Menopause, Collagen and the Structural & Energetic rewiring of Women's bodies during Peri & Menopause
I was recently revisiting an old text book “The Spark in the Machine - How the Science of Acupuncture explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine ” by Doctor Daniel Keown on a totally different tangent when the chapter on Collagen drew me in and I made a huge connection between the decline of collagen in the Menopausal years and how and why our bodies go through such a visceral, palpable, electrifying transition and we totally change as women and people.
It talks about how collagen is the principal ingredient in fascia so therefore it’s found everywhere in the body. Fascia is a type of connective tissue that connects organs to muscle, the spine, nerves, it surrounds bone, underpins skin, surrounds and covers our organs - fascia is everywhere in the body. I believe fascia is the link between Qi and our physical anatomy.
Colla - comes from ‘kolla’, the Greek word for ‘glue’ and gen is short for ‘genesis/creator’, so collagen means “glue creator”, and its very very strong - tensile strength, so not only is it the substance that glues the body together it is also the base material in bones, arteries muscles, tendons and fascia.
Collagen is also a semi-crystalline structure which means it produces and emits piezoelectricity under mechanical stress.
We really are energetic living crystals.
Back to the thread of Collagen and Menopause, because there is a rapid decline of collagen at the onset of menopause and then a steady decline over the following years, apart from muscle atrophy and bone loss, (understanding collagens role as the principal ingredient in fascia) its easy to see on a physical level how our bodies morph and change so rapidly and sometimes drastically.
All is not lost, and I see it as the wild, messy and beautiful transformation we go through as we enter the final stage of our lives cycle, stepping into the wise woman years of the Crone.
CRONE! I used to hate that word and with good reason - “Crone” - originated in the late 14th century from the Anglo-French word charoine - carcass, or Old Northern French caroigne (meaning “carrion” or cantankerous old woman “dead flesh”).
I was never going to be one!
Until I found myself naked and famous on the doorsteps of Menopause returning to my roots, feeling alive, deep, hands in the dirt, herbs in the pestle and mortar, realising my whole life has been an apprenticeship at Hogworts so I could retrace and remember my time in Avalon and more. Nonlinear lives converge as timelines collapse. Merlin, he believes I’ve changed, and he is right. Soon he will see exactly. how much”.
Energetically the decline in collagen production also means the electrical impulses in our body are firing and rewiring differently. New pathways are being created that allow, a new person to form be born. The emergence of strong intuition, unshakeable confidence, firm boundaries, abandoning people pleasing behaviour and settling into quiet self assured peace with oneself, emotional regulation( eventually), and the ability to integrate our lifestyle experiences to guide, protect and nurture others.
At the end of the triple helix collagen structure cells are creating sparks of energy that are searching for their new connection, creating a new body, a new life for you beautiful Crone! I have my own morphological analysis of the word
CRONE - CRO + W = CROW, now Crows well they are the keepers of Human History, all the stories, all the wisdom, learnings, failures, experiences, love & tragedy.
So with my beady black all seeing eyes, gift of a light heart so I can fly, I welcome the decline of collagen knowing it as necessary change if I am to walk with footsteps of an Elder in this journey of mine here on Earth.
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