Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: welcome back everyone. I am here with Dr. Charlene Smith a senior dating coach author and TV producer and host and she is going to talk to us about how she dealt with her period symptoms through Mayan massage. Thank you so much for being here with us and taking the time out to share your expertise.
Char Smith: Thank I appreciate the opportunity because our women in particular don't get this information and I'm so happy to be able to share it.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Thank you so much because when I saw my massage, I'm like wait, what was that? I was excited, to hear about this. Healing technique, in this about laying hands and massage and I'm like, my goodness. This is so beautiful. And as a dancer that really touched me To learn about that.
Char Smith: yes.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: So I am just really excited to hear more about your story and this starts with how you experience your period that you even came upon this. So what was that like for you? what age were you and what was the time?
Char Smith: yeah.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Where were you how was it viewed by Society?
Char Smith: of course, I am of the baby boomer generation. I was born in the 50s and so talking about periods was almost taboo. People did talk about it. We had these classes in elementary school that talked about, as you mature you have your menstrual period but it didn't really tell us a whole lot it told us we were going to have one but nothing really about the experience what to look for in those kinds of things and then even what to do if you do start to believe now, my mother had gone to school she had had us so ahead of her time she went to nursing school with three children and in there she learned that you need to have communication with your children. So I was lucky and that she prepared me that as I got older I was gonna have this thing called a menstrual cycles gonna come every month and sometimes it may not be
Char Smith: A good time and so on and so forth. So I was about 11 years old not quite 12. So I was a little early having my cycle. But when it came on I was like Mom I'm bleeding. I think this is my period and she went right away and gave me sanitary napkins and told me how to keep myself clean. So I was fortunate but what she didn't prepare me for was the pain I was going to have and the hormonal changes that were going to have and the urges that we're gonna happen because our menstrual cycle is part of the reproductive process that little egg is coming down and all ready to be fertilized and your body is We need to be having sex so we can make a baby and I didn't know what those urges were, but as I got older she did talk to me.
Char Smith: But I had really difficult periods. Even at the beginning. I had a heavy flow I had cramps. Sometimes they were so bad. I was in the bed with them and you were saying ibuprofen didn't do anything for me. birth control pills were a new thing in the 60s and my mother being a nurse. She found out that birth control pills was a good way to manage cramping type menstrual periods. And so I started on the pill early even though I wasn't sexually active.
Char Smith: but it didn't necessarily help my hormonal changes and so for most of my life until my Probably mid-50s. I still had cramps and difficult periods it eased it. The birth control pills used it but then at some point they were saying you can't take the birth control pill for very long. So then I was like, okay and I just have to go natural with it. And then I had fibroids. I don't know if it's because I started the pill early or what but I had fibroids and that made me bleed even more. So before I had my hysterectomy, I had gone out to dinner with a girlfriend and I was sitting there already had to pads on and
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Char Smith: We're sitting there and I'm like, no I've got to go to the bathroom. And when I got to the bathroom, my jeans were soaked. I was hammering that bad. And so I always had a very difficult time with my period now. I tried different medications, they tried different hormones. But for some reason mine, I guess with the fibroids too. Probably before I ever got diagnosed with fibroids that was part of the problem too. Because as African-American women we tend to have this problem with fibroids more than other women and the way the medical field was when I would say I had pain I usually had white male doctors so they kind of dismissed me. So I did not look forward to my period every month. it was a difficult time for me.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Wow, and it's so unfortunate that so many women have this. negative experience with A beautiful healing process at a young age and it's such a diverse negativity,…
Char Smith: right
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: and everyone's experience is so negative towards our periods and it comes from
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Women all over the world in the stigma around the period And so It's not almost women are just pushed aside and just deal with this and…
Char Smith: right
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: we're supposed to understand what we're dealing with and why things are happening and it's like they don't understand so they only tell you …
Char Smith: right
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Here's a pill for you and it's eating through your stomach lining because you're taking it every month and it's like that is
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That stigma that we want to try to recreate right we want women, because girls once you hit that your woman, okay, I'm calling you a woman.
Char Smith: That's right. Yes.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: All right, you hit this phase. You're a woman and you need to understand what's happening is a beautiful process. It is a healing process for you.
Char Smith: It is.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: It gets you on track. So, how to manage your time as a woman. So harness it and embrace it when you're young and with that being said, we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna come back and Dr. Charlene Smith is going to allow us to understand how we can start harnessing that beautiful energy every single month with Mayan massage. So stay tuned.
[Commercial Break]
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: All right. We are back with Dr. Char and she is going to tell us how we can deal with our periods in a very holistic and beautiful manner every single month through Mayan massage. So Dr. Char earlier, you were telling us, how you were having you horrible experience with your periods and then understanding, that horrible experience was most likely from fibroids and…
Char Smith: right
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: understanding how to cope with what was going on at that time. You ended up getting into Mayan massage. I'm curious. How did this happen in your life?
Char Smith: Okay, so I was working Federal service. There's a little story to how it all came about. So I was working Federal service and I was getting so sick because my job was just terrible. My supervisor was awful. I mean I would get physically ill going in so I knew something had changed and I took a trip to Hawaii Maui and I was sitting on the beach and I was like Lord, I just don't know what I'm gonna do because I'm just not happy and this God's voice spoke to me and I was on the beach by myself. And God said those waves are gonna go in and they're gonna go out that sun is gonna go up and it's gonna go down you can be happy or you can be sad and I'm sitting there going
Char Smith: Who is just talking to me? Because it was crystal clear. And I was like, I'm tired of being so unhappy. What am I supposed to do and the voice of God said massage and I was like, okay, I'd never thought about being a massage therapist, but I had had a lot of experience living in Europe with massage. And so I knew it was a healthy thing. And I said God, if this is you but I need verification. So I said I'm a talk to my sister when I go back to the room and if her reaction is good and I know this is you so I go back to the room and I said, what do you think about me being a massage therapist and she said, you'd be great at it most like that must have been God because my sister didn't play,
Char Smith: And so I was like, got back to Texas and started looking up massage therapy schools and there was a class starting within two weeks and there was a friend of mine that was wanting out of her job too. And so we went to massage therapy school and in massage therapy, we learned about the herbs and natural healing and all of the wonderful things laying hands my hands are large and I was like, okay Lord. That's what you have my hands large and a lot of energetic things happen when I got into massage therapy.
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Char Smith: because I was liking the herbs and I had learned about the herbal steam baths for the vagina. some people say it doesn't do anything. I felt like it helped me and it's like oregano time basil what we call the holy three and you can put it in a crock pot and you can stand over it or sit over it and then it steams the vagina and I think it's a healthy thing to do when I lived in Korea. They had that as part of their health regiment. So learning about herbs. There was this product that was being produced with
Char Smith: I think it's Napoli cactus plants out of Belize. And so we went to this it was really interesting because it was a beauty supply place that was introducing this new product. So me and my girlfriend went to this seminar and the woman's name was Dr. Arvigo and she was telling us about the herbs and how it helps healing naturally and she's been able to combine getting business and Belize for people and selling their farming products. and then with this company everybody was doing better she was doing a lot of healing then she wrote a book and her book is about her experience of being in lize. She's a expat and believe she'd been there for 20 years at the time.
Char Smith: And she's a natural path and she heard about this medicine man, Don Elijo and Don Elijo would not train her initially, but she was very persistent and after a couple of years, he started sharing his herbal information with her and she had to promise that she would stay in Belize and help with healing and beliefs. So the herbs that Don Elijo used were herbs that people had not heard about in the states and so scientists from the state started going down there and some of the herbs that he knew about has helped with the cancer research and other diseases. So it's documented that he's the discovery of these herbs and what the things for and she studied with him and she became a Medicine Woman along with being a natural path. So she started offering Echo tourism. She had property and Belize with little huts and stuff and so we went down there and she
Char Smith: about the Mayan spiritual practices. Her Farm is called exchale Farm. She's retired now, but I went down there and got certified with the Mayan prayer and with the abdominal massage. So it's all natural healing it has a lot to do with herbs and using your hands for healing laying of hands for those that maybe Christian and all that. So I made several trips down there to Belize and the abdominal massage is an external massage.
Char Smith: And you put your hands around the pelvic area on the outside. I'm gonna stand up in a minute and kind of demonstrate it but you're laying down and you find your pelvic bone and you find the center of it and your hands are like this and you go in and then you grab and then you come up.
Char Smith: Like this and so it's an external manipulation of the uterus because of course, this is just kind of a simple demonstration of it. But our uterus is kind of like This is the uterus right and this is where the vagina so the uterus is here and sometimes it could be tilted forward we tilt it back. It might even be to the side but of course our bodies not that perfect but your uterus should be in alignment. So each month as things build up preparing for the baby. It should flush it out so that it comes down through the vagina and it goes back to the normal size. So what you're doing is if you're tilted forward your fingers are getting in there and you're manipulating it to get it realigned.
Char Smith: Okay, and so it's something you do You can do it a couple of times a day as you get your uterus realigned. You will notice that your periods you have less cramps less of that extra bleeding because what happens is when your uterus is built. Remember I said if it's like this as the blood prepares for the baby, it kind of expands like that and then when it flushes it goes back down. if your uterus this is expanding and not everything is coming out like it should so when it does finally work to come out that's where you get all that clotting and the pain because it's supposed to be a free flow. okay, so you have all that build up and then people start having problems where they
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Char Smith: that material builds up and I'm not a medical doctor but you get endometriosis and all of those things that have to go in and do what they call the DNC where they sc they can scrape you out. But if you're uterus is tilted, they're still not going to get everything. So you want to get that uterus realigned and that can be done manually. Okay. So you're laying down when you do the procedures and I got my jeans on okay, but can you see?
Char Smith: So you're down here? And you feel your pelvic bone and you go in when you're laying down and then you come up like on your abdomen
Char Smith: So there's three directions that you do now. If you look at your Anatomy the way that the uterus is attached. There's a lot of ligaments that some of them are attached to the back and some of them, of course are in the front, but you also want to do your massage so that you come all the way. Let's see all the way along your pelvic. area Okay, because you have ligaments here that attach. So you want to get all of that area loosened up? So with this manual manipulation, it may not come back. Perfect, but you can get it with continued practice because our muscles have muscle memory and the uterus is a muscle.
Char Smith: So the first time you do it you may even feel a little click or a little pop. Okay, and you may have to kind of adjust because if your uterus is forward it's easy to do but you may have to kind of do the manipulation where because if it's retro is they say a retro tip you need to kind of get in there and pull that way more than pulling this way. So
Char Smith: You'll feel And I have helped women have babies that couldn't get pregnant was just amazed me. It was phenomenal and it's because the uterus again the sperm couldn't get up in the uterus and fertilize the egg. So once this was here, they were able to First flush out everything that's in there and then the sperm could get in there to reproduce. So it's a very simple method now. You say why is it? Arvigo abdominal massage because the Mayan women were very very smart.
Char Smith: This is kind of a sad story but it's an amazing story at the same time. There was a doctor from the United States white male was down there studying the Mayan women in the fields and they began to trust him. And so while they were out there working in the fields, they were more comfortable just talking their talk and women we nurture each other so we have our little women circles and they included him and they started talking about their contraceptive because they weren't getting pregnant all the time, but they had contraceptive and what they found out was that the yams which this is interesting about nature a lot of things that are very healing for the body. the plants will tell What is the shape of a yam of a sweet potato. It's usually thick on one side and then on the other so
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.
Char Smith: They put that together now. I'm not sure if everything that they did but the yam was the key ingredient and I'm gonna say it like this that dude came back to stay and created birth control off of the Mayan women's Secrets.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: No.
Char Smith: Yes. Yes, yes. Yes, so just kind of back up a little bit. So yeah all the herbs there are plants. That are healing and you do the top of the plant because There are things that you use the middle of the plant that's for your stomach and middle area and then the yam is for the uterine area.
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Char Smith: So, yeah, there's a lot of things with the herbs with the natural healing the Bible says that God put everything on Earth that we need to include the plants and the plants do have medicinal purposes. So even told us if a plant has a Milky secretion, it's poisonous and so they have figured all this stuff out those women that were my back in. I want to say was the 1800s he went there late 1800s because it was like the early 1900s that the birth control stuff started but these women were sharing their ancient secrets. and you wonder how did all these ancient tribes and stuff not have overpopulation. the women were smart they knew how to control birthday. So
Char Smith: So yeah, so he brought that back to the States and that's kind of the history behind the birth control pill. so she taught us all of that stuff The herbal steams the abdominal massage natural healing and with my experience. I started doing that on a regular basis, even though I had fibroids and I eventually had to have a hysterectomy, but it prolonged the time that I needed to have a hysterectomy. So I was very thankful for that relief the fibroids that's just part of
Char Smith: What I had to do with but I was able to prevent my hysterectomy for several years. And then when I had my hysterectomy, my doctor was like we're going to do a total hysterectomy and I'm like no, I don't want a total hysterectomy. My body needs as much of my female reproductive organs as possible. And so we had a discussion about that and I thought I said, I can go to another doctor. I realize I have to do something about the five boys, but you're not taking my ovaries. you're not gonna do that. And so she finally agreed it even on the day of the surgery. I said, you understand you're not taking my ovaries. I don't want a complete hysterectomy. And she said if that's it, then I'll do with that later. I said, but you're not taking all of my and did you know now I don't have to take the hormonal treatment that they have.
Char Smith: Them in once they get a hysterectomy. I don't take any of that they call that some kind of hormonal treatment, but I don't take all those pills and all that for not having a uterus. So my body is still very healthy. And now I do I don't know if you saw earlier, but I had my fan. Get some hot flashes,…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.
Char Smith: but hey, I'd rather have that because that is a natural process also, but I don't take any hormonal therapy. So I really believe that the natural healing is really the best now again, I'm not a medical doctor. But if you have problems and you need that medical care, please please see your physician but one that you trust and is knowledgeable about one African-American women and the things that we experience, but yes, there are some things. Herbally and naturally and manually that you can do to relieve some of that.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That is absolutely amazing. And when you were talking about the placement of the uterus, I was like, my goodness. That was one of the things unfortunately I experienced when I was younger. they actually thought I had cancer because my periods were so bad and they were saying that my uterus was tilted slightly. I think it was backwards so when you were explaining that about the Clause, I'm snap that's one like and so I was my gosh, that was amazing. That was an amazing demonstration. I do have a question for you though for women…
Char Smith: Uh-huh.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: who are in more of that backwards type things does the same movement apply or do you have to do it in reverse when it comes
Char Smith: one of the things they can do is get on their knees because then that will naturally bring the gravity forward and then they'll fail there's a little space in there they'll feel and they can then manipulate but they have to really practice it but yes that's one way to work on the reverse tilt.
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Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Okay, awesome. I have another question and this is body base…
Char Smith: Okay.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: because I practice Bikram Yoga and one of the poses is the camel pose which is specifically it massages the uterus as opposed that massages the uterus and I'm wondering are you familiar with certain types of poses that juxtapose maybe in Oregon or anything of that nature?
Char Smith: No, I'm not but I have heard of that before and I'm for anything that naturally manipulates the uterus. this might be a little office subject, but on subject. I know that women love to wear their high heels.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah.
Char Smith: I'm sorry, but you are messing up your uterus doing that it throws your whole body's alignment off to include the alignment of your uterus. so Yes, yes. And again remember high heel shoes those were kind of invented by men.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: wait
Char Smith: Okay, but yes, that's something that Dr. Arvigo taught us also.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: wow, dang that.
Char Smith: I know.
Char Smith: where was a while but I know women that wear high heels those we come stiletto Hills every day and that's just messing up your uterus. And so that was one of the things with some of my clients was that they were wearing those high heel shoes often. So we did a little bit of work on that. where you tennis shoes get some shoes that support and this is because they were trying to get pregnant but just in general the high heels mess up your uterus. And so abdominal massage. They did the steam baths. And like I said, I had several women that were able to get pregnant.
Char Smith: Yes.
Char Smith: Yes.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Have this knowledge.
Char Smith: Yeah.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Now that we have the knowledge the way that we make it Power is to apply it now. We have to apply my massage to our daily activities in order for that knowledge to really have power and…
Char Smith: Thank you.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: I'm so grateful for you because you actually showed us how we could do this, so if you're listening to this on a different…
Char Smith: Can I give a plug on my book?
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: if you're listening to this on the audio platforms,…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: make sure you go to YouTube so that you can see the demonstration. man.
Char Smith: Okay, so I'm author of senior seeking soulmate and…
Char Smith: although I don't talk about specifically the menstrual and…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: That was amazing. Thank you so much.
Char Smith: the Mayan massage. I do talk about self-care and…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: We will doubt you will definitely be saying Dr. Char again on unapologetically women.
Char Smith: the herbs that really help and a lot of those herbs are directed towards women. So it is a place to start also.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yes. Absolutely. Yes.
Char Smith: on Barnes & Noble or on amazon.com
Char Smith:
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Okay. So you know what?
Char Smith: I'm sorry.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Make sure you go out…
Char Smith: One more thing.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: if you get senior seeking soulmate, okay?
Char Smith: My website is senior seeking soulmate.com.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Awesome, and…
Char Smith: They can contact me there.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: those links are going to be available in the description either on your listening platform or…
Char Smith: The book is for sale there also have a TV show on the African-American Network,…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: on the YouTube platform.
Char Smith: which is on YouTube Roku and…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: You can get that directly. They go ahead and got the shark.
Char Smith: Facebook and…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yeah. No, do you you are worthy.
Char Smith: I do have courses and…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: You are worthy.
Char Smith: even though it's for senior seeking soulmate. I do welcome younger people to come in and learn about because the bottom line is loving yourself. That's what all of this is about loving yourself and good self care. So that's a big part of what I do. So even though it's a senior seeking soulmate. There are more than welcome to join me on three and four January again, they can go to all those different sites and I have a Facebook senior seeking soulmates and also go there. I am a licensed massage therapist and state of Texas. So I don't know if anybody's in, Texas.
Char Smith: Probably they are listening and all of that, we can get together and I can do some classes for people. I don't have any problems still doing classes for the Mind massage and get that done because our people need to know more about this, Dr. Arvigil when I would go on her training sometimes I'd be the only African-American there and so I had the opportunity to go to dangriga Belize where the Africans they were ship
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Char Smith: Wrecked when they were supposed to be going to slavery and they told the captain of the ship. Look we ain't going we're gonna stay right here. So there's a African descendant Village called the gringa and they still have traditional medicine women there. So I was able to get some training there too with someone with the same history as myself. So I just want to do those quick plugs there and yes, so, Health Wellness enjoyed to everybody.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Yes, thank you so much. All of our links y'all are gonna be available for there's no excuse.
Char Smith: Yeah.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: So make sure you bookmark this so that you can come back to this listen to this episode again watch this episode again and…
Char Smith: Thank you. I'm blessed to be able to share it…
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: get the movement so that you can really start to practice these healing techniques in book a session weather…
Char Smith: because that's one of my missions for women of colors that self-care and this is all part of the self-care.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: if you're in the area go ahead and…
Char Smith: Yeah, and I will do classes.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: book with her.
Char Smith: So people want to get groups together we can get some classes going.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Okay, this is all healing and I'm so grateful for this awareness.
Char Smith: Awesome.
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: Of I'm already thinking about ways that we can collaborate in the future and I'm definitely gonna talk to you after this. So saying that folks thank you for tuning into unapologetically women.
Char Smith: I can't hear What did I do?
Ms Tonya Productions, LLC: We have some business to take care of here. Catch you all later. Have a good evening.