Cramps.

I hear about them a lot. From my clients, my friends and family members. I’ve got a million solutions for them – hot water bottles, diet changes, herbs – you name it. I’ve tried it all and recommended it all. Except one thing!

“Maya Abdominal Therapy you say?” {Said with much skepticism!}

This has been the response I’ve gotten from most of the women I’ve mentioned this modality to over the years. I’m sure you might be thinking along those lines too, but bear with me here.

I heard about Maya Abdominal Massage Therapy years ago, and since then it repeatedly showed up in my life – articles, conversations, you name it.

As my friend Allison said back when I first began doing this work, “when you start to follow a certain path in life (usually the one you’re mean’t to be following), the universe will give you all kinds of helpful nuggets along the way.”

This is what happened with this technique, so I finally decided to stop wondering and book an appointment.

What is Maya Abdominal Massage Therapy?

Before I tell you about that, I should probably tell you what it is first right? Officially, the therapy is known as the Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy (ATMAT) because it was developed by Dr. Rosita Arvigo, Naprapathic physician, herbalist and author.

She moved to Belize in the early 80’s and apprenticed with a Mayan healer, Don Elijilo, one of the last traditional Mayan healers, who taught her all he knew.

It is an external massage technique to the abdomen and pelvis that helps guide the reproductive and digestive organs back into their correct position. So deceptively simple right? The actual procedure is just as simple and you can even do it at home.

My experience with Abdominal Massage Therapy

Now that’s out of the way, I have a little confession to make. Well, actually it’s a pretty big one. For most of the year prior to getting abdominal massage I had been having major menstrual cramps, and I had not been able to figure out what to do about it.

This wouldn’t be a huge deal to most women but as a women’s health coach who tells women what to do about cramps every single day it was slightly problematic that I couldn’t figure my own problems. I had tried everything I could think of and nothing. Some months were worse than others but they were all bad enough to need a few doses of painkillers.

However, that all changed when I discovered abdominal massage therapy.

My Abdominal Massage reduced my period pain by half!

I waited to post this because I needed to see whether things would improve on the uterus front. And did they ever – by leaps and bounds. I literally had HALF the pain I was experiencing previously and it only lasted for half a day.

That may not mean a lot to you so let’s just put it this way – the previous month I had gone on a trip with my boyfriend to meet his folks for the first time and while out and about on a little family excursion my cramps came on so fast that I was literally knocked out.

We had to stop and find medication and I basically ended up curled up in the backseat in searing pain for the rest of the day. Totally ruined the entire adventure! Needless to say, this month is a vast improvement.

What else can Abdominal Massage Therapy help with?

Here are some of the symptoms that can be improved using abdominal massage:

  • Displaced or prolapsed uterus and or bladder
  • Painful menstrual cycles and ovulation
  • Irregular menstrual cycles and ovulation
  • Bladder or yeast infections
  • Fertility problems, miscarriages, difficult pregnancies
  • Endometriosis
  • Perimenopause and menopausal symptoms
  • Premenstrual symptoms
  • Ovarian cysts
  • Uterine fibroids
  • Abnormal uterine bleeding – spotting, brown blood and dark colored blood
  • Pelvic congestion, pain

This is a long list of symptoms and conditions that far too many women suffer from unnecessarily. If you think you’ve tried everything (diet changes, lifestyle changes, supplements and herbal therapy, etc) to deal with an issue related to your cycle, then maybe this is your answer.

You can find out more information about Rosita Arvigo, her classes and trainings on her website, along with a database of abdominal massage practitioners all around the world.