April 7, 2026 • 23 mins
In this episode, we're looking at two of the most significant transitions in a woman's life and what happens when they show up in the same house at the same time.
We explore why Chinese medicine has always understood puberty and perimenopause as part of the same arc, what these thresholds actually do to the body, and why the patterns that surface at a gate matter more than most people realize.
In This Episode:
- Why puberty and perimenopause are more similar than they appear
- What Chinese medicine means by a "gate" and why gates are not problems to solve
- Why gates amplify patterns and what that means for healing
- What it looks like when two generations are at a threshold at the same time.
- Why your attention at a gate shapes what comes through it
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Tao of
Humaning.
I'm your host, Dr.
Christine, and I'm so thrilledthat you've decided to join me
for today's conversation.
Today we're going to be talkingabout puberty and perimenopause,
and we're going to be looking atthe ways in which they are
(00:20):
common and why that matters.
So I think you might be thinkingto yourself, okay, Dr.
Christine, we already know thatpuberty and perimenopause are
big hormonal shifts, and theyhave a lot of physiological
changes and emotional ups anddowns.
(00:43):
Like we already got it.
What do we have to talk about?
Well, that's a great question.
Traditional Chinese medicinelooks at these life stages a
little bit differently.
And I think it's a valuableconversation and one that I
would love to see talked aboutmore.
So I was actually hanging outwith a couple of friends, and
(01:07):
this conversation came up of alot of us are in the stage of
perimenopause, and so we'renavigating, you know, the
shifts, shifts, and changes thatoccur with that.
And we also have kids who areeither just about to enter into
this puberty shift, or they'realready in that transition.
(01:31):
And that is a lot of change andtransformation happening under
one roof.
So I think a lot of us weretalking about how, you know,
similar the feelings can be, andjust that, you know, sense of
feeling a little bit umunsettled, or things feeling a
(01:57):
little bit not normal in ourbodies, or our reactions are a
little bit different to thingsthan they were before.
Um, and we were talking abouthow interesting it is to watch
our children also, you know,starting to navigate these
different things as well, right?
I actually um refer to thistransition as mommy puberty, and
(02:21):
I really enjoy that uh language,partially because it immediately
gives, you know, without gettinginto a lot of detail, it
immediately gives a sense ofcontext and it gives a sense of
similarity.
And, you know, there's just anunderstanding of like, oh, okay,
(02:42):
like mommy's also mom's alsogoing through something that
feels a little awkward or new,or you know, I'll I mentioned
the other day that I noticedthat I felt a little bit more
emotionally charged aboutsomething that I normally
wouldn't.
And I was like, oh, I wonder ifthat has to do with mommy
(03:02):
puberty or just planting theseseeds, right?
Of like, oh, it's you know, it'snormal to feel a little bit off
and to notice and to be curiousabout what that might be.
Okay.
Um, so part of this was, youknow, just a very relevant time
to be talking about.
(03:23):
There's also a lot ofconversation right now about
perimenopause out in the world,and I love to see that.
And I think traditional Chinesemedicine has some really
interesting thousands ofyear-old, you know, ways of
looking at this that are reallybeneficial.
And we're gonna spend um nextweek talking specifically about
(03:47):
the changes in perimenopause andmenopause.
So be sure to subscribe so thatyou can catch that when it
drops.
And um, this week I wanted tolay the foundation for us of you
know, how we can look at thesethings in maybe a more
beneficial way as a whole, andalso to look at like why would
(04:14):
it matter, you know, like whylike so what?
Like we have this different wayof looking at it, but like what
do we do with that, right?
So for traditional Chinesemedicine, when we look at
puberty and perimenopause, we'relooking at them as gates of
life, they're called.
There are other gates of life,but I like these two, I like
(04:37):
looking at these two togetherbecause they both encompass, you
know, kind of this broader rangeof time.
And, you know, it's not likesomething where you're going and
you're walking up to this gateand you're walking through the
gate and then you're on theother side, right?
These are transitions and youknow, times of reorganization in
(05:01):
our lives that take severalyears, right, to really get
through to the threshold to theother side.
So gates.
So we look at moving from onedistinct place to another,
right?
And when we're looking at uhmoving through these particular
(05:23):
thresholds, the gates of life inChinese medicine are really
looking at shifts in identity.
And there are also these amazingopportunities.
So the way that this works isthat when we go through these
gates and we're in thesethresholds, things become
(05:45):
destabilized, and things will,you know, like you're walking
up, you're in kind of what'scomfortable and known, and then
that gets like shaken up anddestabilized, and it it doesn't
come right back together, right?
This is not a transition that isfast.
This is a slow, slow transition,and it's one of those times
(06:12):
where if there's notintentionality brought to it,
it's really easy to just kind offeel like you got a muscle
through it, and then the changewill happen.
And it on one hand, that's true,because you know, we're gonna go
through puberty and we're gonnago through perimenopause.
Like we could go through itkicking and screaming, or we
(06:34):
could go through it um withkicking and screaming and maybe
some intentionality and someplanning, or you know, there's
there's combinations anddifferent ways of doing this,
but in traditional Chinesemedicine, this destabilization
is necessary, and it is likebeing forged in a fire, in that
(06:57):
sense, that there is a creationof a new identity or new version
of ourselves on the other side,and during that destabilization
period, uh what happens is thatpatterns that we've had up until
that time are brought to thesurface.
(07:20):
And, you know, this could bephysically, energetically,
emotionally, spiritually, evenif there are things that have
been, you know, things that wedidn't necessarily want to look
at, um, those things will bebrought to the surface if
they're needed in order to havethat transformation come over to
(07:41):
the other side.
Is this making sense?
So it's like it reveals it's avery revealing time.
And in traditional Chinesemedicine, it's a really
incredible opportunity.
And I think that's maybe theword that I want to highlight
for us today is thisopportunity.
(08:02):
So if we have a particular habitor way of being, when we enter
into the life gate of puberty orperimenopause, and we would like
to shift that about ourselves,it is an incredible time to do
that because our everything isdestabilized anyway.
(08:25):
So implementing, noticing andthen implementing changes in
those patterns can really helpto guide how those things become
restabilized on the other sideof that gate.
This making sense.
(08:57):
And again, as we go throughperimenopause, we get to do it
again.
What happens if the other sideof that is what happens if we
don't address these thingsintentionally, if we have
patterns that we don'tnecessarily love or enjoy, when
we go through that life gate tothe other side, those patterns
(09:19):
can become more um comfortable,more ingrained in the tissues
for that next phase of life.
So it really is, I always lookat it as this incredible window
of opportunity these years tolook at, you know, how is it
that we're showing up, whataspects of our life are really
(09:47):
going well?
I think that's a great practicejust in life is to look for
what's going well.
Um, part of our brains arewired, you know, to protect us
from risk and stuff.
So we're going to look forwhat's dangerous, right, as
humans.
Um, but looking for what's goingreally well.
And then what are the thingsthat we would like to shift or
change?
There's a lot of support inthose times, even though when we
(10:10):
think of it on the surface, itcan feel like kind of a chaotic
time.
It feels chaotic because thingsare loosening.
And it's in that loosening thatwe get to choose, if we want to,
how we fill up that space again.
And so having, you know,children and a mom or a child
(10:33):
and a mom in the same housegoing through these very similar
windows of opportunity is um itcan be a lot of fun.
And so you can bring a differentkind of noticing to this.
And the gift of all of this islike, A, like we can support
(10:54):
ourselves better as we gothrough this, and we're gonna
have more, more and moreconversations about what that
could actually look like in likeour real lives.
And we also can support our kidsin being able to understand
what's happening for them, forreally every human.
That's like the first really bigtransition that they're very
(11:17):
aware of, right?
Like when we're babies andtoddlers, we're going through
rapid development and change,but we don't necessarily have
this awareness and kind ofidentity wrapped around in it,
right?
We're just kind of going withit.
Benefits to that too.
Um, but for puberty, you know,there's so many dynamics with
friends and emotions and bodyand like just feeling different
(11:42):
than we did before, right?
That we can start to have theseconversations with our kiddos in
a way that they can relate to alittle bit easier, and that
makes it feel like not as scaryand not as um, you know, it's
not like, oh, if you don'tcorrect this pattern, it's gonna
(12:03):
be this way for the rest of yourlife.
Like dun dun dun.
That's not my intention for thiskind of thing.
But letting them know that likethese are really not random,
like it doesn't mean thatthey're falling apart, right?
It means that literallydifferent aspects of their
brains are growing, our brains,same in perimenopause, or
(12:25):
growing in a way that theyhaven't done before.
And so, of course, it feels alittle unsettling and a little
bit new, but the more that wecan support ourselves and our
kids in feeling comfortable inthat unknown and being able to
connect and to ground into okay,what is it that we're really
(12:47):
wanting to focus on right now?
And what do I need for supports?
Those are amazing, amazing lifeskills that I wish that I had
growing up, right?
I I think most of us probablywent through puberty, you know,
just like riding the waves andmuscling through, right?
It's just like this is the wayit is, without this bigger
(13:07):
understanding.
I think this would be a lot moreof a relaxing way to do it.
And the things that so sometimesin the clinic I'll see kids have
particular patterns, um, andthey can fall into categories of
five element things too.
I don't want to get toosidetracked here.
(13:28):
Um but say a child has atendency to asthma and
allergies, right, throughouttheir elementary school days.
When they get into middle schooland they start approaching that
puberty window, there'sincredibly extra resources
(13:50):
available to be able to supportthem in healing those patterns
and those tendencies.
And I've seen that in clinic,and it's actually really
incredible.
Um also because the child getsto see that, you know, some
things that we experience inlife that are challenging don't
necessarily mean that they'regoing to be challenging forever,
(14:12):
right?
And that's also really powerfulfor kids to learn and for us as
adults to remember.
But there are these kind ofhigh-leverage moments in life,
is what I would call them.
And the way that we, you know,so why this matters, why I
wanted to have this conversationtoday, is because we can, as the
(14:35):
adults, start to look at, okay,what are the patterns?
And traditional Chinese medicinedoes this so beautifully.
If there is someone near you whoyou can see to help you
understand your patterns, pleasego see them.
If you're local here in OrangeCounty, come see me.
Come find another practitioner.
There's lots of us out there.
(14:56):
Um, but having someone be ableto help you understand what your
patterns are can really bebeneficial so that you can be
efficient and mindful in yourchoices so that you're you
understand like where you'remore likely to fall out of
balance and where you're alsoreally great at shining.
(15:16):
And the way that we could dothis, simply for today, like why
this matters, right?
So let's have some action stepsbefore we finish our
conversation here.
Looking at areas of yourwell-being.
So an easy way to break themdown is to look at your sleep.
(15:37):
So, what is our sleep hygiene,you know, our practices before
we go to sleep?
Um, how well are we fallingasleep, staying asleep?
Are we waking feeling rested andready to go?
Are we a little more slow tostart in the morning?
Those can be areas that we cansee change fairly quickly.
(15:58):
Um, another one is looking atour digest, our like digestion
and appetite.
So, you know, do we have ahealthy appetite?
Are we not finding ourselvesvery hungry?
Um, there are different ways youcan look at just how you're
fueling your body.
Like, what are your habits?
(16:19):
I guess is kind of what I wouldlook at around a lot of these
areas.
So sleep habits, digestion, andeating habits, right?
Like, are you having a bowelmovement every day?
Is your kid having a bowelmovement every day?
Ask them.
We talk about poop all the timein my house.
Um, but understanding like whatis happening now can help to
(16:42):
guide through this transition ina way that is a little bit
easier to navigate.
So sleep and digestion are twobig ones.
And then I would also look atenergy levels, and I would keep
it maybe general to start andlooking at energy levels
throughout the day.
Are the energy levels reallyhigh in the morning?
(17:05):
Do they get the afternoon slump?
Like how, you know, what ishappening with the energy
throughout the day?
And then finding out what arethe supports?
And it doesn't have to beacupuncture or Chinese medicine
related.
It can be, I think they'rewonderful.
And they're certainly not theonly ones.
So finding supports that workfor you, right?
(17:27):
Like maybe meal planning andportioning out food works really
well for you and your family,right?
This is something you could dowith your kiddo, right?
And having them start to look attheir own habits around these
things, and what is it that'sgoing to be supportive?
That makes sense.
(17:48):
I think it's such an importantreframe of like, oh, you could
also look at emotions.
So if we're tending to fall outof balance in a one particular
emotion or another, um, and whatis it that helps that move
through the body so that itdoesn't get stuck?
(18:08):
And I think that's one thingwith the emotionalness of
puberty and perimenopausebecause there are such dynamic
hormonal shifts.
I think number one, making surethat we and our children
understand that that's normal.
There's nothing wrong withhaving those changes.
(18:29):
Um, and then also understandingwhat is it that's gonna help
them move those emotions likethrough the body versus feeling
like they just keep gettingstuck.
A lot of times exercise ormovement, qigong, breath work,
those kinds of things are gonnabe really useful in the toolbox
um for all of us.
(18:49):
But these are things that we canlook at, you know, big picture
is these are important reallymilestones, but they're
interesting milestones becausethey're they're long.
They're not like it's not likeyou enter it one day and you're
like, here I go.
I'm going through theperimenopause gate, right?
(19:13):
It doesn't really start likethat.
Most people are like, is thisperimenopause?
Is this not perimenopause?
I don't know.
And eventually it's like, okay,yeah, this is definitely
happening.
And then, you know, withmenopause, it is interesting
too, because there is sort ofthis timeline of, you know, 12
months without any menstrualcycle, and then that's your, you
(19:33):
know, kind of milestone.
But really, you've been throughthis whole threshold for however
many years as your body was kindof prepping and getting ready
for that holding that new space,right?
But they're interesting becausethey're longer.
And I think having this, youknow, reframe of the
(19:54):
significance of them, like whenwe make healthy, supportive
decisions for our physical body,our emotional selves, our
energy, our spirits, when we'rein puberty, that makes for an
incredibly healthy, vibrantyoung adulthood.
(20:16):
Incredibly.
Resilience, like all the thingsas a mom we want for our kids,
right?
All those things get set upduring this time in puberty,
when everything feels chaoticand discombobulated, right?
That's when kind of the magic ishappening to set the foundation
(20:36):
for later.
Same idea in perimenopause.
That is our window of time.
It's a little bit morecomplicated with that one.
We'll talk about next weekbecause our birthing years also
play into the menopausaltransition, too.
So it's a it is a little bitmore complex because we've had
(20:58):
more life, you know, leading upto that gate.
Does that make sense?
Same big picture idea for today,though.
It is a window of opportunity,and the changes and
transformations that we chooseduring that time really set us
(21:22):
up for vitality and incrediblehealth and resilience and all of
those things for that, you know,our wisdom years, right?
They are so similar, and it isreally actually a cool thing, I
think, to go through ittogether.
(21:44):
I don't know if that's yourexperience.
I would love to hear in thecomments because I remember
being pregnant with my son, andI was thinking, oh gosh, like I
am 36.
That means, you know, when I'mgoing through perimenopause,
he's going to be going throughpuberty.
Like we I knew when I waspregnant that we were going to
(22:07):
overlap in this window.
And at the time I rememberthinking my first thought was,
oh, that's going to be sointense.
Like I hope, I don't know.
I don't know what I wasthinking.
Like, I hope we'll be ready orsomething.
But then I was able, I shiftedit into like, oh, but these are
the gates of life.
Like these, this is actuallygoing to be really, I don't know
(22:29):
if he'll think it's cool, butI'll know that it's cool.
Because I know like what we'reactually setting ourselves up
for in this next phase of life.
So I really wanted to share thatwith you.
If you are um, you know, ifyou've got kids going through
puberty, if you're going throughprey menopause, even if they're
not lined up together, it's areally amazing reframe of a time
(22:56):
that can feel really chaotic andjust messy.
So embrace the messy and let meknow what you think of this
interesting idea in thecomments.
I would love to hear.
And then be sure to subscribe sothat you get you catch the next
week's episode when it drops,and I'll be talking about
perimenopause and menopause inChinese medicine.
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Tao of
Humaning.
I'm your host, Dr.
Christine, and I'm so thrilledthat you've decided to join me
for today's conversation.
Today we're going to be talkingabout puberty and perimenopause,
and we're going to be looking atthe ways in which they are
(00:20):
common and why that matters.
So I think you might be thinkingto yourself, okay, Dr.
Christine, we already know thatpuberty and perimenopause are
big hormonal shifts, and theyhave a lot of physiological
changes and emotional ups anddowns.
(00:43):
Like we already got it.
What do we have to talk about?
Well, that's a great question.
Traditional Chinese medicinelooks at these life stages a
little bit differently.
And I think it's a valuableconversation and one that I
would love to see talked aboutmore.
So I was actually hanging outwith a couple of friends, and
(01:07):
this conversation came up of alot of us are in the stage of
perimenopause, and so we'renavigating, you know, the
shifts, shifts, and changes thatoccur with that.
And we also have kids who areeither just about to enter into
this puberty shift, or they'realready in that transition.
(01:31):
And that is a lot of change andtransformation happening under
one roof.
So I think a lot of us weretalking about how, you know,
similar the feelings can be, andjust that, you know, sense of
feeling a little bit umunsettled, or things feeling a
(01:57):
little bit not normal in ourbodies, or our reactions are a
little bit different to thingsthan they were before.
Um, and we were talking abouthow interesting it is to watch
our children also, you know,starting to navigate these
different things as well, right?
I actually um refer to thistransition as mommy puberty, and
(02:21):
I really enjoy that uh language,partially because it immediately
gives, you know, without gettinginto a lot of detail, it
immediately gives a sense ofcontext and it gives a sense of
similarity.
And, you know, there's just anunderstanding of like, oh, okay,
(02:42):
like mommy's also mom's alsogoing through something that
feels a little awkward or new,or you know, I'll I mentioned
the other day that I noticedthat I felt a little bit more
emotionally charged aboutsomething that I normally
wouldn't.
And I was like, oh, I wonder ifthat has to do with mommy
(03:02):
puberty or just planting theseseeds, right?
Of like, oh, it's you know, it'snormal to feel a little bit off
and to notice and to be curiousabout what that might be.
Okay.
Um, so part of this was, youknow, just a very relevant time
to be talking about.
(03:23):
There's also a lot ofconversation right now about
perimenopause out in the world,and I love to see that.
And I think traditional Chinesemedicine has some really
interesting thousands ofyear-old, you know, ways of
looking at this that are reallybeneficial.
And we're gonna spend um nextweek talking specifically about
(03:47):
the changes in perimenopause andmenopause.
So be sure to subscribe so thatyou can catch that when it
drops.
And um, this week I wanted tolay the foundation for us of you
know, how we can look at thesethings in maybe a more
beneficial way as a whole, andalso to look at like why would
(04:14):
it matter, you know, like whylike so what?
Like we have this different wayof looking at it, but like what
do we do with that, right?
So for traditional Chinesemedicine, when we look at
puberty and perimenopause, we'relooking at them as gates of
life, they're called.
There are other gates of life,but I like these two, I like
(04:37):
looking at these two togetherbecause they both encompass, you
know, kind of this broader rangeof time.
And, you know, it's not likesomething where you're going and
you're walking up to this gateand you're walking through the
gate and then you're on theother side, right?
These are transitions and youknow, times of reorganization in
(05:01):
our lives that take severalyears, right, to really get
through to the threshold to theother side.
So gates.
So we look at moving from onedistinct place to another,
right?
And when we're looking at uhmoving through these particular
(05:23):
thresholds, the gates of life inChinese medicine are really
looking at shifts in identity.
And there are also these amazingopportunities.
So the way that this works isthat when we go through these
gates and we're in thesethresholds, things become
(05:45):
destabilized, and things will,you know, like you're walking
up, you're in kind of what'scomfortable and known, and then
that gets like shaken up anddestabilized, and it it doesn't
come right back together, right?
This is not a transition that isfast.
This is a slow, slow transition,and it's one of those times
(06:12):
where if there's notintentionality brought to it,
it's really easy to just kind offeel like you got a muscle
through it, and then the changewill happen.
And it on one hand, that's true,because you know, we're gonna go
through puberty and we're gonnago through perimenopause.
Like we could go through itkicking and screaming, or we
(06:34):
could go through it um withkicking and screaming and maybe
some intentionality and someplanning, or you know, there's
there's combinations anddifferent ways of doing this,
but in traditional Chinesemedicine, this destabilization
is necessary, and it is likebeing forged in a fire, in that
(06:57):
sense, that there is a creationof a new identity or new version
of ourselves on the other side,and during that destabilization
period, uh what happens is thatpatterns that we've had up until
that time are brought to thesurface.
(07:20):
And, you know, this could bephysically, energetically,
emotionally, spiritually, evenif there are things that have
been, you know, things that wedidn't necessarily want to look
at, um, those things will bebrought to the surface if
they're needed in order to havethat transformation come over to
(07:41):
the other side.
Is this making sense?
So it's like it reveals it's avery revealing time.
And in traditional Chinesemedicine, it's a really
incredible opportunity.
And I think that's maybe theword that I want to highlight
for us today is thisopportunity.
(08:02):
So if we have a particular habitor way of being, when we enter
into the life gate of puberty orperimenopause, and we would like
to shift that about ourselves,it is an incredible time to do
that because our everything isdestabilized anyway.
(08:25):
So implementing, noticing andthen implementing changes in
those patterns can really helpto guide how those things become
restabilized on the other sideof that gate.
This making sense.
(08:57):
And again, as we go throughperimenopause, we get to do it
again.
What happens if the other sideof that is what happens if we
don't address these thingsintentionally, if we have
patterns that we don'tnecessarily love or enjoy, when
we go through that life gate tothe other side, those patterns
(09:19):
can become more um comfortable,more ingrained in the tissues
for that next phase of life.
So it really is, I always lookat it as this incredible window
of opportunity these years tolook at, you know, how is it
that we're showing up, whataspects of our life are really
(09:47):
going well?
I think that's a great practicejust in life is to look for
what's going well.
Um, part of our brains arewired, you know, to protect us
from risk and stuff.
So we're going to look forwhat's dangerous, right, as
humans.
Um, but looking for what's goingreally well.
And then what are the thingsthat we would like to shift or
change?
There's a lot of support inthose times, even though when we
(10:10):
think of it on the surface, itcan feel like kind of a chaotic
time.
It feels chaotic because thingsare loosening.
And it's in that loosening thatwe get to choose, if we want to,
how we fill up that space again.
And so having, you know,children and a mom or a child
(10:33):
and a mom in the same housegoing through these very similar
windows of opportunity is um itcan be a lot of fun.
And so you can bring a differentkind of noticing to this.
And the gift of all of this islike, A, like we can support
(10:54):
ourselves better as we gothrough this, and we're gonna
have more, more and moreconversations about what that
could actually look like in likeour real lives.
And we also can support our kidsin being able to understand
what's happening for them, forreally every human.
That's like the first really bigtransition that they're very
(11:17):
aware of, right?
Like when we're babies andtoddlers, we're going through
rapid development and change,but we don't necessarily have
this awareness and kind ofidentity wrapped around in it,
right?
We're just kind of going withit.
Benefits to that too.
Um, but for puberty, you know,there's so many dynamics with
friends and emotions and bodyand like just feeling different
(11:42):
than we did before, right?
That we can start to have theseconversations with our kiddos in
a way that they can relate to alittle bit easier, and that
makes it feel like not as scaryand not as um, you know, it's
not like, oh, if you don'tcorrect this pattern, it's gonna
(12:03):
be this way for the rest of yourlife.
Like dun dun dun.
That's not my intention for thiskind of thing.
But letting them know that likethese are really not random,
like it doesn't mean thatthey're falling apart, right?
It means that literallydifferent aspects of their
brains are growing, our brains,same in perimenopause, or
(12:25):
growing in a way that theyhaven't done before.
And so, of course, it feels alittle unsettling and a little
bit new, but the more that wecan support ourselves and our
kids in feeling comfortable inthat unknown and being able to
connect and to ground into okay,what is it that we're really
(12:47):
wanting to focus on right now?
And what do I need for supports?
Those are amazing, amazing lifeskills that I wish that I had
growing up, right?
I I think most of us probablywent through puberty, you know,
just like riding the waves andmuscling through, right?
It's just like this is the wayit is, without this bigger
(13:07):
understanding.
I think this would be a lot moreof a relaxing way to do it.
And the things that so sometimesin the clinic I'll see kids have
particular patterns, um, andthey can fall into categories of
five element things too.
I don't want to get toosidetracked here.
(13:28):
Um but say a child has atendency to asthma and
allergies, right, throughouttheir elementary school days.
When they get into middle schooland they start approaching that
puberty window, there'sincredibly extra resources
(13:50):
available to be able to supportthem in healing those patterns
and those tendencies.
And I've seen that in clinic,and it's actually really
incredible.
Um also because the child getsto see that, you know, some
things that we experience inlife that are challenging don't
necessarily mean that they'regoing to be challenging forever,
(14:12):
right?
And that's also really powerfulfor kids to learn and for us as
adults to remember.
But there are these kind ofhigh-leverage moments in life,
is what I would call them.
And the way that we, you know,so why this matters, why I
wanted to have this conversationtoday, is because we can, as the
(14:35):
adults, start to look at, okay,what are the patterns?
And traditional Chinese medicinedoes this so beautifully.
If there is someone near you whoyou can see to help you
understand your patterns, pleasego see them.
If you're local here in OrangeCounty, come see me.
Come find another practitioner.
There's lots of us out there.
(14:56):
Um, but having someone be ableto help you understand what your
patterns are can really bebeneficial so that you can be
efficient and mindful in yourchoices so that you're you
understand like where you'remore likely to fall out of
balance and where you're alsoreally great at shining.
(15:16):
And the way that we could dothis, simply for today, like why
this matters, right?
So let's have some action stepsbefore we finish our
conversation here.
Looking at areas of yourwell-being.
So an easy way to break themdown is to look at your sleep.
(15:37):
So, what is our sleep hygiene,you know, our practices before
we go to sleep?
Um, how well are we fallingasleep, staying asleep?
Are we waking feeling rested andready to go?
Are we a little more slow tostart in the morning?
Those can be areas that we cansee change fairly quickly.
(15:58):
Um, another one is looking atour digest, our like digestion
and appetite.
So, you know, do we have ahealthy appetite?
Are we not finding ourselvesvery hungry?
Um, there are different ways youcan look at just how you're
fueling your body.
Like, what are your habits?
(16:19):
I guess is kind of what I wouldlook at around a lot of these
areas.
So sleep habits, digestion, andeating habits, right?
Like, are you having a bowelmovement every day?
Is your kid having a bowelmovement every day?
Ask them.
We talk about poop all the timein my house.
Um, but understanding like whatis happening now can help to
(16:42):
guide through this transition ina way that is a little bit
easier to navigate.
So sleep and digestion are twobig ones.
And then I would also look atenergy levels, and I would keep
it maybe general to start andlooking at energy levels
throughout the day.
Are the energy levels reallyhigh in the morning?
(17:05):
Do they get the afternoon slump?
Like how, you know, what ishappening with the energy
throughout the day?
And then finding out what arethe supports?
And it doesn't have to beacupuncture or Chinese medicine
related.
It can be, I think they'rewonderful.
And they're certainly not theonly ones.
So finding supports that workfor you, right?
(17:27):
Like maybe meal planning andportioning out food works really
well for you and your family,right?
This is something you could dowith your kiddo, right?
And having them start to look attheir own habits around these
things, and what is it that'sgoing to be supportive?
That makes sense.
(17:48):
I think it's such an importantreframe of like, oh, you could
also look at emotions.
So if we're tending to fall outof balance in a one particular
emotion or another, um, and whatis it that helps that move
through the body so that itdoesn't get stuck?
(18:08):
And I think that's one thingwith the emotionalness of
puberty and perimenopausebecause there are such dynamic
hormonal shifts.
I think number one, making surethat we and our children
understand that that's normal.
There's nothing wrong withhaving those changes.
(18:29):
Um, and then also understandingwhat is it that's gonna help
them move those emotions likethrough the body versus feeling
like they just keep gettingstuck.
A lot of times exercise ormovement, qigong, breath work,
those kinds of things are gonnabe really useful in the toolbox
um for all of us.
(18:49):
But these are things that we canlook at, you know, big picture
is these are important reallymilestones, but they're
interesting milestones becausethey're they're long.
They're not like it's not likeyou enter it one day and you're
like, here I go.
I'm going through theperimenopause gate, right?
(19:13):
It doesn't really start likethat.
Most people are like, is thisperimenopause?
Is this not perimenopause?
I don't know.
And eventually it's like, okay,yeah, this is definitely
happening.
And then, you know, withmenopause, it is interesting
too, because there is sort ofthis timeline of, you know, 12
months without any menstrualcycle, and then that's your, you
(19:33):
know, kind of milestone.
But really, you've been throughthis whole threshold for however
many years as your body was kindof prepping and getting ready
for that holding that new space,right?
But they're interesting becausethey're longer.
And I think having this, youknow, reframe of the
(19:54):
significance of them, like whenwe make healthy, supportive
decisions for our physical body,our emotional selves, our
energy, our spirits, when we'rein puberty, that makes for an
incredibly healthy, vibrantyoung adulthood.
(20:16):
Incredibly.
Resilience, like all the thingsas a mom we want for our kids,
right?
All those things get set upduring this time in puberty,
when everything feels chaoticand discombobulated, right?
That's when kind of the magic ishappening to set the foundation
(20:36):
for later.
Same idea in perimenopause.
That is our window of time.
It's a little bit morecomplicated with that one.
We'll talk about next weekbecause our birthing years also
play into the menopausaltransition, too.
So it's a it is a little bitmore complex because we've had
(20:58):
more life, you know, leading upto that gate.
Does that make sense?
Same big picture idea for today,though.
It is a window of opportunity,and the changes and
transformations that we chooseduring that time really set us
(21:22):
up for vitality and incrediblehealth and resilience and all of
those things for that, you know,our wisdom years, right?
They are so similar, and it isreally actually a cool thing, I
think, to go through ittogether.
(21:44):
I don't know if that's yourexperience.
I would love to hear in thecomments because I remember
being pregnant with my son, andI was thinking, oh gosh, like I
am 36.
That means, you know, when I'mgoing through perimenopause,
he's going to be going throughpuberty.
Like we I knew when I waspregnant that we were going to
(22:07):
overlap in this window.
And at the time I rememberthinking my first thought was,
oh, that's going to be sointense.
Like I hope, I don't know.
I don't know what I wasthinking.
Like, I hope we'll be ready orsomething.
But then I was able, I shiftedit into like, oh, but these are
the gates of life.
Like these, this is actuallygoing to be really, I don't know
(22:29):
if he'll think it's cool, butI'll know that it's cool.
Because I know like what we'reactually setting ourselves up
for in this next phase of life.
So I really wanted to share thatwith you.
If you are um, you know, ifyou've got kids going through
puberty, if you're going throughprey menopause, even if they're
not lined up together, it's areally amazing reframe of a time
(22:56):
that can feel really chaotic andjust messy.
So embrace the messy and let meknow what you think of this
interesting idea in thecomments.
I would love to hear.
And then be sure to subscribe sothat you get you catch the next
week's episode when it drops,and I'll be talking about
perimenopause and menopause inChinese medicine.
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