How I Survive “Mayvember” as a Doctor of TCM

In this episode, Dr. Christine explores the phenomenon lovingly known as “Mayvember”: that unique stretch of the year where family schedules explode with school events, sports, performances, celebrations, and all the end-of-year chaos that somehow arrives all at once.

Through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Wood element of spring, this conversation reframes May not as something to survive perfectly, but as a season to move with more intentionally. Rather than trying to stop the momentum, the goal becomes creating more flow within it.

This episode explores movement, self-awareness, creativity, nervous system support, perfectionism, humor, and the importance of allowing space for rest and regrouping after intense seasons of life. It’s a grounded and honest conversation about navigating busy seasons with more grace, flexibility, and connection to what actually nourishes us.

In This Episode:

• What “Mayvember” is and why this season feels uniquely chaotic
• How spring and the Wood element relate to movement, growth, and momentum
• Why the goal isn’t to stop the chaos — but to keep energy flowing smoothly through it
• Using movement and routine as support during busy seasons
• The difference between fighting the season vs. working with it
• A conversation about being a “Type C mom” and embracing flexibility
• Letting go of perfectionism and making more space for grace
• Why self-awareness is protective during intense seasons of life
• Learning to recognize when you need movement vs. when you need rest
• How nourishment includes more than just food in Chinese medicine
• The impact of what we consume through our eyes, ears, and attention
• Why humor, laughter, and joy are powerful nervous system supports
• The role of creativity as a form of energy movement and inspiration
• Redefining creativity beyond traditional artistic expression
• Why intense seasons often highlight our desire for control
• The importance of regrouping and reflecting after periods of activation
• Creating intentional check-ins as we transition into a new season

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://thedaoofhumaning.buzzsprout.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1869811351

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/79Llx5Um3cDSJqXG0JIsVL

RSS: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2574021.rss

Support & Connect
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drchristine.sanmiquel/

Produced by: Reese Leanne
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shot_by_reese/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Tao of Humaning, where we explore the physical, energetic, emotional, and spiritual aspects of what it means to be human together. I'm your host, Dr. Christine, and I'm so thrilled you've decided to join me for today's conversation. In today's episode, I want to talk about this phenomenon known as May Vember and how I survive Mayber as a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. Now, some of you may have not heard of May Vember, and some of you know this quite well. Mayber is a very special time of year which is similar to December, but without the gifts. And what is meant by that is November is a time when the school schedules, if you have children, get all out of rhythm and they have all of the extra activities, all of the celebrations, all of the end-of-the-year, you know, cool things to showcase, you know, their work the whole year long, right? So there's orchestra events, and there's sporting events, and there's class parties and spirit week and teacher appreciation and on and on and on and on and on. All of the things. All of them great, so amazing. And in terms of like routine and structure, like maintaining a flow of uh life, May tends to be a little bit uh extra. I was laughing. Um, I actually went to pick up our son from a friend's house the other night, and I saw um two other parents there, and they were unfamiliar with the term May member, but they as soon as I explained what it was, they were like, Oh yeah, totally. So I think about you know the different seasons of life and seasons of uh, you know, we've talked a lot on this podcast about different times in our lives, like puberty and perimenopause and postpartum. And there's also these seasons of just our regular cycles in a year. And for those of us with children, May pre May brings about a different uh set of challenges. And so, you know, the normal sports and workout and homework and activities and things, you kind of get in a rhythm after the holidays, right? And then all of a sudden, I feel like every year spring comes along, and then all of a sudden it's May, and I'm like, oh my gosh, there are so many extra things in the schedule. I actually have a, we'll talk about it in a minute, but I have a friend who actually pulled me aside and was like, I need you to grab your phone and open the Parent Square app to make sure that you have everything on the calendar because they know me really well, and I appreciate that about them. I think I've talked about them before on my podcast. Um but anyway, this time of year is a very specific kind of chaos. And I was talking to a friend, another friend about it the other day, and you know, I think the lens of again, Chinese medicine for the win is just allows for spaciousness and flow in a way that is just really lovely. So I thought that this would be a fun topic to bring to the podcast today, since it actually is being released. Um this will be released the last week of May. So perfect. Um, you'll have it in time for next year and maybe a good reflection on how May has been for you so far. Um in terms of you know how as a doctor of Chinese medicine, whenever I am looking at life, really, I'm always gonna be grounding into what season is it? And I look at that as like, what is the season of life, right? What is the season in nature around us? Because as I will always say, we are actually a part of nature. And we also can utilize the natural energies that are that are that make up a season as a resource to help support us. And I'm gonna tell you how I do that in the spring right now. So embracing the season that we're in. So the season is spring, and spring is associated with the wood element, and the wood element has a lot to do with the movement and flow, has a lot to do with the clarity, new beginnings, it is the quintessential, like springtime energy and expansion, things like that, right? There's a lot of activity in spring naturally, right? So it makes sense that we would also have these things showing up in our school schedules and whatnot, right? The goal here is not to stop the flow or stop the momentum or stop the movement. The goal is actually to create some flow within the movement so that the movement can occur naturally unimpeded. So a lot of that it can look different ways for different people. Um, when it comes to like looking at a springtime schedule as an example of this. Um, for me, springtime means that I am extra diligent in my movement. So making sure that I make it to my gym class that I really love. And when I can't make it there, finding other ways to move my energy naturally. So that gives everything a chance to kind of catch into the flow. Does that make sense? It's like we want to keep it moving smoothly, remembering that we are part of nature, right? And really grounding into the season versus trying to fight it, right? Because if we try to fight the natural, high energy, lots of movement time that we're in, it just creates honestly a lot more frustration. So, for example, I have a friend who happened to just buy a house and she also has multiple children, and you know, it's May. And so there's just a lot of things going on, and that now there's also a new house moving into part of November, which is like plot twist, okay. What do I do with this? Um, and she mentioned the other day, well, maybe I shouldn't have bought a house in in May. And I was like, actually, that was perfect, right? Like it's already a chaotic time. You might as well toss in something else because it's gonna be chaotic regardless. So it's almost like it doesn't necessarily add more chaos, it simply adds more. I don't know. It's like if your perfect thing shows up and you're doing things that you love and you're with people that you love, it's like the more momentum and more things are not gonna be a hindrance, right? If you're like clamping in and trying to control everything and make it like perfect, that's where you start to see um stagnations and the energy start to like bump up against things. Is that making sense? We'll keep going. I was talking um to someone the other day about uh this idea of a type C mom. A lot of times we hear about the type A moms, right? Very organized, altogether, very good with the routines and the schedules and checking all the boxes. And then there's the type B mom, excuse me, who is very um not into all of the schedules and not as organized. Um, and I used to think that I was a type B mom. And what I've learned over the years is that I'm actually kind of a type C mom, which is a blend of the two. And it is, you know, sort of depends on the topic or the category of thing, what shows up, whether it's type A or type B. Um, but in general, over the years, I've really leaned into this idea of the seasonality of things. And so from that, I have developed a skill of being able to surrender into the chaos a bit. And what that looks like for me is, you know, taking a night off from all the things if I need it or if our child needs it, right? Like, okay, we need a reset, right? And that might look like relaxing together and watching a movie instead of going to all the things and doing the dishes and just letting those things be, because turns out they don't go anywhere and that they're still there to be done the next day. It's great. Um, but being able to see what's needed is such a aspect of this that I think really lends, I don't know, there's almost like a protective quality to self-awareness and also creativity, I would say. So the more that you understand yourself and the more that you understand your family members, right, the more that you're going to be able to see when things are going out of balance and when things are needing a shift and a change, right? Which is also something that springtime is really great for, is actually that new beginning and change. There's a lot of uh capacity in that time. So having this idea of noticing when we're depleted, right? And noticing, we've talked about this a lot in the podcast, like noticing when you need rest and noticing when you need movement. And in springtime especially, this becomes really important because the tendency when we feel overwhelmed or there's like a lot of things going on, a lot of times we'll have this tendency to be like, oh, I need to stop doing the things, I need to like stop and rest, right? When actually you might need to have some kind of a dedicated movement or some kind of a boundary around the chaos, right? To be able to contain it. And I think remembering, you know, remembering to have those check-ins, right? Again, this is going to be something that we come back to again and again here, but having those check-ins for yourself first, especially if you're listening and you're a mom, right? Is it I mean, it's the same thing as the the air in an airplane, right? You put on your own mask first. Same thing, right? Noticing if you need rest or you need movement. Like there's been, yeah, lots of times where I will be like, oh, okay, this is actually what I need. I need to go move my body. And so everything else needs to wait. And then after I move my body, turns out I have a lot more energy and I'm a lot more resourceful and able to do and you know, kind of manage all of the other things, right? That like keep the schedule moving and keep the house moving and and whatnot, right? But being able to see that and then really grounding into the body um in the simplest ways, right? Like movement, we've talked about sleep. So some phases of life are going to be easier to do this than others, but leaning into when you need a little more sleep or when you might need a little less sleep and having that awareness, right? And then making sure that you are drinking water and feeding yourself, right? Like what are the nutrients that you're taking into your body? I was just talking about this in um my women's group on Mondays, actually today, about how the stomach in Chinese medicine relates to, you know, not only what we take in for what we call postnatal qi, which is our food and our drinks, right? What we take into our body that goes to the stomach, it also relates with everything that we take in through the sense organs. So everything that we're taking in through our eyes, everything that we're taking in through our ears, and I would also add everything that we take in through our fields, right? And so that translates into real life in terms of who are the people that we are around? What are we being nourished, who are we being nourished by, right? And then what are we taking in in terms of podcasts? If you're listening to this one, yay, hopefully this is an inspiring space for you. Um, but you know, what are you taking in in terms of your media, in terms of your movies, like what are you actually watching and and paying attention to, right? Because there's a saying that like where your energy goes, where your intention goes, that's where your energy is gonna flow, right? So if you're always consuming information that is hard or negative, that's gonna create stagnations in your body, right? We talked about this a couple of episodes ago, where you know the nervous system doesn't necessarily always differentiate between what it's seeing on the news and an actual real threat to your person, right? So being mindful of those pieces is so important, especially when life is busier, right? So sometimes it's simply a matter of making sure that we're having those inspirational aspects to our day-to-day life, and also having a bit of humor can also be really helpful, especially as we're moving into summer and having that joy aspect, which is a summer emotion. We'll talk, we'll do a whole um episode on the emotions in Chinese medicine. It's super fascinating in the seasonality of things. But being able to have joy and laughter as a support, as like a conscious support for your well-being in November is so great. Because if you're able to laugh at kind of the ridiculousness of the schedules, um it it makes a huge difference in terms of your energy, because you're opening, like, right? Like you're you're if you think about your posture, if you're laughing, your chest is open, right? Your arms are back, you're like, ha ha ha ha ha ha, right? Your jaw is open and relaxed, there's flow and movement in your body, right? Whereas if you're like, oh my God, like overwhelmed and stressed, there's a a collapsing of the physical structure, right? So even just laughing, watching a movie that you find funny, or talking to someone that you enjoy the similar humor with, right? That actually creates the state in your body to be able to have more flow and ease, even in November. It's just bananas, the number of things to do. Um I think ultimately this, you know, the seasons that are more intense, and this goes for, you know, the hormonal things that we've talked about too, like puberty, perimenopause, postpartum. Anytime there's more intensity in our lives, it's going to highlight our natural desires for perfectionism. And it's an opportunity to be able to see that and laugh if that's something that you're able to do, but also uh bring in this greater level of accepting. And you know, life isn't meant to be perfection at all, I would argue. It's meant to be a little chaotic, and being able to have humor and have flow and have things that are nourishing you along with the chaos allows for that flow and that openness so that as we're going through these more chaotic times, our energy is able to keep moving. And that's the goal in springtime. You want to be able to have the energy moving, even if it feels like a lot, it's okay, right? Because these seasons change. And I think that sometimes when we're in these moments of more intensity, we forget, right? Our humanness, we start to think of, oh my god, this is what it's going to be like forever. Make it stop. I just want something else to be happening, right? That's not what's happening. November is happening. We need to be able to cultivate this humor and this acceptance and this nourishing of ourselves aside from the chaos, or especially in the chaos, right? Maybe you might even get to a place where you feel nourished by the chaos. And that's like a next level, right? Being able to take all of that extra energy, right? And utilize that as a resource in your life too. I actually believe that that's completely possible and fun. Um, I have a teacher who or have had a teacher who would say the intensity of life is a gift. And I found that to be um repeatedly true, right? Or like it is those more intense moments in life that we remember and that can really shape us. And if we pause long enough, even if it's while, you know, you're in like while you're in the shower or while you're in car line or while you're grocery shopping, right? Having those moments to interject a bit of a check-in for yourself and to be able to be like, hey, like, am I actually doing the things that will keep my energy open and flowing in this more intense time? Right. Doesn't mean you need to have like a spa weekend every weekend. Like that sounds lovely, sure. But we need to work with the parameters of reality here and what our daily lives are like. And bringing all of these practices back into our daily life is really where we're actually able to make a lot of spiritual growth, like emotional spiritual growth happens in these day-to-day moments. And really, if we're setting ourselves up with these check-ins to have these reminders of like, oh, am I doing the things that are ultimately keeping me more inspired, right? That's gonna feed our spirit with the chaos of that energy, right? Because we're all doing things like we're seeing our kids' like musical progress, right? We're seeing our kids' academic progress, we're seeing their like physical success through like sporting banquets and things like that. These are all amazing moments in life, right? And when we get too caught up in the overwhelm piece and the chaos of like May Vember, nah, right? We we run the risk of missing those moments, right? And those moments are precious, and those moments can deeply nourish us, even when we feel tired or like the to-do list is never ending, or or or or or right? All of those things. Okay. So I would say what's the other piece that I missed here. I'm just seeing I do actually have notes out today. Um the creativity piece as a protective aspect of our energy is, I think, really interesting. And I think creativity doesn't I used to have this storyline of, you know, I'm I'm not an artist or I'm not very creative when I was growing up. And I have found that to be a very silly story that I made up is actually not true at all. Turns out my creativity is just not with pen and paper or clay. I was imagining an artist to be, right? My creativity comes through creation and, you know, course design or like creating podcasts or clinical work, right? I picked a profession where my medicine is both art and science. And I love that, right? Like I get to be creative all of the time. And that creativity, I think I'm Pointing that out today as part of this May Vember conversation because that creativity I think really helps to bring that inspiration. And I think creativity and inspiration are really closely tied together. Maybe that's another conversation, but um asking yourself, you know, where do I feel creative? And how might I bring more creativity to my day-to-day? And that could be something that you do as a solo um source of nourishment, like something that you go and you do by yourself, like journaling, writing, making music, singing, creating whatever, right? Food. You could be like a creativity person in the kitchen, right? Uh it can be anything. But asking yourself where you're feeling that draw right now, and where could you find a little bit more? And this could also be something that your kids also enjoy too. So it doesn't have to be something that you, you know, step away from the family to do. It could be. So bringing in that creativity piece. And I think ultimately that creativity is allowing that, again, that life force, that qi, that energy to move through us. And the more that we create moments for that energy to move through us, the more easily we navigate these big moments in life of, you know, chaos and busy schedules and change and transformation and all of these things that go on in life, right? Having that resource of creativity as a practice for allowing that energy to flow through us is so valuable. So I wanted to make sure I shared that with you today. And then the last piece I want to share about Mavember and what I think about in terms of traditional Chinese medicine and you know, embracing this seasonality is it's very normal to have a crash, so to speak, or a dip in energy after an intense period like this, right? Like we go through these periods of activation, and then it kind of culminates in this peak, and then it starts to come back down, right? It's normal to need a little bit more rest after. So if you experience that, it's in that is normal and actually encouraged where you can find those more moments of rest. And resting is a verb. I'll keep saying this over and over again. Resting is a verb. So resting might include an activity. You might find restfulness in your evening walks after dinner, right? You may find restfulness really anywhere, I would argue. We can find restfulness in activity. That's maybe another podcast episode and maybe a class, because it it has taken a bit of um skill building, but it is a skill that we can build to be feeling nourished ultimately by life. And that includes the fullness and chaos of life too. So knowing that there's time for regrouping in Chinese medicine, we look at a return to earth after each season. So usually in the first part of June, I will do um maybe like a dedicated sit-down where I look at the last few months and then I look at okay, what was nourishing about this, what was beneficial, what was useful, what was hard, how did I like where I showed up? What did I not like? You know, and then looking ahead. We did a podcast episode about this too, and I'm forgetting the name of it, but I'll uh connect it down below in the notes. Um, if you want to go back and listen to that one, because it's a really helpful practice. And then looking forward into the next season. So we're this time looking into summer, and what does our summer look like? And what things are showing up, and what do we want more of? What do we want less of?

unknown 26:16

Right.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

Again, where do we want to direct our attention? And in that, you know, what do we want more inspir? Like, what do we want more inspirationally? That's not really a word. What do we want? How do we want to be more inspired, right? In this next two and a half months, three months, right? Short chunks. And it might just be like you want to add a little bit more creativity, like, oh gosh, I hadn't thought about like adding in some creative time, like once a week. It doesn't have to be every day, it can be a little bit. And then building from there, once you start to see that value and that openness that comes when we're creative, right? And naturally it's gonna want to have more of that. Does that make sense? So if you're in may if you're in the tail end, if you're listening to this when it's released, we are in the tail end of November. So it's a great time to look back and be like, okay, wow, that was wild and amazing, right? Like looking at what was wild and what was amazing. And then actually scheduling in to your calendar some time for the regrouping that comes after these more intense moments. So as we're shifting into summer, right, we start to lose a bit of the schedules. People are traveling, people are doing camps, like the kids. It's just a different kind of routine in the summertime. Oftentimes there's not a lot of routine, right? So, what are you going to be using as inspiration in these next few months, right? Okay, these are my thoughts. I would love to hear how May Member is for you. If you want to leave a comment or send me a message, I see all the things. And if you would like to subscribe if you're not already to get notified when new episodes drop. And if you found this useful, please share with another person who might benefit. That really helps get this little podcast out to more people who would benefit. So thank you for being here, and I will see you next time.