Ep. 51: The Womb as a Wound and a Sanctuary — Healing Uterine Fibroids by Re-mothering the Self with Claire Hickson

What if a diagnosis was not a sentence to be carried out, but an invitation to come home to the most fractured parts of yourself?When Claire Hickson was advised to have a hysterectomy for a large uterine fibroid, she heard a different call—one that led her not into an operating room, but into the deepest chambers of her own story. In this deeply moving episode, we explore how a physical symptom in the womb can be the body’s sacred attempt to house a lost inner child, and how the journey to heal is ultimately a journey to reclaim, love, and rebirth the self.Claire Hickson is a yoga teacher, poet, and guide from the UK, who shares her multi-layered journey with a 10cm uterine fibroid. We traverse her path from medical diagnosis and the conventional push for a hysterectomy to the intuitive breadcrumbs that led her to holistic treatments, a profound creative awakening through poetry, and the pivotal body psychotherapy session that revealed the fibroid as a manifestation of a newborn trauma. Together, we examine the deep connection between the throat and the womb, how illness can awaken a medicinal voice, and what it means to become a “safe sanctuary” for yourself and others.🌿 What You’ll Discover✨ Why Claire chose to explore the message of her fibroid instead of opting for an immediate hysterectomy.✨ The pivotal role of community and guided meditation in creating a safe container for deep inner work and creative expression.✨ How a poetic awakening became the key to unlocking a suppressed voice and healing the throat-womb connection.✨ The moment in a body psychotherapy training that connected her physical symptoms to a pre-verbal trauma of abandonment.✨ Why Claire now sees her fibroid as symbolizing being “pregnant with myself” and the profound shift to re-mothering her inner child.✨ How the journey of healing is non-linear and requires trusting intuitive breadcrumbs, even when they don’t make logical sense.✨ The transformative power of using your voice—through speech, poetry, and now singing—as a core part of somatic healing.⏳ Timestamps01:00 - Welcoming Claire Hickson 02:40 - Claire’s Story: The Uterine Fibroid Diagnosis06:30 - The Conventional Path: Pressure for a Hysterectomy10:00 - The Pandemic Pause: Space for Meditation and Inner Seeking13:00 - The Creative Awakening: An Outpouring of Soulful Poetry16:00 - Following Intuition into Yoga Teacher Training19:00 - Choosing HIFU Treatment and Reclaiming Personal Authority25:00 - The Pivotal Realization: Connecting Fibroids to Newborn Trauma30:00 - The Practice of Re-mothering and Holding a Young Self35:00 - The Throat-Womb Connection: Voice as Medicine45:00 - Claire’s Oracle Poem: “Hey You”50:00 - The Next Layer: Singing as Somatic Healing55:00 - Who Has Her Illness Invited Her to Become?💫 Guest Information & LinksConnect with Claire Hickson:- Instagram: @claire_inlight- Website: https://instabook.io/landing/yogawithclaire- Book: In Light - Available on Amazon- YouTube: www.youtube.com/@claire_hickson 💫 Want to Go Deeper?→ Begin your Sacred Illness® Journey:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/communityUse coupon code PODCAST for 20% off→ Apply to be a podcast guest:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/podcast-guest→ Apply to be an Affiliate and help share this work:https://www.aurorasomatic.com/affiliate→ Follow Dr. Erin on Substack:https://sacredillness.substack.com🎶 Music by: “Instructions for Living a Life” by Savfkhttps://www.youtube.com/@SavfkMusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sacredillness.substack.com/subscribe