Gaslit (adjective): Referring to the act of manipulating someone psychologically into doubting their perceptions or sanity, often to exert control or influence over them (Oxford Dictionary, 2020).
I was debating whether or not to make the subject of this email “You’ve been gaslit.” There’s so much wearing on our nervous systems right now, especially as women because we feel the collective more deeply. And nervous system work has helped me recognize how so many women inhabit the “prey” side of the nervous system in a way that’s not empowering. I want to fully acknowledge the very real and devastating ways women have been victimized, but avoid reinforcing the trend toward a collective victimhood that I don’t find helpful. That is a passive “prey” state of the nervous system, and to be empowered we need to embody more of our healthy aggression.Â
But I do believe in order for us to collectively heal – not only our own bodies and minds, but also our families and communities – we need to look at reality vs. fiction. In other words, the ways we’ve been gaslit into believing our experiences of our body are wrong, or that our bodies are inherently broken.Â
The fact that women weren’t legally required to be included in medical research until the 1990s – only 30 years ago – means our beliefs and knowledge about our bodies right now have undeniably been shaped by a system that sees the male body as the norm. The research (or lack there of) is the proof itself.Â
So I’m writing to encourage you to stay open and broaden your mindset around what you believe about your female body. Be willing to explore ideas that may seem “out there.”
There’s so much incredible work being shared in the world right now, reframing the female body. One of my favorites recently is @wavework.birthing (on TT & IG) who talks about childbirth in ways you likely haven’t heard before. A few goodies from her:
 “Birth is the most unregulated psychedelic experience on the planet and we’re throwing people into it with no rehearsal.”Â
“Birth is a psychedelic trance state and that is why they drug it, rush it and interrupt it. The system treats birth like a medical emergency, but physiologically it is a portal into an altered consciousness.”
I know, right? And she shares plenty of science to back it up. So cool.Â
Imagine if we collectively began to listen to and believe our bodies, and understand the language they speak to us. Rather than being told our chronic fatigue is “probably just depression” (true story!), you’re “crazy” during your luteal phase, postpartum is no longer about you and all about the baby, or menopause is when you lose your value – imagine how embodied in our power we could all be.Â
I was drawn to Ayurveda and Somatics because they gave me that language – the language to understand, trust and attend to my rhythmic female body in all her glory and rawness and heart and trippiness. And I want to share that with you too.Â
I’m launching my new self-guided course “The Feminine Code: Hormones, The Nervous System & Your Female Body Rhythms” next week and I’m genuinely so excited to share this wisdom with you. Check it out here.
Much love,Â
CourtneyÂ
(P.S. I’ll be offering “Early Bird” pricing for the first week so you’ll get a 20% discount so keep an eye out for those emails if you’re interested! And if you want these delivered to your inbox, want to stay connected and be the first to learn about events, new offerings and promotions, join my list here: https://courtney-lacava.mykajabi.com/join.)