AM I STRESSED… OR IS IT PERIMENOPAUSE?

Get Kiki’s companion guide, Am I Stressed… or Is It Perimenopause? here:
https://soiltosoul.gumroad.com/l/stressed-or-perimenopause

Hot flushes. Sleepless nights. Brain fog. Anxiety. Exhaustion. Weight changes. Mood swings. And those moments when you genuinely wonder:

What the bloody hell is happening to me?

In this episode of Soil to Soul, I get very personal about my own journey through perimenopause and menopause—including the first hot flush I’ll never forget, standing in a woollen polo-neck jumper in the middle of winter while what felt like a volcano erupted inside my body.

Then came years of hot flushes, sleeplessness and what I can only describe as murderous rage.

But this episode isn’t simply about menopause symptoms.

It’s about the WHOLE WOMAN experiencing them.

I came into perimenopause with a long history of trauma, a nervous system that had spent years firing into survival, and a body that had been pushed enormously hard. That experience profoundly shaped the way I came to understand my own menopause—and the way I have worked with women’s health throughout my decades as a naturopathic herbalist and holistic practitioner.

Because we don’t arrive at menopause as a blank slate.

We bring our whole lives with us.

In this episode, we explore the interconnected picture: hormones, adrenals and stress physiology, the nervous system, nutrition, gut and thyroid health, cholesterol, sunlight and vitamin D, sleep, herbs, hormonal support, emotional patterns, rest—and why looking at any one of these in isolation can miss the woman at the centre of it all.

I also talk about why cholesterol is not simply the enemy we’ve been taught to think it is, its role as a precursor in steroid-hormone production, and its fascinating relationship with vitamin D production and sunlight.

That leads us back to one of the central principles of Soil to Soul:

We are whole people. And we are part of nature, not separate from it.

I share some of what helped me personally—including herbal and nutritional support, EFT, connecting with body sensations before they became stories in my head, and eventually individually prescribed compounded hormonal support when I needed more help.

And yes, I have a bit of a rant.

An email titled Peptides for Perimenopause landed in my inbox while I was preparing this episode, complete with images of gorgeous, slim, vibrant, energetic women apparently doing menopause perfectly.

It pissed me off.

Not because I’m against women feeling fabulous.

Quite the opposite.

But because women do not need another bloody standard to fail at.

A herb can be a tool. A supplement can be a tool. Hormonal support can be a tool. A pharmaceutical can be a tool. EFT can be a tool.

But a tool is not a philosophy of care.

The woman has to remain at the centre.

And perhaps there’s an even deeper invitation inside this transition.

For so much of our lives, women breathe themselves outward—into children, partners, parents, work, caring, responsibility, holding and doing.

Exhale. Exhale. Exhale.

What if perimenopause isn’t simply an ending?

What if it’s an initiation?

And what if it’s also an INHALATION?

A time to bring some of ourselves home.

Back into the body.
Back into nourishment.
Back into pleasure.
Back into creativity.
Back into rest.
Back into receiving.
Back into ourselves.

We also explore one of my favourite Kiki-isms:

Does it really matter?

Because when something doesn’t really matter but we make it matter, our body carries that urgency as tension and stress.

Sometimes the thing you’re convinced absolutely must be done today...

can bloody wait.

IN THIS EPIS

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Kristin Day (aka Kiki) is a naturopathic herbalist, nutritionist, counsellor, kinesiologist, Compassion Key practitioner & holistic healer treating root cause with 38 years of experience. Soil to Soul explores healing from the ground up — inside out, organically, holistically, soulfully.
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📩 Connect: kristinday61@gmail.com
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