Transitions: the Anticipated, the Unexpected, and the 'What Could Have Been' , with Dr. Steph Yip

From adolescence to menopause, seasonal shifts, and life’s unexpected turns, transitions are woven into the fabric of our existence.

How we react to these shifts, and more importantly - how we respond, shapes our ability to embrace life fully.

Join us with guest Dr. Stephanie Yip to learn how the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine can support you through transitions at every stage of life, both big and small.

Connect with Dr. Yip at www.thewayhc.com

The Language of Healing is broadcast live Tuesdays at 2PM ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). The Language of Healing TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The topics and opinions expressed on thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests, and not thoseof W four WN Radio It's employees or
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(00:22):
W four WN Radio. Are youready to take a journey? Let's connect
with the healers of the world.It's that time. It's time for the
Language of Healing on W four WNRadio and Talk for TV. Now here's
your host, doctor Nicole fort Hi. Everybody, good day and welcome to

(00:46):
the Language of Healing on w FOURWNdot com. You can find us every
Tuesday, two pm live Eastern Standardtime and where we discuss all sorts of
great things around healing and wealth,wealth and health and abundance and change and
transition. That's our topic for today, transitions, change and what that means,

(01:10):
what that means to you, whatthat means for the future. I
realized that this is the language appealing, and I thought, you know,
what we should do is include alittle definition like highlight a word for each
show. We might do that movingforward today I would choose transitions. And
what does that mean? Transition changeto cross over something, to transfer,

(01:38):
to shift into a new perceptive perception. It means a lot of things.
So we have a special guest todaytalking about change and transition because that's a
constant in our life. It's literallypart of the fabric of our existence.
Everything is in flux. It breeds, you know, like life breeds as

(02:04):
we do. So we cycle throughchange and transformation through many different stages.
It's a very broad topic. Today, let's dive into a Chinese medicine perspective,
and so we'll welcome our host,doctor Stephanie Yip, who is somebody
I've known for a very long timeand we have been through many changes and

(02:25):
transitions together. So welcome to theshow. Thank you. How long has
it been like eighteen, no,seventeen years, that could be And when
did we start school? And eightyeah, we lived. We lived a

(02:46):
couple of blocks from each other,and so we would ride the school the
school the loser Cruiser to school.The my car is in the shop bus.
Yeah, University of the University.Yeah, and we studied occupuncture and
traditional Chinese medicine together. We hada lot of laughs, had a lot

(03:08):
of cries, and lots of majorlife changes and transformations. Yeah. Yeah.
So what is something that you areaware of now? Something that I'm
aware of now that what I wasn'tback then? Yeah? Well sure,
oh my god, no, maybe, okay, maybe I'll be be more

(03:30):
specific, but you know, justin the on the topic of change and
transformation, like what is coming upfor you now? What are you aware
of now? What am I awareof now? Well, I wouldn't say
regrets. I wish I would haveprepared my body more for the changes that

(03:51):
come, especially as a woman,a woman like even just through menstruation in
each month and sure that it's smoothand it's balanced and good and working with
those phases. Because when we werein school and at that age, you
could do it all, but itwas at the behest of you know,

(04:13):
how we feel in our thirties.It's just garbage because I worked, you
know, worked every day till twoam and went to school and didn't feed
myself properly. And wasn't emotionally regulated, and now I'm making it for it
in your thirties, right, ButI think just and I just think that's

(04:35):
our culture. We just especially aswomen. So then the transitions that should
be maybe a little smoother and easierand progressive are very much disruptive. Yeah,
you know, it's like that's sucha key point because that's at the
root basis of what Chinese medicine cansupport you through in your thirties because by

(04:57):
concept, actually you should preserving youressence or your jing, or your your
constitutional makeup throughout life. So yeah, remember those days in class and the
doctors are like no drinking late,no sex late, like no late party.
You know. Meanwhile, I thinkand then like that's like pretty much

(05:21):
society's twenties and your exploration. Andyou're, yeah, you know, three
one of us, three out offive of us. I think we're working
like restaurant jobs. Restaurants which arenot easy and late and not conducive to
health in any way, shape orform. Yeah, but you have to

(05:42):
do fun, but you got todo like I think that's part of what
is important in transitions is a levelof acceptance, like just you know,
awareness and acceptance because that's where you'reat at the time. Like you have
to pay for school, you know, you want to yeah, yeah,
support yourself while growing and learning,and there's different avenues to do that through.

(06:09):
Yeah. Yeah, And I meanwe live and learn and I will
hopefully be able to impart more dailywisdom for my kids so they know how
to feed themselves. They could stillhave their fun in their twenties but be
relatively unscathed. Yeah, exactly.Yeah, speaking of your kids, we
did a little promo video and littleMaybe Maze came on to join us,

(06:30):
which is sweet. So you haveMazi and Jude, Yeah, yeah,
five and nine, so they're justin their development their phase one right for
seven years, well, Mazie isyeah, I know. So it's interesting
to have that wisdom and that knowledgeof Chinese medicine and be able to apply
it as you well a as youare becoming pregnant and then supporting you through

(06:58):
pregnancy, supporting you after in thegolden month, the first days after pregnancy,
the fourth try, yes, whichis all to yeah, but huge
one, but that's a I thinkthat's a huge, huge, like milestone
in a woman's life that will predictthe health and longevity of the rest of

(07:19):
her life, how she heals orrecovers or doesn't. I think that transition
is probably the most vital for afemale if you're having kids in this day
and age, because I just Ithink it's like the cause of so many
chronic illnesses later in life. Idid my first, I did not do

(07:42):
it well my second. I reallylearned from my first, and really I
felt like I I transitioned well frompregnant to birth to postpartum. Yeah,
but that's a huge one. Yeah, well, let's like dive into that
bit because I think it prefaces theseven year cycle, because then once we're

(08:03):
born, when we're born, weare we are conceived at the moment,
you know, our jing, ouressence. It's something that we talk a
lot about in Chinese medicine. It'sa golden treasure. It's the treasure you
have to tell them, tell themyeah, yeah, yeah, I know,
we'll die. Yeah, Because it'slike I mean, well, it

(08:24):
varies if you're a man or woman. It's either seven or eight year cycle,
right, So Okay, there aresome differences, but in general,
it's an idea or concept that everyseven years we are shifting into a different
phase of life. Medicine, wealso have the five elements, and elements
is a loose I mean it's atranslation of a character, an ancient Chinese

(08:46):
character. So element is one definitionof it. There are other definitions.
It's more like a phase or it'sa transition. So you know, we're
gonna visit every each aspect and youcan circle the wheel of life throughout life.
So that's what seven year cycles isabout. It's like every seven years
you're visiting a new section or segment, and if you're revisiting the same one,

(09:09):
it's on a deeper level. SoI love it. Yeah, yeah,
but but it starts with like conceptionand you know the concept of our
constitution comes from mother and father,and then how also how mother takes care
of herself or what the constitution ofmother father is depend like set this up

(09:33):
for our life. So and oneof this, Yeah, classics they do
mention like that our prenatal and ourconstitution comes from mother and father, right
like in the classics. Yeah,absolutely, And I find that's so interesting
that just now in like terms ofbiomedicine or Western medicine, we're catching up

(09:54):
with like happigenetics how they're seeing.Oh, like this is like you're you're
not just a clean slate, likeyou do get what you're You know,
if I was stressed or drinking,or Dad was overweight or drinking upon conception,
like those things are imprinted and youknow in some way, shape or
form in the genetic makeup of you. It's wild that like TCM already figured

(10:18):
this out right, And TCM istraditional Chinese medicine. Yeah, I haven't
started that already. No, it'sfine. Sometimes we can get it's like
a realm. It's another like Chinesemedicine is another language. It took.
I remember being through like school andI was very Western based trained before like

(10:45):
medical medical, and then transitioning intoEastern medicine was like I questioned everything,
you know, So I really Ican really appreciate like the skeptics point of
view around Eastern medicine, like whatdoes that even mean? It's like that
I think that though. I thinkthat creates you know, you're here able

(11:05):
to keep learning and you don't.I think that makes a good practitioner when
you don't just like I'm all inyeah right, yeah, because you have
to, like I don't know,live the like, take in the experience,
embody it, you know, andI think that that supports, you
know, the transitions of life.That's when you're like, yeah, you

(11:31):
but it's like a boundary you jumpin, but there's a boundary too a
little bit, you know, yeah, because you're confronting a lot of stuff.
But anyway, I wanted to knowwhat what was it that was different
for you between baby number one andbaby number two and taking care of that
and having that in mind because Iknow a lot of women are families couples

(11:52):
that are, you know, tryingto conceive or in their gestation and this
might be you. Well to them, well, I think what parent doesn't
want to raise you know, Itry the best of their capabilities, yeah,
and have a good experience. Iwas really fortunate. I didn't have

(12:15):
any problems conceiving, so that wasgreat. But my son, it was
a tough birth, and I thinkthere was a lot of factors there.
But I do think postpartum because thebirth was so hard, I just I
don't think I supported myself properly throughthat, and I don't think I accepted

(12:39):
the support because we like to justbe like we're fine and fine and fine,
I'll do it. I'll just doit. That's at least how I
am. And so I did havepostpartum with him, and it was sort
of a gradual like it was verysneaky and how it presented it, so
it wasn't just like baby blues.It was anxiety that would come and go

(13:01):
and then it just sort of snowballedafter a while. But with him,
I truly think it was because itwas such a difficult birth and I didn't
really feed myself and replenish the wayyou should and rest and he was,
you know, not a great sleeper. It just extended to like a year
of like not feeling well. Whereasmy daughter, I was aware of this

(13:28):
now, So I think the secondtime for me was I knew it a
little bit more what to expect.Her birth was amazing. It was very
healing. It was everything I wantedit to be. And I really had
a plan in place. So Ihad like the bone broths and the prenatals
that you know were post natals thatI was going to be taking, the

(13:48):
vitamins, and I had herbs readyto go, and child care was all
set up and like just things wereput in place where I would have time
to rest and digest and replenish.And yeah, I was very aware of
my mental health and it was justlent to a better recovered and healing.

(14:13):
Yeah, it was a learning curveand every every birth is different. It's
very hard to predict. You justcan't even if you have all your cards
in place, you just can't predicthow your birth is going to go.
But I think what you can controlis how you recover. Right, Yeah,
that's a really good point. Soif anyone wants more information, contact

(14:33):
doctor Stephanie. Yep. Maybe willscroll scroll so her Instagram or you can.
You're working at the way it wasto collective with another mutual colleague doctors.
That's her baby, the way let'sse collect it baby. But yeah,
I'm I'm there, and I lovetreating post natal and and I'll see

(14:56):
it when the kids are like sevenor eight years old and they're coming in,
We're like, oh, this startedafter your pregnancy. So that back
to the transition or that phase,that transition from not pregnant and pregnant.
And I think we often forget thatyou make this baby from what you have,
your reserves. It's not just magicallygiven to you. Like it's taking

(15:20):
your blood and your what you're eating, and your essence and your tree,
and it's creating this human beings.So you know, yes, your blood
volume is higher and all these thingsduring pregnancy, but once you get birth,
like that's all gone and you haveto replenish that and most women do
not mm yeah, and we transitionto transition. I hate seeing it like

(15:46):
also while raising the family, youknow, And so that's I think that's
an important piece around when we're talkingabout the original to history and I know
what I know about the Chinese cultureand studying Chinese fund everything starts with the
history, you know. It's like, yeah, it's lay the foundation,

(16:06):
here's the background, a little context, like this is where we're all coming
from when we state into this lifeis based on our you know, parents
makeup. Yeah, and now nowwe are born and we're transitioning every seven
years. So let's dive into thatmm hm phase one zero to seven.
That's an important like keystone, hugeyeah, yeah, huge, Like everything's

(16:34):
child bearing, like all their everythingis sort of implemented in that age.
How they perceive the world, howthey react, how they're emotionally regulated,
or unregulated trauma that happens to themlike habits, how they receive love,
Like everything's in that little bubble.Yeah, it's like the real foundation in

(17:00):
you know, truly the kidney andit's the kidneys. Yeah, the kidney
that's like your your root organ Yeahyeah, yeah. So I don't know
what that year is called. Idon't know if there's any name there.
I'm sure there's a name for eachIt's like, oh, I wouldn't know.
I know that's somewhere like buried inthe classics in a language we don't

(17:22):
understand yet. Yeah, yeah,Chinese, I love it. Yeah.
But then yeah, like that's whereyou're also like, you know, there's
a lot of growth, right,like a lot of formation, and then
we go into the second seven years, like seven to fourteen, you know.
Is it's regulated by the liver,so it's like it's like a sprouting.

(17:45):
It's like a little seed that youput water on. Water is the
first phase, and then we gointo the second phase. It's wood.
It's when the seedling begins to grow, stretch and reach into the lights.
So their their personalities are are comingthrough, and yeah, they have a
lot of those background, like theirtheir ego. They're subconscious ego, they're
all their like you know, unconsciousstuff is like zero to seven, right,

(18:10):
like formative, and then they're fundingfrom that and in that time I
think that that's where I think it'sswitched. Like the third seven years is
I think is when like the pubertywill start, like the fourteen, but
in our culture, I think withall the endocrine destructors, it starts so

(18:33):
much earlier, like we're sort ofshifted down and then we know as we
go through the phases, menopause issupposed to start a little later, but
we can see like so many womenat my age, like thirty eight,
it's they're perimenopause like too early,but it's starting, and probably just from
all the environmental factors around us.That's interesting to see, like reading the

(18:55):
classics when they were so much moreat one with nature in their environment,
eating seasonally, living in all thephases, even the everyday phase of like
in Chinese medicine, we go throughthe organ systems. You know, you're
up at this time, having abowel movement, you're eating at this time,
you're like living in the phases ofyoung, going to bed with the

(19:15):
sun, resting in the in stage. We don't really do that, Dewey,
So it's like kind of interesting tosee. Yeah, and every day
we don't live in accordance with theway. That's what the doo means,
right, just like you know fromold well the way, but yeah,
the way, it's the way it'srooted. Yeah, I mean the classics

(19:36):
like just sidebar, you know,it's like ancient wisdom for a modern world.
That's really you know we Yeah,they were much more connected and observing,
and they were aware, like youwant to talk like you know,
awareness of your environment and then howt repond to that, and they had

(19:59):
years and years of responding, responding, you know, and they that skill
and then yeah, things shift andchange, and now we're here pretty much
the same makeup, same you know, like things that operate are us as
like human spirits like sunshine, foodcommunity. Yeah we need things, Yeah,

(20:22):
but I think that environment's so differentand like so different. Yeah,
we need so we need to adaptand that's part of shifting and transitioning and
being an acceptance of what is,you know, like awareness of how things
are now, accepting what you knowwas or what is, and then that
can really open up the awakening tothe future, and yeah, it's I

(20:45):
think that's where we can like leverageshift and change and transition to our advantage.
And it's totally just I think,an opportunity just to realize maybe how
we move in the world. It'sa culture that we live, and that's
tough to do that because we tendto be a little bit isolated, you

(21:08):
know. Back to the postpartum thing, I think a lot of that has
to do with, you know,women getting sick after having kids. A
lot of it is they never theydon't have help, Like there isn't that
village to come and help them raisetheir babies. They just are on their
own, obviously with their partner whoprobably has to go back to work,
and then they're you know two undertwo or three under five type of thing,

(21:32):
and they're depleted. But then iteven goes to I talked to patients
of just like living with their menstrualphases, like you know, maybe you
shouldn't be doing high intensity workouts duringyour menstruation when you're already a blood deficient
type person. Maybe you should usethat time to cover but you know,
or maybe in your lated lutelle phaseif you are feeling tired, like,

(21:53):
embrace it and rest and feat yourselfand prepare for the menstruation so that you're
not feeling a B and C allmonth long in your you know, third
year, third seven year cycle.As a fourteen year old girl, if
you're having extreme menstrual cramps, maybetry and figure out, you know,

(22:15):
why that's happening and correct it insteadof what we do to them is put
them on birth control. Right,that's what every fifteen year old is on
mostly because they have menstrual cramps,and it's usually because their liver in Chinese
medicine is so stagnated, which causesthat pain. So I think it's just
like living in accordance to like ourenvironment a little bit more and less trying

(22:38):
to control the environment around us allthe time and trying to suppress everything because
it's not working, like eating thingsthat are out of season that are making
us feel sick. So instead ofnot eating those things, we take a
digestive enzyme or an antacid or like, you know, like everything is just
we're going to do the same thingsthat we want to do. We're going

(22:59):
to get sicker, and we're goingto just suppress the symptoms. So we
can keep doing those same things.Yeah, yeah, I love it.
I'm here for it because it isit's like we forgot some of those principle
or just the awareness, you know. I think like our bodies are constantly
sent relaying us messages. We havelike a wealth of information and experience at

(23:22):
our hand, you know, andwe I think maybe it's not even a
conscious choice. It's like just youknow, distraction or like getting caught up
and in a lot of things,there's a lot more pressure around, you
know, Like I don't know evenstudents, I think that you know,
even just as a social media youknow, influence kind of way, Like

(23:47):
we didn't like growing up with thattoday we never had a third year phase
would be you know, a wholedifferent games. But it's like that's also
part of accepting the transition of wherewe're at, Like that's where society and
we're evolving too. So now theyhave this this access, and then how
do we shift like even coming froma perspective of okay, we didn't have

(24:11):
that, how do we open upand accept that this is the new way,
you know, and then support imageto you Yeah, but like okay,
okay, so then your kids aregonna I'm sure, Like have your
kids been maybe they're phones to win? Like, what's what's the rule?

(24:33):
What? Oh, I'm prepping.I've I have been prepping my son for
the past year and a half.Every once in a while I mentioned it.
I'm like, you're gonna be madat me, Like and now he's
like eight, He's like, no, I'm not. And I'm like,
yeah, you're gonna want a cellphone. I'm going to say no,
and you're gonna hate me for awhile, but for your own good,
Like I get no, but Ilike and I'm so guilty of it,

(24:56):
of like being on my phone,Like I'm such a hypocrite. So I'm
like, look at me, don'tbe me. But no, I like
them, I they're not. Ijust I'm going to remove that temptation and
they can have a phone when they'rea little bit more mentally developed. Social
media absolutely not, Like you canstart an account when you're seventeen, but
you're not having it at fourteen.Like I just find you know, even

(25:18):
talking about emotional transitions, like what'sthe worst thing that can happen in Chinese
medicine to cause diseases? You getstuck in emotion. In an emotion,
right, it becomes unbalanced and thenit causes dysfunction in the body. And
I feel like a wonderful thing that'shappening right now is we're very much more
mindful of emotions and how they developand how people feel and stuff like that.

(25:44):
But in saying that, I thinkwe're becoming too fixated on it.
People are becoming too fixated on theirproblems or what they are emotionally. So
that's what they are. I haveanxiety, I have ADHD, I have
that. I have that, andthey get stuck and they're fixated it and
that's their identity, and like theywatch TikTok videos all day long about it,

(26:07):
and they talk to death with theirtherapists about it, and it just
like creates more of it in theirlife. So instead of like trying to
move through this negative emotion however itcomes up or whatever it is, they're
just always in that feedback loop oflike I don't know we calling trauma or
like this anxiety, they're never movingthrough. I see it with my patients.

(26:27):
It's the same thing every week orthe same you know, and you
sort of have to be sensitive tothem. But at the same time,
like you're just stuck and you're lookingfor it everywhere and you're just in that
cycle. It's it's one component.Sorry to take you up, No,
that's okay, but I see iton social media because then your algorithm,

(26:51):
like say you're a fourteen year oldand you're feeling lonely, so you're you're
looking at videos of other like influencersfeeling lonely, you're talking about it,
and then all of a sudden,your algorithm is just that. So you're
finding yourself in all of these peopleand you're thinking it's normal, which it
is, but it's also normal andhealthy to move through it. But imagine
that's all you're reading this, allyou're seeing like you just become it and

(27:14):
you don't move through. And that'swhat like worries me and with my kids.
I'm like, no, like youneed to be able to live your
own experience without everybody else in theworld telling you how it should be,
right, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, because that's like
yeah, for sure. I mean, well, in the very first like

(27:34):
you know the seven year cycles,so say like you know seven times seven
would take us to forty nine,so we're not we're not really dead then
yet necessarily so like we we gothrough it again. Yeah, goodness,
and it's all you know, takeit with like a bit of fluidity too

(27:55):
that they do shift and change foreverybody, you know. But these are
these are like basic guideline. Butthe first, the first cycle, first
go around. That third stage withthe seven of fourteen is the fire element,
and it's very active. It's likeinspiration. It's it's the summertime.

(28:17):
It's like pure expansion, you know, and just to bring you know,
your point of around, like exposingthem to other influences like time to explore
your own like influences right or yourown creativity and be exposed and relate to
other people, see like shed lighton everything like full you know. Yeah,

(28:38):
but like this this like or sorryseven or fourteen I meant fourteen to
twenty one. Yeah, twenty feellike I said that. Yeah, okay,
so yeah the third seven years,fourteen to twenty one, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah. Ijust think it can be. I think
we're very lucky that we get tobe so connected. But at the same

(28:59):
time, I do think you haveto be really careful to come back to
your reality, like it's not real, you know. Yeah, but that's
also a bit of like that rebelarchetype at that age. You know,
it's like where they're yeah kind ofnot not fully foreign, like it's like
it's imaginative, Yeah, for sure. I just I think it's why,

(29:21):
you know, we're seeing so muchdepression, anxiety, mental health issues in
kids at age is truly the screentime and the social media. I just
think it's too much information. SomeI read somewhere I heard somewhere about the
fact that our nervous systems are notlike developed to be able to handle and
receive the amount of information that wedo. Like we're not meant to know

(29:44):
all the bad things that are happeningacross the globe. Like, you know,
ancestrally, we would know what's happeningin our village and maybe the villages
around us, but not the countrynext door unless there was like a traveler.
So it's like for us to getthis bombardment of information every single day,
we're so like overburdened. And thentry to do that to a fourteen

(30:08):
to twenty one year old, Likewhat did they support and lead these videos
and these people telling them what they'resupposed to be and they're still trying to
figure out who they are. Andit's like we went through that too,
but not at the I think atthe level and the exposure that these this
generation is having to deal with.It's like it's scary to me. I

(30:30):
wonder what my kids are with theAI and like all this new stuff that
were the transitioning to of them.Yeah, like what it's going to do
for them? Well, they don'tfigure up it, you know, Yeah,
exactly, you can't stop it.They're going to figure it out.
But in that phase, I justhope that they are emotionally and psychologically developed

(30:51):
enough to be able to discern what'sgood for them and what's not and what's
real. Yeah, And I thinkyou have a good, like a really
healthy approach to you know, communicatethat this is coming, you know,
or this is this is the wayit is because you accept like reality for
what it is and that's yeah,and you can't suppress it. And then

(31:11):
you're instilling your values. You explainwhy and right, and like I'm not
going to them restrict technology because Ithink they're gonna they would completely go against
you. And like, you know, kids are kids. They can't have
there's going to be restrictions. ButI think communication is key. Like I

(31:32):
was talking to my husband in theday, and like, I think if
we really show them, why,like show them the research, show them
the like tangible stuff like this isgoing to make you feel this way,
you spent too much time. Andthat's such a good point with like focusing
on it. Like I don't know, having restriction because if it's the fire

(31:52):
element, it's like you want tocontain fire, you know, you want
to have some boundary around yeah,fire, but fire is also very inspirational,
so it's like you want to helpbud and expend and raise and yeah,
okay, let's move on to thenext phase. Because this is such
a such a weedy subject it is. This is what I talked to life

(32:19):
in those formative years. I wishI would have paid more attention to my
screen because it has given me trouble. Yeah, directly exactly. That's like
you're recentering. Now You've taken allof this growth and development and you're just
bringing it home, bringing it home. And this is where I mean I
think about like earth element in womenand men, like men's lives like this

(32:42):
generally, when you know you mightbe having children. Maybe maybe that's also
shifted uh in society totally totally later. So but Earth is like a real
like the ultimate mother. It's likeand dancing in and as a men's streating
female if you are not digesting food. So that in Chinese medicine, that
spleen, that spleen, you know, digestive system. In Chinese medicine we

(33:07):
talk about the spleen in terms ofdigestion, community and energy, like turning
food into cheam blood right, butlike if its ability is compromised or not
there, which is my case becauseI just beat the crap out of it.
Sim's adolescents. I was a ninetieskid, so I grew up on
peanut butter and jam and milk.So I think cinnamon toast, cinnamon bread.

(33:34):
Oh it was better in cinnamon,Like we talk about it what we
used to eat for breakfast and thentry to like go study it, like
come on like as a kid,but like now that that spleen's ability to
produce blood from food and hold itproperly right, and then send that good
young chi up and you know,take care of the deafness, like if

(33:55):
it doesn't happen, which was inmy case, then you get illness,
but I think we're seeing a lotof it. I think it's that period
and that like middle jaw, screen, stomach issue like that gut health,
microbiome like in terms of Western medicinelike affects everything that's those are those years.

(34:15):
I think that's when it really starts. Yeah, And I think that
the more like, the more depletedyou are, the more it taps it.
Because another concept of Chinese medicine isthat we have this pre natal cheese
or like life force that comes fromconception that we talked about, and then
you have post natal chi, whichcomes from what we what we eat and

(34:38):
what we drink and what we beair. So if you if you don't
keep up with the right amounts equalityof chi from the post natal like food
and you know, diet and air, it taps into your preserves, your
preservation. And this is like thattime when you should be conserving it a

(35:00):
little bit. So it's like adrenal fatigue. That's like perfect example of
tapping in to yeah, your wellof reserves, and then that well of
reserves is useful for later in lifethat gives you longevity and good health throughout
your years. It's like I relateit to an hour glass, you know,
like when we're born, that hourglass gets splipped and then like when

(35:22):
the sand runs out, Like that'sthat's the essence. It's not really repeatable.
So we maintain our levels through foodand diet, and we talk about
the stuff, and I sometimes thinkbecause we know it, we're talking about
it in a like a of howit shows up. And I feel like

(35:44):
people listen like, oh my god, I'm fucked. I know, I
know, but you the body isso brilliant, and like the postpartum thing.
Every you know, even every period, you have an opportunity. You're
shedding the old, you have anopportunity to rebuild the new. That Golden
month is that opportunity to literally rebuildnew. And I think we always have

(36:09):
that ability. And it can bereally simple of just like the very cliche
stuff, go to bed at thesame time, get up at the same
time, drink water, eat wholefood, seasonal foods, you know,
get rid of the inflammation causing thingslike the sugar and the dairy and the
wheat, and like just keep itsimple but consistent, and you know,

(36:31):
when you need that extra help,then obviously find your Chinese medicine doctor,
your natural path or whatever. Butit's like, I fine. We talked
about the stuff and we were like, well, this is how it gets
broken, and by no, wedon't want to do that. We want
it to be an opportunity to wantyour sound cutout. I'm not sure if

(36:53):
that's just a mi end. SorryNicole, your sound cut out? Yeah,
I can't hear you. Cool checkyour levlaire and see technical difficulties.

(37:14):
No, we can't. While wegetting a cool to fix the microphone,
maybe take off the external one oruse the internal one whichever. It might
have ran out of battery juice ordon't know. But speaking of running out
of juice, it seems like alot of this if we run out of

(37:35):
things, if we don't, ifwe aren't charging the body, so to
speak, we're gonna run out.Yeah I'm back by the way, I
think yay. Yeah, I don'tknow what happened there, but a good

(37:55):
point was made, like just rechargingthe body right that Like, so we
have that prenatal chi that you're bornwith that you need to maintain, but
the post natal is how you canrecharge so and that's through food and have
lifestyle habits and you know, exerciseand mental well being. Yeah, I'm
curious, rebel. I guess aslike you know, someone listening in and

(38:19):
supporting us in this transition, thiscrossover through the unexpected, radio the unexpected.
Yeah, you anticipated the unexpected andthen what could have been? Yeah?
So does it like you can relateto that? Some of you know
all of these phases, And I'msure you have experience, like what's your
what's been happening for you that you'venoticed? I noticed that I work Monday

(38:46):
through Thursday. I try to liveon Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and
it doesn't always work out that way, yeah, which I think is so
common, right where just in thatgrind, in that grind and then yeah,
I know for me, like somany of my patients will say,

(39:08):
well, I just like my job, I don't have time to do a
B or C. And then wehave to have like that hard conversation of
like, well listen, like theseare the warning signs showing up, so
you have to decide the job orthe balance, right, which is like
very hard for people like and Idon't say that like as if it's easy,

(39:29):
but that's usually the case right,Well, that's because we put so
much priority on work because work producesmoney and money is needed to survive.
So yes, it's it's what weprioritize in life. We all have the
same amount of time. It's alltwenty four hours, no matter how you
look at it. Somebody set upthat schedule. So there's a twenty four

(39:52):
hour time period and what you chooseto do with that time is what you
do. But we're groomed, andI'm going to use that word loosely,
we're groomed to do this because someonetold us this is what we have to
do. Totally, that's how welive. I mean, we we do

(40:13):
what we have to do. Wewill choose and everybody is a choice,
not making a choice as a choice. So when you make the choices,
you are choosing to prioritize things.And to be honest, we don't prioritize
ourselves. It's everything else has apriority and then eventually it'll trickle down to

(40:37):
us. But by the time ittrickles down to us, we done already
did the damage. Yeah, we'vegained some wisdom around that because I have
this visual of one of these likekind of Buddhist philosophies is like, if
there's a wheel of life, thatwe should be in the center of it

(40:57):
and then everything's like moving around usbecause you know we So that's like focusing
on ourself as the source, asthe earth center point, and then everything
moving around. But we can bein that like outside spokes. And I
think that's like because you know,Rebel, it's like we you say,
he said, we focus on likeeveryone else and not ourselves. But in

(41:20):
some way because I struggle with thistoo, I'm like a chronic people pleaser
and that's very that's a very femalething too, right, like the because
it's still like the other the otherpeople or the other things are still part
of our life. So it's likestill your spoke. It's just like what,
yes, what what position are youcoming at it from? I don't

(41:43):
know. I'm just like, like, how are you feeling that? Wow?
Feeling everybody else's cut? Yeah,it's I know it's and that's what's
well. And I think people aretrying to realize this and like and I
think it's just an opportunity to learnhow to, you know, go back

(42:06):
a little bit to like simpler timeswhere there was a little bit more balance.
I like, I do see likea lot of patients and a lot
of people sort of talking about that. Maybe it's just our generation now being
like, oh, you know,slowing down, maybe not being so much
in the grind. And I knowit's very like fire energy you can't like.

(42:28):
And that's one thing about the transitionto menopause is that it's a time
when all the fire consumes the water, so we lose that like well of
you know resource. It's like,so we want to preserve the water and
water activities are rest, relaxation,reflection, quiet time or meditation or you

(42:54):
know doing like not being distracted likethe quick yeah yeah, destruction. Yeah,
because fire, if you think about, like the opposite of like you
know, arrest would be activity.So it's like you have to balance,
you know, balance that. Okay, we're almost running out of time,
of course, so we were.We were in the twenty one fourth second

(43:17):
twenty one to twenty eight, andthat was like that earth or the spleen,
the digestive like time, you know, getting ready to out babies and
or have had babies. I hadmy oh I was pregnant with my first
I think no, no, no, actually it was twenty nine when I
was pregnant with my first, butthen the fourth or the fifth seven years
twenty eight to thirty five. That'sthe the lung. It's like the it's

(43:42):
like the metal metal element the lung. But this element, to me is
like emotional maturity. It's now you'vebeen maybe around and you're like, Okay,
I've completely depleted myself. I've givenall all that I have. Oh
just kidding now, you know youtake that experience and turn it into wisdom,

(44:06):
right, And I must say thatas the one following like the depletion,
like, okay, now things areshowing up. It's like, it's
interesting, right what you said likeabout people having babies later and that like
that happening. I think that's reallyinteresting. It's true like in time's gone
by you did not have a baby, and you know, in like it

(44:29):
would be very rare that you werehaving babies at the sixth seven year cycle
thirty five to forty two. Butthat's like a lot of a lot of
my patients are that age having theirfirst. So it's I wonder, you
know, like how that sort ofshows up in our body and its ability
to progress and transition in all ofits phases, which are sort of like

(44:52):
our life expectancy is longer too,isn't it right? Yeah, exactly,
Yeah, so maybe the phases arekind of growing and shifting. I don't
know. It's like it's a cost, it's a theory, it's a it's
a way to sure we live inaccordance with life. And that's what it's
really all about, because that's wherelike that's flowing with the river. Like
I don't know that our planet orthe universe or you know, science physics,

(45:15):
quantum mechanics have really shifted and changedas we have. You know,
like I think the same principles remainin place and you can still use those
as a like foundational grounding point.Something's never changed. Some things are always
changing, even like in am talkingabout the clock, like the clock,

(45:37):
the organ clock. I like toshow my patients that because it can be
like a nice guide of just howto make little tweaks throughout their day.
In Chinese medicine, we have eachtime is associated with a specific organ,
and within that time, it's goodto do certain things, so like eating
at a certain time, exercising,sleeping, whatever, and it can tell

(45:58):
us if there's an imbalance, ifyour body's feeling a certain way at a
certain point in time during the dayor night. Mm hmmm. Yes,
if you have any health concerns orproblems, questions, pregnancy related stuff,
postpartum anything. If you're in Calgaryespecially, you can find them on Instagram

(46:20):
and at the Way Holistic Collective andthe Route Underscore Wellness. You can find
stuff there. Okay, So thenI wanted to let's do this real quick
because I okay, I'm gonna yes, the sixth year, So I want
to share something at the end ifwe have time. Yes, So sixth
the sixth year cycle. Okay,we revisit the water element, that's the

(46:46):
depletion. Yeah, so that that'swhere we come around again and we get
another chance at that aspect of lifethat that spoke in the Yeah, and
it's in you know this this thingthat you sent me, that the sort
of rundown conservation of energy, focusingon preserving health as well as wisdom gained

(47:09):
through life experiences. I do feellike that's I'm thirty eight, and I
feel that I feel I'm at thatpoint where like I'm rebuilding because I do
think your body's resilient. You canstill rebuild at this age. You can
lose weight, gain muscle, fixyour menstruation, all that stuff can still
happen, like you're not just done. Yeah, but I definitely feel,

(47:30):
yeah, this is that time whereyou're like, you've had all these experiences,
let's use them and now the nexthopefully however long you have, you
know, fifty plus years, youcan like just build on that. You
know, you're not so much likea deer in headlights anymore more. Yeah,

(47:52):
you have the experience and the wisdomthat comes. So it is a
great rebuilding time. It's never toolate. It's not too late. Still
have a chat. And then evenmoving into that seventh year cycle is another
chance to rebuild, renewal and regeneration. Okay, so that's yeah again a
time where we're like emerging new Somaybe that's also like the midlife crisis kind

(48:15):
of thing, right, or likea pentopause for women, which we view
very narratively. But remember when Ithink you were in Yeah, because in
school we had a student from Taiwan. She didn't know what a hot flash
was because they didn't have those whereshe was from, meaning like their menopausal
She says, it wasn't as disruptiveas it is here. I don't know

(48:37):
why that was her experience with recollection. Yeah, no, that's a game
changer and fundamental reasons why we shoulddo a whole other episode on that.
I always tell women like that phase, that transition, it could be and
it should be like easy and lovelyand like a blooming and you're coming out
of like these years of bleeding andnow you get to just be like instead

(49:00):
were dry and hot and frustrated andfat and lazy. Yeah, it does,
right, I guess. Yeah.I mean that is that is a
that is a pattern that will showup with imbalance or not living, you
know, like in accordance or that'sfor the acceptance and the flow and how

(49:22):
Chinese medicine, Yeah, help supportyou through that. Yeah, I want
to hear your story. Okay,okay, quick story, Because as we
were preparing for this show around transitionand change, and I just felt like
it was a good topic this week, you know. And then I had
a dream. I had a dreamin the middle of the night or early
morning about moose migrating, so likemigrating moose. And then my new friend

(49:45):
chat GPT is like the Google andit's like, what does it mean when
you dream of migrating moose and itlisted off? I feel like this.
I feel like this is relatable toyou know, so many of us of
sharing the message. It's the topfive things that it means is change or
transition. They're associated with strength andadaptability. So it's like, you know,

(50:08):
maybe going through anticipating a significant changeor transition in your life related to
a move, a career change,personal transformation. I know a lot of
people going through a lot of changeand shift. Number two exploration and adventure,
you know, keep it, keepyour desire alive. Three instincts and
intuition, you know, follow yourgut, pay attention, be aware.

(50:31):
Number four strength and resilience. Theyare powerful animals, so follow on that
when you're facing challenges and moving forward. And five connection with nature, so
deeper connection with nature. Need toreconnect with the natural rhythms and cycles.
So we'll leave you there, Thanksagain, Rebel and doctor Stephanie. Yep,

(50:53):
it was put on and we'll seeyou for having me. Everybody.
What does transition mean? You thinkabout that and I'll see you next week.
Wow, what a show today.And the journey does not stop here.
Come travel the world with Nicole everyTuesday at two pm Eastern Time.
As together we become more fluent inthe language of healing on W four WN

(51:16):
radio and talk for TV. Seeyou next week.