Navigating Grief and Menopause: Insights from Traditional Medicine
In this episode, Clarissa, a TCM practitioner, and Chitra, a doctor of Ayurveda, explore the complex landscape of grief that often accompanies perimenopause, menopause, and midlife transitions.1
Marking the 9/11 anniversary, they discuss how grief manifests in both global and personal contexts.
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They emphasize the importance of acknowledging grief and offer insights from traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda to manage it.
Topics include breath work, acupressure points, the significance of food and spices, and the role of ancient wisdom in modern life. They also highlight the need for compassion, support systems, and reflective practices like journaling and decluttering.
Episode Overview: Navigating the Hidden Grief of Menopause and Midlife Transitions
We discuss how grief manifests not just from external losses, but from internal changes - the subtle mourning for who we once were, dreams deferred, relationships evolved, and bodies transformed.
Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Challenges: TCM and Ayurvedic Approaches to Grief
Drawing from thousands of years of traditional healing knowledge, we explain how both Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda understand grief as a condition affecting breath, movement, and digestion. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, grief lives in the lungs and belongs to the metal element - the autumn of our lives - while Ayurveda sees it as a vata (air/space) imbalance that constantly shifts and changes.
We share practical tools including specific acupressure points (like the easily accessible web point between thumb and forefinger), breathing exercises such as bhastrika and bee breath, and dietary approaches using warming spices and white seasonal foods like pears and leeks.
The episode emphasizes how our culture lacks adequate space for processing this transitional grief, often dismissing women's experiences or expecting them to "get over it" quickly.
Practical Healing Tools: From Breath Work to Decluttering
The conversation provides actionable strategies for supporting yourself through grief, emphasizing that there's no single "right" way to process these emotions since they manifest differently for everyone.
00:00 Introduction and Acknowledgment of 9/11
00:26 Personal Reflections on Grief
02:54 Welcome to Art and Heart of Menopause
03:24 Meet the Hosts: Clarissa and Chitra
07:03 Understanding Grief in Midlife
10:50 Grief and Hormonal Changes
11:58 Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine Perspectives on Grief
17:05 Managing Grief: Practical Tips
22:09 Cultural Perspectives on Grief
30:55 Acupressure Points for Grief Relief
35:01 Balancing Prana and Chi
35:18 Calming vs. Stimulating Elements
36:14 Warm Oil Massage and Digestive Foods
37:05 Herbs for Grief
39:04 The Story of Ashoka Tree
42:12 Breathing Techniques for Healing
52:16 The Power of Decluttering
53:24 Seasonal and White Foods
01:03:27 Compassion and Grief
Fresh unconventional conversations from the world of Ayurveda and TCM. Discover ageless wisdom about natural perimenopause.
Join us for the next Art & Heart of Menopause live salon on Thursdays.
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What would you add to this conversation about midlife grief? Drop your thoughts in the comments or share what's helped you.
Show notes written by AI and edited by Chitra - Human with my furry helpers
