HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!

(And may February’s love spill over and over…)

Because I didn’t get around to posting about LOVE last month, and because now it’s the month of women, and because these days – EVERY DAY – I am blown away by the astounding women in my life and who I am meeting every day (like the bodyworkers and RMTs, movement therapists and energy workers, parenting educators, flower artists, social justice activists and yes, these are all unabashed plugs for my friends!) this post is about love AND women. Two of the greatest subjects ever. And worthy of much celebration. What would connective tissue health be without them?

So then, a smattering of cyber roundup offerings, in no particular order, but of particular interest to the good health of women and the good health of love. Via sex, dharma, music, and fascia.

 

ONLINE SEX ED! Forging A Feminine Path: Women’s Sexuality and Spirituality  Beginning March 14, Rolfer – Somatic Experiencing practitioner – Doula – Postpartum Recovery Specialist, and – as far as I can tell – amazing woman who I haven’t yet met but love, because of all she does and how she puts it all together (not to mention the fact that she’s also a nomad who lived and studied Rolfing in the country of my heart – Brazil), Kimberly Johnson  is offering an online course for women wanting to explore the connections, and rifts, between sexuality and spirituality. In her words,

“I teach this course because to me it provides the most relevant, foundational experiences that we need as women to heal ourselves (ranging from physical illness, to sexual abuse, to soul contracts). And the course and the women in it showed me that it has medicine for each one.”

Even though I don’t know Kimberly personally, I’ve been very much appreciating lately her contribution to the discussion and practices surrounding pelvic floor health. I would definitely take this course and others she offers. You can find more information and register here. To get a sense of Kimberly’s range, check out some of her articles here (‘why’ an online sex ed course?) and here (the benefits AND hazards of Kegel-ing)

 

OMG ONLINE TECHNOLOGY! Good sex = pelvic health. For those with ladyparts and those who love them, OMGYES.COM (NSFW) is a new, clear-headed, taboo-busting website exploring the mysterious and complex terrain of women’s pleasure. Timely and needed.

 

I love my WOMEN SOMANAUTS. In this podcast, Rolfer and blogger at Liberated Body, Brooke Thomas interviews Dr. Helene Langevin, a principle investigator of the interface between the musculo-skeletal system and the immune system. They chat about connective tissue as “the home of the immune system” and some of the latest (exciting) research into the effects of integrative practices (such as acupuncture, bodywork and movement practices like yoga and stretching) on chronic pain, cancer, inflammation, and as preventative medicine. Nerd out on “Connective Tissue and Inflammation with Helene Langevin” here.

 

And now, to LOVE. A most beautiful treatise on how to love, from Vietnamese Zen Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, (via the most elegant ‘brainpickings’) unpacked through the four elements (or ‘four immeasurables‘) of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Loving well, he says, has a lot to do with growing our own hearts through practicing ‘mindfulness in such a way that you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment;’ and with trust in ourselves, with listening, and truly understanding our inter-being. “To love without knowing how to love wounds the person we love,” Nhat Hanh says. Read it here and while you do send this beautiful peace activist some love.

 

On LOVE some more. A book by a friend. Hot-off-the-presses (and available on AMAZON) by Eric Bowers, Meet Me in Hard-to-Love Places : The Heart and Science of Relationship Success dishes up healthy relationship technology drawing from attachment theory, non-violent communication, and interpersonal neurobiology.

 

And finally, a LOVE & WOMAN combo to finish. Start your International Women’s Day right with a kitchen dance party with badass r&b/gospel singer/civil rights activist Mavis Staples. From her latest album, “One Love”.