Can I share one of my favourite images from Chinese medicine?
Picture a pot of water on the stove. As long as there’s enough water, the flame underneath simply keeps it warm. But let the water run low, and that very same flame starts to make it hiss, spit and boil over.
That, in a nutshell, is how Traditional Chinese Medicine understands many of the symptoms of menopause.
Your energy has a savings account
In TCM, the water in the pot is Yin. It is the cooling, moistening, restoring side of us. It’s what lets us sleep deeply, stay calm under pressure and recover after a demanding day. The flame is Yang: our warmth, our drive, our activity.
As we move through perimenopause and menopause, Yin naturally becomes less abundant. Nothing has gone wrong; this is a normal part of this stage of life. But here’s the part I wish someone had explained to me years ago. According to Chinese medicine, the way we have lived also affects how much water is left in the pot. Late nights, constant rushing, years of stress and never really stopping are all described as things that slowly use up our Yin.
So what about the hot flushes, the night sweats, and the 3 a.m. wake-ups with your mind already writing tomorrow’s to-do list? In this framework they’re called “empty heat.” The fire isn’t actually stronger than before. There’s simply less water to keep it calm.
Menopause closes the overdraft
I love this way of looking at it, because it changes the question completely. Most of us have spent decades borrowing energy we never paid back. I certainly did, for years. In our thirties and early forties, the body quietly covers the difference. Around menopause, it becomes much less willing to lend.
That’s why “just push through” so often stops working at this stage. It’s also why adding yet another supplement, workout or morning routine can feel like turning the flame up under an emptying pot.
Before adding more, notice where your energy goes
There are three leaks I see again and again in the women I work with.
The first is rushing when you don’t need to. You walk fast, eat fast, and answer messages the second they arrive, and your body reads every rush as an emergency.
The second is never fully stopping. Resting on the sofa with your phone in your hand, half-listening to a podcast, isn’t the kind of rest that refills the pot.
The third is overriding the signals. You’re tired at 4 p.m., so you have another coffee. You’re hot and irritable, so you grit your teeth and carry on.
How Qi Gong helps refill the pot
This is exactly where Qi Gong comes in, because it doesn’t ask you to burn more energy. The movements are slow, the breath is long and soft, and your attention settles down into your legs and lower belly. In TCM terms, this is how we nourish Yin and help the heat come back down. In everyday terms, it gives your nervous system twenty minutes of knowing that nothing urgent is happening.
Qi Gong isn’t a replacement for your doctor, who is still the right person to talk to about your symptoms and options. But it’s a gentle, practical way to start paying back some of the energy you’ve borrowed.
A small experiment for this week
You don’t need to change everything at once. For the next few days, simply notice one of these leaks: the rushing, the never-quite-stopping, or the signals you talk yourself out of. You don’t have to fix anything yet. Just notice when it happens and how your body feels afterwards.
You might be surprised by how much water has been quietly boiling away, and how good it feels to start keeping a little more of it in the pot.
If something in this article resonated with you, you’re very welcome to join one of my live Qi Gong classes as my guest. There’s nothing to prepare and no experience needed. You simply come as you are, and we begin from there.
The groups are small, so I get to know who is practising with me, and you can see how it feels to move, breathe and slow down together.
Reserve your free class
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Let’s keep walking this path of awareness and transformation, one mindful step (and one gentle breath) at a time.
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