Focusing on the celebration of Lammas, the two upcoming super full moons in August 2023

"The next super full moon is a time for healing and transformation. If you're facing challenges in your life, use this time to release the past and embrace the future. The moon's energies can help you to let go of what no longer serves you and step into your full potential."

Lammas or Lughnasadh

Lughnasadh is the festival of the Celtic god Lugh, who represents fire, light, skills and crafts. Lammas is an ancient Celtic harvest festival that is celebrated on 1st August. It is a time to give thanks for the first fruits of the harvest and to mark the beginning of the harvest season.

The name Lammas comes from the Old English word "hlafmas", which means "loaf-mass". This is because Lammas was traditionally a time to bake bread from the first new grain of the harvest.

Lammas is often associated with the pagan goddesses Ceres and Demeter.

There are many ways to celebrate Lammas. Here are a few ideas:

• Bake bread from the first new grain of the harvest.

• Have a feast with family and friends.

• Go for a walk in nature.

• Give thanks for the abundance of the harvest.

• Make something out of the stalks of corn maybe choosing to decorate your creation with yellow or orange ribbons.

This time is also an opportunity to celebrate personal growth and achievements. If you have made any mistakes, what have you learned from that experience?  

What accomplishments are you most proud of?

Two Super Full Moons in August

Next month there will be two super full moons in August. The first full Sturgeon super moon will be on August 1st and the second full Blue super moon will be on August 31st. This is a rare occurrence happening about every two to three years when a full moon appears twice in one calendar month, hence the saying ‘once in a blue moon’. The blue moon is also called a goal moon, a good opportunity to set yourself some longer-term goals.

The Sturgeon full moon is the August full moon, named after the large number of sturgeon fish that were found in the Great Lakes in North America this time of year.  

A super full moon is a full moon that occurs when the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. This means that the moon appears larger and brighter than usual. Super full moons are often associated with increased emotional intensity and heightened spiritual awareness.

In terms of crystal work, super full moons are a powerful time to cleanse and charge crystals. You can leave your crystals out in the moonlight overnight to soak up the moon's energy. This will help to clear away any negative energy that may be trapped in the crystals and activate their healing properties.

Here are some other ideas you may like to consider to work with these super moon energies

• Moon bath. This is a simple but effective way to connect with the moon's energy. Fill a bath with warm water and add some essential oils or salts. Then, sit and relax under the moonlight, in it.

• Shadow work. The full moon is a powerful time to face your shadow side and work through any unresolved issues. You can do this through journaling, therapy, or other forms of self-reflection.

• Time in nature. The full moon is a beautiful time to be in nature. Go for a walk, sit outside, or stargaze.

No matter how you choose to work with the energy of the super full moons, listen to your intuition and do what feels right for you. The most important thing is to connect with the moon's energy and allow it to work its magic.

With love & lunar blessings

Jane

The Path to Cronehood

Cronehood may be defined as a woman who stands on the other side of menopause often seen as the wise women archetype in life. I do not wish to present myself as wise, but maybe more reflective as I have come to realise the dramatic impact the menopause has had on my being.

Fighting a chronic pain condition, you can’t see is a challenge in itself, but then add in the possibility of becoming perimenopause and then menopausal into the mix and that really takes it to another level. It is only since the media and celebrity spotlight is being shone on the menopause and everyone is talking about it and sharing their experience, that it has been possible to relate it to my own health.  

A few years ago, outside a house was a basket of books, in it a book on the menopause, my friend suggested that I may need that book soon. It was then that it dawned on me, I felt myself emerging out of the shadows into a realisation that I was already there. This came as a bit of a surprise to both of us when they asked, did you not have any hot flushes or anything? I realised some of my symptoms relating to fibromyalgia had altered, softened and dissolved away. I was feeling less pain, had more energy and my general well-being greatly improved, I recalled I had not had a period for a couple of years, I just hadn’t noticed.

When Fibromyalgia came into my life 10 years ago, it was while I was also maybe perimenopausal. Being in my early 40's and still hoping to have a family having already experienced a complicated miscarriage, the menopause was far from my mind, yet it crept up on me silently taking away motherhood and drawing me towards cronehood. It came unnoticed at first, but now I recognise the signs, the similar symptoms also associated with Fibro. I was changing and moving into another phase of my life one that I was not ready for and one that I was uninformed about.

I recognise that Fibromyalgia was probably trauma-induced due to events happening in my life at that time, but at no point during my diagnosis or treatment were my hormone levels checked or my menstrual health enquired about. It is almost like a big mystery the unspoken part that lurks in the shadows, even now I have been left to join up the dots to make sense of what happened.   

With Fibro came a whole load of symptoms, widespread chronic pain, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, brain fog, chronic fatigue, extreme sensitivity to light, noise, touch and even foods, unable to regulate my temperature giving me hot flushes and night sweats, the psychological impact of massive mood swings and a suppressed immune system. My periods had become erratic and often resulted in flooding which would cause extreme embarrassment if I was away from home.  Some days the symptoms were worse than others and this may now have been down to the fluctuation in my hormones. Some but not all, of these symptoms, may be familiar to anyone who has fibromyalgia or a similar chronic pain condition as well as those who are perimenopausal or menopausal.

The symptoms have impacted my life tremendously I was unable to go to work for 6 months, luckily for me, I had an understanding and supportive employer, although when I returned to work it was on a part-time basis and I found it very challenging. It took so much effort to work a few days, that in the time I wasn’t there, I was wiped out and needed to rest. I would sometimes be crying at my desk and not know why. Then the added pressure of trying to remember everything I needed to teach when brain fog, rolled on in. The increased anxiety around sudden flooding when it could happen at work would leave me feeling low in energy and unprepared. I had to wear dark clothing to minimise any embarrassment due to leaking. At the time I did not realise I was perimenopausal, I thought it was all fibromyalgia. Unhelpful comments such as ‘you are always ill’ from your peers can be unhelpful when you are trying to navigate your way through this.  

I do feel that fibromyalgia and the menopause could be linked based on my own experience, but more research is required. I guess talking about it also brings it into the present moment. We do not need to hide in the shadows our journeys may be different but each leads us along the path from maiden, to mother, to crone. I can now celebrate that I have crossed that threshold and joined others to become a crone, a purely transformational moment that went by unnoticed, until now. A crone was often perceived to be an ugly old woman, but standing here now in cronehood I see lines of laughter and life etched onto beautiful souls who hold a collective wisdom and I feel blessed to be among you.

I now support others on their journey to wellness, helping them to heal from the inside out.

Authors Note: The Maiden, The Mother & The Crone come from the Celtic Tradition of the Tripple Goddess. The Crone can share similar characteristics with The Hag. For those who read my blog and would like to identify with the masculine, the archetypes would be The Youth, The Warrior & The Sage.

My definition of Cronehood is based purely on my own experience, by choosing to embody the Crone archetype. I welcome in that energy and with it the magic and mystery.

Still Fighting &Writing

My Holistic Fibro Fighter story starts when I began blogging in January of 2017 with a post about Flu or Fibro? part journal and part review. I discovered an outlet to externalise what was happening inside my body and the battles I documented in claiming back my health. I had no idea if anyone would be interested to hear about my personal fight.

The amazing power of for the body to heal itself from Trauma using Trauma Release Exercises, (TRE) really supported me when my father died, a few days after his death I participated in a radio interview about living with Fibromyalgia and how holistic therapies helped to support me. You can listen to that recording here Radio Show.

Some of the therapies and activities I have been offered have had a profound impact on my mind body and soul, but not everything has had a positive effect. Here I would add that when I felt that they are not working for me, particularly with sound or energy healing I recognise that it takes my body a little time to readjust to the vibrational frequency, healing is not something to be rushed. It takes time to integrate at a cellular level.  

Reiki has supported a massive change for me, and it is an area that I continue to develop in enhancing my client offering in the future by combining it with Shamanic practices. This is where it all starts My quest for healing discovering reiki and spiritual healing. A session on The Crystal healing bed and Tibetan Bowls healing session.

When I was invited to participate in the most amazing laughter yoga session I am going to enjoy this I recall how healing I found laughter to be. This can sometimes be the best form of therapy.  

Through my Yoga practice, I was able to Embrace change before Fibro I had never attended a yoga class, and I am still not very bendy but I love to go to yoga for sleep, for me that was always the best bit at the end of a class. I still love the practice of Yoga Nidra.  

Zumba and Fibro are not a combination that would necessarily be great partners but who knew! Dance to your own rhythm and the ever-constant, my go-to if there is a pain flare-up Gong Bath (no removal of clothes required).

The struggles of when not everything was going to my plan Do what makes you happy and reflecting my grief and loss in walking your own path.

It is important to put in strong boundaries, even if that can be a challenge The power of saying NO and how many times we say yes I am fine, but actually what is going on Behind the mask.

To ease my Dis... is when I lost my mojo and started to slip back down again.

My experience of Shamanic Journeying later led me to train in Psychospiritual and Therapeutic Shamanism. I was not aware there was such a thing as drum birthing, although I did decide to take some maternity leave afterward; believe me it is not an easy process of Birthing A Drum. The drum that I birthed is played regularly at the drum circle and I love the sound and energy that she produces.  

My experience of  Celebrating Life and the Circle of Life I feel are part of my spiritual awakening. My reflections on being bullied Rewriting Life whilst at school which I now realise were very similar to when I worked for a company and my line manager was a bully, this was in the year prior to becoming ill, no doubt feeding into the emotional stress that my body was being subjected to. When I left I decided not to follow it through at the time I just wanted it to stop, maybe now I would stand up against them. Bullying at any age is not OK. When you recognise your own power, it really changes how your body responds to triggers later in life.

How to Change your energy is something that I still do now and recently we were so blessed to have Donna Eden give us a talk at Devon Dowsers about this amazing technique.    

Dowsing Energy and the Pyramid Lines add another layer to my understanding of things that can’t be seen but can be measured and can have an influence on absolutely everything. I find dowsing to be an amazing tool that I use professionally.

Being me was my final blog of 2018 and I decided not to write for a while until a year later One year on

In 2019 I took the huge step of launching my therapy business and then came a Pandemic  Uncertain times were my take on it all.

They always say ‘What does not break you, makes you stronger’ Change provided me with space to explore that. I became more in tune with the seasons The 2020 Winter Solstice and  Spring Equinox  helped me to find balance

Since living with Fibromyalgia and finally getting a diagnosis in 2014 I have explored my spiritual and holistic side.  I continue to stay as active as possible, walking out on Dartmoor, attending regular drum circles, exploring the use of Shamanic energy, and attending retreats using TRE and energy work to aid healing. I decided to self-manage my condition and set up my own treatment plan without the use of medication. I am now able to continue to do the things I love.

It has been a long journey to wellness, and I still travel that path, although at a different pace now. The purpose of my Blog was to share my experiences of living with a chronic pain condition and a label that I did not want. I have a diagnosis, but Fibro does not define me.

I believe that we all have the ability to heal ourselves and everyone’s story will be different and unique, just as mine is. However, what I do hold in my heart is HOPE, as at one point I did not have that, and my future looked bleak. I was given the opportunity to change my life and I chose that option, to step away from the stress that I felt was feeding the pain in my body. I learned to understand and listen to what my soul was trying to tell me and in doing so to change my life. 

My Holistic Fibro Fighter Blog will continue and evolve as I have, my intention is to share more of my experiences as I enter this new chapter into wellness. I feel blessed to have an amazing network of family, friends, and other therapists who have either been with me from the start or joined me along the way. I am truly grateful for your love, friendship, and continued support, it could have been a very different story.      

I now support others on their journey to wellness, helping them to heal from the inside out.