(This is an extract from an email in response to a question from holistic medical doctor Dr.Tessa Jones – “What is a healthy breast?” My reply was to the founder members of the New Zealand Breast Health Foundation.)
Dear Tessa and colleagues,
I agree that breasts are beautiful and evoke a primordial sense of nourishment and comfort.
As humans (especially women!) are multidimensional beings, I would suggest we could look at breast health on a number of levels.
The medical view of breast health seems to be “normal anatomy and function,” which is very limited, as it is not capable of offering protocols for maintaining optimum breast health. “Normalcy” as a benchmark also provides excuses for accepting below-optimum states of health, as “normal” (i.e. average) health declines amongst the population.
Breast health can be regarded as a function of mental state and attitude. In our current society, breasts are objects of shame, “privacy,” and confused attitudes – among both women and men. From an energetic viewpoint, such clouded attitudes lead to clouded and toxic energy in the breasts. The fact that breasts are hidden away for most of a woman’s life, would inevitably lead to reduced energy flow in these areas; which then leads to disorganised physiology, the hallmark of diseases like cancer.
I would suggest that if women were to view and display their breasts with pride, in recognition of their symbolic and functional value, there would be less incidence of disease like breast cancer. This is a matter of society validating such positive attitudes. I remember Balinese women proudly walking around bare-breasted over 35 years ago; and they were part of a highly sophisticated, peace-loving and aesthetic culture. However, in the course of time, another culture became politically predominant; and shame and concealment became prevalent attitudes.
Breast health is additionally a function of emotional health. Traditional Yoga says that the heart and chest area relate to emotions revolving around bonding, family, and a sense of connection to the world and divinity. Interestingly, recent research shows that the heart produces as much oxytocin as the brain. Yet we are in an era of nuclear and broken families, divided communities and sheer loneliness; where a woman’s natural tendency for bonding and connection are constantly challenged. We are no longer offered holistic ways to repair this emotional damage; instead we are offered drugs to address the chemical imbalance. I find emotional damage to be the leading, medically unrecognised, phenomenon in female patients.
I would suggest that breast disease is a primordial cry for a return to human community, and to our connection to the Earth. The medical solution of slashing, burning and poisoning; while seemingly effective in some cases, is fundamentally an insult and a travesty to a woman’s primordial wisdom. In reply to Tessa’s comment, I would say that breast health is indirectly vital to the recovery of human community. Just as breast disease has become a literal as well as metaphorical indication of physical, environmental, mental and emotional pollution; the quest for breast health will be based on a return to physical, environmental, mental and emotional clarity and purity.
While I might not be at the AGM, I certainly hope that this group [NZ Breast Health Foundation] can clearly see the absurdity and inhumanity of the current solutions; and hope that the group will formulate solutions that will truly and holistically benefit women, and in turn humankind.
Best regards,
Gerald
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