Breast Self Massage
Taking Our Breasts Into Our Own Hands
Excerpt from: Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way
by Susun S. Weed
Breast self massage is simple.
Breast self massage is pleasurable.
Breast self massage helps prevent cancer as well as detect it.
Breast self massage helps keep breast skin supple.
Breast self-massage adds resiliency to breast tissue.
Breast self massage is a way to be intimate with your breasts.
Breast self massage is a piece of women’s wisdom.
Breast self massage is safe.
Breast self-massage is free.
Many of the women I’ve talked with say they don’t do breast self exams, though most think they ought to. 
No one wants to look for (or, heaven forbid, find!) cancer. We’ve been trained to avoid danger, and looking for cancer sounds like looking for trouble. Our bodies are influenced by what we think, so how can it be safe to spend time every month doing a breast self-exam, worrying if we’re about to find a lump? But we feel guilty when we don’t.
And what are we supposed to feel when we touch our breasts anyway? They feel full of lumps! Most of us aren’t sure how to touch or examine our breasts or what we’d do if we did feel something truly suspicious. Our guilt and confusion make it all even more complex.
Breast self-massage offers a way to let go of this tension and get in touch with yourself. This soothing, nurturing self massage is a pleasurable and relaxing way to get to know your breasts. It avoids the worry of checking for cancer, while providing an excellent early-warning system should cancer arise.
Regular, loving touching of our breasts allows us to recognize normal breast changes without fear, and gives us time to respond thoughtfully to abnormal changes. Breast self-massage is also a quiet, focused time that allows the Wise Healer Within (see page 83) to alert us to any changes that require our attention.
Infused (not essential) herbal oils are an important element of breast self massage. When herbs are infused into oil, active plant components are liberated and can be massaged into breast tissue— where they help reverse abnormal cellular changes such as hyperplasia, atypia, precancers, and in situ cancers. It’s fast and fun to make your own infused oils or you can buy them. But if you don’t have any, plain olive oil works fine.
If you already know breast self-exam techniques, let them inform your fingertips during your breast self-massage. If this is all new to you, take a few months to learn about your breasts with self-massage before doing breast self-exam. They complement each other: Let the pleasure of the massage infuse the exam, and let the effectiveness of the exam inform the massage.
When should I do my breast self-massage?
Now. Anytime. All the time. Sure, your breasts are less lumpy at some times of the month. But you can do breast self massage whenever you want, even if you’re lumpy.
If the best time for you to pay attention to yourself is when you bleed, because that’s when you take time to be alone, then that’s the time to do breast self massage.
You could do it every week and get to know how your breasts change with your cycle and with the moon, but most likely you’ll do it every month.
I like to do my breast self massage when the moon is new.
Excerpt from: Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way
by Susun S. Weed
Breast Cancer? Breast Health!
The Wise Woman Way
by Susun S. Weed
Foreword by Christiane Northrup, MD
380 pages, index, profusely illustrated.
Foods, exercises, and attitudes to keep your breasts healthy. Supportive complimentary medicines to ease side-effects of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or tamoxifen.
Retails for $21.95
Read a Review
Read some excerpts:
Mammograms - Who Needs Them? from Breast Cancer? Breast Health!
Using Herbs Safely from Breast Cancer? Breast Health!
My Anti-Cancer Lifestyle from Breast Cancer? Breast Health!
Order BREAST CANCER? BREAST HEALTH! in our Bookshop
What a gift to women of all ages! This book helped me overcome my fear of what I might discover during self-examination. I am so grateful that this book came my way and I am healthier in mind, body, and spirit thanks to Ms. Weed's wise words! If I could, I would give a copy of this book to every woman in the world!
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs
by Scott Cunningham
Do you work magic with herbs? In this edition of the book (it's expanded and revised on the 15th anniversary of original publication) you will find the magical properties and folklore of over 400 herbs! You'll also find lists of herbs based on their magical powers, their genders, their planetary rulers, and more.
If you want to learn the secrets of magical herbs, this book is a must!
Paperback: 336 pages
Price: $15.95
"I love books like this … It is accessible, easy to read, and with its encompassing index (all too often neglected), simple to use as well."
Jeanne Rose
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