Seasons of Your Menstrual Cycle & Herbs for Women’s Vitality

Welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast. where ancient traditions meet modern living. I'm Candice Berlanga, certified funray practitioner and your host for the Learn Feng Shui podcast. My usual energy update for October is running late this week due to some tech issues. Kind of still having tech issues, but I'm making the best of it.

It's okay. I don't want to leave you with an episode today. So, I have a little bonus for you. We're going to talk about women's health, specifically relating to hormones. You'll hear a short segment from Dr.

Amadma, who I had on last month. She's just going to share the seasons of the menstrual cycle and explain how each phase of the month feels like spring, summer, fall, and winter. It's just a really beautiful way to think about your body and it flows beautiful with our view in traditional Chinese medicine. After her segment, I'm going to come back and share a few Chinese medicine insights about women's health and just share a handful of things that can support hormones, energy, and even libido. Let's start with Dr.

Amma segment. Let's get into it. Supporting clients through each different phase of the cycle, what does that look like? That's a good question. So, um I will backtrack and say we assume that the female body is just like the male body and that we can do everything men can do.

And that is true, but we're we're not the same. We're different. Yeah. And the biggest difference between the male and female is men run on a 24-hour clock. So their clock is wake up, they make testosterone, that testosterone subsides throughout the day.

By the end of the day, they're done. That's that's it. That's kind of their hormone. And yes, they're making very steady, very repetitive. There's no fluctuations throughout the month.

They are making some estrogen. They're making LH and FSH, which women have also, but they don't cycle in the same way that we do. They cycle on this 20 clock. Mhm. The sun is also a 24-hour clock, which I think is very interesting.

So, they're driven by solar energy. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Um, women are a 28 day clock. So, if we take away this idea that we need to function on a 24-hour cycle, but really understand that we're on a very different cycle and rhythm than men are.

And if we are operating from that assumption then we're going to do things very differently. So for me I menstrual cycle the start of the menes is the first phase of our cycle and I call it the winter. So the winter is a time for rest. It's a time to go inward. It's a time where we're going to be more in tune with our intuition.

It's going to be a time to slow down and rest. That's the primary function of that phase. And winter can be short or long. It's essentially the time from a couple of days before your period all the way through your cycle till the end of menes. Then we have the next phase which is going to be spring.

And spring is when everything is alive. And like when you get in tune with these cycles, you like I feel it in my body like things are more alive in that like what we call the follicular phase. It's the time when estrogen is slowly starting to rise. So estrogen is like the superwoman hormone. It is when you're going to get the most done.

It is when your body has the most energy. You're most alive. You're most like you're in your feminine energy, but it's also like the superwoman energy. So, if you have a lot of things on your to-do list, this is the time to hit that stuff. Mhm.

In terms of lifestyle, this is also the time where you can get out and do more things. You could maybe work out a little more intensely. You could You're doing all of the things that you like and you can do them to whatever intensity you like. Mhm. So that's going to be spring and then we go into summer and summer is peak of all the of the hormones.

It's the peak of yang energy is what Chinese medicine would relate it to. It's like a lot of things are active in our body, in our hormones as well as in our environment. So that is the time that you can really like think about doing more outward things. Summer is like a very outward season, right? Like you want to be out and about.

You want to get all the sunshine. You want to in in the feminine body that is I want to be with friends. I want to hang out. I want to do all the things. I want to go out and be fancy.

Whatever. Whatever that shows up for you as it's also like in the business or entrepreneurship life. That's also a really good time to like do some networking, do your contracts, like have the tough conversations. those are going to be best optimized for that phase in your cycle. Yeah.

And then so it also that's the time is going to overlap with ovulation. So it's a few days before you ovulate and a few days after you ovulate. So about a week where you're at your peak of all hormones. And then the last phase is going to be fall. And fall is where you're harvesting right in nature.

you going to go harvest all your plants and your fruit and vegetables and all the stuff that you've been growing all season is going to be the harvest of. So on a mini scale, you're harvesting all the fruits of your labor. So you've done all the things on your to-do list. You've been out in in the wild. You've made amazing connections.

You've fulfilled that part of yourself. Fall is the time to start filtering away. So this is the time that your boundaries get stronger. You say no to more things. You're like, "That's not in alignment.

Sorry." No. And you're conserving your energy a little bit more so that you can prepare for winter. You're I just love that. Yeah. I love that you, you know, made an analogy with the seasons.

That's beautiful. And it it really does. It ties so beautifully to, you know, the way we view even Chinese metaphysics. And I would I would almost venture towards like I know you're in a different phase of life. I'm in a different phase of life.

So I think about the same rhythms and cycles, but if my let's say for the women that are in pmenopause that are going to like I bleed once every 5 months or I bleed once every eight months or whatever, that's okay. You can still follow this 28 day rhythm. You just sync it up to the moon. So instead of okay keeping your body as the rhythm, you can sync up to the new moon is menstruation and full moon is ovulation and then everything else falls into place with that. Wasn't that a great way to frame the menstrual cycle?

I love how simple and intuitive it feels. I also for some reason the focus this season of my life really sometimes you have a lot of synchronicities and just topics that'll keep coming back to you. Well, I feel like the topic of hormones, the cycle, you know, women's health keeps coming back into my periphery. I don't know if it's just because of everything I've gone through this year. My hormones were all out of whack and everything like that.

and just focusing on this perspective of a Chinese medicine and looking at some herbs that have long been used to support women's vitality, hormones, and even desire. We can look at a few different things. So, one are inherited jing or essence. In the Father's Day episode, I talked about how this was inherited at birth. Also, you're born with this allegedly finite amount of jing or essence.

For a man that is emitted and lost through his emissions or ejaculation but for a woman you know our reproductive energy is rooted in this jing and we inherited a birth much like men it's kind of like a savings account of vitality so you also have to protect these areas of your body uh you have to rest nourish yourself and not burn yourself out so I mean know that's hard in a world we live moms are always doing stuff women are always doing stuff whether you have kids or thought a lot of stuff falls on women to to do. Um blood health, menstrual cycle is seen as a reflection of blood and healthy flow and rhythm equal healthy energy. So if that's off then something else is off in your body too. A lot of times the thyroid that can affect your hormones and the liver. The liver stores and moves blood.

So stress can block flow leading to cramps, PMS, some of those other symptoms too. So maybe you could look at doing um a liver cleanse or something to help nourish your liver. Milk thistle is said to nourish your liver without doing too harsh of a cleanse. It just kind of will nourish it and protect it keeping it healthy. And of course our liver filters everything as do our kidneys.

Um the kidneys are thought of as having yin and yang energy. So kidneys produce and govern reproductive health. Also remember that is around your reproductive organs. When we look at the water energy that is said to represent these organs, the kidneys, it also represents your reproductive system. So the kidneys are thought to govern reproductive health also.

So yin nourishes fluids and your cooling and then yang promotes warmth and energy. They serve as two different uh functions. Nourishing your kidneys, yin and yang are said to help with that too. I don't really know a lot about that. So, I'm not going to try and give advice on that part there.

Um, but I just know that it's uh said to nourish those areas. So, if you have any issues, you know, maybe do a little research or visit with somebody that knows about Chinese medicine and can talk about nourishing kidneys. Intimacy in seasons. So, also in Chinese medicine, even intimacy is viewed through a seasonal cycle. Uh, winter when kidneys are most active.

We're going into this time now where it's getting a little bit cooler. Maybe not here in Texas, especially especially here, but in parts of the northern United States and other areas, it's starting to get a little chilly, especially at night. But when it starts to get cold, it really is a time to conserve and restore energy. So, too much sexual activity during the winter time is said to deplete that jing that we talked about earlier. warm weather, summer with the abundant yang energy is the most natural time for passion as represented by the fire and of course activity talking about milk thistle and stuff.

So I mentioned in a previous episode I started working at a herb shop and studying herbs. I'm very excited about this. I've been there about a month now and I want to share with you what I've learned in that time. Let's look at some of these western traditions and Iveda traditions that women have long used to nourish their hormones. Um, you know, a lot of this we can learn from our ancient ancestors, right?

We tend to rely on synthetic hormones and stuff like that. I have taken those. I'm still trying to wean off of mine. So, remember, don't stop any of this stuff if your doctor's recommending it, okay? I don't want to say you can get off of any of this stuff.

Make sure you talk to your doctor before you get on any herbal supplements because sometimes things can react. And definitely don't take any supplements with your medication. So, you do have to take it uh maybe an hour apart or so. Some of the properties in the medication will break down the herbal properties, making them kind of useless. Anyway, but let's look at some of these herbs that have said to nourish hormones for energy and enhance your libido.

All right, starting with one that I've heard since I was a kid, wild yam. I remember my mom trying some wild yam cream. I don't know if she ever liked it. I don't remember her talking much about it after that. Um, but it does support progesterone and it helps your body to maybe produce its own progesterone.

It can be particularly helpful in the lutil phase when your body is producing that progesterone. It can kind of give it a little bit of a kick there. Remember, as we talked about with Dr. Amma, sometimes that estrogen, you can have so much estrogen in your body that it'll kind of absorb that progesterone almost. And so that'll lead to you not having a cycle.

And so if you want to make sure that your estrogen and your progesterone are good to go and then that's going to help you get through your cycle. So a lot of women find that wild yam can support them and it's just kind of taking it as a daily supplement to help support that progesterone when the body needs to produce it. Remember that dip in progesterone is what helps start your cycle. All right, shadowari. This is one that I've recently learned.

It's supposed to support libido. It supports the yin energy and moisture. Honestly, it's also supposed to support um your mucous membranes. So, it's supposed to rejuvenate your downstairs area. I would say a lot of women lose elasticity and especially when those hormones start to dip.

Some of those wild yam creams come into play. Sometimes you put them uh maybe in the area of your glands down there. But you the shadowavvari is supposed to increase moisture in your mucous membranes. And so it's going to support some of those muscles and that membrane area down there. I'll just say maca.

Maca is supposed to give you energy and stamina and mood support. So that's a good one. Adamiana, this can be used by men and women. I've seen this in our men's supplements, too. It's supposed to support your desire and mood.

And I know I've seen this in our men's formulas, too. So men can also use the domiana. Um, at the herb shop where I work, we actually have a blend of women's libido, we have men's health, and then we have the men's prostate and libido. So, there's definitely some different mixes you can use, but starting out with some of these single herbs, you can play around with them and help. And again, make sure you talk to your doctor if you have any questions about whether they'll interact with medication.

All right, guys. Well, that's it for today's bonus episode. I just want to give you a small little episode, let you know I'm still around. I have found the work life balance has been a little bit difficult, but hope you enjoyed hearing more from Dr. Amatma and her way of looking at the menstrual cycle through the seasons.

I hope it gave you some insights onto your own rhythm and how you can support yourself during that time. And then, of course, the little add-on about herbs and supporting yourself. I hope you find that helpful. Remember, our bodies move in cycles. And just like the seasons, we're not meant to be in full bloom all year long.

We have to take a rest, nourish, and support ourselves. Whether it's herbs, food, or just honoring your natural rhythm, even those jet chi cycles I talk about in each month's energy update that's missing this week. It's a beautiful way to care for yourself and your health. But thanks for listening today. I'll be back with a full energy update hopefully next week.

And then of course I have more conversations lined up like I talked about about women's health that I think you will enjoy. I'm also going to have spooky or haunted Feng Shui again. We're going to have another little uh reboot episode. And I'm going to talk about haunted objects. I think that's a pretty interesting one.

So that'll be a spooky episode for later in the month. Little uh Halloween episode. Again, I'm having a lot of technical difficulties. On top of that, guys, if I could just talk to y'all for a second. I'm also having difficulties with my website on top of everything.

I feel like last month just completely took a big on top of my head. I swear to God, this has been the hardest month I've ever had. I don't know what's going on between trying to get my podcast out on time and the newsletter and everything. a newsletter is done, but for some reason my website seems to move the target every every so often and they'll change things and want you to upgrade to upload more pictures and everything. So, I'm actually moving my newsletter to Substack.

I'll just have a link on my website. Anyway, I'm going to end my rant here and I'll catch you guys next week for the October energy update. Check out that newsletter on the substack linked below.