Reality Renewed
Kaley Mauzy is the creator and host of Reality Renewed, a podcast dedicated to honest conversations about life after divorce, healing through change, and starting again with intention. Through storytelling and thoughtful dialogue, Kaley creates space for vulnerability, growth, and connection, reminding listeners they are not alone as they navigate new chapters.
Reality Renewed
Perimenopause Symptoms, TCM, and Healing Your Body Naturally with Terry
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In this episode, Kaley sits down with Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and movement specialist Terry to talk about what it actually means to move with your body through perimenopause and menopause, rather than against it. Through ancient Taoist philosophy, TCM, and modern mobility coaching, they explore why this transition deserves curiosity instead of shame, and how the way we relate to our changing bodies shapes the way we experience them. Whether you're in the early stages of perimenopause or deep in the thick of it, this conversation will shift the way you think about what your body is actually doing and why it matters.
Terry is a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, yoga teacher, and movement specialist with over 26 years of experience in the wellness industry. Having lived and worked across South Africa, China, Germany, and Namibia, he brings a rare global perspective to the healing arts. Terry specializes in helping people navigate major physical and life transitions by blending ancient wisdom with practical movement coaching, replacing shame with kindness, and resistance with peace.
Hi, welcome back to Reality Renewed. Today we have Terry on, who is a wellness coach, traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, dad of two, and just an amazing all-around guy. I've had the pleasure of knowing Terry now, gosh, for probably six years.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, six years.
SPEAKER_01Six years. I started training with you after I had my middle child, who, gosh, she's eight at this point. So I maybe took a little bit of time in between. But you know, I got back on the horse. And then I trained with you with Penny, my youngest, while I was pregnant, and then up until the very end. And I always say I think one of the reasons my labor with her and everything was so easy is because you helped me, you really just trained me throughout the end and kept my body moving. And so I'll always be eternally grateful for that. So I'm so happy uh you came on the podcast and and thank you for being a guest, and you had done a wonderful presentation uh at Interlochen, and I unfortunately was out of town, so I couldn't be there, and selfishly I wanted you to come on the podcast, so it's like I'm there uh again, and I wanted just to sort of hear about I hear, I mean, you know, I know it's gonna be in a more condensed version, but I think paramenopause and menopause for women is sort of one of these taboo conversations that women don't want to talk about because in our society it's like aging is scary and awful. And if you say, you know, you want to learn about perimenopause and menopause, it's like you're saying you're you know getting old or or aging, and so I think to break that stigma and just say it can be a very easy transition, you know, if you allow it to be.
SPEAKER_00If you're willing to put in the work.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00Um and well said, yes, taboo-wise, it is to admit that you're gonna go through perimenopause and menopause is meaning that we are aging. And nowadays uh societies want to defy aging. Um, and from a traditional Chinese medicine background, we talk about it's like perimenopause, menopause is the second spring, it's a natural cycle of uh a woman, and Western medicine says, well, during that phase you lost your fertility. So it means like it seems like you're being discarded, and that's becomes like, oh, that's not good for me. But in Chinese medicine, it's like, no, you're going through a new phase in your life. So how do we mitigate that and mitigate the symptoms that come with it? I love that. Um to be honest, there is no magic pill. Everybody goes through a very unique uh experience. You might have similar similar um symptoms, side effects, but yet it's a different degree for each individual. So it's just needing to acknowledge that, thereby you don't feel like, oh, I am there's something wrong with me when I'm having all these symptoms and the other person doesn't have, and it's just in Chinese medicine I say, well, there's a more imbalance in your body, and it could be years of stress that's catching up to you now, and finally it's rearing its ugly head, and how do we deal with that? You know, instead of trying to squash it, because our body is like a when we have problems with the body, is a first signal telling us, hi, there's something wrong with me, let's deal with this, instead of putting plastic up onto it and you know, shunt it away. Right, right. So um when you see it from this perspective, it's like, oh yeah, it's can it's part of me. How do I want to deal with it so I can talk about it and not feel ashamed of my body is changing and not aging.
SPEAKER_01I like that. Changing not aging. That should be like a bumper sticker or something. I love that. Changing not aging. That's amazing. So I would love to hear kind of what are some of those early signs that kind of I know everyone may have different symptoms, but sort of what would you say those initial signs that people should look out for?
SPEAKER_00Um for a lot of people it's uh it's being more of the um feeling puffy through your cycles, and the cycle can be kind of irregular. Um, but puffiness is a big one, emotional, um sort of like sensitivity. So some people think I'm I'm going crazy, am I having my midlife crisis, I'm questioning things, I'm sensitive, and that those are all the first signs, you know. And unfortunately there's no real test for perimenopause. Okay, you can go test for your hormones and get a baseline and you see how that fluctuates through the years, and when you hit menopause, meaning like 12 months of no cycles, then that is you're in menopause. So it's different for a lot of people. But those big symptoms from uh emotional, I won't say instability, you might have turmoil within, you know, question yourself, you're very sensitive, you might feel like having a bit of anxiety or depression to maybe start feeling hot flashes as well, all those common symptoms coming through. Um it's really important to keep like journal and see how it goes. So that sounds very fun, and be more open with you know your friends about it. It's like, hey, there's one going through or you're going through that, and talk about it. Um I think men should be educated too, so they can understand from their wives' perspective what they're going through instead of oh, that's just menopause, and that's being in denial, and that causes a bit of tension. Um, and thereby, yes, um, that's why it's strange for a man talking about hairy menopause and menopause because I find it very interesting with dealing with my clients, yeah, trying to understand what they're going through. Um, and there's been a lot of question about it, and there's a lot of information out there, and how do we filter through it all and how it's gonna help us? And everybody's waiting for that big magic pill. Unfortunately, there's no magic pill.
SPEAKER_01Right. And I would love to hear kind of going into that, is what you know, so we're talking about kind of like those initial symptoms. What would you say sort of leads to you having worse symptoms than than others?
SPEAKER_00Good question. Um varying on the individual, so we mentioned that, but it's a lot to do with stress. Stress is a big one. Marketing nowadays is finding band-aid to all our stresses, so we have things like adaptogens from functional mushrooms to ashwagandha, um, all those things we I I like to say is more of a band-aid to the problem. Okay. So we we are a vessel, we can only carry so much stress, and now all of a sudden we're having all these adaptogens. We're sort of trying to halt more stress without overflowing and going crazy. Um that's sort of like a band-aid to the problem. We will have to really look at the level of stress that we carry. And stress, I like to use it as a term that covers everything, is good stress, bad stress, and our body sees stress as it is not good for us. And we live in a very stressful, high-paced environment that we're thinking, oh, I need to just take this to counter my stress, I have a better adaptogen, I can cope better. But our system cannot heal from that. So thereby hormonally, we're not rejuvenating well, we're not sleeping well, so there's a like a snowball effect, and for each person's difference, so you might have some people have more hot flashes, other people have insomnia. So from the uh person's individually could be a physical symptom, emotional symptom, bearing on the person. And that's what's nice about Chinese medicine. It's like, okay, well, if you have more physical, let's see what we need to do about it, and is open up the channels. Maybe you have to do certain exercise but more relaxing. And a person with uh sleep issues like insomnia, how do we calm the brain down? You know, and maybe you need to do more breathing techniques, yoga, something which is more subtle. So we're trying to add coping mechanisms in a way to get our body to shift from that sympathetic nervous system meaning stress, fight, or flight, to rest recovery, which is the parasympathetic. So like breathing exercises really help to yoga, uh gentle exercises as well, very mindful stuff. Uh, we not be into a hit, you know, like H I I T, let's go in, let's beat myself up. I mean, it helps physically, but yet it stresses the body more, so that means you add more stress to into the cup. And then from there, like, well, why is this this is not helping? So stress is a big one that we have to really address.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I can and I think to your point in our society, we're expected to deal with so much and handle so much and take on so many different things and just kind of put up with it. And I don't always think I mean I have a lot on my plate, and I it it's kind of like, well, yeah, buck up, buttercup, you know, yeah, and you're kind of and you just sort of keep going until you realize like, oh my gosh, I'm so run down, and I need to be able to, you know, take care of myself and take care of be a mom and be able to take care of my kids. And so I like that with the you know, uh with what you're saying is like you need to also check in with yourself and with your body.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, being very mindful. So um, and that's one thing we tend to forget. We're like, okay, I don't have time, I'm just gonna um let's say with not sleeping well, you know, um, and the big thing is caffeine. We are a nation that is our baseline is functioning on caffeine. It's a drug. Um, I'm gonna get lynched for this. And it is it's a very it's a very addictive drug, um, where it adds stress to the body, you know. Um there has been a lot of studies, you know, go on both sides, which support of that is very helpful to cognitively for you to function well. This is tea, by the way. I believe you. Um, it's also um where it's like, yes, you can have coffee, but you live in some of the.
SPEAKER_01This is my dog. I don't know, that's great. My pit my pit bull over here, AK, she's 10 pounds. I guess she's doing her job. Yeah, exactly. She can feel, she feels when I get stressed. And then she barks for me. During this conversation, and I Yes. I'm thinking about the hot flash I'm gonna have tonight, and then you know. Uh caffeine.
SPEAKER_00Yes. It stimulates the adrenal glands. And what does adrenal glands do? It was designed for us to have a fight-flight response. So when we add caffeine first thing in the morning, we're straight away into putting stress on our body, and it that's a baseline. You know, uh we're constantly under stress, so it means I'll cut this all full. We can't really handle more stuff, and when stress affects us, like you know, life happens, everything is you know not uh predictable, and then we get stressed again. It's like, oh no, I mean, you know, I thought I have everything planned, but yet we don't have the capacity to receive more and like be more objective to the situation. So thereby it's like, well say, like if you think caffeine all the way, you try to lessen it, lessen it. Lessen it. For the fact is, I was I really enjoy coffee. Same.
SPEAKER_01Um do you not drink coffee?
SPEAKER_00I try to do decaf. I enjoy the taste, I don't like the buzz. Um, when I have caffeine, I have this very bad palpitation, and I'm sitting there, I'm like, okay, why am I feeling so anxious right now? I think everything is fine. And it's the caffeine. And you know, just having one cup, and next day I decide not to have it, I get withdrawal.
SPEAKER_02Oh gosh.
SPEAKER_00So for me it's like it's a clear, it's very clear to me that this is very much a very addictive to my system, and I don't want it in my system. So thereby, yes, it's a multi-billion dollar industry, and if I say cut caffeine, well, you know, maybe you don't see me tomorrow. Like so. But yet it's um it's yeah, it's very, very addictive, and it has a lot of side effects that there's not enough studies on it. I don't think anybody wants to touch it. Commit to it yet.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. No. So I mean, if anything, just cutting, I mean, because some some people are gonna say, I mean, I did I do like I I've cut my caffeine down, but I do like one, you know, cup in the morning. Yeah. But I do remember you saying, because we you know, you know, but we've had conversations about this, and I was not good about it, but I remember you saying, if you can, before you have that cup of coffee, like have a glass of water, yes, or have like something, a little bit of something to eat. So like the first thing in your body isn't just caffeine. Yeah, and I I do do that, like I I remember thinking of you with that because I get that, like when you're you know, you go to sleep and then you wake up, and then the first thing in your body obviously is caffeine kind of jolting you. Um I I still have my cup, but maybe just have something in the system first.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um always recommend like uh room temperature water or warm water. You can do lemon tea, a slice of lemon into it. Think about it at night the body's recovering, so it's gonna detox, so we've got to get a little bit dehydrated. So thereby have like warm water, it's not a shot to the system. If you drink cold water, it's just shuts the whole digestive system down. It starts to deepen up again. So thereby the warm water gets absorbed much quicker. So thereby you have that in, you rehydrate, then you can have your cup of coffee and caffeinated, and that's less uh stress on the system. So you know, because caffeine is a diuretic, so imagine you're dehydrated when you wake up and you throw caffeine with a diuretic, it's gonna create a bit of a havoc on the system. Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_01I like it. So let's go into so we've talked about caffeine, we've talked about stress. Uh I would love to talk about kind of going into some of this. Well, I would love to talk about the we kind of with the role of the kidney, the liver, and the heart. Yes. Uh, and emotional and physical symptoms. I think that is so interesting. Uh I've never thought about the heart and the emotional side of it. You think of only those physical symptoms?
SPEAKER_00So um with Chinese medicine itself, it's uh we see each organ have specific emotions attached to it. So, like a kidney, we have fear, um liver is anger, irritability, frustration, and the heart's got to do with self-esteem. So, what happens when you have that out of sync, and those are the three primary meridians that we really use a lot to regulate the hormones in the body. Well, the spleen is well involved, but there's a few others, but those are the three primary ones. Um, we try to open up those meridians. And people which don't know what meridians are, imagine your body's a house, and the meridians are the plumbing and an electrical system. When you have a blockage in your plumbing or a short in the electrical system, what an acupuncturist does with traditional uh Chinese medicine practitioners, we try and open up those meridians so the body can just carry on functioning or the house to function. So we try and create that balance. We don't try and add anything new because the body has an ability to heal. And our job is just to make sure things flow more smoothly. Um and there's sometimes that we might have to warm up the body, and then there's like um herbs that we use from herbs to things that we burn on acupinks, um, just to add a little bit more like chi or energy into the body.
SPEAKER_01So on to that, I would love to hear how do you keep if you're if those areas are closed, how do you open them?
SPEAKER_00You can go see an acupuncturist. Okay. Um and try to be honest, choose an acupuncturist that's specializing in women's fertility and OBGYN. So a lot of time is we mean uh acupuncturists go steady, and acupuncture doesn't have to be just purely needles. They can also do massage, they do cupping, and they do uh herbs as well, they're herless as well. So they combine all of those. And a lot of time is a normal acupuncturist is it's like a general practitioner. And some acupuncturists can choose to specialize in a specific field, and that makes them a little bit more well studied and more educated in that field. Um, and then they will go for further studies with that.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_00So ask your acupuncturist if you are working with one, it's like, hey, you know, can you recommend someone that is focused more on that? You know, and that really does help. It's not saying they don't know what they're doing, it's just it's nice to have that specialty. Like you're going to a general practitioner that walk up this pain and like, well, maybe not, let me send you the specialist. Same thing you can do with an acupuncturist.
SPEAKER_01So there's an ac so there's acupuncturists. I sound so naive, but I don't love needles, but I think I want to do it because I've heard it's amazing and extremely helpful. But there are acupuncturists that specialize just in OBGYN?
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. Yeah, for fertility, uh, perimetopause, menopause, um, uricular menstrual cycles. There's a whole field in that.
SPEAKER_01And is there a way to figure out, like, is there a website or resources to figure out sort of who are the right people to go to? Good questions.
SPEAKER_00You have to do your research. It's not so regulated here. Okay. In a way like most um other doctors, other medical fields. Uh, acupuncturist here is very much more like an umbrella to cover everything. You will have to do your researchers, speak to the acupuncturists, like what are they experienced, who are they mean? Um, clients or patients. And then you can decipher, you know, who you want to really work with.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Because you went to I mean you had to go to school for a long time. Tell me. I remember you telling me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I went to China, went to Shanghai to go study. So from there I was likely to experience all the different departments. And then um the final part is that I I was always in sports and with massage therapy and injuries. My field was very much on pain management. Um, and while I'm in this perimenopause-menopause is I have a lot of clients ask a lot of questions because I'm very diverse in my knowledge. Right. And it's sort of just guiding people what they could what questions they could ask. Although I'm a tradition traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, I'm not against HRT. Okay. It has its place. And everything has its place.
SPEAKER_01So HRT for people that may uh not know what it stands for. That's hormone replacement therapy. Okay.
SPEAKER_00It hasn't bought in in the last 30-40 years. So thereby, you don't have to be a purist. And always tell everybody, like, well, don't be scared of it. Take it if it's if you're having such bad side effects, because it's going to help mitigate that very quickly. So thereby it's not going to affect your life and for emotionally and also your relationships. Because you don't want that to be the problem, because it's hormonal, it can you know cause a lot of issues at home with the relationship with your kids, could be with your spouse, uh, with your partner, even at work. So that's gonna cause a lot of problems, get onto the HRT. And from there, then you start question trying to get onto the alternative. Okay. And if you don't have such big side effects or symptoms, then yes, go for the more of the uh healthier option. Yeah. You know, more natural option, I wouldn't say healthier, but even more natural. Holistic, holistic approach. Yeah. Um, and then everything else from yoga to tai chi, um breathing techniques, those all help open up the meridian, and it's very much. Moving the body from that sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic. So that's from the fight flight to the rest and recovery. So we want to keep in that rest and recovery as much as we can without creating more stress. And that's a cut of caffeine too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Do that. But I do like that aspect of saying you're not coming here saying, you know, don't do this, don't do that, only do acupuncture. No, no, at all. You know, it's because there's probably has to be a little bit of a give and take, right?
SPEAKER_00For sure, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, we're living a different lifestyle.
SPEAKER_00We live a fast more fast-paced lifestyle. So traditional Chinese medicine is a much slower, we don't cure, we prevent.
SPEAKER_01So let's once you're already past that point.
SPEAKER_00Past that, it's sort of mitigate all the side effects, you know, and then try to find that balance again. And if you let's say listening to this in a in your mid-30s before you hit perimenopause, it might be a good time to start questioning how I can mitigate all the symptoms. And then work with a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner or acupuncturist, how you can have get the body ready for the next spring. Because I mean spring, you need to have fertile ground, so that means you have to do a lot of foundational work to look after the body, and from there, when it comes to the second phase, then you can transition much smoothly without any hiccups or mix of hiccups.
SPEAKER_01Right. And if you are already, you know, because I do have listeners that, you know, I've we we serve all ages here, Terry. So it's great. So I may have you know some listeners who have are are you know in perimenopause or in menopause. Um, so for those, would you say, you know, going to an acupuncturist and then you know doing the hormone replacement therapy? Yeah, if you're kind of doing both hand in hand, my guess would be you're not gonna have to be on such a higher dose of the hormone replacement therapy over time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because I mean the hormone hormone uh HRT is well the strength rate depends on your symptoms and your imbalance. So thereby, if you can, that's why it's on there. Um, that's why each one's a little bit different. You always have to go for a blood testing to see how your body's receiving and taking it. And then if you're on both, what's nice is the Chinese medicine is gonna start sort of opening up the channels, so thereby your symptoms doesn't worsen. You maybe stabilize and maybe slowly lessen. So thereby, you know, you will have to work with your practitioners like how you maybe you can get off or lessen the HRT.
SPEAKER_01Now I would love to talk about the importance of exercise.
SPEAKER_00Exercise. Um I like to use the word moving the body. Um it opens up for your ability to do a lot of things. Exercise and Western perspective is like you have to be at the gym. You have to lift weights. Yes, there are studies about it, especially the biggest concern of osteoporosis for a woman heading into menopause. Um there has been somebody say, Yes, you need to train heavy, and that's true, but that's very one-sided. Um, my biggest concern is that a person who doesn't have good posture, um, biomechanically training heavy opens up to injuries. So thereby it's like, well, I would suggest trying to train lighter, meaning higher volume instead of heavier weights, so you get the form right, then you could go a little bit heavier. Now other options are yoga, um, tai chi. Um is tai tai chi is what's tai chi? Tai chi is it's a gentle Chinese, a choreographed uh like movement. Oh so it's you get the body to move in a more rounded approach, so you go through a better range of motion ROM or R-O-M.
SPEAKER_01So are you Are there beginner classes for people who may not be coordinated? Yes. I'm obviously a very coordinated person. I'm not speaking about myself per se. I'm having what a friend who's uncoordinated, but are they yes?
SPEAKER_00Tai Chi itself is there's always basic movements you learn. Same with yoga, but it's always you start with basics. And until you get the basics right, you get the most benefit when you get the basics right. So thereby it's really important to understand the whole concept. There's tai chi now becoming more of an exercise, um as an exercise, and it's more of meditative, so it's have more than just the physical benefits, also the mental benefit as well. And also the breathing. So you're adding like three different things together in one, and it's very safe, low impact on the joints.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Same with yoga as well. And I will have to like put a sort of like a disclaimer there, it's not going for a yoga hit class, it's not a yoga sweat class, you're going for a traditional yoga class. Um, and I always like to recommend starting with a slow yoga, or like a yoga nidra, yin yoga, things that's slower. Um, with my experience, a lot of people find that if you go for a fast class, high percentage will never go back because they feel out of place. Right? And it's much nicer to go to a class which is nice and slow. You can look around, you can even ask. It's like, hey, you know, I don't you know know what I'm doing, and the teacher will come and adjust your in position, and you're like, oh, that's what I'm supposed to feel. Instead of a big flow class to start off, you're gonna get totally lost, and you're not gonna get any benefits, and most likely you you will quit. Right. And I've seen a lot of that, and I like to always teach your basics because the basic is the foundation. And then also with yoga itself is what we see in classes, like doing all the asanas or the poses, as one of the disciplines out of eight disciplines in yoga. So there's a lot of other disciplines, one is from breath work, meditation, self-care, self-hygiene, being kind, morality, a lot of other things will involve to make a person more holistic.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00So it's sort of cleansing yourself internally and externally. So, yes, we went on a little bit of a tangent there, but I liked it.
SPEAKER_01I was into it. I I thought it was great personally. Uh, and I think osteoporosis is obviously something that a lot of women as they're aging, uh, you know, it can be, I mean, my grandmother had it, and it it can be very detrimental to your daily life. And so I like the idea of doing these exercises just to prevent kind of our body from not being able to move as well. And I think if we as we age, if we just keep making sure that our bodies are moving well, that we're supplying it with good nutrients, uh, that we're doing this breath work, as you mentioned. I mean, I like your analogy of like this is our house. This is you know, the the term your body is the temple. Yeah. And I think we just assume that we can just put a band-aid on it, like, oh, I have anxiety, and you know, I and I and I think there can be a great in-between, right? Um, because I'm not by no means like anti-medicine or anti-medication, because that does, you know, serve its purpose. But I think in our society we just assume we have sort of a band-aid for every little thing that's gonna come up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Uh and I think to your point, is more you can do holistically, it's gonna kind of prevent you from having to go on all of those different medications.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, as I said, it's like with medication, it has its purpose. Right. So if you're suffering from depression, anxiety, if you need to be on it, please be on it. Yeah. Um, for the fact that you're you know more capable of dealing with what else comes. Right. Instead of dealing with that issue, and then from there everything just falls apart. Right. So, as in time, as you have better coping mechanisms or habits, you can slowly wean yourself over with the care and guidance of your psychiatrist or doctor. But yet it's sort of like don't be scared to use it, but that is also not the only way. So, and also Chinese medicine is not the only way, too. You know, and I would, as you said, I'm not promoting Chinese medicine's the only way. This is what I know. I find it's a nice combination between the two, so you can find a nice even balance. Uh, Ayurveda is another option too. Um, some people resonate better with that than Chinese medicine. What is that? The Indian uh version of uh traditional medicine. Oh so people which are really into yoga they're very much more into the Ayurvedic medicine. So they've got the herbs as well, and the um poultices, a lot of different things, and they they characterize their food in uh I think three specific elements as well, um, and they work with that. So it's very similar to Chinese medicine, but it's just sort of using different terminologies and sort of the overlaps in certain things.
SPEAKER_01Well, I love that I love the combining both, combining Western and traditional Chinese medicine together, and I also think knowing that it's okay to do both. I think breath work, and I'll be honest, when I hear the term breath work, I get I get like a little not anxious isn't the right word, but I I think of it as I have to be in a room having someone help me breathe, counting with me, you know, and and having it be this whole thing, and sometimes it's a little bit uh intimidating. Yeah, but I know the importance of it, but is are there weights like just more simple? Oh yeah, there's simple ways which is more of a band-aid as well.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Uh, for the fact is let's simply just put as we can live without food for weeks, we can live without water for days, but we can't live without breath on oxygen for minutes. So it gives you a perspective of how important breath is for oxygen. So the quality of our breath will determine the quality of what's happening with our system. So a lot of time when we are stressed, we tend to hyperventalite, we breathe on the upper part of our chest, alright, and then thereby with tai chi, qigong, uh yoga, you learn to breathe and light people with your diaphragm. So what happened is we've got the lower lobes or the lungs, uh, this was sort of like a lost third of the lobe. It's if we can activate that, that absorbs 60% of the oxygen into our system. Oh wow. And most of the time we're only breathing 40%. That's why when you go to yoga classes or when you do train, the sort of the high educator afterwards, your body's finally going, wow, I got a lot more oxygen in my system. So thereby it's not suffocating. It's like it's saturated, so thereby it feels fantastic. So a nice little tip is to switch the body from a sympathetic to parasympathetic, and you can do it anywhere, is that breathe in for four, hold for four, and breathe out for eight.
SPEAKER_01So breathe in for four, hold for four, like hold your breath for four, and then breathe out for eight.
SPEAKER_00And you do the counting yourself, alright? So when you're breathing, don't count one, two, three, four, because that's very habitual. So you're not consciously aware. So then you tend to speed it up. So if you're breathing in for four, it's like four, three, two, one, hold, three, two, one, out, for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, hold, four, three, two, one, and take, and continue. That's one cycle. And by breathing. Did you just do that right now? Yeah. Do you feel more relaxed? Always. So I had to just do that. Uh that was great. In fact, it is. You look relaxed. It just gets your body to switch over from a parent well, sympathetic to parasympathetic, from a fight flight to a risk recovery. And that's why it's really, it's really simple. Like you're driving a car and someone cuts you off, and you're like, you know, and sometimes like just take a deep breath in and breathe out. And don't even have to count. As long as your exhalation is longer than your inhalation, it forces the body to recognize it is safe. It's very rudimentary. There's more science to it, but yet that is just so rudimentary that if you can just do that, you consciously breathe, and taking that deep inhalation, but a very slow exhalation is telling the body, okay, I don't have to get the breath back in because I'm not in a rush. I'm not in a fight-flight response.
SPEAKER_01That's so easy and also I feel like very impactful. Yes. It's when I'm in the carpool line. Yes. And the line is so long and not moving, and I'm feeling really stressed out, I'm just gonna breathe and zen and I'm gonna think of you, Jerry. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Just do it for like, you know, four or five cycles, and that's it. It doesn't have to be much. Because and then from there, as you get habitually more aware with the breath, it's easier to go do something longer, like going for a class. Meaning it's not so foreign to you. Because initially, in the beginning, it's like trying to breathe in a lot deep. A lot of people tend to breathe from the chest, and they the diaphragm doesn't drop, so they're not pulling the breath down, so they can't get the lower part to work. Yeah. And they're like, and they're like almost hyperbasic, and it's because they've not read there's so much restriction down here, and thereby it's like it takes time to actually get the body to okay, I'm safe, I can relax, so then the diaphragm will drop down for you to pull that deeper breath in and then slowly control the breath out. So it's a big muscle there. Yeah, and there's a whole science for doing all that because we've at the moment is using our upper chest when we stressed to breathe, that means it elevates our heart rate. So the heart is moving all the blood, right? Now, if we're getting a diaphragm to breathe, that internal pressure is pushing the blood on behalf of our heart. So it saves the heart from creating more work. So it's reducing the stress from a then extends the life of your heart. Because science says we only have a certain amount of heartbeats in the life cycle of our heart. Now, if you can get really so if you can get diaphragm to do that, it lessens the slowest effect of the heartbeat. For me, it extends your life.
SPEAKER_01Okay, well, basically, you're welcome, listeners, because we've extended your life by breath work, exercise, and mindfulness. And mindfulness. I love that. And just being more well, mindfulness, so being more present, being more aware. Yeah. Uh it's okay to have symptoms. Yes. They're normal, it's part of aging, and we're gonna be okay. We're not being put out to pasture. It feels that way in this society. Yes. But there's ways that we can do both, whether it's HRT and also traditional Chinese medicine. Alternatives, and homeopathy, yeah, a lot of stuff is available out there. And we're lucky that we live in a place where we have all these ability. Yeah, accessibility to all these different options. Well, thank you so much, Terry, for coming on and for all of your insights. It was very helpful. And if people want to find you, where where can they find you? First, you can share that PowerPoint presentation I gave you. So that is we're allowed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you're allowed. Okay. That's my copyright. Okay, I will absolutely share that. You can share that, and if they want to reach out, then you can forward my my details. Um, they can reach out. I absolutely will.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you so much, Jerry. Oh, the greatest pleasure, that's fine. Yes, thank you.