Latest / The Body Rhythm: Nervous System Health, Digestion & Daily Rhythms for Women / Ep. 35 Is Menopause Really the Problem? What Your Body May Be Trying to Tell You

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Ep. 35 Is Menopause Really the Problem? What Your Body May Be Trying to Tell You · The Body Rhythm: Nervous System Health, Digestion & Daily Rhythms for Women

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: But when we change the lens through which we look at menopause and perominopause, it changes our approach to our healing.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Our healing isn't dependent on how many hormones we have or do not have.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Healing is the ability and the capacity to realize that you matter.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Body Rhythm Podcast, the podcast for women who are ready to stop pushing through and start feeling like themselves again.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm CJ Ayurvedic Wellness Guide, helping women reconnect to the natural rhythm their bodies have been craving.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't that long ago that I was exhausted in a way that sleep didn't fix, bloated no matter what I ate, and lying awake at 3 a.m.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: with my mind already running tomorrow's to-do list.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I just needed to be more consistent, more disciplined.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize that my body wasn't feeling meat.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was completely overwhelmed because you're not broken.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: You've just been living outside your natural rhythm for a long time.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Body Rhythm.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: I am so glad to be with you today.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And just a disclaimer: I am not a medical professional.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, please contact your medical professional, your healthcare provider for further guidance.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so on to the episode.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I decided to go back to the gym, and I wanted to lose these last 10 pounds that I've put on this last year, year and a half.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to get more cardio in.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to do a little bit more uh weights, and I wanted to get strong again in the leg that I injured snowboarding about a year and a half ago.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: I've noticed some imbalances as I was on crutches and didn't have the strength.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want to get my core stronger again, my knees, my legs stronger, and get ready for this upcoming ski and snowboard season.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I really am wanting to feel better in my body again, stronger in my body, and lose these last 10 pounds that I just haven't been able to let go of yet.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: But the most important thing I will say is that I feel good in my body, I feel good in my mind.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's more important to me than losing the weight.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: But I would like my pants to fit comfortably again.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it feels really good to be back at the gym.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: But I had this run-in with a woman at one of the weight classes that I was at.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And she was so nice.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: She started talking to me that she was coming back to the gym because she had recently been diagnosed with osteoporosis and her joints were sore.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: She couldn't lift weights, she could barely move, and her body wasn't moving the way she wanted it to.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so this diagnosis of osteoporosis, she finally um felt that she had to get moving again.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And she actually said that she didn't know that lifting weights could be a way of protecting against osteoporosis.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so as she was telling me her story, I asked her, you know, what she thought was behind all of this.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And she responded that it was just menopause, right?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Menopause is what led to the osteoporosis and the joint stiffness and the lack of the body being able to move and lack of strength in the body.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I understood exactly what she was saying when she said that, because that's the story that we're given.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: We see all these articles, or at least I do, now about perimenopause and menopause, and it's having all kinds of symptoms.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, you name a symptom, and you're gonna find an article where perimenopause or menopause is blamed as the culprit.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so menopause can explain the joint pain and the bone loss and why the butt why your body suddenly feels like it's working against you.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: But today I want to offer a different perspective, a different lens, not to dismiss what you're experiencing, right?
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because what you're experiencing is real and it is symptom-led, not diminishing what modern science has found.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: But when we change the lens through which we look at menopause and perominopause, it changes our approach to our healing.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing I want to say about our healing is our healing isn't dependent on how many hormones we have or do not have.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Healing is the ability and the capacity to realize that you matter.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what I find fascinating about the way we talk about menopause in our society.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we're treat it and look at it like a thing that happens to the body.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a switch that flips.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's before menopause, everything was fine.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: After menopause, everything is broken.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Before periminopause, I felt great, and after periminion pause, I feel horrible.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a either or before and after.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: But Ayurveda sees this transition differently because actually there is no word for menopause in any of the Ayurvedic texts.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Ayurveda recognizes menopause as a transition in the life experience.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's not framed as a disease or a malfunction or something going wrong in the body.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's framed as a natural transition from one life stage to the next.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And as we transition from one life phase to the next, if the change, the transition in itself becomes revealing about what's hidden, what's been stuffed down into the body.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: What Ayurveda understands is that the hormones that we have while we bleed, the estrogen, the progesterone, they act as a buffer.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: They act as a buffer to our stress response, to our joint inflammation.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: They act as a buffer to the imbalances that we've been carrying for years and we kind of override.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And as we transition into menopause, the hormones naturally become less and less.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: And therefore, our buffer softens and it decreases.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And what's been hidden underneath through our diet, through our lifestyle, begins to reveal itself.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: It begins to come to the surface because that hormonal buffer is no longer there.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: The cushion that was absorbing all of our life experience is no longer there.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: That cushion has just gotten smaller and smaller and smaller.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so the joint pain appears, the bone loss appears, the digestive changes appear, the sleep disruption appears, the emotional shifts disappear.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: But these are not the after-effects of menopause.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: These are the consequences of imbalances that have been present, often for decades, finally becoming visible because of the natural life transition and the decrease in hormones that act as a buffer.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I think when we understand that, it completely changes how we begin to think about this life transition.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because the question then is no longer how do I get back to before?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: The question becomes, what have I been carrying that hasn't been addressed?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And what does my body need now to get to balance to feel better moving forward?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because your body is going to need something different now than it needed when you were 25, when you were 30, when you were 35, when you were 40.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: So what's actually happening in the body?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: About half of women over the age of 50 have osteopenia or osteoporosis.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And about 80% of adults over the age of 50 have some form of disc degeneration.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: And a similar percentage, about 80% of adults over the age of 50, have some form of spinal arthritis.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And about a third of people overall don't get the recommended amount of physical activity.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And most of us spend a significant uh amount of our day sitting, sitting in the car, sitting at the desk at work, coming home and sitting.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is a cumulative picture of bodies that have been under-moved and overstressed and under-restored for a very long time.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And when the hormonal buffer softens, when the hormonal buffer begins to decrease, all of that becomes harder to ignore.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: In Ayurveda, this transition, this menopausal transition is the transition from a pitta time of life to a vata time of life.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And this vata time of life, vata element, has certain characteristics.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And the characteristics are dry and mobile and light and irregular.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: And when vata is out of balance, it creates rigidity and brittleness.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And think about what happens to wood when it dries out.
• 10:56
  unknown: Right?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I had this happen in my backyard actually.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: I had a piece of wood that dried out and it began to crack.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then I picked it up one day and it splintered and it went everywhere.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: It lost its flexibility.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what X's vata dosha does to our body over time when we're already living in a time that has more vata qualities to it.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it has more dryness to it when it has more rigidity and brittleness to it.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Think about it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: When I think about my grandmother, right?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: She had joint issues.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: The joints become dry.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: She finds it hard to move.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: The tissues lose their lubrication.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: The bones become more brittle, right?
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: My grandmother fell and broke her hip.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And also the nervous system can become more reactive.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so if we're already dealing with an overactive nervous system, a nervous system that is constantly in sympathetic activation, in chronic fight or flight mode, when we transition into this botad time of life, into this menopausal time of life, then the symptoms in the nervous system, the movement in the nervous system, the stress in the nervous system can just become even more reactive.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then when it becomes more reactive, it leads to more dryness and more brittleness and more rigidity, which can cause more reactivity in the nervous system.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then the cycle just continues.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so chronic stress is one of the most powerful vata aggravators there is.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because when the nervous system is in a sustained stress response, when it's been in low-grade activation for months and months, or years and years, or decades and decades, it drives more dryness, more tightness, more rigidity, more brittleness in the joints and the bones and the tissues, the ligaments, right?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: The ligaments are necessary for us to move and bend and function in the world, to go from side to side.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: This means that for the woman who has spent decades in high output mode, in caring more than her share, in pushing through, in running on cortisol, running on coffee, on that fourth and fifth cup of coffee.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: The transition in this life stage just doesn't reveal the imbalance, it amplifies it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: We have to take steps to bring more moisture into the body, more juiciness into the body, right?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So that we can begin to bring balance into the body in a way that can sustain us for the years to come.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the things that we keep doing is we have to keep moving.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Not aggressively, not like we're training for marathons, but we want to keep the body juicy, supple, mobile, fluid, because the antidote to vata, to the dryness, to the brittleness is warmth and moisture and grounding and consistent, gentle movement.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: And when we move, we want to take the spine through its full range of motion forwards and backwards and side to side.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: We want to load the bones appropriately when we use our muscles.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: When we move the bones, when we move the spinal column, we're bringing moisture and nutrition into the discs, into the bones.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: But when we move, we're also signaling to the body that it's still needed, that it's still capable, that it's still alive.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: If we're if we're dead, we can't move.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: When we're alive, we should move the bones and move the body because it signals to us that we're alive, that we can keep going.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Our bone density responds to the load that we put it on.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: Our joints stay lubricated through movement, our ligaments stay lubricated.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: The nervous system stays lubricated and it begins to regulate through the breath and through rhythm.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not optional maintenance.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: This is how we keep the body functioning as the transition unfolds.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're navigating osteoporosis or significant joint changes, there are some movements to be a little bit more thoughtful about.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Forward fold, so bending forward, aggressive twisting, high impact jumping, loaded movements at the end of your range.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: These are things that we want to stay away from because they place stress on the spine and in the joints in a way that aren't serving an already depleted or brittle body.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I know yen is very popular.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: I teach yen, I teach restorative, but for women with significant bone loss, deep passive stretching, as in yen, that places a sustained load on an already compromised tissue needs to be approached with more caution.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because it can be a little bit hard for the body to process.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've had any kind of spinal decompression surgery, yen and restorative are generally not recommended for at least 12 months because we want to do things that keep the body in a neutral position.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And yen and restorative yoga do not do that.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: So talk to your medical provider about what is right for your specific situation.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So what kind of movement does help?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm talking here from a yoga, yoga therapy perspective.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: So gentle spinal mobility, cat cow stretches, side stretches, slowly moving the limbs of the body through a gentle range of motion.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: Any kind of balance work.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So a tree pose that's supported against a wall or a chair.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: These are fabulous for a body that is already in a depleted state, where that juiciness is gone, where the brittleness is high, and also is less taxing on an already brittle and overloaded nervous system.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: What else helps during this transition into a more vata time of life is breathing practices and meditation, stress relief practices that bring the nervous system out of chronic activation mode that allow the nervous system to feel safe and supported, where the body truly gets a chance to rest.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: And just bringing the body into a more relaxed state, we're bringing more juiciness and vitality into the body and the mind and the spirit.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: As the woman in the gym was told by her doctor, we want to do weight-bearing movements.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that can be weights.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: It can be appropriate load-bearing moves on the bones.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: If we think about yoga, we have downward-facing dog and the different warrior poses that are putting load onto the bones.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And this is one of the most evidence-supported ways to maintain bone density over time.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yoga therapy specifically can help address the muscle imbalances and the uneven loads on the joints and the discs and the ligaments, and it can address the nervous system dysregulation that underlies so much of what surfaces in this life transition.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go back to the woman I was speaking with at the gym.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: The one who said that menopause was the reason her body wasn't working the way that she wanted.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the reframe changes what's possible.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we can think that menopause is the thing that rakes us.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then we're waiting for something external to put it back together.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: A hormone, a supplement, a treatment.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: And absolutely these things can work.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: But perhaps perimenopause and menopause is also a transition that is revealing what has been quietly accumulating day after day and year after year, perhaps decade after decade.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's the case, if your buffer has decreased and you're noticing these things that haven't been dealt with in the physical body, in the emotional body, in the mental body, perhaps the work begins with what has your body been carrying?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: What patterns have become your normal?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: And what does your nervous system need in order to soften?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: And is there a way to make changes to diet and lifestyle and stress so you can keep your body moving and nourished and warm so that the dryness and the rigidity and the brittleness doesn't take hold.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is a way to do it.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Ayurveda offers us a roadmap and how to go forward.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: It offers this transition in life as a way to recalibrate, to find a new balance.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It offers an invitation to live our life differently, to become more nourishing towards ourselves, to become more gentle, more consistent, more attentive to what our body and mind and spirit is actually asking for.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe your body isn't asking you to override it any longer.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's just going to make things a bit more difficult.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this transition is a way for the body to communicate loud enough that how you've been living hasn't been nourishing and nurturing to you and how you want to move forward.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're in this transition or you're moving toward it, or you've been reading all the articles and, you know, you don't really know what to do next.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to hear this.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to understand where your body is right now and give it what it actually needs.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just warmth and movement and nourishment and less stress and safety and support and more rhythm and more ease.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: These aren't luxury practices, but I would definitely say that they're not promoted in the wellness space.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: But for this stage of life, they are the medicine that's needed.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: The medicine that's needed to move forward in a way that feels good in your body so that you can live longer.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps you begin to notice where you're holding tight.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you begin to notice where exactly you need more nourishment and more warmth and more support.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're curious about how chronic symptoms of stress and stress response might be showing up in your body, I put a link in the show notes for the burnout decoder so you can begin to see how stress might be affecting your body and the way that symptoms are showing up.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me this week on this episode of the body rhythm.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope to see you next week.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Be well and nourished.