Ayurveda for Perimenopause

It's so easy for me to get into my head when it comes to my body, into the ideas I have about what my body needs, versus a present time experience of my body, as my body, and feeling into my needs from there. Can you relate?

This disconnect between mind and body shows up in so many ways in our culture. When we push past our fatigue and power through our work day, or keep going in the evenings even though we're tired, there's a mind/body disconnect. The body says I want rest, but the mind has its own agenda.

When we get stuck on the couch when our body wants to move or work out hard when our body is already fatigued, we're imposing an agenda on the body. My Ayurveda teacher used to call this dragging our body around by the power of our mind. It's easy to do. Some of us are really good at this.

What would it be like to give yourself permission to yield to the real needs of your body?

I remember in my early 40's feeling my body "down-shifting" as I adapted to the shift in sex hormones and how that impacted my energy. I found I had the same drive and desire, but I didn't have the same capacity to stay at it for as long.

Culture models overriding physical limitation in all ways. We don't recognize the pace of the garden, or take the long view. We like to have our cake and eat it too. To send, receive and scroll all at once. And those with estrogen as their dominant hormone (read most women) have been enculturated to to behave like men (read those with testosterone as more dominant in their physiology). Men actually release stress through activity, while women will tend to release stress through connection and rest.

Learning to listen and attend to the body on its terms is important for everybody. At perimenopause, so much more so as we navigate the slow shift in hormone levels, and all that means for a woman's sense of wellbeing.

The good news for those of us who pride ourselves on "one more thing then I'll stop" is that overriding the body's needs in late perimenopause won't work. When we try to push through, we can crash and burn. Enter anxiety, hot flashes, edginess, irritability, low energy, and worse.

This life-stage shift for a woman means there's a whole new landscape to discover. The ways we've always taken care of ourselves may not work in the same way. Our needs are changing, and with them, a request for a change in how we're living our lives.

More good news: syncing up with your new life stage is easier than it might seem when unwanted symptoms are presenting. Hot flashes, more frequent cycles, unwanted extra weight, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep....All of these symptoms are meaningful through the lens of Ayurveda, and all can be much supported through wise living. Our body's are designed for these changes. What they're not designed for is business as usual.

If you're a yogini in perimenopause and you want to align with this new life-stage, I want to invite you to join my one-on-one Ayurveda mentorship. In this 3 - 6 month process, I will help you calm your mind, enhance clarity and improve your energy levels so you can live the life you're here to live through your relationships, work and creativity.

Enrollment is by application, so I can get an idea about where you're starting from, what you want, and whether I can help you. There is no obligation to join by applying! Together we'll discover if this one on one mentorship is a good fit for you.

I've never worked with a woman who regretted deepening her self-care journey. But I often hear women speak to the regret they feel at not starting sooner.

In service and love,

Shannon