Don’t Wait for Menopause To Relieve Your Symptoms

I recently attended the first of a series of talks with Dr. Claudia Welch called Menopause Chronicles.

She said, “Don’t wait for menopause to take care of your symptoms.”

There is data that for most women, any ​symptoms​ experienced during perimenopause will be completely gone within four years of menopause. Remember that menopause is one single point in time: the day when you’ve been one year without a menstrual cycle.

So why NOT wait?

Well, it’s because symptoms during perimenopause are a sign that your system was out of balance before you went into perimenopause. Symptoms are always your body’s way of trying to get you to listen, to show you that something needs attention.

It’s like when a car starts making a squeaking sound. You need to look under the hood and figure out what needs re-tuning, clearing, or replacing-- sort of like re-tuning daily routine, clearing what no longer serves, and incrementally replacing detrimental habits with nourishing ones.

Dr. Welch went on to talk about how whatever we did in our 20s accumulates and shows up in our bodies in our 40s; whatever we do in our 40s will affect us into our 70s; and so on. Maybe this sounds ​familiar​?

If you wait, then whatever you are not addressing may come back to haunt you in a different way: progressing to things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and possibly other disease states. The same is true if you only take ​hormone therapy​ to ease symptoms but make no changes directed at the root cause.

What are those root causes of imbalance/disease?

In Ayurveda, the root cause of all disease is said to be in the agni (digestion). What this boils down to is:

🔥Ability to digest your life on all levels (food + experiences)- this is the key; the rest of the things support this thing!

☀️Stress reduction (vague right? - this requires a deep examination of how you’re living)

😴Sleep

🎉Energy management

♥️Liver support

Going deeper, the root-root cause of disease in Ayurveda is forgetting who you really are: that you are a microcosm of the macrocosm, divine and not separate from nature.

If we all remembered we are divine:

1- there wouldn't be a fight with the ego to take care of our bodies on a ​foundational level​, and

2- On a systemic level, we would be supported in taking care of our bodies, instead of being taught to ignore and push through and rely on drugs to “fix” it.

I’m making a promise to you that soon, here in this blog, I’m going to start walking through specific symptoms and general strategies for the agni (I feel like I’ve referred to this digestion piece many times now, but really need to start breaking it down into even more bite-sized pieces).

A reminder that Ayurveda is very individualized– but there are some general things that can be helpful for most.

If you’re experiencing symptoms you’d like my help with, ​book a 20 min complementary call​ with me to see if 1:1 coaching is a fit for you.