Who came up with the terrible term "withering age"?
I'm sure it was a man. By the way, this is only about women. Only women "wear and tear" and wither away. Men, on the other hand, always stay handsome, strong, and sexy with great stomach muscles, exactly like in the good old days when they exercised and were in shape.
But wait– maybe this isn't the case after all…
If you look around you, you will notice that women in their 50s look great. And if you ask them, they will also tell you that they feel great. Fifties are the new thirties, didn't we say that already? And why is this…?
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So, there is no "good" or "bad" in hormonal changes that occur when menstruation stops. It's just a new reality. We don't give birth and raise babies anymore. At most, we'll be helping out with the grandchildren in a couple of years, and that's only if we want to. Now we have time for our own personal growth, to learn what we really like, who we are, who is this man that snores next to me in bed, and to discover a whole new world. Whoever understands it this way, will have a whole new horizon opening up for her. And instead of crying about time passed, she will experience the adventure of her life.
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So what exactly happens to our body? According to Chinese medicine, everything in our body (and everything in general) contains Yin and Yang. In the optimal state, they are equal in power and function in perfect synergy.
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Yin is the cooling part, the slow part, that moisturizes and builds body tissue and symbolizes womens' nature. Yang is the warming part, quick, the motivation, that symbolizes mens' nature.
When we reach the age at which menstruation stops, we experience a great decrease in the amount of Yin in the body as opposed to the the Yang. This happens quite forcefully because during our lives, women lose a lot of blood during birth and each month when we menstruate. Also stress, increased physical activity, exaggerated sexual activity, lack of sleep, and excessive work habits, weaken the Yin, thereby enhancing the symptoms that accompany the cessation of menstruation.
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If in previous generations, it was the role of the woman to raise the children and take care of the home, today we are all superwomen that juggle between home, children, career, husband, the classroom and friends. In order to keep up with the race, we also have to look great, be full of energy, always ready and willing to jump into bed with our husbands, and in the meantime – also answer phone calls from the office, and organize carpools for our kids to their extracurricular activities.
So when women come to my clinic with complaints about what we call "menopause", they are totally exhausted, after neglecting their health and inner communication between body and soul, and that's because they don't have the time to deal with all that. Being that the soul does not have a mouth, it speaks to us via our bodies and our bodies are yelling: HELP!
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When the Yin weakens, and there is not the right process of cooling the body and moistening the body tissue, then the symptoms of heat waves, dryness, insomnia and more, begin. Then the Yin and the rest of the connected systems must be strengthened, and this wonderful woman must be reminded that this is her time to live, to get to know herself better and to take some time off from the "race". This doesn't mean that she has to give up the important things in her life, but rather to slightly change her order of priorities.
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Women who succeed in making this change experience a new and wonderful world, new and big horizons. In my clinic I meet many women who have gone through this process correctly and have discovered a whole new world of new interests, new strong friendships, and many other things that one can learn only after going through certain things in life and being ready.
So, I think it's time to change our negative approach and the horrible term "withering age" to something like "blossoming age", "age of discovery", "age of independence"… I don't know, find out for yourselves.
Lic. Ac. Hila Aloni
Treats women with Chinese accupuncture, healing, numerology and more.
Calls herself "process accompanier" because all women really need is accompaniment.