Emotional suppression can seem like an intangible concept if we do not know the signs to look out for. Tension headaches are like an aching pain in the brain and back of the head. There is a combining factor to headaches. Water. We know that dehydration is a common cause of this discomfort. Water is how we allow emotions to flow. Without enough water stagnation occurs. Our energy sits in the body and the stagnation manifests pain and disease.

For women there is another signal that their pain originates within their emotional body. During the pre-menstrual phase, we are working with our deeper emotions. They come to the surface to be expressed and released. It is the time of the month when we are the most honest. It is also the time when we can bring our potent creations into the world. Birthing can be a challenge though if there is a lot of emotional blockages to work through.

The body is on your side so it will start to bring those things to the surface to be released. Getting everything flowing again as quick as possible so that we can feel energetically vibrate. Without this interpretation or deeper understanding of what is going on, we jump to suppression with drugs, alcohol, and other numbing agents. The first thing is we do not know that it is a sign the body is releasing something and the second is we do not know how to flow with that release.

I sat with this question of how to release these emotions coming through as a dull pain in the head. It was humbling to ask such a basic question. I realised all I had learned was how to supress, how to keep pushing forward no matter what. Especially within the pre-menstrual time. It was just labelled as PMS and that was that. When I figured out through guidance from other people how to do this, I was almost frustrated by how easy it was!

The dialogue in my head had me believing that if I allowed myself to feel these things I would fall apart, and it would never end. In practicing again and again allowing the emotions to flow I proved myself wrong. I now see it as a sign of stagnation in my emotional body which is the water within my being. From there I know the simple steps to take to bring myself into the balance. The first step with all of my healing practices is to pause which allows awareness to grow.

Next comes an increase in the amount of water, herbal teas, and fresh foods I eat. Hydrating the body and detoxing my system. I then get myself close to the element of water. The waves of the ocean, breathing in the shower to cleanse, listening to water sounds on my phone. I marry this with a practice I go back to again and again, journaling. It is my way of bringing those things that wish to be released from the darkness into the light.

I write in black on white paper to see everything as it is. Choosing from that standpoint what I wish to keep with me and what needs to go. I affirm my dreams, intentions, and goals. It is a two-way system of communication between my subconscious and conscious mind that is untouched by the opinions of others. I can see my water for what it is in those times that I take in silence. Some days the words rush onto the page like a river, others the murkiness makes it a tedious process.

Before you reach for the pain killer, take a moment to ask your headache what it wishes to share with you. If you consistently get pre-menstrual headaches mark in your calendar to give yourself extra time for self-care at this point in your cycle. Through rest and relaxation, you will receive the feminine wisdom from your watery womb. Feminine energy waits for invitation to be heard. We need to give it space by pausing and listening.