Aspire Magazine: Inspiration for a Woman's Soul.(TM) Dec/Jan 2019 Aspire Magazine Final | Page 21

Menopause is something I know quite a
bit about since I did my master’s thesis on
menopause and Asian medicine. Interestingly,
I discovered that some Asian countries don’t
have words for hot flashes or other menopausal
symptoms because no one gets them. They
don’t exist! In exploring why this is the case
I learned that nutrition, lifestyle, and culture
play a significant part. Diet and lifestyle made
sense to me, but it was the cultural factors that
were a pleasant surprise.
In China, your first birthday is the day you
are born, not a year later as in the west.
Culturally speaking, as an Asian woman
ages she becomes revered as a wise elder.
Here in America, we worship youth while
banishing our older women to retirement
homes that smell of urine where they are
forgotten and rarely visited by loved ones.
Sadly, we do not take good care of our
elderly. Life experience and wisdom are
not valued in the same way as they are in
Asian cultures. The approach we choose
impacts how we age and the symptoms we
experience. Appreciate your wisdom and
bring awareness to all that you’ve learned
in life. These are essential elements in your
transition through menopause.
In one study I discovered, a female
researcher was permitted to evaluate Tibetan
monks who were meditating in isolation. She
took a series of tests including their saliva,
I
’m Perimenopausal —a little early if you
ask me, but it’s happening. It’s due to my
previous thyroid issues. Because I’m so
passionate about food as medicine, I want
to share a few things that are helping my
menopausal patients and me through this
change while staying healthy and happy.
The transition of
menopause is a
powerful time to
finally get to the
root of symptoms
and prevent any
future dis-ease
patterns.
blood and body temperature. What she
found was shocking. When the monks were
in their most profound states of meditation,
their bodies physically mimicked that of a
menopausal woman. Wow! I interpreted this
to mean that this time of hormonal transition
is powerful. During menopause, we can
access profound wisdom and insight, and
if we acknowledge and harness it, we can
alter the view of older women in our society.
The transition of menopause is a powerful
time to finally get to the root of symptoms
and prevent any future dis-ease patterns. I
recommend undergoing a functional blood
chemistry analysis (FBCA) to find out what
is going on with your body. Because FBCA
is individualized, I consider it the ultimate
prevention tool in identifying potential
disease and illness.
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