Menopause And Yoga: Intelligent Body Movement

Stacy McCarthy

Thank you. I am so thrilled to be here. Of course, I love this topic because I am on the other end of it. I can speak with some experience from being on the other side of that.

Sharon Stills, ND

Exactly. Look at her. She looks pretty good to me. There is hope. I mean, you do so many things; you are involved in integrative health and wellness and exercise psychology, and when I saw you were in the freestyle frisbee hall of fame, I was like, That is cool. I’ve never met a Frisbee champion before. You are just so active and into movement. How did that all come about? How did you get on this journey yourself?

Stacy McCarthy

I think from an early age I understood that movement is medicine, but not all movement. Ironically, when I went to college, I was a swimmer. I grew up as a water baby swimming, sailing, surfing, and doing all that fun stuff in Florida, and I ended up going to school in Colorado for college. One day I was actually in a completely different major is a forestry major, I just loved nature, and I did not really know what that meant, but one day we came out of the locker room, myself and the other gals with our swim cap on and our goggles and our Speedo swimsuits and we come out ready to jump in the pool and the coach says the pool pumps broke we are going to do aerobics, now, I am probably a little older than most people here, I am on the other side of things, this was in the early 1980s, I had no idea what the word aerobics was or what we were about to do but she pulled out a janky old boombox, remember those, put a cassette tape in, started blasting this music and next thing I know she is like, knees up, a hamstring curl and we are all mimicking her, I am literally like a fish out of water, I have no idea what is going on, then she started getting fancy like, grapevine, and adding this, but I have no idea what is going on, literally barefoot, cap still on and at the end of it, I loved it, I just absolutely loved it. 

I immediately changed my major when I graduated and moved to California. That got me started in the early days of fitness. I went on to run a major chain of health clubs, hiring and training a lot of fitness people. But in the very late 80s and early 90s, I met a yoga teacher who really changed my life, and still, this was fairly early in the growth of yoga. I was living in the mecca of yoga in an area called Encinitas, California. The student teacher just really changed my life all of a sudden. I found the movement very different from what I had been doing. I was really pounding my body pretty hard in fitness; I would wake up stiff, sore, and tired all the time. I was working out so hard, and I was not feeling good; I had a lot of aches and pains. Then, when I found yoga, I started moving intelligently; I began to move in a way where I was using everything but not overusing anything. That was my thing.

I practiced with the teacher in India, and I just studied and learned more and more, eventually becoming a kinesiology professor of health and nutrition. I specialized in yoga studies, bringing that into colleges and then bringing that into health clubs, and I just found it to be integrating all the things that really make up the whole person—not just the musculoskeletal system but the energy body, the mindfulness of the mind, the tapping into your deeper intuitive wisdom—and it just changed everything for me. That was really my journey. I have been very passionate about helping women, regardless of where they start. I really have a body that they love without excessive exercise and without dieting, but really through embodying a lifestyle change that makes you really love who you are.

Sharon Stills, ND

I love that. I love what you said—move intelligently—because that is such a tagline. Because that is so true, we all want to move. I have learned along my journey because I am also on the other side of menopause myself, and I have learned that what I need now is very different than what I needed in the past. I had to have you here to speak to the audience at this summit. Because to me, yoga is medicine. I love that you said it is not just about the musculoskeletal system. What would you say to those listening who have a yoga practice or want to get started? What do you recommend, and what does yoga mean to you?

Stacy McCarthy

Yes. Well, yoga means so much to me. Yoga, for me, is really the deepest and most profound connection to my inner self; it is what has really awoken me from the inside out. It has helped me tap into my own inner body wisdom so that I can start to understand exactly how to move my body in a way that is appropriate for me, and with that, it really connects you. When we say, Namaste, this is really that oneness, that we are all connected, and that oneness starts from within. I teach a very heart-centered style of yoga, but that does not mean that you are not working. My teacher was from India. He spoke very little English. I began practicing with him when he was in his early 60s, and I practiced with him up until his nineties, when he was still teaching. He did not speak much English, but he would say these like gems of wisdom. One time he used to always have this tagline where he would say, “Do your practice; all is coming.” What does that mean? “Do your yoga practice; everything is coming”. One day he said, “Do your practice properly, and all is coming,” and that is that intelligent movement that we can do yoga with, but if we are not doing it intelligently, then it may not be working. 

Doing your practice properly is very important. He also said, another Do your practice; all is coming. What he was saying is that, “This is a lifelong journey that, if you want greater health and happiness, you have to do it.” This is not a quick fix; this is not something you do for a little while, then you quit, and you come back and forth and back and forth. This is like brushing your teeth; you get to the point where it is like brushing your teeth every day. If you do not move your spine every day, if you are not connecting to yourself every day, then it is like your teeth are getting gummy and gross, and you are like, I need to brush my teeth. We want to feel like that as we move our bodies. He would never make promises, and this is what I loved about him. 

He never made promises that yoga was going to cure your illness, fix your knee or hip, or make any claims; he never did that. But what he did say, and this really struck a chord with me, is that “If you do your yoga practice for a lifetime, you will have more health and happiness than if you do not do yoga.” That is simple. If you want more health and happiness in your life, practice yoga for a lifetime. So that really stuck with me. There are no great claims, but what we all realize is that if we do this on a regular basis, those benefits come: you are a happier person, you are healthier, you are connected more, you start to reduce the cravings that we have, and you are starting to have more balance in your mind through the body. Yes, that is a long answer to what yoga is for me and also to the type of yoga that I teach. I really want people to connect to a deeper part of their inner self while they are moving the body, while they are moving the breath, and while their mind is wandering, coming back again and again without any judgment to their breath as they move through discomfort in the body.

Sharon Stills, ND

I totally agree. I have a, not such a profound saying, but a philosophy in my life where it is like if something is going on, or I am upset about something, or I have had an interaction with someone, I am like, You know what? I am going to go to yoga and then decide how I want to handle this. You have a furry friend.

Stacy McCarthy

This is my dog, Yogi. He is usually very fluffy like this, but he got out and got very matted, and they had to shave him down. He’s got a buzzcut. I will tell you my story about Yogi. Yogi, when he was little, I taught him in the language of yoga, which is Sanskrit, about different yoga poses. I would say, Adho mukha svanasana, downward dog; he does his downward dog, and Okay. Excuse me. Tom, my husband, just put my cat in here too, my blind cat. This is my blind cat. It is funny when I am in my yoga space; in my yoga room, all the animals love to come in here; they love the energy in here. It is very calming.

Sharon Stills, ND

That does not surprise me. Kids know how to pick up energy. For the different kinds, because there is hot yoga, there is power yoga, there is vinyasa yoga, there is hatha yoga, and there are so many, what is a little quick journey?

Stacy McCarthy

Yes. There is a lot of confusion.

Sharon Stills, ND

Yes. How do we still do all that and know what is good for us, especially those going through menopause?

Stacy McCarthy

Well, exactly. There are many styles of yoga out there. In the word Hatha yoga, hatha means hot sun and moon. It is just a big umbrella; it is an umbrella for yoga with movement. There are a lot of types of yoga. This is one where we are doing the movements in the yoga poses. Underneath that umbrella, there are, of course, different styles. I would say that during menopause, Hatha yoga can be a little too fiery; it is just too much fire, too much heat. I would not necessarily recommend that style of yoga, especially while going through that. I mean, can you imagine if you are having a hot flash and you are in your room at a hundred-something degrees? You might be really angry by the time you leave, and you want to leave yoga. Feeling really good. I teach this to all of you, where you are creating the heat from the inside out; it is natural. Through our breath and our movement, we are step by step increasing the inner fire within us, and we have control through our breath and our movement. You are truly not using external things for your practice; you are learning how to tap into your own inner body wisdom. That, to me, is something you can take with you everywhere you go to learn how to tap in.

The breath work is very important; learning how to breathe properly in the practice and how to really align the bones and stabilize the muscles before you start to work with your flexibility in the practice. Some people think that yoga is about touching your toes, and they think it is all about flexibility. I mean, ultimately, yoga is about touching your soul, but on the way to touching your toes, you also want to build strength in the body. We want a practice that understands the proper alignment of your bones and how to stabilize your muscles so that when you are stable, strong, and balanced, you can create space in the body, and this is where flexibility comes in. 

The style of yoga that I teach is what I call an alignment-based breath-to-movement practice that meets you where you are. A lot of step-by-step foundation, and as you improve, as you get stronger, as you get more flexible, as you get more balanced and stable, you start to increase your intensity at your own rate. This way, different levels can work together and find inspiration. There will be days where you are injured, your energy is low, and you can still do your practice. This does not mean you quit or did not do it that day. Right now I have online classes this morning in my class I had one woman just coming from her second week of breast surgery, second round from breast cancer, she came on, I had a woman in her 80s, she is been practicing with me for decades who is also a yoga teacher herself, I had women in their 40s, there is all different stages, one with a knee injury, everyone could work together. 

The woman who could not raise her arms because she just had breast surgery and was cut across the abdomen and across the rib cage breathed, stood, and with every cue of my breath, she was working with me. She can bring her arms this high; that is how high she will bring them. She will work like that for a while as she is healing. But she sent me the most beautiful email afterward, and she said, Just thank you. Just the fact that I was there breathing, moving, and doing what I could made felt so good, and that is what I want for people. I want people to just feel extraordinary when they are done and to feel this connection. You can teach a lot of levels if it is done step by step. First, align your bones, get stable, and now wherever your flexibility is, well, that is what it is.

Sharon Stills, ND

I love that so much. That is like when you are at this stage of life. I think when you are younger and if you are going to a class in person or looking at other people in the Zoom room, sometimes you are so focused on things like, She can touch her toes, or she can do a backbend and I cannot, or Wow, her booty looks really cute and mine does not, or Her boobs are nice, or whatever. We are so out there, and when you get to this point, it is like this invitation to come home, to be with yourself, and to be accepting. Yoga is such a beautiful way to I am not a yoga teacher, but when I go to yoga class, the teachers always say, This is your mat, your practice; you just be there and you show up, and like you said, some days I show up and I am like a rock star, and other days, depending upon what is happening, I am not as much of a rock star, but I showed up, and it is an example of just how we show up for ourselves.

Stacy McCarthy

That is right. You just do not quit; that is the only thing that I ask of my students: just do not quit; show up. I try to also be that role model for them; I have been through my share of injuries and all kinds of things. I mean, one time I had a knee thing where I ended up getting knee surgery, but I woke up; I was supposed to be leading a retreat that day, and my knee just locked up. I had a torn meniscus. I could not walk. I had to borrow my 90-year-old mother’s walker to come up on stage at the retreat. I still taught on the walker. It did not matter; I did what I could. I gave everyone cues, but I could only do so much. In the practice of yoga, modern-day yoga in a lot of places now has mirrors in the room, and you get to see yourself. But the reality is that what those mirrors do is put you into comparison, judgment, and competitiveness; you are watching yourself trying to get it just right rather than tuning in.

For me, it is like turn down the music, turn up your breath, get rid of the mirrors, and connect. Listen to your body. When we start to do this now, we are really connecting to our inner self or our inner body wisdom. But if we are always looking outside for all the answers, we will never be good enough; that is a sure formula for quitting because it is all in comparison, you are going to age, and things are going to change. I tell my students often, Look, the things I could do when I began my practice in my 30s do not look the same as what I can do now, but there are other things that I do so much better. I am so much more focused, I have so much more equanimity in my mind, where I am not like high over here or low, I am very balanced in my energy state, and this is all through the practice. That should be what we are hoping to get from our yoga practice. If along the way you finally nail your headstand or whatever it is, well, that is great too, but give yourself a pat on the back. At the same time, if you lose it, still give yourself a pat on the back for warming up. I always say that sometimes, and you probably have this as well. People say, You are the greatest yoga teacher I have ever had, and I will say thank you, and somebody else may say, She is the worst yoga teacher I have ever had, and I will say thank you. Because it does not matter, it really does not; it is finding this balance that we are never above anyone and we are also never beneath anyone. That is what the practice is here to teach us: that we are one and that we are all working on our own journey.

Sharon Stills, ND

Our journeys can look a little different, and we can have different struggles, and no one’s got it made right. We are all humans; we are all having the human condition experience. It’s best to just focus within and do what you can to help yourself.

Stacy McCarthy

Let your yoga practice be that safe space for you—that sacred container for you to be able to let go. Each day that you practice and the more in tune you are, you start to notice things. You start to notice what is going on with your body. Gosh, I ate a lot of processed food and too much sugar and alcohol last night. I feel really crappy today, and that is a downward dog. Or, I got an argument I had, something going on, stressed, or whatever. I feel really crappy. And then, I ate really well. I am rested. I got a great night’s sleep. I feel better. You start tapping into that. It is so empowering to know you have control over what is happening in this body temple.

Sharon Stills, ND

Exactly. Confession time: I am a hot yoga junkie, with all the fire I have and all the pitta. Like, when I was in India doing crunch karma, the doctor was yelling at me. But we all have our vices. but not that I was a huge drinker, but I stopped drinking. You just reminded me when you were talking about that I stopped drinking pretty much at all because if I would go out, say, on a Saturday night and maybe have a cocktail or something, and then I would go to yoga the next day, I would feel like death, and it taught me this is not worth it. I want to feel good on the mat. Having this drink or not getting sleep or whatever it is that we do to not take care of, as you say, our body temple, it just became not worth it. It is a really good way to give you that feedback and to really become accountable to yourself and to your practice.

Stacy McCarthy

That is right. It is you being accountable to yourself. When you start to cultivate this discipline and devotion to the practice, like I said, like brushing your teeth, where it just feels strange of you, do not move your spine every day. I am not saying you need to do full-blown hot yoga and get all sweaty and everything, but you should be moving every day in a way that is keeping your spine young. I mean, because a younger spine—one of my teachers as well would say, we are as young as our spine is flexible, and keeping this is also where the energy moves through, and keeping that spine very mobile and flexible and being accountable to you—you taking care of yourself—that starts to reduce the craving. I love that story that you shared because you are like, Hey, I noticed that when I was drinking the night before, what I felt like in my practice was that you had the discipline to get up first of all and do the practice, and then the aha, You know what? I do not want to feel like that anymore; no one is telling you it is from within. Then that is where the real power is: let the teacher be within you; let the yoga practice teach you from within.

Sharon Stills, ND

Yes. It also means—I mean, I was always really into hydration, but again, you do not want to not hydrate and show up in Hatha yoga. It really helped that way. I have so many questions I want to ask you. Is there anything, before we move on to a different piece, because you have some interesting things you wrote down that I want to ask you about, but is there anything just for the listeners? Are there any tips or tools about how to breathe, how to sit, how to walk, or how to stand that are just little juicy nuggets that they could get from you right now?

Stacy McCarthy

Yes.  I think there are a couple of things with breathing, depending on the type; there are so many types of breaths out there. Some breaths are designed to energize you; they are very fiery; some breaths are designed to calm you down and decompress you; some breaths are designed to balance your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems very even, teaching you a very even breath; none of this. For example, in the yoga style, I am teaching a very even breath, which I want you to connect to because, once again, I am working with this balance of the mind and body. The breath is through the nose with the mouth closed to keep it very balanced. The breath work is very important, in my opinion, in a yoga practice. That is one thing. The other thing that I focus a lot on is that most of my clientele are women, most of them over 40, and there are areas of the body as we get older that slump and slouch a lot. The two areas that end up being basically the couple areas that are blind spots in the body for most people are the thoracic spine, which is the posture muscle area, and slumping and slouching. Most people, if I talk to them about their cervical spine, their neck, they know what to do; their low back, the lumbar, they know what to do; but when I ask them to start working with the thoracic, they are like, Huh, what do I do?

A lot of the work I do involves strengthening the posture muscles in the midback and learning how to connect to the inner thighs. Because the other thing that happens is that the inner thighs also start to get tighter and tighter as we age. When the inner thighs start to get tighter and tighter, for example, the inner thigh—sorry, my cats are here too—when the inner thighs get tighter, this is literally pulling us down. The tighter this is, the more it pulls us down. Now, it is also collapsing our chest and shoulders, pulling us down from the thoracic. A lot of the work I teach is how to engage and learn how to strengthen the posture muscles and open the inner thighs, which is a gateway up into your lower belly, that area about three inches below the navel, which is for most people, especially women, a complete blindspot. They all know the rectus abdominis, kneed in the ribs, all of this, that lower belly, and they are like, Huh? bringing awareness because, again, these are energy channels, but it is also for better posture. You are standing up taller; you are not shrinking. Each year, you are getting shorter and shorter, but you are standing up tall. When we are young, our bodies are just exploding with growth and vitality. 

Remember that phrase, the wonder years? We are like a rocket ship that quickly soars, and then somewhere in our 20s, we reach the peak of vitality and growth. Then gravity sets in and we begin this long, slow decline, and with that, there are certain changes and shifts that happen in our strength, flexibility, need, balance, stamina, and mental clarity, and we start to bit by bit have these changes. Then we hit our 30s, and more changes hit us. Now we have even more changes where all of a sudden we do not sleep as deeply, we are more prone to certain diseases, we do not recover as quickly from our illnesses, and our injuries and our tissues do not lubricate as well. Now, I know some of you out there can relate to this. We go from the wonder years to the I wonder what hit me years, and you are like, What has happened? Now, despite these changes, there are those women who decided to fight back, who have decided not to coast, and these are the women who, whether they are 35, 55, or 75, are still performing at their peak. Now, that peak’s not the same as it was when they were in their 20s, obviously, but they are still living adventurous lives, they are still starting new careers, they have powerful bodies, and they have a soaring spirit. These are the women who have adopted what I like to call, mastering the big three, and that is really a lot of what I teach. What are the big three? How you move, which for me is intelligent movement through this practice of yoga; how you eat, learning how to eat foods and eating in a way that decreases inflammation in the body; and thirdly, how you sink, which, by the way, is the most important of all of it. Because you can move perfectly, you could have the best diet in the world for you, but if your thoughts are toxic and you are filled with negative bias, none of that matters because all of that is going to be inside you. Those are the three areas that I really work with women on to have more balance, feel really great, and be able to continue to sort no matter how old you are. I mean, I honestly feel like I will be 62 this year, and I honestly feel like my best. I honestly do. Maybe my things have shifted a little bit more; maybe when you put on your pants, all of a sudden, the booties are not getting filled as much and the waist is a little tighter. Maybe things have shifted post-menopause because muscle mass is shrinking and bone density has declined. Things have shifted. However, there are things you can do to counteract a lot of that. A lot of the work I do now also involves increasing, working with the muscles, and lengthening my spine; building up my gluteal area and deeper twist; and working with my waist to again counteract some of those things I was feeling post-menopause. Throughout menopause, it is like what is happening—that menopause belly—this is what I think is happening here.

Sharon Stills, ND

Well, there is so much in there, I just want to comment on it. Just going back to the spine. I think that is so much wisdom in this important piece because our spine, all the ways our spine can move and rotate, and all the nerves that come out of our mind and innovate all our life-sustaining organs, We do not think about the spine like it is something you go to the doctor and they check your spine, they check your blood pressure, and obviously not in a traditional practice like mine. I hope you walk away. There are a lot of things I hope you take away from this conversation, but one is definitely like this: my spine needs TLC and yoga, and a yoga practice could be a beautiful way to get it. Then I also love the Wonder Years. Because I was going to ask you because you had written down what hit me years ago, I am like, What is that? I also love what you mentioned before. It also goes into what you just said about mindset. It is really interesting because I am a huge believer in the body-mind complex. I do a lot of work with my patients on physical things, bioidentical hormones, supplements, diets, and so on and so forth. But it is always about the emotions and the mind.

So far, everyone I have interviewed for this summit, no matter what their topic is, has always said that it is about the mindset. It is like, yes, this is Mastering Your Menopause Transition, saving your hair, your body, your mind, and your figure, but I also feel like it should be called the mindset of menopause, the mindset of moving, the mindset of yoga, and the mindset of life. because everyone keeps bringing it up, so I hope that you all listening really take that in and digest it. Because I am on such a mission to change because, in our society, we have really created this belief that medicine comes in pill bottles and to get well, we pop a bottle, and then you come over to the side where I am and then you want to pop a vitamin bottle. But yoga to me—I mean, it is why I wanted you here—is medicine; it is not just a workout; it is medicine for the body, mind, and soul. I love everything you are saying. There is another term you had written down just on your form that you sent to me, saying energy billionaire. What is an energy billionaire? That sounds like something everyone would want to be.

Stacy McCarthy

Yes. I speak to that a lot. Anything in life that has any real value is going to require a certain level of energy, but most people run out of that energetic gas as they are climbing the mountain of success, whether they are men or women. Women, especially if you are climbing the corporate ladder, raising a family, or whatever you are doing, a lot of times you have run out of that energetic gas by the time you are in your late 30s, your 40s, or onward. Much of the work that I do is also in the body, and the eating and the thinking are helping to create more energy in your body. If I backtrack a little bit when talking about the spine, if you think the universe is vast, you should look inside your own body and look at the spine. The spine has 26 vertebrae, 104 joints, 120 muscles, and thousands—I am talking thousands—of energy channels running throughout your body. The primary energy channel that is moving your life force energy is right through the center of your spine, and it is running up from the very rooted core of your spine all the way up to the brain and its energy. If it ends up being blocked, if your spine is blocked, if your lower back is blocked, if your shoulders are blocked, whatever is going on here, your energy is basically blocked there, and your brain does not have as much clarity and vitality, and we start getting that brain fog and all of this type of stuff. 

Keeping your spine and those energy channels open is so important. When we talk about thinking and you are talking about mindset, your thoughts are the vocabulary of your brain, and your emotions are the vocabulary of your body. We have to work with both. The practice of yoga is working with your thoughts and your emotions, and it is coming; you are embodying it through both what is going on up here in your brain and also in your body. That is why, so many times, I mean, think about it. If you think about it in your own life, if you are suffering from low back pain, notice if your low back pain becomes particularly heightened when you are under great deals of stress, emotional stress. Notice if maybe your neck, shoulders, and shoulders and your neck are all really cranked up if you are under a lot of stress in your thoughts. Your body tells the truth; your body is not going to lie to you, but you have to have the awareness, the inner awareness, to know what is going on here. That is what the practice of yoga is when it is taught properly.

As I started this whole conversation, do your practice properly, as my teacher said, and all is coming. When we practice properly and when we are working step by step, yoga is vast and deep. It is thousands of years old and has stood the test of time. It is a beautiful step-by-step blueprint to really connect to your inner self and the inner body wisdom. When you practice it properly, you start to know what is going on, you start to know when things are off, and you start to notice, Aha, I am under too much emotional stress; I am going to take action now in whether or not I am moving, eating, or what are my thoughts. You learn how to stand guard over your mind. That is what I teach a lot in my classes: learn to stand guard over your mind; notice right away how quickly you fell into that negative bias; notice how quickly you ended up worried, intense, judging, embarrassed, disappointed, complaining, blaming, angry, and fearful—this is all bringing it to the surface. Notice that you are feeling that, and also give yourself a break. Learn how to release it and come back to who you really are. All of those negative, biased thoughts and emotions that are redundant are recycled, and then they are unnecessary thoughts and emotions. Can you give your brain a rest and get out of your head, which judges and holds back, and come back to your heart, which operates in the present moment? When we come back to our hearts, it is really coming back home to who you really are at the deepest and most profound part of your inner self; this is coming back home to your true self, your essential self, your soul self. Who are you at that state? It is a state of being, not doing, but a state of being of abundant joy and unconditional love. That is who we all are at our deepest level. All that other stuff, all that crazy up here, is all your story.

Sharon Stills, ND

We are all energy billionaires. 

Stacy McCarthy

All energy billions, but we forget; we let all of those stories accumulate over and over. Research has shown we have around 430 emotions a day and anywhere from 50 to 60000 thoughts a day. The challenge is that they are mostly the same thoughts and emotions that we had yesterday, the day before, or five minutes ago and are constantly going through. Part of what I teach through movement is how to upgrade your story so that you upgrade your life so that you understand that that is a story you have created and it is not who you are at your deepest level, and how do we come back home to who we really are? When we do that, then, as my teacher said, “Do yoga for a lifetime, and you will have more health and happiness because you are remembering who you are.”

Sharon Stills, ND

That is why I love yoga so much. I mean, it all goes back to mindfulness and meditation. This is such a powerful time. I think when you were talking before, it was the wonder years that hit me, and so much of it goes to what you are saying, like the mindset: are we going to focus on, My hair is gray now or whatever, or are we going to focus on, Wow, my self-esteem is 150% better than what it was when I was 20? Where are we going to put these thoughts, and what are we going to appreciate in life? Because someone said to me the other day, and I am like stealing it, but it is like, you know what, 100 out of 100 people are going to die, and it is like, yes, that is true; we are all aging; you do not get to skip that; it is just how are you going to enjoy that aging process and how are you going to dance and embrace that journey, and you are living proof—I like to think I am living proof—that it can be a beautiful journey and you can feel, because I too am 55 and I feel healthier, more vibrant, more settled, happier—all these things as each year goes on—and because there is just this embracing of understanding what is really important in this precious journey of life.

Stacy McCarthy

That inner wisdom. One of the things for anyone who is watching this now, and maybe you are right at the height of perimenopause or menopause, wherever you are on this journey where you are not sleeping, maybe you have got the hot flashes, maybe you are just angry for no reason, maybe you are crying for no reason, or your emotions are on this roller coaster, whatever is happening, maybe you can pause. Yoga has all these just, I mean, unbelievable gems of wisdom accumulated over thousands of years. We have something in the language of yoga called Sanskrit called Santosha, and that means contentment. It is remembering to appreciate what you have and see the perfection of where you are, even when maybe it is not where you want to be. If you can pause and replace your expectation with appreciation, it will shift what is happening up here. 

But if you are so caught up in your expectation that I used to be able to do this and I did this or whatever is going on, I did not have bad knees before, my joints did not hurt, whatever it is, you are all in expectation. Instead, if you can just appreciate, you know what? I am lucky enough to have my fingers, my toes, my arms, and my legs. I am lucky enough to have maybe not slept my full night, but I am lucky that I appreciate that I got some sleep. This takes work because our minds are scattered all over again. The ultimate definition of yoga, and I know most people, as I said, think it is about touching their toes because that is what every advertisement and media outlet has driven into our heads: doing whatever some contortionist, some ableist can do, but yoga ultimately, from ancient texts say, Yoga ceases the fluctuations of the mind. What does that mean? That is the mind that is constantly going. That same pattern that I just talked about, your thoughts and emotions, when we do the practice properly and effectively under the right guidance and you start getting it, starts to cease all those crazy fluctuations in your mind. When your mind starts to become balanced, guess what happens with the body? The body becomes more balanced.

Sharon Stills, ND

Well, there you have it, ladies, the yoga of menopause. I mean, this is just like a nice, warm cup of soothing tea for the soul. If you are having a bad day, just listen to this talk again because there are so many juicy nuggets within it. Thank you so much. For those that want to know more about you or do your online classes, is there a website or can they follow you online on Instagram?

Stacy McCarthy

Yes. Yoga Namastacy is my website. The word yoga and then namaste, as we talked about, N A M A and then S T A C Y, no E, just S T A C Y. When I started my website, which was like when websites first came out, it is funny, here is how I got my name. When I first began teaching, I used to have these really clever front rowers, and at the end of the class, when I would bring my poms together and I say, namaste, they would go, namastacy. Is it that clever? Everyone is doing websites, and I am like, Well, I will just call it Yoga Namastacy. Since then, there have been a lot of other people who have tapped into it. But you will see me, and you will recognize me, because that is probably the easiest. You can hit all my socials on that. I would love for you to follow me on Instagram or Facebook, whatever your favorite is. But yeah. I give lots of inspiration on mastering the big three and also on how good you can actually feel, regardless of where you are starting.

Sharon Stills, ND

I love it. Go follow Yoga Namastacy. Coolest name ever. Thank you for being here. I got a warm fuzzy feeling just talking about yoga and all these things; it just really brings you back to what is important. Thanks, everyone, for being here. This is a juicy, sweet one that is really filled with a lot of truth. Take it in, take notes, work on one thing, go follow Stacy, move your body, and get in touch with your spine. Stay tuned for another interview on Mastering The Menopause Transition. We will see you soon. Bye.