens during your menstruation.

The process of purification leads to renewal. So along with resting during your winter time, you can also take the time to recap your month. Reflect on everything that has happened during the past 28 days, so you can start your Spring time renewed and with clear intentions on what you want to focus on during the cycle ahead.

3. Connect With the 13:28 Frequency

The Gregorian calendar was invented in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. As Hwaneetah discusses, this calendar only takes into account solar cycles, not lunar cycles. This makes women a ‘glitch’, with the design making it impossible to measure basic cycles of time for anyone.

The frequency of 13:28 was the old way we measured time. This frequency is present throughout the universe and in our bodies including:

Moon cycles of 28 days, happening 13 times a year
Our 13 menstrual cycles of the year, on average every 28 days
The 13 main joints of our bodies and in each hand and foot around 14 bones
Turtles who reach old age often have 13 divisions and 28 subdivisions

You can learn more about how we measured this frequency by watching Hwaneetah’s interview with Breathe and Flow. You can also learn more by visiting the Harmonic Factor’s website and downloading the lunar cycle calendar. This website gives a wealth of information about how to work with this 13:28 calendar, which equates to 364 days, with the 365th day being the ‘day out of time’.

4. Have a 1:1 Moon Session

You can also have a 1:1 online Moon Session with Hwaneetah to begin to connect with your cycle on a deeper level. These sessions help you activate the secondary functions of the womb and help you find healing. The sessions include:

Detoxing and balancing of the energetic field with sacred geometry
Deactivating of karmic or codependent cords in the uterus
Closing of lunar cycles and frequency alignment

You can do a moon session if you want to connect with your cycle, are perimenopausal or are in menopause. You can also have sessions to focus on a specific issue such as irregular periods, lack of vitality, fertility problems, cysts, or another specific difficulty.

The sessions last for around 2 hours. You can contact Hwaneetah directly to arrange via WhatsApp (+593-96 725 5701) or by contacting Ayllu Medicina.

5. Attend an Ayllu Medicina Retreat

Attending a retreat is the perfect way to delve deep into your inner world, with the help of the master plant teachers and other ancient healing practices. Ayllu Medicina holds transformational plant medicine retreats throughout the year, including one Women’s Power Yoga and Plant Medicine retreat each year, which focuses on womb function activation and the womb-heart connection.

Our Women’s retreat allows you to discover the magic of women joining together in a supportive environment. There are multiple womb wisdom workshops, practices, ceremonies, sweat lodges, and other activities throughout the week. The daily yoga practices and meditations are also centered around the cyclical nature of women and how to harness the power of this.

Our next Women’s retreat starts on 13th April 2024. We have a couple of spaces available if you would like to join us for this week of empowerment. Our next Women’s Retreat is in June 2025.

Connect With Your Cycle and Find Empowerment

It is time to become empowered by your cyclical nature instead of falling victim to it. The first step is to acknowledge the cyclical nature you experience inside, which is also reflected through the four seasons of the Earth.

More than ever there are ways to reawaken to the power of your moon cycle. However, it is important to connect with experienced guides and sources. Hwaneetah is an expert in womb technology and there are several ways to connect to her wealth of knowledge.

We are excited to announce that Hwaneetah’s first book will be coming out this year, you can sign up to our newsletter for updates on this and other Ayllu Medicina news. We would also love it if you could join us around the fire at one of our Women’s retreats on the beautiful coast of Ecuador. If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch!

In the meantime, you can watch Hwaneetah’s full interview with Breathe and Flow below, which details these ways to connect to your cycle along with more life-changing information.

New Moon Offerings

by Michaela D'Amico | Dec 30, 2020 | plant medicine ceremonies, spiritual practices, Uncategorized

It is New Moon, the sky is dark and full of stars. A time for renewal and reconnection to ourselves and our source, the new moon reminds me to pause and give thanks.

I walk out to the small palm tree on the path to the garden and dig a small hole, singing about the love and abundance that surrounds me. Prepared with me is an offering of food and treasures I prepared throughout the day – toasted corn, plantain, a chocolate bar, eggs, a beautiful crystal found on the beach, earrings made from seeds, dried tobacco leaves, palo santo, a few coins, and essential oils. As I offer this heap of abundance to the small hole for Mother Earth, I pray with gratitude for all that she has offered me this past month. I thank her for the sunshine, the waves in the sea, the lush soil nourishing our vegetables, the fruit trees blossoming with guayaba, the vast skies, and include some prayers for what I would like to bring to my life in the coming weeks.

We hold sacred this practice of nurturing and acknowledging our Mother Earth, especially during the New Moon. This includes giving an offering to the tierra, the Earth, to sustain that familiar and love connection that we have with the Earth as a live being. The ritual is renewing for the Earth and for us. The idea is that we must help keep her alive, so we feed her and this connection between us. We open a wound, literally a hole in the ground, trying to always use the same one each month.

Maybe you are wondering, what could we possibly offer the Earth that she does not already have? Again, the idea is to bring her life and sustain our connection, so the act is as much symbolic as it is literal.

We save food from each meal that day, and also give her a bit of everything we have eaten during the month. The idea is not to give things you do not need anymore – the end of the candy jar, the last bit of leftovers, or the necklace you don’t wear anymore. Rather, it is important to offer things that have true worth for you, and even things you have been working with the whole month. The offering is like a summary of what we are grateful for from the past month. All of this we want to share with and give to Mother Earth.

For example, sometimes I even include in my offering Vitamin C or a certain type of tea that I have been using that month.

The Earth does everything that is in her power to keep us alive, so in turn, this is our way of nurturing this connection and showing our gratitude.

Indigenous people all around the world have been following the moon calendar since their existence, and also follow this ritual. New Moon is the time for planting and planning, and Full Moon is for harvesting.

We align with this by praying and giving on the New Moon. We give voice to what we want ot thank the Earth for, as well as what we want to receive in the weeks that follow. By giving and praying in this way, we can receive with humility and gratitude throughout the rest of the month.

During the Full Moon, we continue the offering, by giving liquid, milk, or plant medicine, to keep this offering of gratitude alive.

More on the Full Moon soon. For now, it is New Moon, and we are singing:

“Mother Earth, dear Mother Earth, we are here, we are here, hear our cry.”

Opening with Temazcal

by Michaela D'Amico | Aug 11, 2020 | plant medicine ceremonies, Uncategorized

Our retreats with Ayllu Medicina always begin with a Temezcal, or a sweat lodge. For me, it is a time to sweat out what is stuck, and reconnect with my inner self and intention.

After weeks or months of anticipation, traveling for several hours, and finally arriving to the space of a retreat, it is of course normal to feel excitement, relief, and nerves. We are carrying energies and thought-patterns from our “everyday life” that do not just float away on the airplane. To mark the official arrival to the space, we will begin every retreat with a temazcal, or sweat lodge. Seated around a fire, you will begin connecting with the element and your purpose to start your process of deep inner work and transformation.

We then enter the sweat lodge. Led by our experienced guides, this is a chance to experience a rebirth brought upon purely by your intention and attention as you focus on praying, singing, and appreciating the elements of Mother Earth.

The sweat lodge is one of the oldest ceremonies that exist, also known as the Ceremony of Origin. It is a profound experience of rebirth in the womb of our Mother Earth. As an ancestral ceremony of the Native American Tradition, their cosmovision says that this ceremony is a way to recreate the creation of Life.

When I enter a sweat lodge, crawling on the ground and sitting up right, legs folded, waiting for the heat to begin, I breathe with the knowledge that these moments of prayer and release are here to remind me of my connection to the Earth, her elements, and my ancestors which are now a part of the Earth.

The sweat lodge is in a circular space located in the East, which represents the maternal womb, and is covered by canvas until it is completely dark. In the West is the fire, which represents the Sun and its creative power. Volcanic stones are heated in the fire until they are completely fiery red. Once these ancient stones are ready, they are placed in a hole in the sweat lodge. Then we close the door, beginning an experience where we connect intimately with our inner being through the darkness of the space and heat of the old stones. The movement of our energies begins through prayer, intentions, native songs and silence. There are four rounds, each one in honor of the 4 elements of life: body (earth), heart (water), mind (fire), and spirit (wind), taking us to soul spaces where we experience the understanding of being part of an indivisible whole.

Returning to this womb of Mother Earth makes it possible to recreate our impressions and projections on the world, consciously modifying our original codes.

For me, this ceremony is my form of church. It reminds me that we are all a part of Nature and that our life has a purpose, from which we must take responsibility. It is a deeply spiritual way to move unwanted stress, body-aches- release toxins from body and generate vitality.

The only way to begin a true retreat and transformation.