Ep 26: Thriving Through Perimenopause and Menopause, with Clarissa Kristjansson

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Welcome to Notes from Your Acupuncturist, the podcast for anyone who's interested in acupuncture, complementary medicine, holistic health, and self-care. I'm your host, Alexa Bradley-Hulsey. If you enjoy this show, you can help other people discover it by leaving a rating or a review, by following or subscribing on your favorite podcast listening app,  or simply by telling someone about it. And if you'd like to support this show financially, you can become a paid subscriber on Substack for just a few dollars a month. Just head over to substack.com and search notes from your acupuncturist or click the link in the show notes. And one more thing before we get started, just a disclaimer that this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a replacement for medical care from a qualified healthcare provider. Okay, on with the show.  Hello, and welcome to Notes from Your Acupuncturist. I'm Alexa, and I'm thrilled to be joined today by internationally recognized menopause holistic health expert, Dr. Clarissa Kristjansson. Clarissa blends traditional Chinese medicine, mindfulness, and health coaching to educate and empower women as they navigate the transitions of perimenopause and menopause.  She offers a lot of tools to help people thrive through menopause and take back control of their health. We're going to talk about all of that and more today, and I can't wait to dive in. Clarissa, welcome!

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Alexa, thank you so much for inviting me on Notes from the Acupuncturist. I'm thrilled to be here and to talk about my favorite subjects, perimenopause and menopause.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

That's wonderful. And those are becoming some of my favorite subjects too. So let's dive in. I want to start with some definitions. As you said, we're going to be talking about perimenopause and menopause, and they're not the same thing. So what's the difference?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 That's a great question, Alex. Perimenopause is when your hormones are doing their thing. This is when we really feel those changes.  You know, if we want to talk about it in kind of Western medicine terms, before we dive into a more TCM perspective, we're essentially seeing progesterone levels really decline and quite fast. You know, they're going from, you know, a hundred percent, we lose about 60% of our progesterone level. You know, we go down to a maintenance, real maintenance level here. And that's when we start seeing changes in our periods.  that some of the real brain related things, we feel moody. We think about having PMS. Well, this is like PMS dialed up a few thousand times.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Yes. I call perimenopause puberty the sequel because it's like going through puberty again in a different direction.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Absolutely. So progesterone is a biggie and I think that gets a little forgotten in the conversation because the conversation is about estrogen, estrogen. And yes, we are seeing a decline in our estrogen and a shift in the type of estrogen that we produce. So we produce mainly estradiol when we are fertile. We then  change to estrone as we get into the menopause years. And when we kind of hit then menopause, that's when we start having periods. But during perimenopause, you will have a monthly cycle, but it will get less and less. It might be really heavy at the start of perimenopause. It's not uncommon.  We'll see it becoming lighter, less frequent, and then it stops. But of course, that's not really the end of it, sadly. We are still seeing in menopause a decline in estrogen levels. They're still declining and shifting. And it's more our adrenal glands that are going to take up the role of producing maintenance levels of hormones because our ovaries  really in the sense are now a bit redundant. They produce a little bit, but most of our hormone production will come from our adrenal glands and some of it from our fat cells as well. So we don't have nothing. That's a bit of a misnomer, I think here.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Well, that's reassuring. So menopause is defined as one year from your last menstrual period, correct?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Correct. And then you are in that phase of life  Forever.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Yes. It's interesting that you bring up the adrenal glands and menopause. So would you say then that your adrenal glands are having to work a little harder in menopause?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Definitely. And I think, you know, we'll probably talk quite a bit about stress, but obviously our adrenal glands as women are working pretty hard already. Now they're going to have an added function, which is to maintain the levels of progesterone and estrogen. Of course, they're much more important than just reproduction in our body.  They're essential for heart health, for bone health, for brain health. So yeah, we need to be taking a lot more care of ourselves at this time of life.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Amen to that. And we're going to definitely, I want to spend a lot of time talking about that. And I'm glad you bring up progesterone too, because I feel like, as you said, estrogen gets all the attention because it does decline, but progesterone,  That's sort of your relaxed, chill-out hormone, right?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Yeah. And the one that's so critical for sleep. Ah. Yeah. So you can imagine when we have declining estrogen, declining progesterone, but declining progesterone, and of course, less melatonin because we're not getting any younger, we've got more issues with sleep. So it's really important  that we have those lifestyle supports because progesterone has been our chill, relax, particularly let your muscles relax. You know, you can't, your brain can't relax if your body isn't relaxed. Your body's tense, right? Yeah. And so we have to then be more deliberate about relaxing because our natural, you know, chill out hormones are not quite what they once were.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Right. You talk about perimenopause being a liminal phase of life. What do you mean by that?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

It's a real transition where I think it's, it's like, I think I'd describe it as somewhere where you kind of get a bit stuck and where you don't move forward. It's like being out, you know, take a boat out and you can one side of the river to the other. And on one side of the river, you know, this shore, you've been there a while, you've hung out, you kind of, and you go out into the middle.  rocked around by the waves. You can see the other shore, but you're not ready to reach it. And perimenopause is a bit like leaving one shore to go to another. And we don't quite know what's going to happen in this transition phase. We are unsure of this, you know, and there are times when we really feel, oh, it's quite calm here.  and everything is fine and then it sort of goes a bit of a gust of wind or a storm and we feel it you know and it you know it's like where am I getting to the other side right and that journey that the length of time of that journey from one side to the other can vary widely from one person to another  Yeah, really can be a long journey for some women. And, you know, Chinese medicine isn't very generous in shortening the time. It really talks about this in a significant chunk of our life. So, you know, sees it as a very important transition. Whereas I think in our more popular culture, we're like, oh, it's all over in three years. Well,  That's not quite the truth. And for some women, of course, they can really have symptoms for a much longer time. You know, there are women who are still experiencing, you know, hot flashes, dryness, other issues, you know, 15 years, maybe more.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Right, right. Well, let's talk about the Chinese medicine perspective on it, because one of our classic textbooks, the Neijing, has some interesting things to say about life cycles that relate to perimenopause and menopause. So what are some insights that TCM can give us on what's happening during these phases?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 And I think that I would look at it from both the perspective of the life stages and how it's setting up women for this time and how to navigate it, as well as what is happening in terms of  the various body systems. So it, you know, it's, it's both. And I think, you know, as you rightly referred to in the aging, indeed, there is a passage not very flat. It's very, very classic and very patriarchal. Essentially, we're, you know, drying up becoming less fertile and aging, you know, it stands that but maybe for the listeners may not be aware that Chinese medicine sees women up to the  the menopause phase as having seven times seven year life stages. And that is, I think a great book is Dr. Leah Andrews' book, The Seven Stages of Woman. And she does beautiful deep dives. So if anybody's ever interested themselves in diving, I mean, that's been a great text for me too.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Yes, that's great. We'll link to that in the show notes for sure. Yes.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 And really what it's saying is that when we get to about the fifth stage, and we're in our mid-30s to our early 40s, this is the time that women should start to prepare their bodies for the real change that is to come. Some women may already be in perimenopause there.  But here is a time to look and say, I can't burn my life at the both candles at both ends, you know, you know, pay attention to diet, to your lifestyle, to your sleep, to your movement, and maybe even begin to take some  supportive herbal medicine. Now, I'm not a herbal practitioner. So I don't go around telling others what they should be doing here in that sense. But if you feel that there, there are certainly practitioners who can help you to begin to support and nourish the body in the right and particularly nourish yin at this stage. But it's really in the next stage, that sixth stage where we're in our early 40s to our late 40s.  the early 50s, this is the stage when we really are talking about classic perimenopause. And we need to really dial up the fact that food can be a great therapy here. And as we know, Chinese medicine puts great, great store on the use of  diet as and real food as medicine at this stage which is you know really close to my heart that we can really eat to support the body to support deficiencies in the body that we should be really seeking more help from practitioners like yourself acupuncture is  absolutely phenomenal at helping to really work with symptoms. And when that's in conjunction with diet, lifestyle, exercise, herbal medicines, women can go through this big perimenopause stage. And then really there's the seventh stage, which is menopause. We've gone into menopause,  And there's like another seven year cycle, which interestingly, Chinese medicine is saying, rest, restore, reflect on where you want to go. And then comes the second spring, which is how Chinese medicine talks about the next, I don't know, 30, 40, 50 years, you know, longevity is a big thing. And I think you see a shift from the management of being  a, a fertile woman with a monthly cycle to the more preservation of gin almost. Yes. And, and so very two halves of the moon. I've heard it in Chinese medicine also be the waxing waning, neither is better or worse than the other. They're both equally important, but the way we approach them is very different.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Absolutely. And  And I love this idea of the second spring being a phase of life, because in Chinese medicine, especially, we think of spring as a time of new beginnings, renewal, new life. Those aren't words that people generally associate with menopause.  But you're saying that from a Chinese medicine perspective, here's another opportunity in life to grow, to nourish, to cultivate. It's just your body's different at this point. So you could do different things with it.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Exactly. And I think there's a lot of conversation that obviously we we are losing a lot of our Jing in our monthly cycle. And now when we're not having this monthly cycle, there's more opportunity to preserve our Jing. And so this is, you know, when we look at it in those terms, we're far from life being over.  And you'll see reference to us finding our destiny, our purpose, our Ming, which is super important in Chinese medicine. So a lot of that is integral to the second spring for women. And you see that if you go to China, I mean, you meet older ladies, really quite old ladies who are phenomenal.  they're still working as TCM practitioners, they are in the parks doing their morning Tai Chi and Qi Gong, they are not about to fade into any sense. And they do a lot of caring of their grandchildren. I mean, it's a phenomenal time of life for for for many people. And being an older and elder in Chinese medicine is revered in China is revered.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Yes, absolutely. I want to talk about two  terms that you brought up, Jing and Ming. Jing is a really important concept in Chinese medicine. I think of Jing as your genetic makeup. It's what you come into the world with. It's what your ancestors passed down with you, and it's a precious substance that can't be replenished, correct?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Absolutely. You are born with that prenatal chi. And it cannot, you can preserve it, but you cannot replenish it. And of course, in Chinese medicine, it's your link to your ancestors, you know, in the West, we're kind of like, I'm here in a kind of egocentric, I'm just me. But you know, in China, this is your link to your past, to who you are, your very essence of how you show up. Some of us have very strong Jing and some of us don't. It's  And that's the ancestral part of ourselves. And so important that the way we live our life is going to have a significant impact on the gene. So, you know, if we are burning the candle at both ends, if we're drinking a lot of alcohol, taking drugs, and in Chinese, they would also talk about our sexual energy and that this is precious, that, you know, that we should take care and have  intimate relationships with others from a conscious perspective.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

I love that. And it's not only preserving Jing for ourselves, but then for future generations too.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Exactly.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Because our Jing is what we pass along to the people who come after us.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Yes. And so that continues. So the way you preserve is going to show up in your children and also potentially in your grandchildren and further and further down the line. I mean, you know, my Qigong teacher, she is 59th generation. Wow. You know, so there's a lot of Jing coming down the line there. I see, you know, this is this sense of that all the way down, down the line. So Jing is important, but you also mentioned Ming. Yes. Let's talk about Ming.  Ming is destiny and in Chinese medicine it's about how we are of service in the world.  and what our purpose is. And it's incredibly important too, because it's like a legacy, what we leave behind us. And often we talk about that as also being that we nourish ourselves so we can nourish others. And then our Ming is strong and can be fulfilled. So it's not like, yeah, you have purpose or you write it on a piece of paper. It's also yet again, integrally linked to how we care for ourselves.  Mind, body, and spirit.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

That also makes me think of the theory of the five phases or the five elements when you're talking about nourishing yourself so that you can nourish others, caring for yourself so that you can care for others. Because in the theory of five phases, if one phase or one element is deficient,  we treat what we call the mother element and the mother nourishes the child or the parent nourishes the child. So we don't directly treat the child, we treat the parent and strengthen a phase or an element that way.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

I agree. Yeah. And I think that the elements  in that sense, give great guidance to how we can navigate menopause, not just from potential weaknesses in the systems, but also because the elements relate to emotional and spiritual ways that we show up. And I often look at them that way. So if we think of wood,  you know, it is about perspective and flexibility, and a sense of calmness to a certain extent. And if we can look at that, how do I do that? Am I able to be adaptive in this phase when things are changing? Or am I going to be very rigid and resentful in the way in which I show up here? Am I going to  think of everything and every symptom is like a drama. And it's, you know, I've got this all the time at 100%. Well, can I actually look at my life from perspective? So I think each of the elements have that dimension to us. And I think we can use that as a way to say, do I have a plan of how I'm going to navigate menopause based in Chinese medicine so that it doesn't just become about  treating a physical symptom as it shows up, but as looking at it as the holistic journey that it is.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Wow. I love that perspective. And you mentioned physical symptoms and really that's what gets our attention in perimenopause. The familiar physical symptoms that so many of us experience, the hot flashes, the night sweats, the mood changes, the lack of sleep, weight gain, things like that. So I'd like to talk about some of those symptoms that people experience and  What kind of light can Chinese medicine shed onto that?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Yeah, I mean, those are classic symptoms and they're classic symptoms of really yin deficiency. Yes.  They really are. We are, you know, we are seeing that imbalance. We're probably potentially even seeing yang excess. Of course, everything is individual and there can be people who are yang deficient here. And that would show up as a very sort of depressed, low energy state. But the classic symptoms are yin deficiency and particularly kidney yin deficiency.  And this is the things that we have to do. We have to nourish the yin and tonify the kidneys. We cannot do otherwise if we want to be well. But I think for a lot of women, that's really only a very small part of the story.  What I see with the women I work with is a lot of liver cheese stagnation as well. I mean, poor old liver system takes a bit of a bash in the modern world from all the toxins in our thing. So it's not uncommon to see this and that shows up in the moodiness, the insomnia, the irritability that is so associated  both for ourselves and in the sort of popular myth as the perimenopausal menopausal woman. And of course, I think spleen deficiency too.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Yes.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Very, very common to see that.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Yes, and I think in the spleen, especially with the spleen, so for listeners out there who are maybe less familiar with sort of the Chinese medicine perspective on the organ systems, the spleen is really what is responsible for digestion.  And I think that the spleen in our modern world with our processed foods and irregular eating habits, the spleen really takes a beating. And when we're young, we can kind of bounce back from that more easily. But by the time you reach perimenopause, you've maybe had decades of  unkindness towards your spleen and it just can't quite keep up the way that it used to.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Yeah, yeah, I think so too. And, you know, so there's one side there, which is definitely I think, just the modern diet. But also that the spleen is all about nourishment, beyond just the the obviously its role in extracting the Gucci that she that comes from our food and nourishing our bodies. But it's about nourishment also in terms of self care, and how many women haven't  not practiced enough self-care by the time we get into our mid 40s. We're so strung out and stressed out that our spleen is working incredibly hard, or it's just not really functioning correctly with the lack of all round nourishment of mind, of body and spirit that goes on in the modern world. So, you know, a big part of managing  This life transition is about deliberate nourishment on many levels beyond obviously diet, but the whole practice of caring for our emotions and our spiritual well-being, which can be very closely linked in Chinese medicine.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Absolutely. Well, and the spleen also digests not only food, but it digests information and it helps us sort through our thoughts. And so a lot of times during perimenopause, this is when women are at often the height of their careers and they are  perhaps taking care of children or perhaps caring for elderly parents. So much coming at women and so much to sort through and digest. So that is just even more work for the spleen to do. Yeah.  So I'd love to talk. So we've talked about kidney yin, liver qi, spleen qi. We've talked about jing. So what are some practices now that we can do to preserve these precious substances, the yin and the jing and the qi and move our qi in ways that's healthy, like  There's so much that we can do in perimenopause to nourish and cultivate a healthy second spring, and Chinese medicine offers so many tools, so let's dive into what we can do. Now that we know what the problem is, what can we do about it?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Well, you know, I love to start with diet because our diet is what is  you know, our postnatal Qi, this is the absolute pinnacle. I mean, as I said, 70% of postnatal Qi is coming in some form of our diet. And so it becomes critical that we have a balanced diet. So Chinese  food therapy is never about extremes. It's never as extreme as Western medicine. And it is about using food according to your constitution and according to your particular symptoms to help correct that imbalances in the body.  And we want to tonify the kidneys. We want to nourish you. And so we're obviously looking at cooling, you know, not hot, really hot foods. Alcohol fits in that space. Alcohol is very heating and is why I think a lot of women who drink don't feel well.  So we want to be dialing down the excess heat and looking at cooling, neutral kinds of foods. You know, I'm a big fan of sort of Qingnam diets that are very basic. They have rice and good nourishing grains. They're moisturizing. Oats is a good example of a moisturizing food. Brown rice is a beautiful neutral. Rice is beautiful, neutral food.  lots of vegetables, but it's not saying don't eat meat or don't eat fish because Chinese nutrition therapy doesn't speak in those terms, but we can look at what can I add in to support the kidneys? So we know that the color black or bluish black is the color for the kidneys. So how do we weave more of those black sesame, darker vegetables, blackened beans, kidney beans, those sort of weaving that kind of food into our diet.  we can use herbs as food.  So, you know, in English, Angelica sinensis or Don Quixote or Astragalus, you know, Huanjin can be used in our food to help support. And you can make, for example, a congee. I often have a congee recipe that has those herbs and maybe a little hard for us sometimes, but they can be added in as ways to support.  our whole essence, our whole kidney energy. So that, you know, food is a great way to do that. And of course, one thing I would say is not cold, please not cold food. So diet is clear that, and it's good to work with a therapist who can make a diet for you, depending on what's going on for you.  And then I think following and living as close as you can to the TCM clock. And for people who aren't familiar to this beautiful circle that divides the day into two hour segments, each related to a particular organ system and gives us guidance of what we can be doing. And I think the closer we can live to that clock, given the constraints of the modern world,  the more anchored we are in the diurnal rhythms, it supports our digestion, our sleep, our relaxation, it teaches us to work when we are most likely to be active and up and to rest  So I am a massive fan of the TCM clock.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

I love the TCM clock too. And I will put a link to the TCM clock in the show notes because I think it is fascinating. And anytime I talk to patients or to people about it,  It just makes so much sense. And when people tell me they wake up at 3 a.m., I'm like, well, let me tell you why, because it is totally in accordance with the TCM clock. 3 a.m. is a transition time from liver to lung. And liver needs to be able to rest. As you said, it's responsible for perspective and planning and organization.  So if you're waking up between 1 and 3 a.m., that means that your liver is still trying to do all of that while you should be asleep. And then the lung starts a new day from 3 to 5 a.m. This is when we need to be taking our first breath of the day.  So yeah, I love the TCM clock. So yeah, liver and lung times of day, I always think about. What are some other of those two-hour slices of the day that you think are particularly relevant?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

I think that time around the middle of the day, which is the sort of fire part, and I think a lot of us are eating at late in the evening.  really, we should be trying to eat a bit more at lunch, because this is when your digestive fires is strong. And we have a culture where women often skip meals, a lot of disordered eating. And so we missed out on breakfast, it's become coffee and a muffin.  we eat some salad that has very little nutrient density and attempt to shoehorn a full meal in when the digestive system should be resting and so really that is a big lesson for me that in the morning we want to be seeing us warming up that digestive fire working with that waking up of the body and then when we hit the middle of the day  Try and eat more at lunch and make the dinner slightly smaller. It's going to have a flow on effect to our ability to sleep better and be able to sleep through that waking up between one and three.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

And I think a lot of people also will eat lunch while they're working.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 That's not a, we should be focused Alexa on eating our meals, because it isn't just what we eat. It's when and how that really matters. So that for me is super important.  And where we get our exercise and rest in as well, you know, things we want to be. It's Yin time, we want to be part of actively helping energy to descend, because the more we can descend energy downwards in the body, the easier it is for us to fall asleep,  and stay asleep. So whatever practices we have, you know, after about seven o'clock through till we going to bed, they are very important. So lowering the light, cool, dark, that's yin energy.  We want that to be part of what we're doing. I mean, I'm a big fan of telling people to use mugwort, you know, it's a great herb, you know, have a foot bath with that in, that will just help to descend energy, be quiet, dial down your lights, get off your social media and help yourself sleep.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Because I think what a lot of people do in that winding down period before bed is the opposite. They're on screens. Yes.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

And when you're going to have difficulties anyway with sleeping and in perimenopause as so many women do, then we want to be supporting that by good routines and habits.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Yes, absolutely.  So nutrition is important, what you eat, how you eat, living in a way that's harmonious with the TCM clock. I also want to talk about qigong. This is another really important, really pillar of traditional Chinese medicine. And you are a qigong practitioner and teacher. So I'd love to hear more about your experience with qigong.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Yeah, well, I first went to a Qigong class more than 35 years ago, by accident. A happy accident. I was very happy accident. I went used to go to yoga and I turn up to the class and there's a guy there. And he's not my teacher. And Lisa and he said, Oh, she can't come today. So she's given the class to me because she thought you might like to try out some Qigong. And for me,  that was that was my thing almost straight off it was like something shifted and I you know there's a beautiful practice and I you know I encourage it if for some people that is transformative but for me qigong in its simple movements  I could feel the energetic shift. I could sync breath with movement almost from the beginning. So obviously I was meant to do this. It followed me around sometime in my life. It did lose, I lost that thread, but really about more than 10 years ago, I was reintroduced by my acupuncturist to Qigong and very quickly trained to become a Qigong teacher. Within a short time, I was like, this is what I want to work with and teach.  are incredibly powerful. And of course, Qigong is many things. Qigong is because of the way it's evolved in China, because it comes from Buddhist sects, and there are martial aspects. There are healing aspects that are developed in Chinese medicine hospitals.  So many different forms, many different types of practicing. I'm much more on the medical qigong where we practice flowing movements that have, every single movement will be working with a particular body system and will have a purpose to it. Every movement has a healing purpose to it.  rather than I'm doing eight, the eight brocades, which is a beautiful practice. I mean, it's a fabulous, you know, the violin gin is a beautiful practice, but when you work with it as a healing practice, that's, that's different because we begin to build in the meaning of everything.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Oh, yes. Well, I think people tend to think of Qigong and Tai Chi, which is a form of Qigong, as being very beneficial to the joints and it's good for the back and it's great for people of all abilities to do because it is so gentle. And it's true. I mean, it's great for the joints. I practice Qigong in the mornings and it really helps to wake my body up  my physical body up. But it's so much more than that.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

It is. And I also think that we hold in our head that it's always movement. Of course, there's a lot of static standing postures. Like I work with the Xiaoshan, which is static pose and you hold them for a long time. You really can hold them, you know, and then you feel how strong Qigong is. You build strength in your legs.  in your body, in your breath work, it becomes, you can really breathe because we're always breathing from here, the lower part of our body from the dantian, that's part of it. We're working tremendously on posture, which is why I love it for women that are in perimenopause and menopause, you know, this bone strengthening, good posture.  Because as we get older, we tend to sort of walk like this and shuffle and that's when we're at risk of falling over and osteoporotic fractures. So there's a sense of we're standing taller, we can breathe better, we have perspective on the world, we quieten the mind. So Qigong has many different benefits beyond just that or beyond just calming the mind as well.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Right, right. And I love that you bring in this spiritual connection too, and that gets back to the Ming, the destiny. And that is something that Qigong can help cultivate as well.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Absolutely. It totally can do that because I think that when you learn to stand and look, and I call it looking without looking, you're gazing, you're building up your energy,  you are beginning to become the essence of you. There's there's a shift. And I think some practices that look like nothing, you know, they're not, you know, very fancy Shaolin monk type man, they're very small, done over a lot of time, repetitively, you know, day in day out, shift energy.  And when energy shifts, it's not just your physical body, it's your perspective on life, on how you see yourself. And therefore that's linked through to the Ming. They're incredibly powerful practices that can be used on so many levels to manage menopause symptoms. There are plenty of practices that will help reduce weight, relieve hot flashes, help you to sleep better.  And then beyond that is the other dimension, which is beautiful.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

It is beautiful. Everything you're talking about just makes me think Chinese medicine is such a long game.  You know, it can provide instant relief. I mean, I will do acupuncture on a patient and their headache will go away. And so it does provide that immediate gratification sometimes, but it also is just like a life nourishing medicine and a set of practices that can really  change our lives in so many ways. And you said something about bringing you back to the essence of who you are. And I think Chinese medicine really does that beautifully.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Absolutely. I think that Chinese medicine unlocks something in you on all levels. I think you feel it if you go to an acupuncturist beyond just being there to treat your symptoms.  this shift in you and how you show up in the world. Herbs have the same and Qi Gong practices in all their forms, because, you know, they are not just physical practices where we move, we can have standing practices, they can have massage components to them, there is sound and energy healing that can look like Reiki where we're obviously dredging the meridians and the channels  energetically without touching the body. That also is shifting something in you that is far more than just cheer stagnant. You're really you're really preserving Jing finding your main it is it is is huge. I don't think if you practice qigong you're ever quite the same. Again, there is huge, huge shift.  And we build that I do a lot of work with women to build boundaries, you know, we're beginning to say things like, Well, I'm here, but then I can don't have to be rigid, I can be, I can be relaxed with it, we can let go of things in the past that haven't served us and bringing things into our future, we can nurture our heart, the very, very soul of yourself, your shen through  Chani to Qigong practice. It's incredibly beautiful.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

It is. It is incredibly beautiful. And I hope that conversations like these will encourage more people to try Qigong. And there are lots of ways to try Qigong. You can look for a Qigong teacher in your area or online. There are many ways to learn Qigong online now. It's just a wonderful practice.  So all of these things that we're talking about, Qigong and the connection with our spiritual side and our destiny and living in accordance with the clock, is this what you mean when you talk about yang sheng fa and nourishing life techniques?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Absolutely. Yangsheng is at the very heart of Taoism, of course, and Chinese medicine is born out of Taoism. And so we want to, through Yangsheng practices, nourish ourselves. We nourish our energetic self, we nourish and create by nourishing the body and the mind, space to nourish the spirit.  because the spirit needs stillness. And that's why I think we can't leap to that space that comes from the way we live and live in harmony with our natural life cycle, which is incredibly important for the menopause years. We live in harmony as we've talked about in the TCM plot.  And we live in harmony with the seasons because we are in Yangsheng, we come from nature, we're part of nature. And our disconnect from those rhythms shows up in our health. And we're energetically imbalanced when we're out of sync with the way in which our natural cycles flow.  And so yangsheng practices are a combination, I think of what we see in TCM practice, but also a heck of a lot of informal stuff that happens in Chinese homes, you know, children, massage, grandparents, people eat herbs, and they eat seasonally, they sometimes they meditate, they spend time connected to nature, many of these things that we can do,  are yangsheng practices.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

I think about rituals too, you know, rituals for your home or for meals, you know, saying grace or saying a word of thanks before a meal, things like that.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Absolutely, all those little things that  add a dimension to your life. That is more than just sort of transactional, it's that connection to spirit. Yang Sheng really is that. And there are just endless wonderful rituals and practices that you can do. I mean, what we see  outwardly is things like Gua Sha coming through. Of course, in Chinese medicine, it's not really about your face. It's easing stiffness in your body or helping you to sleep or even helping your emotions. I mean, there's some great simple things that anyone can learn to do to ease anxiety by pressing, you know, Gua Sha here and up into your skull. You can do those things for yourself at the end of the day.  on, you know, and feel better. It's how we use all these informal practices as a way to heal ourselves alongside formal treatment.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 And I think it reminds us, like you said, of the connection, that we are part of something greater, a greater world, the people around us, the ecosystem around us, and the people before us, and the people after us as well. We're one dot in a big collection.  So I want to talk about the services that you offer because you work with clients and you teach qigong. So when you're working with a patient or client, if someone comes to work with you, what can they expect?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Well, they can expect, you know, first of all, that we spend a lot of time listening and talking as you would with any practitioner to really understand the person. So it's not so much I'm going to fix your symptom, but I want to work with the whole person.  So, you know, a lot of the time we're just trying to understand where are you? Where are you at? What's going on in your life? What do you like? What don't you like? What emotional stress you get? This whole person is incredibly central to any TCM practitioner. When I work with people, I focus a lot on areas like diet, on how we can calm the mind,  and how we can also introduce practices that can nurture us on a soul level. We have meditation, we have Qigong practice and somebody came to me and said I can't sleep. I would probably be looking at a lot of things in their life, maybe providing some Qigong practice for that person that are known  to help sleep, adjust their diet and support them. We may do some journaling work as well, some meditation work. So it really depends on the individual and what the individual needs and where they're at.  that's how I work with people. People sometimes come to me maybe just for a long consultation and they're sometimes able to go off on their merry way and they've got some pointers. Other people need a lot more support over maybe many months to be able to put their health on track and obviously I refer people to  acupuncturists and herbalists as well, if that is what they need to be additionally supported of where they are.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 I'd love to hear about what brought you to this work because you come from a corporate and an academic background, correct? Correct.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

I mean, I trained in food, nutrition, and neuroscience. I worked in corporate.  But I was always had a little heart pull, you know, there I was with my yoga and Qigong. I actually trained in acupressure massage in my 30s. I was taught by an acupuncturist, but I chose a corporate career. But when I hit perimenopause, I was very unwell. I had a lot of life changes at that time. My mother died of dementia and my marriage fell apart.  And I moved to Australia, I was living in the UK and I moved to Australia like some crazy woman does.  take a child and a dog to the other side of the world. But it was there really, I mean, in my struggles and receiving very little support from conventional medicine practitioners, you know, Western practitioners, that I came to work with an acupuncturist. And, you know, Bartley and that whole practice opened up my world to Chinese medicine. I had some sort of glimmers in there, but you know, that's a long time ago now. It must be a good 15 plus years.  But he was very instrumental in getting me back into Qigong. And I was very fortunate to work with his teacher, Simon Blow, amazing master Qigong practitioner. I did my training with him. And then under Dr. Peter Coey, who is also, well, he's a Chinese, you know,  practitioner on many, many levels. And I was really, you know, I felt, wow, I don't want to be an acupuncturist, but then in Chinese medicine, you don't have to be an acupuncturist to practice. And I became so just deeply in love with the whole sort of wider aspect of energetics and qigong and how much it shifted my life. And when I work and teach people and do practices,  how accessible that is for people to get into a different way of feeling and being. And in the last few years, I've really specialized in women's qigong.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Wonderful. I love that you had your own self-healing journey with this medicine. Yeah. Yeah. Well, before we wrap up, is there anything that you would like to add or anything that we haven't touched on yet?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

 Gosh, we talked about so much, Alexa. I know. I would just encourage listeners to say, if you're curious about things like qigong and Chinese medicine, then start, begin. You don't need any special equipment or knowledge, just begin where you are. And very quickly, I think people can feel a shift in the way they feel.  and begin to think, wow, you know, 20 minutes, 15 minutes a day can really move you forward in unbelievable ways and start to heal yourself from inside yourself. You're empowered to take control of your own health and wellbeing. Absolutely. I love that.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

Well, if people want to get in touch with you, if they want to work with you or learn more from you,  how can they get in touch with you? You have, you, you're a great educator. You have a podcast and a sub stack. And so I want to make sure you mentioned those. And then just, um, also how can people work with you as patients?

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Absolutely. Well, obviously you can hop onto my website. It's called thriving through menopause. We have a very holistic, open discussions about different ways that we can  really navigate this time of life. So that's available on Apple and YouTube and anywhere else you listen to podcasts. There's also, as you said, my sub stack where you and I Alexa met. My sub stack is called Heart of Menopause. Well, we really talk about menopause in its fullness. It's like the sister to the podcast. It's not just, you know, a very Western lens. It's a very open conversation and I share tips and tools.  from a TCM slant to help you really navigate this time of life. And then if you want to work with me as a patient, it's my name, ClarissaChristiansen.com. You can go in there and you can see the services that I offer and send me a message. We can always have a conversation. I'd have free discovery calls because working together is about whether we connect on a person level.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

 Well, we will link to all of that in the show notes so that people can easily find you and learn from you. I have just thoroughly enjoyed this conversation today. I cannot thank you enough for coming on the show, Clarissa. It's been a real pleasure. Thank you.

Clarissa Kristjansson:

Well, thank you, Alexa, for offering me this opportunity to talk about menopause and how we can navigate it.

Alexa Bradley Hulsey:

We can thrive. We can, amen.  Thank you for listening to today's episode of Notes From Your Acupuncturist. If you liked what you heard, please follow this show, leave a rating or review, or just tell someone about it. And if you want to join the conversation, you can subscribe to Notes From Your Acupuncturist on Substack, where you can comment, ask questions, participate in discussion threads, watch videos, and read more of my reflections on acupuncture and healing.  Huge thanks as always to our paid subscribers for helping keep this work sustainable. You too can become a paid subscriber for just a few dollars a month. Just head over to substack.com and search notes from your acupuncturist or click the link in the show notes. Until next time, this is Alexa Bradley-Hulsey, your acupuncturist, signing off with love and gratitude.