What is Homeopathy?

Why isn’t homeopathic medicine very popular in America?  Maybe it is because the tenet of homeopathy is ‘less is more,’ and for most of us this is an unusual concept considering our present society believes that ‘more is better.’  When homeopaths suggest a remedy the medicine is administered in small pellets that are dissolved under the tongue.  Sometimes a person will need to take the homeopathic remedy three times a day to feel better, or sometimes, only taking the remedy once will be enough to stimulate the person’s body to heal itself!  If the remedy is only administered one time with positive results, then the philosophy is to ‘wait and see’ how the body will respond.  Patience is a virtue when it comes to healing a problem deep at its core, where the illness originally began.

Homeopathy is a medicine that is both safe and effective for people of all ages and in all stages of life.  Homeopathy takes different properties from nature (plants, elements, bacteria and so on) and converts them into healing remedies.  Homeopaths study and learn the characteristics that define the active agent of each remedy in order to prescribe them appropriately.  This knowledge is the key feature in the successful diagnosis and effective treatment of illnesses through homeopathy.

There are a large number of children who yearly avoid tubes in their ears thanks to the wonders of homeopathy.  Adult arthritis sufferers have stopped taking anti-inflammatory medications once they’ve found the remedy best suited for them.  Adults and children alike who have suffered from chronic eczema have been greatly helped with homeopathy, after all other medicines have failed them.  These are merely a few examples that first come to mind, where homeopathy has proven to be a savior.

A visit to a homeopath typically includes the homeopath asking many questions, which might initially seem irrelevant, but those silly questions are what produce the clues to understanding which remedy is needed to heal the specific condition.  Among the many questions asked are those concerning the individual’s natural tendencies, food choices and physical or emotional ailments.  These questions are essential because from the Homeopath’s perspective it isn’t of primary concern what the condition is called, rather how it affects the individual person.  Homeopathy investigates the ‘entire person’—looking to see where there are ‘imbalances’ and, in response, balances the whole body.  However, Homeopathy stabilizes the body in a way that is specific to the individual person, and who she is.  For example; if five people come down with the ‘flu’, each person will have contracted the same virus, but it will manifest with different symptoms depending on the individual.  One person may have a high fever while another low grade fever.  One may suffer from muscle pain and sweating, while the other will have bone pain and feel chilly.  Five different people with the same flu might require five different homeopathic remedies, because everyone’s body has the potential to react differently to a similar experience.

Furthermore, Homeopaths strive to discover who a person truly is, as a unique being, in order to prescribe a remedy that both matches the illness as well as the inimitable qualities of that person.  Though it is often a long and arduous process for a Homeopath to really get to know the multi-faceted nature of each person, it is ultimately necessary, for proper results.  Once a Homeopath gets to know you and prescribes the appropriate remedy, the results of homeopathic medicines are safe, long lasting and easy to use without the presence of uncomfortable side effects.

How is a homeopathic remedy made?  During the process of making a remedy the ‘substance’ is diluted many times and then shaken repeatedly (successed).  This liquid dilution is then poured over sugar pellets which absorb the liquid, and after drying, the sugar pellets are put into a vial and labeled. On each bottle you will find the name of the remedy—for example Belladonna, a number and letter. The number and letter correspond to the remedy’s strength, or potency. The numbers range from 6x, 6c, 12c, 15c, 30c, 200c, 1M, 10M.  The number represents the amount of times the remedy was diluted and shaken (succussed).  The philosophy with homeopathy is that the more the substance is diluted, the stronger it becomes.   So, diluting the substance 200 times makes it stronger than diluting it 6 times. This means that a homeopathic remedy at 200c is stronger than 6c.

Lower numbers or ‘lower potencies’ are used for conditions that are visible to the eye, or that affect the skin or mouth.  So, if you have a canker sore you may try a remedy called Borax 6x.  Since this remedy is relatively weak—a low potency—it can be repeated up to four times a day until the canker sore is resolved.  On the other hand, if a person experienced a trauma like witnessing a terrible car accident and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, this patient would require a remedy at a ‘higher potency’ that is given less frequently.  The homeopath may prescribe a remedy called Aconite 1M which is used for emotional shock.  Since the ‘potency’ is higher, the patient is advised to take the remedy only once, and then wait for, perhaps, a week or a month to see how he or she has responded.

Therefore, part of the job of the homeopath is also to match not only the homeopathic substance—as represented by its name, but also the potency.  For example, if a person has a terrible fever, he or she may be prescribed a remedy called Belladonna 30c.  30c is chosen because it is a potency that is in the middle of the potency range and fevers are considered middle level illnesses—affecting much of the body.  The 30c works on the physical and mental states of the patient in a more precise way than the Borax 6x, for example, works on a canker sore—which is more localized in the body and therefore is not considered a middle level illness.  Why choose Belladonna?  Belladonna is a poisonous plant that if ingested in its natural form would cause the symptoms of fever—sweating and dilated pupils—but if diluted and ingested in microscopic amounts, the reaction is to lessen the patient’s symptoms until the person gets better.  It is thought in this philosophy of “like cures like” is that the energy of the remedy collides with the energy of the illness and dissipates the imbalance.

If you are new to homeopathy, a basic and easy to use remedy is remedy called Arnica.  I recommend purchasing the Arnica at a dose of 30c.  Arnica 30c is for bumps, bruises, or muscle pain.  This is a great universal remedy that is a beneficial to have in your first aid kit at all times.  It can be used for pain caused either by a strained muscle after an intense workout, or after dental work.  Arnica is helpful to have at little league games for the inevitable bruises, or from the sores that accompany a family hike!  Let this remedy be your first taste into the world of homeopathy.

How birth affects breastfeeding

Our job as doulas is to help facilitate a safe and magical birth for our clients.  We are trained to support our clients before, during and after birth.  So, does the birth experience affect the baby’s ability to nurse?  The answer is yes, and sometimes no!  We have all had clients that had a ‘horrible’ birth, including, induction, pitocin, a nasty doctor, and then go onto have the perfect nursing experience with no breastfeeding problems.  We have also seen women who have had ‘perfectly wonderful’ births who struggle with breastfeeding. So does birth affect the breastfeeding baby?  The answer is that there will always be exceptions to the rule, but to the general population the answer is yes.  Drugs used during labor pass through the placenta and usually affect most babies.  The example I give is that some people can have one glass of wine and feel perfect, and others, with the same glass of wine will feel groggy, spacy and ‘out of it.’  The same is true for babies; some can handle the medications often used during labor while most cannot.  I have seen over 5000 babies breastfeed and I can tell right away the babies who were exposed to medications during labor and those that were not.  The medicated babies often have more trouble following directions and understanding cues from the mother.  They have more difficultly identifying which way to turn their head to find the nipple, and often they have trouble coordinating the pattern that is necessary for breastfeeding which is ‘suck, swallow, and breathe’.  Many of these babies do ‘suck, suck, suck, and swallow, breathe, breathe.’  When babies have this incorrect pattern it is difficult for them to transfer the milk from their mothers’ breast into their tummies, and in addition, they often pull and tug on the nipple causing pain.

What can a doula do to ensure proper breastfeeding?

  • Make sure the baby is transferring milk from the breast to the baby (and not just pacifying on the breast).
  • Make sure the baby is having 6-8 wet and dirty diapers in a 24 hour period.
  • Teach the mother that her baby must eat 8-12 times in a 24 hour period.
  • Learn to identify breastfeeding problems and have a good referral for the mother to get breastfeeding help sooner rather than later (sore nipples are not normal even for the first few days of nursing).

Most importantly, make the mom feel secure, strong and confident about her ability to breastfeed even if the birth was not the ‘perfect birth’ she dreamed of.

Breastfeeding your premature baby

If you give birth to a premature baby you can breastfeed, even if your baby spent time in the NICU and was given bottles.  It may take some time for you and your baby to master the skill of breastfeeding but with some patience and, most importantly, proper guidance you can be successful. In fact, the prevailing thought is that breast-milk is even more important for premature babies than it is for full-term babies, because the nutrients in breast-milk will help the internal organs, which did not have as much time to form without the full nine months of gestation, develop to their fullest potential.  The other vital component, that is just as important as nutrients are for the baby, is the act of the mother touching and caressing her child.  Breastfeeding moms, who normally nurse their babies at least eight times a day, end up touching their babies more often than formula feed babies are touched. It is not that bottle-feeding mothers do not want to touch their babies; however, once the breastfeeding baby is properly latched onto the breast, these moms tend to stroke their babies throughout the nursing event. This motherly nurturing in turn helps stimulate proper growth.

Researcher Dr. Schanberg, from Duke University, found in his extensive research with animals that, “when mother rats licked their babies, the action produced a cascade of much needed compounds, in fact, the growth hormones that produce normal body development.  Remove the mother—(but keep giving the rats the needed nutrients), remove the touch of her tongue, and the baby rats became stunted beings.”  Furthermore, he states that this need for touch also transfers to humans, especially premature babies, and that encouraging the mother to touch and hold her baby, “led to better health and shorter hospital stays.”  Ashley Montagu writes in his book called Touching, The Human Significance of the Skin that, “gestation in the human being continues for as long outside the womb as it does inside the womb and places the end of gestation at the age at child a child begins to crawl on all fours, about nine months old”.  He also states “that touching and coddling a baby is needed all the time to help build the child’s immune system and their emotional health”.

Not to understate the importance of nursing a premature baby, below are some guidelines and suggestions for breastfeeding premature (premie) babies:

  • Premies have smaller mouths so it is imperative that you latch your baby onto your breast as deeply as possible.  If the premie is not on the breast deeply enough, it is impossible for the baby‘s tongue to reach the mother’s milk cavities that are located deep within the breast.
  • Almost all of the premies that I have treated required breast compression in order to keep up the proper nursing rhythm on the breast.
  • Although I am a fan of nursing on only one breast during a feed with a term-baby, I encourage moms to use both breasts during a single feed with premies.
  • Often premies do best when a mother uses a nipple shield, (even if the mother has protruding nipples).  It appears that these small critters like to experience a firm shape in their mouths.
  • Some premies who are having endurance problems—an inability to stay awake on the breast, will require the use of an SNS (supplemental nursing system) in order to breastfeed.
  • If your child has nipple confusion as a result of feeding from bottles in the NICU, finger-feeding for a few days will teach the baby how to eat with a flat tongue, which will allow transfer back onto the breast.
  • If your baby is taking the breast, but is not putting on enough weight, the recommended procedure is to nurse the baby for 20 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of finger feeding.
  • Premature babies can fall asleep very easily on the breast, so it is important to watch carefully and listen for swallowing during nursing.  If the baby appears to be drifting off, take the baby off the breast before the sleep becomes too deep and reawakening becomes increasingly difficult.
  • Although all babies are different, I have recognized two distinct nursing patterns used by premies.  The first pattern is employed by those babies who need to eat uninterrupted for twenty minutes with lots of breast compressions.  Secondly the ones who need to eat for 5-7 minutes, need to be burped, then again for 5-7 minutes burped and again a third time.
  • Most moms are not warned about the ‘premie-grunt,’ it is a grunting nose that is not a sign of danger but a sound these children make in between their times of nursing.  It is a deep guttural sound that leaves as the child grow.
  • If you feel frustrated with your new “little-package” get help from a lactation consultant, from my experience, these little guys become great nursers when given the proper guidance.

Pregnancy-Can you remain normal?

When you become pregnant there is a glow to your skin, beautiful rosy cheeks, and a look of contentment in your eyes.  The world is wonderful while a beautiful baby is growing inside of you.  As you walk down the street you seem to glide like a queen, happiness is abundant, and only words of wisdom flow from your mouth.  That is how we all imagine our pregnancies will be and indeed there are some women who will have this experience, but for the rest of us pregnancy comes with big challenges.  Most women will attest to the fact that brain fog, forgetfulness and exhaustion can be overwhelming and even debilitating.  Often, trying to cope with these unexpected conditions leads to misunderstanding and added stress.  For women who had prided themselves on their ability to be organized, hardworking and calm, pregnancy becomes less than glamorous.

What your midwife or doctor may have forgotten to tell you is that your brain is actually shrinking during your pregnancy and that may account for your newly found foggy brain and forgetfulness.  New research conducted by Dr. Louanne Brizendine describes this phenomenon in her book The female brain, “Between six months and the end of pregnancy, MRI brain scans have shown that a pregnant woman’s brain is actually shrinking.  This may be because some parts of her brain get larger as others get smaller—a state that gradually returns to normal by six months after giving birth.”  Not since puberty have there been so many changes going on in a woman’s brain or body.  The ducts in her breasts are growing and forming, her uterus is stretching, and her brain is actually shrinking! Women who were CEO’s, attorneys, doctors, or designers are surprised to find that as their pregnancy progresses they feel distracted, forgetful and generally spacey.  Not to worry, because within six months after the pregnancy the brain returns to its normal shape and size and scientists ,” believe the mother’s brain shrinks because of changes in cellular metabolism required for restructuring brain circuits—getting ready to turn some one-lane highways into superhighways.”  So all you smart women may even become brighter after your brain has re-structured itself.  But what can a woman to do to help improve her mental function while she is pregnant; to combat that fog and the forgetfulness she is experiencing?  The first herb that I would recommend is Gingko, which addresses these issues wonderfully, and is safe after the first trimester of pregnancy.  Gingko works by increasing a woman’s circulation throughout her body, helping to bring more blood flow to the brain, and with increased blood flow comes the needed oxygen and carbohydrates which proper brain function requires.  (In addition to making your mind feel sharper, this increased blood flow has the added benefit at the non-thinking end of the body, helping with varicose veins, which plague many women during and after pregnancy.)  Fish oils are also very helpful for brain health.  Although many women cannot tolerate the smell and taste of fish while pregnant, if you are one of the lucky ones who can, your brain will function at its peak performance with a good quality fish oil.  It is important to know, that fish oils, like most things in life, follow the basic rule of, “you do get what you pay for”, and cold pressed oils are in general, better.  If you cannot tolerate fish oil, or for whatever other reason you might have, flax seed oil, which is also high in omega-3 fatty oils and therefore healthy for the brain, can be used as a substitute. Another healthful suggestion is drinking nettle tea, although not specific for brain health, nettles are an overall tonic.  Used internationally during pregnancy during the entire pregnancy, this general tonic provides trace vitamins and minerals to tone and strengthen the body.  Busy women who otherwise don’t take the time to sit down and eat their green vegetables, which are helpful for brain health, can feel confident that they are including needed vitamins into their diets by adding one or two cups of strong nettle tea.

Besides the intake of supplements, a proven way to improve mental sharpness and combat brain fog, while the brain is restructuring itself, is to exercise.  There is a chemical in the brain called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is directly associated with memory, as it is normally present in the hippocampus, an area of the brain which is related to memory and learning.  BDNF is also produced during exercise.  Dr. John J. Ratey writes in his book Spark that, “exercise strengthens the cellular machinery of learning.  BDNF gives the synapses (in the brain) the tools they need to take in information, process it, associate it, remember it, and put it into context.”  Simply stated, without all of the chemistry, your memory and brain clarity will be better after you exercise.   So, if you were exercising before you became pregnant keep it up, and even if you weren’t big on exercise before pregnancy, try to incorporate movement whenever you can.  For women who can’t schedule into their day the time needed for aerobics, swimming, yoga or tai chi, then brisk walking will not only increase BDNF for brain health, but it will improve stamina and  overall circulation as well.  If you feel you can no longer keep up your exercise routine try to move your body as much as you can.  Even lifting your leg up and down while working at a desk, parking your car farther away from the entrance to the building you are entering or taking the stairs rather than the elevator, will help.  Although it is often difficult to begin exercising, exercise combats exhaustion with the invigorating feeling that comes afterward.

An herbal approach to combating exhaustion and increasing energy during pregnancy is through the use of eleuthero.   Eleuthero, an adaptogenic herb which acts on the adrenal glands, brings the body back into balance, increases mental stamina, and stabilizes stress hormone levels.  Eleuthero is best used after the first trimester.

The management of stress, and the possible increase of stress during pregnancy is an additional issue worth investigating, and the research on glucocorticoids conducted by Professor Robert Sapolsky merits looking at, as we try to lessen the stress we feel.  Glucocorticoids are chemicals released from the adrenal glands during times of stress, as part of the body’s natural stress-response.  When there is a crisis—-or even a stressful thought—-the brain secretes corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which in turn triggers the release of glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as cortisol, and other stress hormones, like adrenaline, which shift the brain and body into crisis mode.  As a result, breathing and pulse quicken and other functions go into hyper-mode.  When the crisis is over, stress hormones are supposed to slip back to their previous, lower, baseline levels.  However, if baseline levels are high all the time from living in a city, getting stuck in traffic, working while pregnant, then even after a crisis they body will remain at some level of stressful crisis mode.  For a pregnant woman and her fetus, high cortisol levels pose special risks, like preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension), and is associated with an increased possibility of early miscarriage or premature birth.  Even though some forms of stress are normal during pregnancy, ‘chronic stress’ must be avoided.  It is important to make sure that the body, mind, and adrenal glands have a proper ‘down-time’ after a stressful experience.  Again, eleuthero, and also an herbal type of oats are herbal ways to help the body recover.  While the familiar breakfast cereal oatmeal is made from the stalk of the grain, the herb called fresh milky oats is made from oat seeds.  These seeds which are sold in tincture (liquid) form, have a calming effect on the central nervous system and are used for nervous exhaustion, anxiety and impaired sleep.  It’s a safe non-toxic herb which can be used throughout the entire pregnancy, and although it’s calming, it actually invigorates and doesn’t make you tired.  The herb fresh milky oats also has the benefit of containing calcium and magnesium in an absorbable form, which is valuable for pregnant moms.

Another way for the body to recover from stress is a massage.  Everyone knows that massage is relaxing but studies are showing that it has real therapeutic effects reducing cortisol levels. Studies at the Touch Research Institute have demonstrated that massage has an anxiety-reducing, calming, and relaxing effect of adults. The Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology discusses a study on the benefits of massage. Twenty-six pregnant women were assigned to a massage therapy or a relaxation therapy group for 5 weeks. Both groups reported feeling less anxious after the first session and less leg pain after the first and last session. Only the massage therapy group, however, reported reduced anxiety, improved mood, better sleep and less back pain by the last day of the study.  So, you need to think of massage not as a luxury but as a medical necessity.  The effects of massage can increase circulation, help combat exhaustion, and relieve stress.  While you are getting your therapeutic massage ask the therapist to add a little lavender essential oil throughout the massage and add a little grapefruit essential oil at the end.   Lavender oil has a calming and relaxing component that alleviates tension and grapefruit oil is invigorating and uplifting.

The good news is that billions of women have been pregnant and have given birth even with their brains shrinking, being exhausted and their lives stressful so it seems statistically favorable that you can and will survive the changes and challenges of pregnancy.   With the help of herbs, exercise, and massage the pregnancy may not be angelic but can be very rewarding.

Post-Partum Depression

Q. Many moms fear postpartum depression, but many nursing moms are unaware that depression can occur during and after weaning. What could cause this unexpected emotional change in mothers?

A. A lot depends on why she stopping her breastfeeding.  If she was really trying hard to make the breastfeeding work and her Doctor made her stop because the baby was not gaining enough weight, or if she was complaining of nipple pain and no one diagnosed her with a ductal yeast infection so she stopped nursing because of the pain these can situations can certainly cause the woman to feel depressed.  I have found that when women stops nursing out of a feeling of confidence and not a feeling of giving up because she is powerless the chance of sadness and depression is significantly lessened.

Q.  How can a mother determine if she’s feeling blue because her baby is no longer at the breast or if there is another reason for it?

A. Each case is so individual it is hard to generalize.  The best thing to do is make sure the reason you are weaning is for a reason you feel secure about and not out of the loss of how to problem solve the next step with the baby.  I work very hard with my clients to make sure they are successful in the first few months of breastfeeding so if they decide to stop nursing they feel secure knowing they did everything correctly to achieve a successful breastfeeding relationship. I feel moms that felt secure during the breastfeeding relationship will continue to feel secure as their relationship changes from a breastfeeding relationship to a non-breastfeeding relationship.  Some moms fear they will have trouble connecting to their child when they stop nursing because the breast becomes more than just a feeding tool.  It becomes: comfort, compassion, security, and calming.  These feeling are felt not only by the baby, but also for the mother.  When a mother weans she needs to continue activities that involve the one-on-one relationship she had such as reading a book, bathing, or just cuddling.  Often when mothers wean another member of the family takes over the feeding with a bottle so the mother may feel left out if she did not create other private activities with her child.

Q. Is depression from weaning less likely if a mother waits and allows her child to initiate the weaning?

A. Yes, yes and yes.  If the baby weans herself and the mother and baby had a good nursing relationship then mother and baby will feel fine with the weaning.  Babies will NOT nurse forever.  Either the child will become very interested in her surroundings, siblings, or fall in love with the taste and smell of foods.  Self-weaning usually never occurs before age 2 if the nursing was properly established in the beginning of the breastfeeding experience.  Most women who experienced self-weaning will say that it ‘just felt like it was the correct time.’

Q.  Is depression from weaning less likely if a mother initiates the weaning as soon as she believes she’s ready? (i.e., she’s tired of pumping, she’s tired of the biting, she’s just ready to be done, etc.)

A. I got a phone call from a woman once who called me frantically needing my assistance in helping her stop breastfeeding.  I asked her why she wanted to stop nursing.  She replied, “Because I HATE pumping. “ I repeated the question again.  Her reply was the same, “because I HATE pumping.”  I asked her why don’t you continue breastfeeding and stop the pumping.  She said, “What?  Give my breastfeeding baby formula when I am at work!”  Sometimes women get so overwhelmed about things like pumping, or putting their child on a schedule or having their babies sleep through the night that believe it is the breastfeeding that is a problem when it is often situations around the breastfeeding.  I would rather a woman just give her baby a bottle while she is at work and breastfeed when she is around her baby rather than pump if she hates pumping.

Q.  Please name a few ways that nursing moms can wean successfully so as to limit the potential for weaning depression.

A. She really needs to wean from a position of strength and not weakness.  If she is weaning because she is getting chronic breast infections or because her baby is crying all the time this will open the possibility of feeling like a failure.  If a woman has decided to wean from a place of strength then it may be important to try and make sure she includes in her life activities that stimulate oxytocin in her body.  Each time the baby latches on her breast the mother experiences a surge of oxytocin.  Many women may feel “down” without this hormone surging often in her body.  Oxytocin is called the “love hormone” because it brings joy to a person.  Ways to get oxytocin other than breastfeeding is getting a massage, exercising, being intimate with your mate, to name a few.

Q.  What are the best ways for a mother to cope with weaning and any associated depression?

A. There are some wonderful herbs available to help mother cope with hormonal changes.  My favorite is the herb Motherwort.  It is best taken in tincture (liquid) form.  25 drops diluted in water can be taken 3 times a day.  Motherwort helps balance the hormones and helps bring happiness and joy back into a woman if she is having trouble with sadness. It is an herb that can be felt within 20 minutes of taking the herb and it helps restore a woman’s calm and composure.

Birthing 101

“The universe is an infinite reservoir of unimaginable energy–and you are an expression of that energy”, says Deepak Chopra in his book Boundless Energy and one of the most powerful energies in the universe is that of the human contraction during birth.  These intense contractions are needed to bring life into this universe.  The body is made up of billions of cells, and once a woman understands that the apparently material structure of the body is really nothing other than pure energy than a woman can begin to understand what she must learn to control during her labor and that is energy. Once a woman understands that this energy is a powerful,-intense-positive energy then the woman can learn to master this energy and not be intimidated by it.  If a woman is educated and properly informed about births energetic power she can have a fabulous birth and can be empowered for life.  For women who are not properly prepared this powerful energy-the contraction-will overtake her and make her crumble under its intensity.   A woman needs to be physically and emotionally prepared to handle this whirling, spinning, and intense power; if she’s not prepared she will become scared and overwhelmed.  Just as people prepare for marathons months in advance, woman need to gather their knowledge and physical strength in order to endure and blossom with the intensity of labor.  The parable of contractions during birth is often compared to that of the bodysurfer at the ocean side.  The bodysurfer must position and ready himself for the wave in order to ride it properly and not get dragged under the water.  As the wave approaches the surfer readies himself, feeling and preparing for the impending wave.  As the wave comes closer the surfer needs to anticipate the wave’s movements and be prepared to jump in front of the wave ready to ride the wave not allowing the wave to break on him.  In order to ride the wave safely and float to shore with ease he needs to make sure his body position is correct he breathes at the correct time and controls his body moving with the wave not working against the wave’s energy.  If the surfer times the wave properly the surfer will gracefully and smoothly glide to shore feeling invigorated and in control.  If the surfer is not prepared and gets distracted, the approaching wave will crash down on the bodysurfer, pulling him under the water making it difficult to breath.  The wave will end up controlling the surfer and ultimately will end up crashing on the sand, out of breath and exhausted.  This is the same with contractions during labor.  If unprepared, a woman gets pulled under by the pain unable to catch her breath, and when the contraction finishes she is “washed up”, feeling out of control and exhausted.  The goal for a woman is to learn to anticipate the contraction, jump ahead of the pain with her mind, learn what to do with her body and gracefully ride the contraction, being a partner with the powerful energy helping bring her baby into the world and not crushed by its power.

To experience an amazing birth a woman needs: a great doula or labor-assist, having only people in the room who will not contribute unwanted feelings or thoughts, through knowledge of what to do with her body during contractions, and by not letting fear and preconceived notions overpower the mind.

When you feel safe and supported in labor, your brain produces hormones that help you to relax, allowing your labor to progress, and reducing your risk of needing interventions that can cause complications.  Research has shown that the better the support a woman receives, the easier her labor will be, and the more satisfied she will be with her birth experience.  It is also well documented that women who receive continuous labor support from midwives, doulas, or labor-assists are less likely to have a cesarean birth, or other potentially dangerous medical interventions.  Therefore, it is important to interview a few doulas and choose the one that feels right for you.  One who seems medically knowledgeable, sensitive to your personal strengths and weakness, and who has sense of humor.

It is also important not to have people around you during labor that make you feel uncomfortable.  If your mother or mother-in-law wants to be there and you do not feel comfortable, then they can be invited to visit you after the birth, helping to cook you meals, or hold the baby while you bathe.  This is not a time to worry about offending anyone or hurting their feelings or taking care of others.  The people at your birth need to have the intuitive sense to understand what your personal needs are during your birth and not impose their thoughts or personal experiences.

The next important thing is to study and read about what to do with your body during contractions and pushing.  Lack of movement during the birthing time enables the intense energy of the contractions to build and compound in the abdomen which causes a great deal of unnecessary pain.  There are many good books available today that can guide a woman on the importance of an ‘active birth’.   Women need to move during labor.  Woman all over the world have developed what is called a ‘birthing dance’.  This is a dance where the woman leans forward supporting herself and moves her hips in a rhythmic swaying and spiraling movement. The spiraling that is used for natural childbirth is an actual physical movement where you spiral your hips in big flowing circles.  If you allow your body to glide along this spiral, then the intensity of the contractions are being actively moved and spiraled in a downward motion which prevents pain and focuses the energy in a useful way.  This swaying or spiraling opens your pelvis and encourages your baby to travel downward.  Deepack Chopra also teaches, “The same power that spins the planets around the sun resides within every human being, and it is abundantly available within you…….  The individual particles that make up the body are energy vibrations within the larger universal field.” A woman during labor has a choice to be a part of this vibrant universal energy. Being in an upright and standing position is healthiest for the mother and baby.  An interesting study was done regarding coached pushing (meaning someone told the mother when to push while she was in a laying position), or spontaneous pushing (letting her push when she felt like it, in a standing position).  The study conducted by Schaffer and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, May 2005, randomized 325 women giving birth. The results three months after birth showed: Women in the coached group had decreased bladder capacity and less urge to empty their bladder and were more likely to have an overactive bladder, and to have stress incontinence. This stands to reason because when you are on your back being told to ‘push’ you are pushing 7 pounds or so of baby uphill against gravity. Also, pregnancy hormones relax the ligaments allowing your pelvis to open at the time of the birth to making more room for your baby to pass through it. Lying on your back with the weight of your body pressing into the bed prevents the end of your spinal column (your sacrum) from flexing open. The women in the spontaneous group did not have the bladder symptoms.

The woman’s state of mind during labor is also crucial.  Women need to have the supportive people around them. The woman needs the freedom and the security to express her needs and feelings as silly as they may seem.  She needs to be encouraged to understand this is a powerful energy that she can handle and she needs to be allowed to find her deep inner strength.  There was an interesting study done on dogs.  They took the pain away from the female dogs during labor and it was found that the dogs had trouble bonding to their pups and had trouble feeding them.  So, it is important to understand that somehow we women are supposed to experience pain (or energy disguised as pain) during labor.  It is an experience that can help us grow and teach us to go beyond our breaking points which ultimately makes us stronger and more able to handle the difficult road ahead of us—-parenting.

Basic Tips for Good Health

So now that you have cleansed your soul on Rosh HaShanah and promised HaShem that this year you will perform more mitzvots, learn more Torah and will be a better person, what’s left?  Well if I may suggest, let’s work on protecting and healing the body that Hashem has lent you, to house your neshama for your visit here on earth (and may you be blessed for may happy years).

Let’s begin with some basics, and to do this we’ll compare the body to a favorite machine of ours—the car.  In order for your car to run properly it needs gas, oil, and other fluids.  But if your car sits for too long these fluids get thick and congeal and your battery probably dies as well.  The best way to keep a car intact is to make sure it has gas, clean oil and that it moves.   Both of these factors also work for our bodies.  In order to stay healthy, with plenty of energy, we need to eat beneficial foods (or gas), stay hydrated (radiator, brake and transmission fluids), consume good oils and move around, or else our battery dies.

A master herbalist I was once working with said that if your clients can change only four small things in their lives, they will be surprised at how much better they will feel in just a few weeks.  Here they are:

  • Make sure to drink filtered water every day, and yes, eight cups a day are required for proper hydration.  Many people suffer from chronic exhaustion due to dehydration.
  • Switch your oil to olive oil in as many of your foods as possible. The extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil is the healthiest, but it has a pungent flavor.  This form of olive oil is best used at room temperature over salads, soups or meat.  For frying and baking one should use the extra light olive oil.
  • Change your salt to sea salt. Regular salt is mined from the ground, but salt coming from the sea is richer in minerals.
  • Add berries to your diet.

Now let’s discuss the issue of exercise.  We know that there are those avid exercisers who passionately love going to the gym, and the hikers who get exhilarated climbing big hills, and you even have yogi’s who enjoy contorting their bodies into abnormal positions while trying to breathe deeply, and then there are some of the rest of us.  There exists a population of people who wonder if exercise means bending down to tie their shoes, or working their biceps mean opening the refrigerator.  While this is not altogether bad—and we should always be encouraging—it certainly isn’t sufficient.  The old saying is in fact true—that if you don’t use, you’re bound to lose it—meaning that things in your body, like a car, will not function properly unless it is moved.  Many of my clients say, “Hey, I have never moved my body much, so what could be the problem?”  Unfortunately, the problem is that as we age, circulation becomes more difficult because the heart is a muscle that needs to be kept stimulated, in order to maintain proper blood flow.  Moms also ask, “Hey, if I bend down to pick up my  kids’ toys and stomp up and down the stairs yelling at them isn’t that exercise?”  The answer is: perhaps a little, yes, but sadly a lot more no.  It will increase your circulation, but during stressful times your body produces a harmful chemical called cortisol, and your heart will not benefit from nervous movement in the same way as it does from endurance movement.  During endurance movement the body stresses physically, but the mind remains at ease!  Imagine now that you decided to walk three times a week, during the first ten minutes you might have nervous thoughts, “Are my kids okay at home,”  “Gosh I forgot to buy gefilte fish for Shabbos”.   Concerns like these will produce the hormone cortisol, but after the first ten minutes of nervousness, you begin to relax and feel the wind on your face, feel your muscles moving, and think of how great it is you are finally exercising.  Now your body will begin to produce the wonderful hormone of oxytocin, which will help heal both your body and your mind.

Ideally, your goal during exercise should be raising your heart rate for a steady twenty minutes, at least three times a week.  So if your only form of exercise is walking, then begin at a slow steady pace and gradually increase it to a slightly more aggressive speed; which you can maintain for a full twenty minutes.

It was many years ago that my teacher, the herbalist, demanded that her clients consume lots of berries, and she did this before all of the current studies have confirmed the amazing healing properties of berries.  Researchers Barbara Shukitt-Hale, Ph.D., and Marshall G. Miller have found that, “recent research increasingly shows that eating berry fruits can benefit the aging brain. To analyze the strength of the evidence about berry fruits, they extensively reviewed cellular, animal and human studies on the topic. The review concluded that berry fruits help the brain stay healthy in several ways. Berry fruits contain high levels of antioxidants, compounds that protect cells from damage by harmful free radicals. The two also report that berry fruits change the way neurons in the brain communicate. These changes in signaling can prevent inflammation in the brain that contribute to neuronal damage and improve both motor control and cognition.”

So, to recap, let’s drink water, change to good oils, use sea salt, eat berries and exercise.  That doesn’t sound too difficult does it? By taking on these little changes you can have a year where your soul, body and brain have the power and energy to accomplish all they need to, down on earth.

Stress Busters

Today we women do it all—yes, you men also ‘do it all’—that’s just the way the world is today; keeping us constantly busy!  We work, parent, shop, cook, clean, and most of all, we get stressed!  Most adults know that we are supposed to find the time to take care of ourselves, but that doesn’t always happen.  We know we need to sleep, eat healthy food, drink water and exercise, but we usually find it difficult to include these necessities into our busy schedules.

Many countries have a rest period—a ‘siesta’ or a ‘tea-time’ in the middle of their work days. Imagine if we had the custom to stop the busy flow of our day and sit down to a relaxing cup of tea.  Imagine if that cup of tea was filled with calming medicinal herbs.  What would happen?  Wouldn’t we all become calmer, or feel less stressed?   The answer is emphatically yes!

When I first studied herbal medicine, ‘tea-time’ is what my teacher believed everyone should do at least once a day.  She taught us that certain herbal teas could help counter the terrible side-effects of chronic stress such as high blood pressure, headaches and digestive disorders.  She spent a lot of time teaching us how to make wonderfully relaxing herbal blends.  In my first few months of practice, I believed I could convince my clients of the need for this ‘tea-time’ ritual, but since most of my clients were habitually busy, running from one activity to the next, ‘tea-time’ was not going to happen for them in the foreseeable future.  Most of my clients didn’t even have time to wait for the water to boil, let alone have time to steep the tea.  So I re-evaluated what I had learned and began offering a ‘quicker’ solution for my clients—I taught them about ‘tinctured herbs.’  Tinctured herbs are herbs that have been steeped in grain alcohol, in order to capture and preserve their medicinal qualities within a liquid form that is both potent and easy to take.  All one has to do is put 25-35 drops into a small cup of water or juice and drink it—the alcohol has no effect.  An herbal tincture or mix could be kept in a small bag or purse and taken while driving the carpool, before a big business meeting, as you run out of the house, as you are preparing dinner, or anytime you are feeling stressed.  And the good news is that the entire process takes only about 30 seconds.

There are many soothing and calming ‘anti-stress’ herbs; so each person will require a different herb, or different herbal combination, depending on the source of their individual stress.  Some people need only a single herb to help ease the negative effects of stress, while others find that combining all of the herbs listed below makes them feel their best, and here they are:

  • Motherwort is my all-time favorite herb to help stabilize moodiness.  This is an herb that can be felt within twenty minutes after taking it.  It is an herb that can be used by women of all ages and stages of their lives.  Motherwort is wonderful for taking that ‘edge off’ of your feelings and is helpful if you suddenly feel as if that ‘black-cloud’ is descending.  It can be used prophylactically if you know you will be encountering a difficult time.
  • Skullcap is for nervous tension and also helpful with anxiety.  Skullcap, like motherwort is an herb you will begin to feel working within twenty minutes of ingestion.  It is best used before an intimidating experience, like a business meeting you have been anticipating for weeks, or right before it is time to put your children to bed.  Skullcap can be taken over a long period of time, or as needed in the moment.
  • Mimosa bark is purported to bring ‘joy to a person’s heart’.  In Italy it was customary to bring the one you loved a bouquet of mimosa flowers.  So, in a similar vein, why not treat yourself with the special present of mimosa bark if you are just feeling sad, moody and unloved.  Mimosa bark can be used occasionally as needed.
  • Fresh milky oats is a wonderful herb if you have been through long-term stress.  Oats can help with frazzled nerves.  This herb is best taken three times a day over a long period of time.  This is not an herb whose affects you will feel right away.  Think of fresh milky oats as a massage for your central nervous system.
  • Eleuthero is an herb called an adaptogen.   Simply stated, adaptogens are a family of herbs that heal the entire body.  Eleuthero is especially useful for type-A personalities who work too hard and become ‘burned-out.’  This herb will help balance one’s adrenal glands.  Eleuthero is best taken three times a day for a long period of time to feel its effects.

While it is always best to work with an herbalist who can take your history, understand your personal needs and create a personal blend, the herbs that I have listed are safe and can be experimented with freely.  Most  of these herbs combine with most conventional drugs, but it is best to check with an AHG herbalist if you are not sure.

Hormonal Moodiness

Women at all stages of their lives get moody.  Moodiness can be seen in young girls as they enter puberty, women in their 20’s, 30’s, and still in older woman as they reach perimenopause and menopause into their 40’s and 50’s and 60’s. Indeed, it appears that women at all stages of life struggle with their moods. Some women handle their moodiness better than others, but as any man who has ever lived with a woman will confirm, the woman he loves is often moody.  Men can be moody also, but it just doesn’t seem to engulf them and take over their lives like it does for women.  Although women often attribute their moodiness to their menstrual cycles, they can also blame their moods on pregnancy, their postpartum stage of life and all their life changes, and they should.  The simple truth is that each of these changes brings with it a fluctuation in hormones, which does indeed affect their brains, and consequently the way they feel.

But why is it that woman tend to be moodier then men?  Current research has shown that women on an average make less serotonin (the happy chemical in the brain) than men. Scientists at the University of Montreal found that men’s brains, on average, make 52 per cent more than women. The reason might be tied to the differences in male and female sex hormones.  The way it works is like this: as a woman goes through her monthly cycles her estrogen levels raise and fall and low estrogen affects a woman’s moods because the brain needs estrogen to produce serotonin.  Most people don’t know that estrogen exists in the brain, but hormones, estrogen and serotonin, work in tandem because serotonin needs estrogen for its metabolism.  Therefore, as estrogen levels drop, so does serotonin.   So women’s fluctuating hormones definitely affect the stability of their moods.  Depending on how women react to the different hormonal patterns that exist, some women can be moody before their cycle, some after their cycle; while others feel imbalanced between their cycles.  It sometimes seems that just living as a female can be enough of an excuse for moodiness.   In the distant past, doctors used to describe women in their moody states as having ‘hysteria’, which is defined as,” unmanageable emotional excessesa.”  Wikipedia discusses that the history of the notion of hysteria, “can be traced to ancient times; in ancient Greece it was described in the gynecological treatises of the Hippocratic corpus, which date from the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Plato’s dialogue Timaeus compares a woman’s uterus to a living creature that wanders throughout a woman’s body, “blocking passages, obstructing breathing, and causing disease. The concept of a pathological, wandering womb was later viewed as the source of the term hysteria, which stems from the Greek cognate of uterus, ὑστέρα (hystera).”  The doctors of old were not aware of hormonal effects on the brain, so they blamed the uterus for women’s emotional upheavals.

So now that we know that monthly cycles and fluctuating hormones can directly affect our brains, what is a woman to do? Are there things a woman can do to help her better control her moods?  Fortunately, the answer is yes.  First, she can begin by charting her moods to help her anticipate and understand her unique mood-patterns.  The next step is to tune into her intuitive-self, to avoid those ‘triggers’ that can off-set her moods.  And, of course, she should know that exercising  will always help her stabilize her temperament, and that there are also herbal allies she can include in her life.

One of my favorite ways for women to understand their personal cycle of moodiness is by charting it.  To do this, keep a little calendar in your purse and two times a day chart what your mood is like.  Most women, once they tune into how they are really feeling and when they get moody, will begin to see a pattern to their moods.  Anticipating when moods could possibly be challenging, will give a woman the upper-hand in keeping her moods balanced; helping her to prevent inappropriate outbursts.  Many a woman will complain that her day starts out great and the next thing she knows is that her mood has changed, and it has changed the tone of the rest of the day along with it. What a woman needs to begin to do is to notice the physical triggers that affect her already sensitive, hormonal balance.  Is it that nasty co-worker’s comments that are triggering your bad mood, or is that daily call from your mother-in-law?  Although we can’t avoid all the triggers, there are many we can avoid if we begin to notice them, chart them, and realize the affect that they are having on us. For instance, if you shop at a certain grocery store where the clerk always annoys you, shop somewhere else, or if the sandwich stand you frequent has a nasty worker, get your lunch somewhere else.  Don’t let someone else’s offensive personality become a trigger that puts you in a bad mood.

Another tool we have within us is our intuitive-self.  Your intuitive-self is that little voice that comes into your head and sends up the red-flags, warning you that a situation or person can have a negative effect on you. Most women are so busy trying to do the socially correct or nice thing that they often wipe out that intuitive feeling and just push through any disturbance.  But when we just push-through things, it often leaves us feeling angry or frustrated, and that can disrupt the delicate balance of our hormones.

It is very important throughout the day to take a moment to take a few deep breaths and really ‘check-in’ on yourself, to see how you are feeling.  Are you feeling frustrated or mad, are you feeling hurt or overwhelmed?  Once you clarify what you are feeling, you have the ability to choose whether or not those feelings will overtake you, affecting your body.  Dr. Judith Orloff, a psychiatrist who teaches her patients about their power to control the energy they take in from other people and helps them to understand the energy they give off to other people, teaches us that, “The main source of happiness and well-being comes from the heart, that energy center or “chakra” located in the mid-chest that is the source of loving-kindness and compassion. When we begin to open this area, the sweetness of this energy flows forth in our bodies to lessen fatigue and buoy our mood. A technique I suggest for opening the heart is simple. Get in a quiet place. Take a few steady, deep breaths. If thoughts intrude keep focusing on your breath. Then picture an image that is loving and positive. It may be a child’s face, a beautiful flower, a waterfall. Hold that image for a few minutes and feel the positive energy of the heart open and flow through you.”  This may seem like a silly idea if you are beginning to feel ‘hormonal’ or ‘moody’, but the idea of breathing and taking the moment to try and shift your energy, works wonders for many women. This exercise can actually stop the chemical reaction that begins to occur when your stress hormones begin to kick in. This is a wonderful tool that can help bring you back to your center, or personal place of control. Taking that moment to acknowledge your feelings can help prevent things from building up and not allow your mood to explode.

Is it really fair to let your moods affect other people?  If you are tracking your moods and you begin to feel as if ‘that mood’ is soon approaching, try your best to temporarily separate yourself so that your personal energy doesn’t offend anyone.  It is perfectly okay for you to feel moody, but it really isn’t fair to expose others to it.

There is another method of mood control you may want to explore and that is the world of botanicals. There are many herbs that can help us balance our hormones and brain chemistry, and generally help to relieve the stress that our bodies accumulate as a result of our moodiness.

  • Motherwort is my all-time favorite herb to help stabilize moodiness.  This is an herb that can be felt within twenty minutes after taking it.  It is an herb that can be used by women of all ages and stages of their lives.  Motherwort is wonderful for taking that ‘edge off’ of your feelings and is helpful if you suddenly feel as if that ‘black-cloud’ is descending.  It can be used prophylactically if you know you will be encountering a difficult time, or if you look at your calendar and know that your menstruation is approaching.
  • Chaste berry is a fabulous herb if your menstrual cycle is not regular, but changes from month to month.  Often extreme moodiness happens when a woman is anticipating her menstruation and it is delayed.  Often during that ‘waiting time’ a woman feels edgy and agitated.  Chaste berry is not a fast acting herb and it usually takes about three months to help regulate a cycle, but chaste berry is worth the wait.  Once a woman’s cycle is regulated she usually feels more control over her emotions.   
  • Skullcap is for nervous tension with anxiety.  Skullcap, like motherwort is an herb you will begin to feel working within twenty minutes of ingestion.  It is best used before an intimidating experience, like a business meeting you have been anticipating for weeks, or right before it is time to put your children to bed.  Skullcap can be taken over a long period of time or as needed in the moment.
  • Fresh milky oats is a wonderful herb if you have been through long-term stress.  Oats can help with frazzled nerves.  This herb is best taken three times a day over a long period of time.  You will not feel the effect of oats right away, but be assured that the herb will be doing its job.  Think of fresh milky oats as a Band-Aid for your central nervous system.
  • Mimosa bark is purported to bring ‘joy to a person’s heart’.  It was an Italian custom to bring the one you loved a bouquet of mimosa flowers.  So, in a similar vein, why not treat yourself the special present of mimosa bark if you are just feeling sad, moody and unloved.  Mimosa bark can be used occasionally as needed.
  • Eleuthero is an herb called an adaptogen.   Simply stated, adaptogens are a family of herbs that heal the whole body.  Eleuthero is especially useful for type-A personalities who work too hard and become ‘burned-out.’  This herb will help balance your adrenal glands and will help bring physical tone back into damaged areas that stress has caused.  Eleuthero is best taken three times a day for a long period of time to feel its effects.

A woman who suffers from moodiness should not forget the necessity of exercise and its powerful effect on our hormones and our brain chemistry.  In a study led by Dr. Jeremy Sibold, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Movement Science at the University of Vermont, Burlington states, “Moderate intensity aerobic exercise improves mood immediately and those improvements can last up to twelve hours.” This study looked at a twenty-four-hour window to see how long that ‘feel-good’ effect could last. They studied forty-eight healthy men (don’t forget men can get moody also) and women from approximately eighteen to twenty-five years of age and had them initially complete a mood survey. The participants were divided into two groups, an exercise group that rode a stationary bicycle for twenty minutes at moderate intensity, and a second group who were sedentary. The members from both groups repeated the mood survey one, two, four, eight, twelve and twenty-four hours later. The study found that the mood of the exercisers was better than that of the sedentary participants, both immediately after the workout and for up to twelve hours later!  The results are obvious—exercise is an inexpensive tool that can help balance our moods.

We may have been created with a propensity toward moodiness, which might be difficult for many women to control, but at least we have tools that can help us find a balance and govern our moods, rather than just be a victim to our hormonal swings.

Peri-Menoupause

Change is difficult for most people, but change can also be exciting.  Most women as they approach their forties feel stable and take pride in having successfully made it through their preteen years, teen years, and childbearing years and begin looking forward to aging gracefully.   Many have successful careers; many have teenage children or children that are already grown. Most women are married or have had at least one, or a few successful long-term relationships.  Their world seems somewhat established and predictable and then along comes these wild capricious hormones that can suddenly turn your world upside-down!  You can feel like a teen-ager again, taking things too seriously, randomly breaking out with pimples, and feeling as if you are on an emotional roller-coaster.   Your menstrual cycle can become erratic and unpredictable coming more frequently or lasting longer, with more cramping and raging emotions.  I remember longtime client of mine walking into my office in tears.  She was a school teacher, with a good marriage, had proudly married off two of her children, and was coping well with her remaining two teenage daughters.  Her life was organized and ran smoothly and going then suddenly, out of the blue, she was sure she was having an emotional break-down.  She was moody, getting her period every couple weeks, was impatient, easily agitated, having random panic attacks and began experiencing migraines!  She questioned what was happening to her and was afraid she was on the road to a nervous breakdown.  Being responsible she made an appointment her family doctor who said she was just ‘stressed and over-worked,’ so offered her tranquillizers to help her sleep more deeply at night.  He also referred her to a neurologist for her headaches.  The neurologist stated that she was just ‘stressed-out,’ handed her strong medication for her headaches and referred her to a psychiatrist.  The psychiatrist said she had unresolved anger problems and gave her a prescription for a psychotropic medication and also referred her to a gynecologist.  The gynecologist handed her a prescription for birth control pills to regulate her cycle and suggested a family therapist.   She was devastated and didn’t know where to turn.

She walked into my office and put the four different prescriptions on my desk and beckoned my opinion.  She was not a person who regularly took medication so to begin taking four medications all at once was daunting for her.  I looked into her eyes and asked her if any of her doctors spoke to her about perimenopause?   She peered at me through tearful eyes asking, ”Peri-what?” With a look of terror in her eyes she questioned, “Is it curable? Can I be a normal wife, teacher and mother again?”  “Yes,” I said as a look of relief and joy filled her eyes.  “Let me explain what is going on….”

Perimenopause is the normal stage in a woman’s life that precedes menopause.  It usually lasts somewhere between a few months to ten years, with the average time frame of about four years.  Perimenopause is the time when the woman’s body is transitioning from a period of fertility to a time of infertility.  The Mayo clinic defines perimenopause as, “the menopausal transition, it is the interval in which a woman’s body makes a natural shift from a more-or-less regular cycles of ovulation and menstruation toward permanent infertility, or menopause.  Woman start perimenopause at different ages.  In your 40’s, or even as early as your 30’s, you may start noticing the signs.  Your periods may become irregular—longer, shorter, heavier or lighter, sometimes more and sometimes less than 28 days a part.  You may also experience menopause-like symptoms, such as hot flashes, sleep problems and vaginal dryness.  As you go through the menopausal transition, your body’s production of estrogen and progesterone fluctuates. These hormonal fluctuations are at the root of the changes your body goes through during perimenopause. Perimenopause lasts up until menopause which is the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs.”

Most women will experience one or all of the below symptoms during perimenopause.

  • Hot flashes
  • Breast tenderness
  • Worsening of premenstrual syndrome
  • Decreased libido
  • Fatigue
  • Irregular periods
  • Vaginal dryness
  • Urine leakage when coughing or sneezing
  • Urinary urgency
  • Mood swings
  • Difficulty sleeping

Herbalists do not look at perimenopause, or menopause for that matter as a negative time, it is a powerful time for woman as they journey toward becoming a ‘wise-woman.’  In days of old, the ‘older-women’ in the clan were known as the ‘wise-women’ and those elders were revered and honored.  The ‘wise-women’ were the decision makers and the younger women summoned their guidance.  Susun Weed, the herbalist, teaches that during a woman’s childbearing years her energy, is centered around their pelvic area and their power is being pulled down and out of their bodies, firstly with their monthly menstrual cycles, then with childbirth.  When women begin to leave their childbearing years and enter their next stage of life their energy is no longer centered in their pelvic are, rather, being transferred and lifted toward her brain helping her develop into her wise woman stage, hence, hot flashes.  Susun Weed believes that older women become deeper thinkers and become more intuitive and brain scanning is now confirming her beliefs. Christiane Northrup a gynecologist and researcher theorizes that the female brain gets an intuitive boost by the hormone changes that take place at menopause.  Northrup suggests that the LH and FSH hormones, which are only high during ovulation in younger women, remain high for postmenopausal women.  There is some evidence that these two neuropeptides stimulate whatever brain function is responsible for intuition, making postmenopausal women more consistently intuitive.    Their body may be slowing down but their brain (with a proper diet, exercise and sleep) can become sharper and more intuitive.  According to Dr. Brazeltine a neuropsychiatrist, “women’s intuition is likely more biological than mystical”. It is a time that the body and soul is preparing for the second phase in a woman’s life.

If our goal during our perimenopausal period is to mold ourselves to become the wise-centered-balanced woman how do we get there?  How can we gracefully exit out the other side to this place of being “wise?”

The way we become ‘wise-women’ is to tune into how we are really feeling and not worry about what people around us will feel.  Say what you feel (just try and say it as nicely as you can).  Take up new hobbies (even if you feel you do not have the ‘time’), be adventurous, see new places, try new foods, go to art galleries, buy a new perfume, take classes at your local college, and wear a new color dress.  But watch out, you can I still become pregnant during perimenopause!  So, if a baby is not in your plans for your middle years, you will need to continue birth control until you have gone at least 12 months in a row without having your period.

Daily suggestions to keep you stable emotionally and physically are:

  • Drink more water
  • Try to get to sleep earlier (often women wake up very early and find it difficult to go back to sleep)
  • Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
  • Meditate
  • Take deep breaths throughout the day

The following herbs have been used for centuries to help ease woman’s symptoms and help women adjust to their new lives.  The herbs can be used one to four times a day and are best used in tincture form (herbs soaked in grain alcohol.  The usual dose is 25-40 drops three times daily diluted in water or juice.  You can use the herbs singly or a few herbs mixed together.  It is best to work with a herbalist who can analyze your specific symptoms and make a blend that will best fit your personal needs. When you find the herb or herb combination that works for you your symptoms will be less severe and manageable. Companies such as Herbalist and Alchemist, Herbpharm, and Gaia have pre-made herbal combinations that are very well produced herbals.  Or you can try the single herbs yourself and create your own combination.

  • Sage-used to help relieve nervous tension.
  • Black Cohosh is helpful alleviating many symptoms including hot flashes, and is specific for hormonal depression.
  •  Motherwort-is used for emotion swings such as moodiness and sadness.
  • Skullcap-is used for nervous tension and anxiety.
  • Chaste berry– Is an over-all toner for the hormonal system; this herb is excellent for restoring and regulating hormonal balance.
  • Red Clover– hot flashes, osteoporosis, and improves cardio-vascular health.
  • Cramp bark/black haw mixture-used for cramping and PMS symptoms.

So enjoy this time of change and experiment with the herbs listed above.  You will find that a combination of these herbs will help assist your body in handling and enjoying this time of change in your life.