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Thank you for catching us live I appreciate you so very much:
Betty Boldbrew, Idol Thoughts, Patricia Grenelle, PsyD, Eric Anthony, Jo-Ann Petrarca, Corie Feiner @<a,aCarle, jill shaw
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Part 1
Part 2
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And to you all, seriously, if you have a question you would like answered, please leave me a message on my dedicated podcast line (656) 222-0848 or message me. If I do not have the answer, I will find the expert who can.
References Mentioned
Find your Perimenopausal Doṣha: A Project for 100 Women Perimenopausal Dosha Assessment
Cars aren’t your only possession in need of oil.
SHOW NOTES
The Art of Menopausing with
Chitra 🦋 Eder
Menopause the final frontier. Somewhere along the way we started keeping score. Well, I can tell you when we did. It was when the pharmaceutical companies decided to disempower a ladies right of passage. Natural equals good. Medical equals failure.
And if whatever you pick does not work fast, you assume you are the problem by design. Millions of dollars are spent in making sure you understand the norm.
In this final part of our three part series, my guest, Chitra 🦋 Eder , answers the question so many women are carrying, do I go natural, do I go medical, or am I failing if I choose the wrong one? She dismantles the shame on both sides and reframes the real goal as finding your personal sweet spot, the one that supports your body without turning your healing into a second full time job.
Today, I want to go straight to the tension that shows up in real life, not just in the comment sections and wellness memes. I asked Chitra how she guides women through the pull between natural approaches and pharmaceutical or conventional hormone replacement therapies, and where she sees the sweet spot between tradition and modern medicine. Chitra started from the place most women are standing, the place where they are already judging themselves.
Natural vs medical menopause support
The first thing Chitra does is take the shame off the table. Women who take HRT are often sold the idea that it will fix a host of symptoms, and when it does not work the way they hoped, they often feel like something is wrong with them. On the other side, women who want to stay natural can feel that same sting when the natural work is not working for them. Chitra said neither view serves us. It only shames and guilts us.
She described a perspective that I wish every woman could borrow for a week and see how her nervous system responds. Some medical advancements exist because it is amazing that they exist. But that does not mean they are the first thing we use.
I found this analogy fascinating because it is so familiar in women’s healthcare. We do not use a knife immediately just because we think something is not supposed to be there, especially when it might be there because we do not have enough knowledge yet. I told her I see that pattern all the time.
Something shows up on a scan or a medical image and the first instinct for the doctor is to remove it. Especially for women, we have lost too many organs to that mentality. However, this methodology is changing, Chitra had some intel that the gallbladder and appendix are being removed less often. This is fantastic news. But, I am curious, is it because we are becoming better educated about the organ functions in our body? Or is it a growing intuition and empowerment that has us searching for better options?
The sweet spot between Ayurveda and modern medicine
So what is the sweet spot when it comes to how to treat the symptoms of menopause? she answered in a way that was both simple and challenging. The sweet spot is whatever makes sense for her that she is not stressing out about. That sentence deserves to be written on a sticky note and placed somewhere visible. She explained that Ayurveda can be simple, but it is still difficult to put into practice because you have to stay on top of it.
If a woman’s lifestyle shifts she gives the example of traveling for work. It can be hard to practice any healing modality that depends on consistent nutrition while living out of a suitcase. So Chitra keeps returning to the same question to ask yourself, what is going on for you right now, and what is your sweet spot.
She gave a grounded example. If a woman feels she needs to rely on HRT, that can be okay. The hope, she said, is not to do it for the entirety of life, but to use it to get over a particular hump. She also pointed out something that puts HRT into context for many women. Women have been on some sort of hormone cycle for a long time, and we immediately thought of birth control. In her view, being on hormones for a very long time can change bodily intelligence around creating and assimilating natural hormones. She made a careful point that she was making generalizations, not guarantees, but her message was clear. The body is always trying to deal with whatever it has been given. Sometimes it has forgotten how to do things. Sometimes it overreacts. Sometimes it under-reacts. This is why the sweet spot keeps coming back to it depends on you, and why we should not discount one form of support or another.
Ayurveda for menopause even if you choose HRT
Chitra then brought it back to the bridge between approaches, and this is where my brain lit up. Even if a woman chooses HRT, she still needs to deal with digestion. She still needs to deal with drying skin. She still needs to support the rest of her body. That is where Ayurveda can work alongside.
Later in the conversation, I reflected back what I see as a missing piece in so many modern conversations. The idea that you can only take a medication and that is it, because we have been led to believe there is nothing else you can do. Chitra’s perspective opens another door. You can look at Ayurveda doshas, identify constitution, and support the body so those hormones work better, and ideally so the body becomes more balanced over time. The definition of bioharmony.
One firm stand on HRT marketing
Chitra did say there is one place where she takes a stand, and she was clear about it. She wants women to remember that HRT now sits in a huge market. Pharmaceutical companies know a market when they see it, and she believes they have long partnered with doctors in ways that influence what gets pushed. She suggested women should learn to follow the money and ask why there is such a strong push, and whether it connects to an exploding market perceived to have money behind it. She referenced frameworks like the Hegelian dialectic and the revelation of the mind method, and her central point to stayed focused. Women need to become more aware and be able to say no when something does not feel aligned.
When medicine says there is nothing we can do
I shared something I have witnessed from working in integrative centers in different countries, and I said it because it is one of the most heartbreaking phrases in healthcare. People are sometimes told, you have three months to live, there is nothing we can do, put your affairs in order. I told Chitra I have seen people who were told this thirty or forty years ago, and they are still here. What I wish is that a doctor who is trained only in palliative care, would say is there is nothing we can do within the scope of our training and practice. That small shift in language can invite someone to seek out unconventional ways of supporting bioharmony rather than collapsing into hopelessness. Chitra agreed, and I said I believe the divide between allopathic and holistic medicine is sad, and I hope there will be a time when they come together.
Almond oil for dry skin and irregular dryness
As we moved toward wrapping up, Corie Feiner asked a practical question that brought us back to the body. She wanted a recommendation for almond oil daily because she runs irregular and dry. Chitra recommended keeping it simple and choosing a food grade almond oil from the food aisle, emphasizing a principle she repeated more than once in this series; anything you put on the skin, you should be able to eat. She also said you can use any oil, even olive oil, depending on what you have. If skin is super dry and flaky, she suggested doing a little dry brush first to remove flakes and then apply oil on top.
Her technique and guidance is clear. She generally tells people to apply oil on the long bones moving up toward the heart, and use circular motion around joints. She also reassured everyone that you will not be doing it wrong. If you cannot do a full body practice daily, she suggested doing feet at night and earlobes during the day. Over time people tend to start moistening up, breathing, and relaxing as a result. She mentioned nerve tissue in the feet and marma points, along with acupressure points in the ears that can activate things. When Cori followed up and said she already has organic almond oil and wants to know how often, Chitra said daily is best, ideally before a shower (adding in a little bit of movement to allow the oil to sink in-see part 2)
She also addressed face oiling. She suggested moving the oil upward, then toward the lymphatic pathway down into the neck, keeping the touch very light. She compared it to lymphatic massage and described the pressure as extremely gentle. We both laughed about how intense some people get with brushing techniques, and Chitra said brushing is meant to remove the upper layer of dead flaky skin, not to assault the body.
Chitra’s offerings on Substack
Before we closed, I asked Chitra to tell everyone what she offers and where to find her. She invited readers to The Art of Menopausing with Chitra Eder Doctor of Ayurveda and join her community. Membership includes a gentle reset designed to help women detox the system along with her kitchen challenge that teaches spices, grains, and what to keep on hand so you can cook most anything, and she emphasized that Ayurveda does not mean cooking Indian foods.
You can also find her program Your Perimenopausal Dosha program, and why she created it. Many dosha quizzes are confusing, and many are not specific to women. Her program is designed to focus on women, including menstrual patterns that can vary based on dosha, and to assess what is happening in the system right now, not only what may have been true at birth. She described it as a $25 questionnaire with one question you can ask about your health or menopausal symptoms, which she is increasingly calling signals. She responds with a recording that she says is ten to fifteen minutes but often runs closer to thirty because she likes to be thorough, and she includes one or two actionable things to help relieve the main issue. She also clarified she does not get into specific herbs in that format, but she will discuss kitchen herbs and spices because herbs can be powerful and can be damaging as well as helpful.
I also asked about her Brew New Moon Ghee Wisdom Circle, and she described it as a monthly gathering where women make ghee together, ask questions in real time, or simply watch and be in community. She described ghee as clarified butter that removes milk solids and milk proteins, and she said it can be tolerated by people who are lactose intolerant. She also described the sensory experience of making it at home, including the smell, and said women join not only to learn but to be together because community is still something we need. I have attended her ghee making community and it worth the experience.
We ended where I think every menopause conversation should end, with less self blame and more humanity. Chitra’s parting message was simple and strong. Do not be so hard on yourselves. Laugh a little, laugh a lot, love a little, love a lot. Love yourself. Those are great words to live by, don’t you think?
Thank you for being with me through this section as well as Part 1 and Part 2. If you have a health or menopause question you would like an answer to, leave a voicemail on my dedicated podcast line, no one answers, promise, at (656) 222-0848, or message me in the show notes. If I don’t have the answer I will find the expert that does.
Thank you for watching, reading or listening in. I’m Karen Langston, your holistic nutritionist and hypnotist. Remember, taking proactive steps toward physical and mental well-being is a journey, and seeking support is a sign of strength.
Stay well, and until next time, question the norm, trust your wisdom, elegantly and unapologetically roar. And most of all… Lady, keep being fascinating and sage with sass and grace in every day life. I’ll see you then .
