Birthing the Tao

Randine Anderson Lewis, PhD, LAc, author of The Infertility Cure, The Way of the Fertile Soul, and Spirit of the Blood, has founded numerous clinics and educational programs, lectures internationally, and conducts intensive Chinese medicine retreats and teaching workshops. She is presently on faculty at Daoist Traditions College of Chinese Medical Arts, where she teaches for their integrative medicine doctoral program.

This book is so much more than a guide for fertility practitioners. Randine Lewis invites us to embrace the mysteries of how each of us comes into being. In these troubled times of conflict, separation and existential fear, Randine Lewis gifts us with a reminder of our celestial nature. Each and every human alive had to pass through the darkness of the womb to come into being. Once we remember this, we can understand that all creative acts are a Birthing of the Tao. From the very dedication onward she reminds us, "always tend to your souls first".

• ContentsForeword by Lorie DecharIntroductionPart I - Preparing the Palace: Basics of Gynecological ObstetricsChapter 1 - The Origin: The Miracle of ManifestationConceptionJingFertilizationThe OriginThe Soul - 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10CurriculumPregnancy and RenewalChapter 2 - Dynamics of the Creation Process Forward and Reverse CyclesOvarian CycleTian GuiZi GongThe Internal Kingdom - Nei Jing TuThe Moon rises and sets withinOuter lunar cyclesLunar and menstrual phasesHow emotions impact the menstrual cycleHypothalamusMenstrual Cycle phases - Menses, Follicular, Ovulation, LutealChapter 3 - Preconception PreparationDesireMeditationTonifying your ancestors3 Dan TienPatient Worksheets - Nutrition, Lifestyle, Self Inquiry, Soul Alignment,Exploring Ambivalence, Exercise to keep hope aliveWhat are you reproducing?Part II - Pregnancy: Occupying The Palace - The Trimester ModelChapter 4 - First Trimester - Po: The Tao Gives Birth to OneChapter 5 - Liver: Month One - Liver stores Blood to nourish the uterine lining to receive the expanding blastocyst as the embryo's extraordinary channels begin to develop.Issues: Threatened miscarriage & ectopic pregnancyChapter 6 - Gallbladder: Month Two - Mother's Gallbladder energies enliven further embryologic development.Issues: Developmental stalls, anemia, nausea and vomitingChapter 7 - Pericardium: Month Three - The Pericardium provides the calm and quiet needed to purify the embryo before it moves on to the second trimester.Issues: Emotional lability, fatigueChapter 8 - Second Trimester - Shen Receives Its Program: The One Gives Birth to TwoChapter 9 - Triple Energizer: Month Four Issues: Fetal toxins, constipation, low back pain, varicosities, skin discolorationChapter 10 - Spleen: Month FiveIssues: Restless limbs, gestational diabetesChapter 11 - Stomach: Month SixIssues: Abdominal discomfort, urinary symptomsChapter 12 - Lungs: Month SevenIssues: Intrauterine Growth Retardation, EdemaChapter 13 - Third Trimester - Hun Carries out the Curriculum in Time: The Two Give Birth to ThreeChapter 14 - Large Intestine: Month EightIssues: Obstetric cholestasis, amniotic fluid, abruptio placenta, pre-eclampsiaChapter 15 - Kidney: Month Nine Issues: malposition, breech presentationsChapter 16 - Bladder: Month Ten - BladderPreparing for labor and exiting the PalaceIssues: Birthing delays, retained placenta, lactation difficulty, postpartum recovery