Mineral Mondays
| Copper |
A monthly exploration of folk healing though minerals with Marya Gendron
Minerals act as spark-plugs for enzyme reactions in our bodies. They are the indispensable building blocks for our wellbeing. As our soils and food become more depleted of essential minerals, and as toxic metals interfere with our metabolism, it becomes that much more important to become literate about minerals if we are to stay healthy.
Towards this end, Marya Gendron shares her love, passion, and expertise on all things mineral, every third Monday for Mineral Mondays, at Hedgerow. Each month, a different mineral will be explored; Marya will discuss the role that each mineral plays in out health, its dynamic relationship with other minerals, environmental factors that lead to depletion or toxicity, and the foods and herbs that we can use as allies to be more nourished with minerals.
This month marya will be exploring the mineral copper. This mineral, often feared for its role in so-called "copper toxicity" is a critical mineral for many physiological functions in the body. Many people need more of it. Marya will also discuss the role that hormonal birth control and the copper IUD have in copper homeostasis in women's bodies, and how to compensate for elevated copper with other minerals and vitamins.
Join us for a pot of tea and a rich conversation with mineral expert and folk healing practitioner Marya Gendron.
About Marya
“ My name is Marya and I grew up in rural southwestern New Mexico in an intentional community founded on principles of healing, land stewardship, nonviolent communication, farming in harmony with nature, and consensus decision-making. My childhood was truly wonderful. My parents created their own Montessori school for us kids and they all took turns teaching. We bathed outdoors in natural hot-springs under the starry sky, and splashed in ponds and waterfalls. We lived in handmade homes that were art pieces made of clay and wood.We ate healthy organic food and regularly had group meals together in the community kitchen.We had big dance parties often.I was surrounded by many aunties and uncles and roamed freely across the landscape from one house to another with my friends. My friendships were deep and life was meaningful, connected, free, and full of beauty. My upbringing gave me a strong connection to Nature, and a framework for healthy living in community.
Years later as a mother, moving around constantly with my young son following my husband’s work, I found that I was a shadow of my former self.
I suffered from chronic migraines which had plagued me since the emergency c-section at my first son’s birth. I had no nearby family to help me to raise my son or help me with my chronic pain condition. I had very few friends or sense of community because we moved so much. I coudn’t find any doctors who could figure out how to help me. I was sick, depressed, malnourished, isolated, hadn’t slept well in years, and was totally freaked out by all the other symptoms that accompanied my migraines: peripheral neuropathy, nightmares, ringing in the ears, myriad food intolerances, compromised digestion, pain sensations in the major organs of my body, gallbladder attacks, insomnia, etc. etc. etc. etc. Although I knew I was privileged, and I adored my husband and son, I found that I was totally overwhelmed by motherhood, traumatized by my medicalized birth, angry and resentful at allopathic medicine, bewildered that mothers were expected to raise kids in such isolating conditions, scared that I would never get out of migraine, and daunted by the overwhelming task of having to learn how to heal myself. Little did I know that this dark period would be the fertile soil for a hugely transformative experience that would include years of study into nutrition and physiology, a lot of experimentation, the development of the gift of my analytical mind, a deep respect for the healing plants and minerals that Mother Nature offers us, and an even more profound astonishment at the ability of my body to heal.
“Chronic migraines mixed with motherhood was a rite of passage that taught me -Marya, what my real purpose in life is, and for this I am forever grateful.”
Learn more about Marya, her offerings, and the things she knows at Minerals for Migraines.