thanks again for your inspiring thoughts. I especially like the view on our gateways and how they interact with each other, and the search for activities that keep us connected with our inner child. I really think that staying flexible is one of our big callenges in life.
Your question about an other word for menopause: In german we often call it 'Wechseljahre' or just 'Wechsel'. I guess it would be translated with change - the years of change. But there ist also alternation, switch, transistion in it.... Funny that we also use in german the word menopause a lot, what just is no adequate description, like you said :). So maybe we could manage to change the migration of words in the other direction :).
Words are creating a reality, so I really think that it is worthwile to think about it :)
Having your chart of the changing hormones through life in mind (I liked it a lot, it gives a good general picture) I really think that Wechseljahre are a good description of the up and downs of hormones we have to deal with in these years.
Thanks for sharing the German word "Wechseljahre" or years of change/transition/switch. It's always interesting to know what words in other languages mean.
Also glad you enjoy the hormone chart. It helps put it into perspective!
Thank you for your lovely article and great writing
Yes, I have an alternative word for Andropause: Mid Life Transformation.
I just did a talk on it for a group of Qigong teachers.
You asked me to share it, so please find below is a summary of what I spoke about:
Andropause offers a man an opportunity to re-wire his brain, like it did in puberty.
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine comments on the physiology of male aging:
"At 40, a man’s Kidney energy declines, his hair falls out and teeth begin to whither. At 48, the man’s Kidney energy declines more, his Yang energy drops, his complexion whither. At 56, his Liver energy declines due to Kidney deficiency and his tendons become rigid. At 64, his life essence and vital energy is weak, as are his bones and tendons and his body becomes decrepit."
Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses a lot on your Kidneys for the management of Andropause, with the back up system of the eight extraordinary channels to helping to realign your life with your pre-heaven destiny.
MID-LIFE CRISIS is the popular term for a time of life when you come to realise your own mortality and how much time is left in your life. Sometimes, this time of crisis can be triggered by sudden Stress or Overload transitions, such as death of your parents or other family member, divorce, rape, unemployment, or even chemically in Menopause or Andropause (male menopause). Other triggers can be more subtle - job dissatisfaction, relationship dissatisfaction, depression, or the realisation you may never achieve the dreams of your youth.
CRISIS
The Crisis refers to the overwhelming desperation to change the Way you live your life (External) because it no longer matches who you feel you really are (Internal). Changes can include career, marriage, physical appearance, moving house, new hobbies. Unfortunately, this intense desperation to create change, any change, without any guidance or support, can create unintentional hurt for the people close to those undergoing a Mid-Life Crisis. Affairs, reckless spending (sports cars), wild parties, financial strain (quitting the job), and other sudden changes may unintentionally hurt others. In crisis, the need for change feels more important than anything or anybody else.
LOST
Most of the time people undergoing a Mid-Life Crisis are not sure what to change, or exactly how to change it. This may be due to an ego-based material lifestyle. A material life is generally resistant to change, especially the sudden changes experienced in a mid life crisis. In fact, this kind of change feels like death to the ego. This explains why the need to create change can feel like an intense struggle between life & death.
HIDDEN WISDOM
Although it is often hidden from the Ego, the wisdom to deal with change constantly surrounds us, and we spend most of our free time obsessed with it. STORY. Old and new stories, campfire tales, books, movies, fables and legends imbedded with the wisdom of people undergoing the process of change.
The basics of any story is fundamentally the journey of change or transformation. A story is about a Character encountering an Obstacle and attempting to overcome it. No need for change equals no story. The process of change is the story.
The Search for the Holy Grail. Jesusʼ Way of Love and Peace. Dorothyʼs search for a way home in the Wizard of Oz. Frodoʼs acceptance of the journey (with little chance of success) in Lord of the Rings. Obstacles, characters, and the Way of Change - all vary in every story. So much sage advice for inspiration.
TRANSFORMATION
The Taoist Alchemical tradition upholds the idea that a Mid Life Transformation is a positive, necessary part of life. Symbolically, it is the Alchemy of changing base metals (like lead) into noble metals (like gold). This is the Way (Tao means the way) of transformation. This is reflected in the Chinese calligraphy for Crisis, which means Chaos/Opportunity. In the midst of the intense chaos of change, is the opportunity to transform to something better.
YIN YANG
At about mid-life, Kidney Jing and Yin naturally start to decline. Jing is the ancestral Yin fluids used to drive our physical growth and functioning. When in decline, hormones change, and the symptoms of Andropause and Menopause emerge. Physically the body now has less ability to cool itself (yin), resulting in too much heat in the body (yang). This is called Empty Heat. Some women experience empty heat as sudden spikes of hot flushes.
The Empty Heat creates an upward pushing Yang heat in the body, without the ability to cool (calm) down. All that Yang heat travels up to the head and heart, which creates a feeling of agitation, of the urgent need to be busy doing something, anything. The compulsion to be busy is overwhelming. Yet this is the opposite of what we need to do.
The busier we become, the more Yang heat is generated, and the more we burn up our already depleted Jing and cooling Yin. Often we feel compelled to continue in intense Yang activity until we completely exhaust our cooling Yin. At this point, our Yang can no longer function and we collapse or have a meltdown/nervous breakdown.
REBALANCE
To create Balance, you need to balance the Yin and yang of your Kidneys. You need to do things to support and tonify your depleted cooling Yin, or tonify and warm your waning Yang energy, or both. You no longer have the energy to let the Yang Will dominate your life. This is the real change you need to make. Alchemically, you must now learn to look to the Yin of the Will.
Discovering the Yin of your Will is learning to work with your individual natural strengths & talents. Wu Wei - working smarter, not harder. This is learning to flow with the path of least resistance, like steering the boat where the river is flowing fast because this is usually the deepest & best course. It is looking back and seeing the path you have been on all along. It is a checkpoint to make sure you do what you were born to do, before it is too late.
ALCHEMICAL BALANCE
To create the balance of Alchemy is a two stage path:
1) Hold still in the dark.
2) Become the mountain
1) HOLD STILL IN THE DARK
This is when you discover the wisdom of the Yin within your Yang.
Use your Yang will to deliberately not do.
Do nothing, except find a point of active stillness, even if part of you screams to take action. Yin is stillness, and you must descend into to find the refined gold of your Yin.
Sacrifice your rational ego (even though it may feel like death) and plunge into the unknown… the path of Yin.
And wait to see what, if anything, comes to life.
You must be willing to let go, wait, trust, and surrender. This is the way of Yin.
To engage with your Yin Will, reflect on yourself and your life. It is about discovering your true talents and strengths. You are connecting with your Essence, your pre-heaven destiny
These days you can find many retreats, books, methodologies and health coaches to help you go through this navel gazing process.
As you consciously extinguish the light of your ego, you become aware of another light shining from the darkness.
This is the Yin light from below, the light of your Essence, of embodiment and matter.
Like a glow worm in a moist underground cave, your Yang shines now from below your belly button (between your kidneys) rather from above. This rarity of this light is like gold, and it feels very exciting when at last you stumble across it.
To hold still in the dark, to help create the balance you seek during a Mid-Life Transformation, you can use various techniques to support your health during this inward journey.
THE WAY OF BODY & MIND
BREATHING Retained Full Breath, Mixing Fire with Water (increases Yin & Jing)
DIET Creating Yin/Yang Balance with Food as Medicine, Fasting
SKIN Skin brush, Cold Showers/Baths, Saunas
BODY ALIGNMENT Qigong, Yoga Stretches, Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Tuina
MIND ONLY Meditation, Silence, Guided Meditation, Purification of Mind
PRACTICE OF LOVE Chanting, Serving, Gratitude, Repentance, Self Restraint
ASCETIC TRAINING Mantra chanting, Meditation, Purification
2) BECOME THE MOUNTAIN
When you discover the Yang contained within your Yin, you change your life.
You have discovered the secret location of the gold in your life.
Now you must go about the process of transforming lead into gold.
You must adjust your lifestyle to match the Will of your Yin.
It is no longer the Yang of your Will driving you.
You cease living your life to only please your parents, or others.
Instead, you align with your pre-destiny, your Essence, your Yin.
What you do now feels natural, effortless, because it connects with the passions and natural talents that come the easiest to you. This is Wu Wei - effortless action.
This is your pre-heaven destiny. What you were born to do.
You naturally enjoy it, because you align with it - it floats your boat.
A new illumination now enlightens you and leads the way back to your correct path.
Like a mountain, you find your place between heaven and earth.
You become steadfast, aligned and relatively unmovable to the ups and downs of life.
You align your individual Will with God/universe and attain wisdom.
Bibliography
1) The Web That Has No Weaver.
Kaptchuk, Ted J. (2nd Edition) 2000, PAGES 83-88, 95, 120-123
2) Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing
Wow. Thank you for sharing all of this. In Essence it is very much what I am writing about, but I love and value your perspective. There is so much wisdom contained in here.
Dear Suzanne,
thanks again for your inspiring thoughts. I especially like the view on our gateways and how they interact with each other, and the search for activities that keep us connected with our inner child. I really think that staying flexible is one of our big callenges in life.
Your question about an other word for menopause: In german we often call it 'Wechseljahre' or just 'Wechsel'. I guess it would be translated with change - the years of change. But there ist also alternation, switch, transistion in it.... Funny that we also use in german the word menopause a lot, what just is no adequate description, like you said :). So maybe we could manage to change the migration of words in the other direction :).
Words are creating a reality, so I really think that it is worthwile to think about it :)
Having your chart of the changing hormones through life in mind (I liked it a lot, it gives a good general picture) I really think that Wechseljahre are a good description of the up and downs of hormones we have to deal with in these years.
best greetings
Catherine
Thanks for sharing the German word "Wechseljahre" or years of change/transition/switch. It's always interesting to know what words in other languages mean.
Also glad you enjoy the hormone chart. It helps put it into perspective!
Thanks for sharing the German word "Wechseljahre" - years of change, transition. Glad you like the chart!
Hi Suzanne,
Thank you for your lovely article and great writing
Yes, I have an alternative word for Andropause: Mid Life Transformation.
I just did a talk on it for a group of Qigong teachers.
You asked me to share it, so please find below is a summary of what I spoke about:
Andropause offers a man an opportunity to re-wire his brain, like it did in puberty.
The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine comments on the physiology of male aging:
"At 40, a man’s Kidney energy declines, his hair falls out and teeth begin to whither. At 48, the man’s Kidney energy declines more, his Yang energy drops, his complexion whither. At 56, his Liver energy declines due to Kidney deficiency and his tendons become rigid. At 64, his life essence and vital energy is weak, as are his bones and tendons and his body becomes decrepit."
Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses a lot on your Kidneys for the management of Andropause, with the back up system of the eight extraordinary channels to helping to realign your life with your pre-heaven destiny.
MID-LIFE CRISIS is the popular term for a time of life when you come to realise your own mortality and how much time is left in your life. Sometimes, this time of crisis can be triggered by sudden Stress or Overload transitions, such as death of your parents or other family member, divorce, rape, unemployment, or even chemically in Menopause or Andropause (male menopause). Other triggers can be more subtle - job dissatisfaction, relationship dissatisfaction, depression, or the realisation you may never achieve the dreams of your youth.
CRISIS
The Crisis refers to the overwhelming desperation to change the Way you live your life (External) because it no longer matches who you feel you really are (Internal). Changes can include career, marriage, physical appearance, moving house, new hobbies. Unfortunately, this intense desperation to create change, any change, without any guidance or support, can create unintentional hurt for the people close to those undergoing a Mid-Life Crisis. Affairs, reckless spending (sports cars), wild parties, financial strain (quitting the job), and other sudden changes may unintentionally hurt others. In crisis, the need for change feels more important than anything or anybody else.
LOST
Most of the time people undergoing a Mid-Life Crisis are not sure what to change, or exactly how to change it. This may be due to an ego-based material lifestyle. A material life is generally resistant to change, especially the sudden changes experienced in a mid life crisis. In fact, this kind of change feels like death to the ego. This explains why the need to create change can feel like an intense struggle between life & death.
HIDDEN WISDOM
Although it is often hidden from the Ego, the wisdom to deal with change constantly surrounds us, and we spend most of our free time obsessed with it. STORY. Old and new stories, campfire tales, books, movies, fables and legends imbedded with the wisdom of people undergoing the process of change.
The basics of any story is fundamentally the journey of change or transformation. A story is about a Character encountering an Obstacle and attempting to overcome it. No need for change equals no story. The process of change is the story.
The Search for the Holy Grail. Jesusʼ Way of Love and Peace. Dorothyʼs search for a way home in the Wizard of Oz. Frodoʼs acceptance of the journey (with little chance of success) in Lord of the Rings. Obstacles, characters, and the Way of Change - all vary in every story. So much sage advice for inspiration.
TRANSFORMATION
The Taoist Alchemical tradition upholds the idea that a Mid Life Transformation is a positive, necessary part of life. Symbolically, it is the Alchemy of changing base metals (like lead) into noble metals (like gold). This is the Way (Tao means the way) of transformation. This is reflected in the Chinese calligraphy for Crisis, which means Chaos/Opportunity. In the midst of the intense chaos of change, is the opportunity to transform to something better.
YIN YANG
At about mid-life, Kidney Jing and Yin naturally start to decline. Jing is the ancestral Yin fluids used to drive our physical growth and functioning. When in decline, hormones change, and the symptoms of Andropause and Menopause emerge. Physically the body now has less ability to cool itself (yin), resulting in too much heat in the body (yang). This is called Empty Heat. Some women experience empty heat as sudden spikes of hot flushes.
The Empty Heat creates an upward pushing Yang heat in the body, without the ability to cool (calm) down. All that Yang heat travels up to the head and heart, which creates a feeling of agitation, of the urgent need to be busy doing something, anything. The compulsion to be busy is overwhelming. Yet this is the opposite of what we need to do.
The busier we become, the more Yang heat is generated, and the more we burn up our already depleted Jing and cooling Yin. Often we feel compelled to continue in intense Yang activity until we completely exhaust our cooling Yin. At this point, our Yang can no longer function and we collapse or have a meltdown/nervous breakdown.
REBALANCE
To create Balance, you need to balance the Yin and yang of your Kidneys. You need to do things to support and tonify your depleted cooling Yin, or tonify and warm your waning Yang energy, or both. You no longer have the energy to let the Yang Will dominate your life. This is the real change you need to make. Alchemically, you must now learn to look to the Yin of the Will.
Discovering the Yin of your Will is learning to work with your individual natural strengths & talents. Wu Wei - working smarter, not harder. This is learning to flow with the path of least resistance, like steering the boat where the river is flowing fast because this is usually the deepest & best course. It is looking back and seeing the path you have been on all along. It is a checkpoint to make sure you do what you were born to do, before it is too late.
ALCHEMICAL BALANCE
To create the balance of Alchemy is a two stage path:
1) Hold still in the dark.
2) Become the mountain
1) HOLD STILL IN THE DARK
This is when you discover the wisdom of the Yin within your Yang.
Use your Yang will to deliberately not do.
Do nothing, except find a point of active stillness, even if part of you screams to take action. Yin is stillness, and you must descend into to find the refined gold of your Yin.
Sacrifice your rational ego (even though it may feel like death) and plunge into the unknown… the path of Yin.
And wait to see what, if anything, comes to life.
You must be willing to let go, wait, trust, and surrender. This is the way of Yin.
To engage with your Yin Will, reflect on yourself and your life. It is about discovering your true talents and strengths. You are connecting with your Essence, your pre-heaven destiny
These days you can find many retreats, books, methodologies and health coaches to help you go through this navel gazing process.
As you consciously extinguish the light of your ego, you become aware of another light shining from the darkness.
This is the Yin light from below, the light of your Essence, of embodiment and matter.
Like a glow worm in a moist underground cave, your Yang shines now from below your belly button (between your kidneys) rather from above. This rarity of this light is like gold, and it feels very exciting when at last you stumble across it.
To hold still in the dark, to help create the balance you seek during a Mid-Life Transformation, you can use various techniques to support your health during this inward journey.
THE WAY OF BODY & MIND
BREATHING Retained Full Breath, Mixing Fire with Water (increases Yin & Jing)
DIET Creating Yin/Yang Balance with Food as Medicine, Fasting
SKIN Skin brush, Cold Showers/Baths, Saunas
BODY ALIGNMENT Qigong, Yoga Stretches, Acupuncture, Shiatsu, Tuina
DELIVERANCE (Awakening) Self reflective retreats, Discovering Oneʼs True Nature
MIND ONLY Meditation, Silence, Guided Meditation, Purification of Mind
PRACTICE OF LOVE Chanting, Serving, Gratitude, Repentance, Self Restraint
ASCETIC TRAINING Mantra chanting, Meditation, Purification
2) BECOME THE MOUNTAIN
When you discover the Yang contained within your Yin, you change your life.
You have discovered the secret location of the gold in your life.
Now you must go about the process of transforming lead into gold.
You must adjust your lifestyle to match the Will of your Yin.
It is no longer the Yang of your Will driving you.
You cease living your life to only please your parents, or others.
Instead, you align with your pre-destiny, your Essence, your Yin.
What you do now feels natural, effortless, because it connects with the passions and natural talents that come the easiest to you. This is Wu Wei - effortless action.
This is your pre-heaven destiny. What you were born to do.
You naturally enjoy it, because you align with it - it floats your boat.
A new illumination now enlightens you and leads the way back to your correct path.
Like a mountain, you find your place between heaven and earth.
You become steadfast, aligned and relatively unmovable to the ups and downs of life.
You align your individual Will with God/universe and attain wisdom.
Bibliography
1) The Web That Has No Weaver.
Kaptchuk, Ted J. (2nd Edition) 2000, PAGES 83-88, 95, 120-123
2) Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing
Dechar, Lorie. 15 January 2006
Wow. Thank you for sharing all of this. In Essence it is very much what I am writing about, but I love and value your perspective. There is so much wisdom contained in here.