Managing Menopause; 5 Steps.
Hot flushes bothering you?, or the stress of life is getting too much? Try these 5 steps to solace.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, menopause is linked with a decline in the kidney energy. The kidney energy (different to the western understanding of the kidney) controls growth and decline in our bodies. When kidney yin becomes depleted we loose the nourishment in our bodies (eg. Blood and fluids). When there is not enough water and fluid (yin) to balance the fire (yang), the fire will blaze and cause heat. Such signs of heat in our body include: thirst, dry mouth, flushed cheeks, dry skin, hot hands and feet, night sweats, hot flashes, red tongue and a fast thin pulse.
From a mental aspect, water nourishes our spirit. When kidney yin deficiency is present the quiet, still, peaceful nature of a restful spirit and yin is lost. We find ourselves becoming stressed, irritable and unable to sit down and relax.
The below steps aim to balance our bodies core kidney energy. In aruvedic medicine or in yoga our kidney energy can be related to our root chakra. These methods help to balance both the root chakra and kidney.
1. 10 minute daily meditation:
10 minutes of daily meditation is more useful than 1 hour once a month. Meditation is a simple way to bring ourselves back to our bodies and senses. Lay down on your bed or outside on the grass if its a nice day. Envision the colour red glowing from the tip of your cocyx (the base of your spine). Imagine this bright red light starting from your cocyxs and dispersing outwards. Imagine it radiating down your legs and to the soles of your feet.
2. Yoga it up!
Rest poses such as childs pose and reclining angle pose are great for nourishing the kidneys energy. Childs pose allows us to connect our head with the earth. It literally grounds us, stopping us from running off the rails. Reclining angle pose opens up our inner thighs. In chinese medicine, the inner thigh is said to be a yin aspect of our body and where our kidney channel runs. For this reason it is a benificial pose for menopause and kidney deficieny.
3. See the trees!
Meditation is hard for some people. Its hard enough to just sit down or even find the time to just THINK about performing meditation. But not all meditation is an aduous task. Simply going for a walk outside can do wonders for the mind. Sit down and watch the ducks on the pond, watch the ripples as they unfold and disperse across the pond and dissolve into a millpond of stillness. Watch how stillness arises from chaos and chaos in turn returns to stillness.
4. Sense stickers:
This involves buying a packet of coloured dot stickers. Place them around your home, in your car, in your wallet or at work. Place them anywhere and everywhere. Whenever you see this sticker let yourself be reminded to come back to your senses. Feel, listen, smell and taste. If your driving to work, let yourself feel the texture of the steering wheel, are you outside? listen to what the birds are saying, in the shower? feel the water and appreciated each cooling drop as it glides down your skin.
5. Enjoy some tea:
Tea is more than a teabag in a cup. In fact teabags are made of the left over dust from a harvest of tea. Ideally tea should be loose leaf and consist of large opening leaves for optimum nutritional benifits.
Green tea is recomended, due to its cooling nature it can help eliminate menopausal hot flushes. In china, tea is often combinded with medicinal herbs as well. Adding goji berries is a good idea to help nourish your kidneys and replenish your bodies moisture.
But always remember; tea is about taking time out, its about watching the dance of the leaves twirl in your tea glass, smelling the aromas and feeling the warmth of the liquid nourish your being. Tea is a meditation, a quiet time and a time to share peacefully whilst connecting with others.
Goji berries should be sipped continuously throughout the day for optimum benifit. A great idea is this glass by Embre Teas below. This glass is great as it comes with an inbuilt strainer and double wall insulation allowing you to top up your tea throughout the day. Due to excessive amounts of hormones in plastic, glass is the perfect option. The last thing we need in menopause is more hormones giving us strife!
For more information about menopause and acupuncture click here.
To purchase a double wall Embre Flask click here
