Today we’re diving into into a topic that’s very close to my heart – literally. We’re talking about breast health. Those beautiful, powerful extensions of our heart, and how they’re not just physical, but deeply emotional and spiritual. Because contrary to what you may have been led to believe, our breasts aren’t just there for function and form.

I like to think of breasts, like the heart’s megaphone; an external reminder of our ability to nurture, to be compassionate, and to radiate love into the world.

That’s why today on I Love Me the Podcast we explore how to give our breasts the care and attention they need – through practices like breast massage – so we can tap into the wellspring of self-love that flows straight from our heart.

And yes, that includes a conversation about the great ‘bra debate’.

 

Simple, inspiring lessons in self-love. Hello sweetheart, it’s Tamra here.

And with International Women’s Day happening this Saturday, I thought it only appropriate that we speak about a topic that directly relates to women.

Breasts.

We live in a society that is essentially obsessed with breasts; Are they big enough or too big, saggy, the wrong shape?? Not perky enough.

Add to this the fear of breast cancer, and is it any wonder that many women have some sort of insecurity or misaligned perspective around their breasts.

Of course breast shape or size has absolutely nothing to do with pleasure or their ability to nourish a newborn baby.

Which are too of the beautiful functions of the breasts.

However, our breasts are so much more than this…

Our breasts are the external representation of our heart.

Hence to say…

Our relationship with our breasts is a direct reflection of our relationship with ourself.

The more we love and nurture our breasts, the more we’ll love and nurture ourself, and be able to listen more easily and more frequently to the voice of our heart.

Now, if listening to the voice of your heart is a new concept for you, have a listen to Episode 24: Heartfelt Wisdom: Tapping into the power of the heart brain.

That’ll give you a really solid understanding of how our heart acts like our internal GPS.

Yes, our heart is the all-knowing inner voice that is here to guide us through life.

And when we’re able to listen to its wisdom over the loud voice of the mind, THEN we’re able to live our life from a place of love and ease, and make decisions that support us in living well.

Living in a way that feels REALLY REALLY good!

So if we have a negative relationship with our breasts, if we neglect them, are disappointed with them for whatever reason, if we treat them poorly… we cut off the flow of love.

We drown out that inner voice of wisdom that is here to serve us.

So I invite you now to simply ask yourself this question:

• How do I truely feel about my breasts?

Maybe take some time this week to journal or meditate on this question.

And then pose this question:

• What do I need to release, so I can fall in love with my breasts, and as a result, fall in love with me?

Now they’re two pretty BIG questions.

So take your time with them, and know that just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is our relationship with our gorgeous breasts.

We simply want to bring awareness to where we sit with our breasts, and then gently, and lovingly start to release what no longer serves us, so we can enter into a new relationship with these super feminine parts of our ourselves.

As I’ve shared in previous episodes, our thoughts trigger off chemical reactions in the body, that if negative in nature, can instigate illness and disease.

The more positively we can think about our breasts, the more we can come into relationship with them and offer them the care they need, the lower the chance of this happening.

Which we want, given that one in seven women in Australia will be diagnosed with breast cancer.

That’s one of the reasons why it’s so important to establish a relationship with our breasts.

We want to start listening to them again, so they can wake back up.

Because for most women, their breasts have become numb.

All that bra wearing desensitises our breasts, so we feel less.

Numb tissue, is tissue that doesn’t have much circulation happening.

And the health of our body relies on good circulation.

Not only that, poor circulation reduces our ability to feel pleasure.

This is why I encourage women to ditch the bra, if not completely, then to begin with the ‘less is more’ approach.

Perhaps you begin by taking off your bra the minute you walk in the door when take off your shoes.

Or having a ‘bra free’ day each week!

Our breasts are censoring organs and they need to be able to breathe.

When we remove our bra, we give your breasts a chance to breathe, and bounce.

Yes, bouncing is good!

It gets the lymphatic system working.

There are stacks of lymph nodes in the breast, armpit and neck area, and these lovely little helpers move toxins out of the breast area.

When we wear a bra, this function of the lymph nodes gets compromised, leading to our breasts quite literally being marinated in toxins.

Breasts are primarily made from fat – storage cells – and if we put toxic products on or in our body, then our breasts have a tendency to store those toxins.

When this happens we become more prone to lumps and bumps of the not-so-nice variety.

This is why one study even showed that women who wore bras, had a 125 times greater chance of getting breast cancer!

Now I’m not saying NEVER wear a bra.

But we can be more selective about the time we spend in bras and the type of bra we choose wear.

For example, bras with an underwire; they’re the worst.

In the Taoist tradition, the underwire can create an energetic interference field with the sexual energy of the breasts.

The nipple is considered like a vortex of energy and bras block that energy.

Not only that, we have a number of meridians that run directly through the breasts and near the breasts, that all support the health of these beautiful cushions of love.

For instance…

Liver point number 14 sits on the ribs right under each breast.

When we wear underwire bras, or bras that are tight around our ribs, we put prolonged pressure on this meridian point, which can stop the free flow of Qi – or what’s also known as ‘energy’.

In Western Medicine, this is commonly thought of as ‘circulation’.

Because Qi – or energy – is what moves our blood around the body – creating circulation.

Now, when we have stagnant qi – when things aren’t circulating well – that’s when our body becomes more at risk of developing lumps.

Given our breasts are full of lymph nodes, if they can’t get rid of the toxins in our breasts – like they’re meant to, because we’re restricting energy flow due to tight bras – then those toxins will start to marinate in our breast tissues.

That’s when we have a problem.

That’s when we start to see lumps and cysts forming.

Now this Liver 14 point is also a key player in our emotional health.

And we can support this point, by simply holding it.

Or massaging it.

You may like to locate that point now, it’s directly below your nipple at the base of your breast.

Simply press into your ribs at that point, and you’ll know you’ve found it, because it’s generally quite tender.

So we can help get that qi flowing again by simply holding this point for 2-3 minutes, or until we feel a shift.

Or…

If you have a regular breast massage practice, which we’ll talk about shortly, this can be a nice area to focus some of your attention.

What I love about massaging this point, is that it can be a really beautiful way of helping to balance our emotions, get our energy flowing more freely, help support our hormonal health, as well as relieve swelling or tenderness in the breasts, which can happen in the lead up to our period.

OK, so you know that wearing a bra, especially one with an underwire, might be something you want to reconsider.

What about droop?

Nobody wants their boobs around their ankles when their 60!

Well, that’s also why you might want to consider ditching your bra.

A French study showed that women who did NOT wear a bra over a 15 year period actually saw a 7mm lift in their breasts.

Yes, they had perkier breasts from NOT wearing a bra.

The reason for this, is because when we wear a bra the muscles designed to support the breasts get lazy.

Just like any muscle in the body.

If we don’t use it for a while, it starts to lose tone.

Yet when we remove the bra, that muscle starts to reactivate in order to support our breasts again.

And I share specific yoga postures for helping to get those muscles working in my women’s health program Yoga for the Vagina.

OK, so that’s my rant on bras.

If you feel you really need your bra, just be more mindful about the type of bra you wear.

And maybe explore having days or times in your days where you don’t wear a bra.

What I will say, is that if you ARE going to wear a bra, make sure when you do take it off at night, to give your breasts a massage, to get some blood and lymph flow back into them.

The other thing I recommend ditching, is your deodorant, if it’s got anything in it, that would be considered ‘toxic’.

Which is MOST mainstream deodorants.

The toxins in these deodorants clog up our lymphatic system.

Then there are anti-perspirants.

If you use those, please stop.

The reason our body sweats, is to detox itself.

If you stop that natural action of the body, those toxins that are usually released through our sweat, will drain into the lymph nodes and our armpits.

This is highly toxic for the body and is often a contributor to breast cancer.

Our body is designed to sweat for a reason, so we don’t want to interrupt that natural process by using products like antiperspirants.

If you need something to absorb body odour, choose a natural deodorant, that’s free from harsh ingredients – you can generally find these at health food shops or online – or you can use bi-carb soda under your arms.

For me, that works way better than any deodorant I’ve tried.

Because it absorbs smell.

So when it comes to breast health, there are a few things we can do, such as choosing underwire free bras, not wearing our bras as much, or not at all, and switching our deodorant for a healthy alternative.

This is how we start to honour our breasts.

Then in order to really supercharge our relationship with our breasts, I recommend committing to a regular breast massage practice.

In fact, I encourage ALL women to massage their breasts, because it not only supports their physical health through all their hormonal changes as women, but helps cultivate ‘body love’.

Last week we discussed self-massage.

So if you haven’t listened to that episode, please do, because that will help you go deeper into this exercise in self-love.

But forget needing any fancy massage techniques or complicated routines.

When it comes to breast massage, the power is in your presence.

If you’re free to give it a go now, please follow along, otherwise, come back to this episode when you have time to offer your breasts a lovely breast massage.

To begin…

We simply rub our hands together, to generate some heat… so our hands are warm…

Then we gently rest our hands on our breasts.

As we hold our breasts, we take conscious breaths into our breasts, nourishing them with oxygen.

We smile love and appreciation down into our breasts, and we take a moment to really feel our breasts…

This is where the magic is.

In being able to come into loving presence with our breasts.

Once we establish that presence and gratitude, then we simply give our breasts the loving touch they most need in this moment.

It may be feather-soft strokes, or something a little firmer.

Maybe it’s cupping the breasts and giving them a little shake, which can feel so good and help support the lymphatic system in moving those toxins out of our breasts.

Whatever you feel drawn to offer your breasts, is perfect.

It can also be nice to imagine you’re rubbing love into your breasts, or breathing love into them.

Whatever you do…

Don’t try and anticipate what you might like, simply allow your heart to guide you into the loving touch that feels most nurturing and pleasurable for you in this moment.

Because remember, this isn’t just a physical exercise.

This is about coming into heartfelt presence with the wisdom of your body.

Listening to your breasts as if they were your wise best friend.

There is another meridian to note, and this is Stomach 17 which is located on both of our nipples.

When we circle in on our nipples during breast massage, we trigger off the release of oxytocin – a hormone associated with relaxation, bonding and arousal.

And this stimulates our hormonal system, so it comes into greater harmony.

So as you can see…

There’s a lot going on, when we offer this loving touch to our breasts.

And what you’ll start to notice, as your breasts start waking up, is that you start to feel more pleasure and more sensation.

To the point that you can start to experience nipplegasms.

And this is something I explore in more depth in my Sexual Self course.

The breasts are like the doorway that opens a woman to her pleasure, and this is why I believe that the breasts always need to be a key focus, in the lead up to intercourse.

It’s what helps get a woman’s juices flowing.

Now, as we start to increase sensitivity and circulation in the breasts and nipples, connecting more deeply with our intimate self, we – at the same time – activate our body’s natural healing abilities.

Hence why breast massage plays such a vital role in breast cancer prevention and recovery.

My recommendation is to do a little breast massage every morning.

I do mine when I get out of the shower.

I spend a couple of minutes, you can certainly spend longer if you have time, but whatever you can offer your breasts, start there.

And in time, you may like to build up to more lengthy breast massages, which if you do, know that your breasts will love you for it!

You may like to use a massage oil, but if you do, just make sure it’s something natural, with no chemicals in it, because like I said, our breasts can act like storehouses of chemicals, if that’s what we’re putting on and in your body.

Only put on your skin what you would be willing to eat, as the skin absorbs everything right into the bloodstream.

Something like organic coconut oil, almond, jojoba or avocado oil.

These are all so nourishing for the tissues of the breasts.

My invitation to you this week, is to take some time to contemplate your relationship with your breasts.

Maybe open up to the idea of letting your breasts out of bra prison more often.

Only put natural products on your skin.

And give your breasts the loving touch they so dearly crave.

As you massage your breasts, all that touch will begin to melt away any shame or fear you have around your breasts and your womanhood, one heart-centred touch at a time.

If you commit to a daily breast massage practice, you WILL start to feel more sensation in your breasts, so you can tap into the pleasure of your very own body.

You’ll also find that through breast massage you more naturally start to listen to the voice of your heart, speaking through your love-filled breasts.

Then… invite that breast love into your day.

When you wake up or just before you go to sleep, caress your breasts.

Offer them a min breast massage.

Or when you lose your loving centre during the day, smile down to your breasts, and let that show of appreciation recenter you, and plug you back into your heart centre.

Your inner voice.

You may even like to imagine sending your breasts love at regular intervals throughout the day!

Not only does this help you connect into your inner wise lady – your True Self – it promotes healing within the body.

For loving presence heals.

I can’t emphasise this enough:

Love really is our most potent medicine.

Whatever you do, start to draw awareness to your breasts.

Offer them a beast massage, as often as you can.

And just notice how your love for yourself starts to grow.

Thanks for listening, and if you have some girlfriends who could benefit from this episode, please send it their way.

Their breasts will most definitely thank you for it.

And if what I’ve shared with you today on I Love Me the Podcast has sparked your curiosity into the health and pleasure available to you through the breasts – and breast massage – we explore this is far more depth in both my Sexual Self course and my Yoga for the Vagina program.

So if you’d like to check those out, I’ll pop a link in the show notes to my online school gettingnaked.com.au and if you do enrol in either of those programs, know that a percentage of profits go to planting trees, so together we can re-robe Mother Earth.