Between the Moon - Ep 26: Rooting into Elemental Cycles with Kris González

Episode Date: February 2, 2025

On today’s episode I have the pleasure of speaking with the founder of the Way of Yin, Kris González about the lunar new year and how we can learn from the wisdom of the snake to know when to use energy and when to conserve and reserve.I loved this conversations and I could honestly listen to Kris talk forever — her voice is so calming and so grounding.As she writes in the newsletter that inspired me to reach out to record this episode: “2026 will be the Year of the Full Fire Horse, bringing major transformation and change. As a result, 2025 is a year of transition. We must be careful not to burn out. It's important to nurture and take care of ourselves in 2025 to endure the fire ahead. I hope this season brings you deep rest, a touch of magic, and time to spend with the people and activities that keep your spirit alive.”Kris takes us on a journey through the elements starting with water with a special emphasis for women in their metal years (think Queen of Swords). She really helps connect the dots of how the energy of the elements comes alive in our lives at every phase.In this episode you’ll learn about how the five elements give insight into the many ways life is sustained and maintained with extra special importance of the kidneys. At the end I weave it all back into the moon and how this all connects with the lunar cycle.For those of you who don’t know her yet, Kris is a dedicated Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Herbalist, passionate about the Nourishing Life Tradition (養生 yǎng shēng). She founded The Way of Yin, a lifestyle education company focused on bridging the wellness gap in reproductive health through timeless wisdom.Her courses integrate insights from Chinese Medicine Gynecology, Reproductive Medicine, The Five Elements, Herbalism, and Longevity Practices. Kris aims to share the profound wisdom of East Asian Medicine, particularly in the realm of the Womb Continuum.The Way of Yin offers guidance to help you journey with more ease and grace, all while embracing nature’s wisdom and helping you connect to your body, cycles, and rhythms.)) If you love this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify - thanks so much for listening! ((LINKS* Kris González, L.Ac ∘ Chinese Medicine Practitioner 𖣊 Reproductive Health + Longevity Medicine ✨ website www.thewayofyin.com* The New Moon Calendar Journal is available in the shop! This simple and beautiful circular calendar and journal establishes the new moon as the starting point for each monthly cycle. It provides a structure for connecting to your inner wisdom and natural rhythms. Order your copy https://themoonismycalendar.com/new-productsThanks for reading Between the Moon! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit themoonismycalendar.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome, dear listener, to Between the Moon, a podcast about self-study in relationship with cycles. I'm your host, April McMurtry, founder of The Moon is My Calendar. Welcome to today's episode. I have the pleasure of speaking with Chris Gonzalez of the way of yin. Chris is a dedicated Chinese medicine. practitioner and herbalist, and she's passionate about the nourishing life tradition. She founded Wei of Yin as a way to bridge the wellness gap in reproductive health. So her work really focuses on just how she integrates the five elements, longevity practices, the wisdom of East Asian medicine, and particularly in the realm of the womb continuum.

So I came across Chris's work through that invisible mycelial network known as Instagram many years ago. I followed her for many moons and really found everything that she shares to be so thoughtful and grounding, educational, and just really beautiful. A couple years ago, I took a course with her. That is a seasonal course and we go into more of that in the episode. I was really curious about how she weaves in cyclical practices into her business and life. And so in this episode, she shares some of that origin story of how that came to be. She also talks about the energy for the year of the snake and really takes us on a listening journey through the storytelling of the five elements. so the element of water, of wood, of fire, of earth, and metal, and back around again.

And really brings all of those to life. So that is the elemental journey, the cycle of the elements, and how that weaves into life cycles, a menstrual cycle. This particular episode will really speak to and resonate with, and it's just very potent for women in the metal years. And when you think metal years, think queen of swords type energy. And Chris shares about how every cycle really is a training ground,

that there's wisdom that we learn as we go through each lunar cycle, as we go through each menstrual cycle, and we go through each life cycle, we actually don't talk directly, specifically about the moon in this episode. So I added a segment at the end just to map in the phases of the moon as they connect with the elements. If you listen, there's, you probably be able to feel into the parallels. You can kind of do that just as like a testing yourself and your awareness of the cycles within cycles, those layers. But at the end,

and I'll share a little bit more about that. We'll get on with the show. I just wanted to say in case you don't have a copy of the New Moon Calendar and Journal, there are still a handful in the shop for the 2025 year of cycles. I'll put that link in the show notes. There's also a course that's the foundations of lunar tracking

to support your personal practice for self-study and relationship with cycles. That's also available on the website, on my website, the moons my calendar.com, and I will put all the links to Chris and her work at the way of yin. That will all be in the show notes. Okay, let's get started. All right, should we dive into Year of the Snake? Yes. So I feel like to put it in context, it's good to talk about the previous year. So, yeah, the previous year was also Wood, the energy of Wood. but it was the dragon year.

So it's a very kind of young wood energy. So wood in general is exemplifies, you know, like the spring season and the youth, you know, like birth and rebirth and rebirth and, you know, all the kind of childhood memories we have of just being full of energy and inspiration. and so much drive. And so we're still kind of continuing on that trend of wood, but we're kind of on a bridge. So we're on this bridge of wood turning into fire, which is the next element. And so we'll be visited by kind of the full fire horse in 2026.

So really this year that we're in right now, where we're welcoming in the snake, is a year of transition where we're kind of bridging that wood fire energy. And so because wood is so bold and it reaches up and out, we have to try and almost root in so that we don't burn out because the full fire is coming. Yeah. So what helps us to do that is to really embody. the snake. So thinking about the snake and what it does naturally, it sheds. So a lot of the task this year is really about rooting in and kind of coiling up to have that more mature wood energy.

So last year was young wood energy. This year is more mature wood energy. So what the snake is really good at is it kind of coiled up and it keeps things close. And it knows when to strike and it knows when to conserve and reserve. So it's almost that we have to like root into that innate knowing, almost our internal knowing of when to use our energy and when not to use our energy so that we don't actually burn out. Snakes also really love cleanliness.

So it's going to ask us to kind of clean house before the big transformation of fire that's coming. Yeah, so our health, you know, things doing with our health and our home, our relationships. So it's more of a tending year. It's more of a transition year where we are shedding things, getting ready for the transformation ahead. Yeah.

That's what really struck me. You had sent out a newsletter that talked about Year of the Snake. And right away, you're like, the fire horse is coming. So it's, it's, I feel like with a lot of the cycle, the working with cycles and the awareness is seeing the different stages around whichever cycle we're talking about. And in this one, the cycle of the Chinese zodiac and the energy that moves when there's the ability to look enough ahead, it's not just what's right in front of us, but down the road and

around the corner and I just feel like that even that movement of the snake of the kind of like the back and forth and that that rhythm of wave like movement. It's very measured. It's very measured and I feel like snakes have this trust in instinct and all of us have that. We have like the kind of the what it's called um a fellow astrologer was talking about this like this reptilian aspect of our brains and so it's um yeah that trust in your gut trust in the wisdom that you've cultivated thus far um it discernment yeah and so there's an alternate right of even within from year to year of the yin and the yong yeah and even when i said that i'm like which comes first it's like the chicken and the egg question of like you know leading to yong yong

leading to yon oh that's a hard one i mean i feel like we can kind of like go off on a tangent about playing around with that and even as i said it yeah yeah Even as I said, I'm like, why is it either or it's like, they're like inseparable anyway. So how to even locate or pinpoint a beginning in the work of cycles. I'm wondering if you could talk us through even the energy of the elements. So you spoke a little bit about the wood in the spring. But yeah, if you could share kind of the way the elements feed each other and move and transition. Yes.

Yes. Yeah. So the five elements is like a real cornerstone of East Asian medicine. And it stems from yin and yang theory. Yeah. So within the Dow, there's, of course, like the one. And from the one, there's two and so forth. So the five elements was really this deep observation of nature and health. things, how life just continues, essentially. How is it that life is sustained and maintained and keeps happening over and over again? It's because we have these elements that interplay with each other. And you can't have one element that overtakes everything otherwise it throws the whole thing off. so there's like checks and balances that they have upon each other. So with the whole kind of generation cycle of life, death, and rebirth, we start in water, but you can really start anywhere.

But I love to start in water because it feels like emptiness, but it also feels like anything is possible at the same time. a blank slate, really. It's like the deep, deep recesses of the ocean and the womb, essentially. Yeah, so you start in the water element and water nourishes the wood element. And so from water, you can think of it like winter, that it's dark and everything is still kind of slumbering and sleeping and you come into the wood element and yeah then essentially young is born out of ultimate yin um so this young energy is really young at first so it's very wood energy it's spring energy um yeah and so it reaches and reaches and all of this wood provides this like kindling

for the fire element that's next Yeah, so this kind of birth and youth turns into fire. And fire really exemplifies, of course, like summertime. But it's also about our initiation into puberty and young adulthood, our budding sexuality. Yeah, it's like all the things. things that you think of fire. You think passion, you think connection, you think merging, you know, when projects are like

full force manifesting and things are hustling and bustling. But then what fire does also is, of course, it creates, but it also destroys. And so as we're kind of burning through the fuel of the wood element, then we create this like ash essentially and that ash kind of comes down and it forms like the sediment which creates the earth element um yeah and so the earth element kind of uh creates this like soil of fertility where um things start to really grow all the fruits and veg and um yeah after like young adulthood, we come into, I guess you can call it the more stable years of our lives, where we might start thinking about a career.

We might start thinking about partnerships and deepening into community, maybe starting a family, you know, all those things. Comfort is like the ultimate earth element attribute. All of the comforts we start kind of. buffering ourselves with with this kind of comfort. But we can't perpetually like accumulate. It becomes stifling over time. And so we have to kind of tend to the overgrowth.

And that's where the metal element comes in. And yeah, if you think of the earth element is like the soil on the ground, all of that compression over time builds mountains. And so the mountains are super compressed and all this alchemy happens where, you know, things are kind of parsed out and you create these gems and these minerals and precious metals and crystals. Yeah, so that's the metal element where it's not about abundance anymore. It's about quality over quantity. And that's like the autumn season.

It's where nature really kind of draws in its sap and says, hey, we need to start conserving. And we need to prioritize our energy. Yeah, so then from the metal element, yeah, all of those minerals essentially turn back into water. And so then you come back into the one after you. you've kind of discerned and clarified in the autumn season. You come to find like what truly brings you joy.

You live according to like your values. And you come into the wisdom of the one again, back into the water element. And it goes around and around again. It's so poetic and so beautiful. and also so practical. Yeah. It applies to our human experience.

If we allow that poetry to really penetrate, penetrate us, like it's such a medicine. It's a way for us to deeply understand ourselves. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm curious, for you and the way of yin and how you set up your work

as cyclical and with the wisdom of the five elements I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share a little bit about what you teach and offer and how you've from what I see from the outside and I've taken one course with you the maidens and menstruation and just in deepening in the understanding of the life cycle with these elements.

Just the layers are so beautiful, the ways that things layered in. How you've worked with cycles intentionally in setting up your business and how your offerings are quite cyclical and aligned with the elements. Yeah. I'm wondering, like, sort of when did that click or how, like, anything about what that journey's been like for you and... bringing that poetry and that

rhythm and that progression into your work. Yeah, I feel like I think it's like the origin story is not that dissimilar to a lot of people where

at least here in the West, we're very primed for the rat race. And so I was very much a part of that kind of hustle culture for a long time in my teens, in my 20s. And it was a really loud message that my body gave me of, this is not working anymore.

And so I started acupuncture school I guess in my late 20s and I met my you know, my husband. Yeah, and had two kids, two babies during acupuncture school. and I felt so held by the medicine. All the professors in school just were so caring

and just really made sure that I was taking care of and made sure that I knew to take care of myself and how important that was for. for my longevity and really for the community. But I think at that time I was still hooked into that patterning of studying all night, you know, forgetting to eat, those sorts of things. And you know, your body

gives you lots of messages, but it's almost that you have to create this space to really deeply listen until it just kind of knocks you over the head and just stops you in your tracks and says, I cannot do this anymore. And so that did happen with me. And I would say that the timing was kind of perfect because the kids were young. And so I just kind of put things on pause. I paid attention closer to what was home and just tended for a while. And so I think I just made this vow that when I did return to work, that I wanted to do it in a way that honored my cyclical body. And we learn all about this in school. And, um, you know, one of our great medical ancestors, son some meow, you know, saying that, um, you know, the mothers are kind of the,

uh, center of the family and the centers of the community. So their full recovery and help is paramount to the health of the entire community. Yeah. And it recognized that we have certain physiological and anatomical and anatomical realities that gives us opportunities to really enhance our health, But if we don't have that context for understanding what those are, then we can do some harm, you know? And so I think that I had just really made it a huge part of my return to practice in teaching what I did know from, of course, what we've inherited from, you know, our lineage.

that there is another way of being that can be as productive, but as deeply regenerative as, you know, as we can imagine it to be. Yeah. Yeah. It's almost like when there's the breakdown in the cycle having to step back in that description of like stepping. back and going back to the water, like going back into the home space and yeah, just what you said about so much revolving around that full recovery for that for regeneration.

And as you were talking, I was hearing those levels of like on the personal level of your journey and that like that origin story. And then in our collective experience of moving from year to year of the times when, you it um when that pulling inward is needed because there's going to be a bigger burst outward coming from from the wood for example you know from this wood year to a fire year that those lessons applying those lessons and in that that kind of scale of of the output of energy of how that's being super mindful of that. And similarly for me, that output of energy was just encouraged.

Growing up was like, go, go, go. And then we're in the candle at both ends. I know. You'll sleep when you die. Right. It's so encouraged and celebrated in this way that for many of us, there aren't models to look towards or look to see us. another way to do it, meaning to do it like living our lives in a way and contributing in ways

where we're up for the task or up for the challenges that present themselves, doing it in a way that is really sustainable. And seeing your work now, it feels like there's just things that you've put in place where that's possible. and that alignment. So even seasonally, the offerings that you have that go along with the spring of season, right? And in the fall with metal and pause, it's just, yeah, it's so beautiful how that's in place because it's providing a model for a different way to be that is, like you said, it's productive. Like it's creating things and sharing things, but doing it in a model.

way that's in tune seasonally and cyclically. Oh, yeah. Like writing the impetus of the seasonal chi. Yeah. And it's a way to work with the current versus like against the current. You know, because life is already hard. There's so many things that are out of our control. You know, that's kind of a scary feeling.

when things are not in our control. This is the wood part of me talking. Yeah, but what can we do? We can lean on things that are so reliable, that are just deeply reliable. And we are all kind of blueprinted with all of the elements within us. So once we have that language for understanding that we are held and supported,

I just wish for like a little bit of ease for everyone, just at least like 1% ease and just knowing how held you are by the elements. Yeah. Yeah. I'm wondering if you wanted to share one of the questions that you had mentioned about just sharing the inner season of how you're feeling for you this inner season and perhaps the outer season or the life cycle that you're in right now. Yeah. Like giving language, right? The way that we give language to cycles, I feel like is really helpful. to create those new blueprints to live into. Yeah, and I think especially for those of us, you know, that are females,

we have this knowing because we experience it that we're kind of not the same all the time. Like, how come I could do it last week, but this week I can't. What's going on here? And so I feel like what the inner seasons really does and provides is just context for understanding our experience because of what's happening on a physiological level. And that's kind of that wellness map that's really missing from our language is really kind of understanding our experience. And so the inner seasons is such a really great tool because we all can censorily feel into the seasons, right? Yeah, so if we were to follow the menstrual cycle along these elements, we can put our body in the center of the cycle. So our body is essentially the earth element.

It's what all of the other seasons revolve around. That's where the seasons are happening. And so wintertime is our bleeding days. And after our bleeding days, you know, things start to change. Our hormones are on the rise. And we come into that newness feeling, that renewal feeling in the spring. And then we go to ovulation, which is. is, you know, summertime and we might feel a little bit more social and wanting to connect more

and are more extroverted than maybe any other time in the cycle. Yeah, but then we come around into our inner autumn and that's actually where I am right now. And I always describe this inner autumn kind of ludial pre menstrual phase is like coming full circle. And it's like a preparing. In Wom School, we call it like squirrel energy, where you're sort of like preparing for your next lead. And so all the kind of loose ends, you're trying to like bring them around a full circle.

And because your energy is sort of drawing inwards, there is this kind of tense feeling about it. It's a compressed feeling. But that's almost like a gift because you have a real embodied, somatic sense that you need to hold your boundaries. Your energy is going inward. It's not external as much. And so you're very clear on what you can and cannot do. So there's like this clarity piece of the premenstrual phase that I really love now and appreciate.

Yeah, and then we come back into winter where we're in our, you know, period phase again. Yeah, just goes around and around. And, yeah, each inner season has like a character about it, almost like an archetype, right? When you said character and because you mentioned the squirrel, it did make me think of like, like the mascot, like if each of the seasons and those elements had like their own. And it can be very individual, like that kind of, whether it's an animal in whatever form that it takes. That would be an amazing exercise to do.

Like as you're kind of following along your cycle, what animal do you feel like during this time? Yeah. I used to, when I started really realizing exactly what you said, I am different. My energy and availability and all of that is different at different times. I think there was a part of me, especially in my teenage years, that I didn't want to be ruled by or controlled by my menstrual cycle. Yes. So I would fight it in the way that's like I'm, I would even the denial around I don't experience PMS because I'm like better than that. I don't know what I thought.

But this was my teenage self trying to make sense of how to be these different versions of the one, right? The one self. But these different expressions. So there was a lot of having to come to terms with learning to be a cyclical being because I, I, pushed up against it and saw what was rewarded was consistency. Yes. And to override cyclicality for consistency will bring, that will be faced with the repercussions of that.

Yeah. So when it really- When we were younger, it was validated through, linear living right and so it was encouraged to yeah that consistency that you're speaking of in and what i'm realizing now in you know tracking your cycle for a long time that there is consistency in the change. And so if you understand your cyclical nature, there is a consistency within that. Yeah.

And then, of course, then your metal ears hit, and then that goes all out the window. Well, I was going to ask if there's anything that you've found. in being in the inner season of metal and how you describe that, things that have helped and translate then to the metal years. And so in that larger life cycle picture of the metal year, years being the perimenopause, menopause, like the transition time, if there are, yeah, anything that has helped through all the years

of cycle awareness and tracking, that can be applied at this stage. Absolutely. Yeah, we get a lot of different cycles of practice in what the perimenopausal years will look and feel like. And so it's essentially that premenstrual phase on the large over a longer period of time.

And I know maybe people hearing that might be, like, oh my gosh, what? That sounds insane. But I think over time, if you're able to tap into the gifts of that inner autumn season of your menstrual cycle, your body is so intelligent. And it kind of overrides or tries to communicate what it meets during that time. And I think the biggest message of the inner autumn season that I've gotten over and over again is to lessen the load and to say no. No, when you know that you cannot handle something at that given time. you have permission to put it off. And there's this concept of glass balls.

There might be this feeling that every single thing must be taken care of because if it drops, then it's glass and it's going to break. But not everything is a glass ball. And so when you realize that, you can delegate those things later on in the cycle when you do have the energy, like in the springtime, in the summertime, when you do have the energy to put your efforts there. Because if you continue to kind of override your body's messages, that just leads to burnout.

When your body's message is to draw your energy inward, but you're always, externally showing up for things, you're draining your resources when your body is telling you to draw in your resources. Yeah. So I think that's been like kind of the biggest lesson during that inner autumn phase is kind of embodying that strength of metal, having a backbone, having like a sword of protection in protecting your energy. Like it's okay to inhabit that. Yes. Pre-menstrual strength instead of pre-mestral syndrome.

Yes, the pre-menstrual sword. Yeah. I love that in thinking of like lunar tracking and for people who are listening. and bleed and have a menstrual cycle to take that quadrant, that quadrant of the premenstrual, the fall time, the perimenal time, and take notes. And like you said, there's this training ground. Like, it's a training ground.

And to see, like, where do I, like, fall down in this place? And does it come from saying, yes, so much that then there's a breaking point that may happen in a pattern with that consistency, right? The consistency of the pattern. And when we become aware of that or like get our onto ourselves around what that pattern is, because if it's not ingrained from an early age to look for the pattern, it can seem like chaos.

Yes. Right? Yeah, or that your body is like not on board with your goals or that it's working against you when it's actually working for you. Yeah, I would say the metal years. It's definitely an unraveling. Yeah, because it's like your second puberty. So, I mean, if we can all kind of close our eyes for a moment and just remember what puberty was like, there was so much rapid change and all these feelings. And your body was changing.

Everything was changing. Even your relationships were changing. And there's just so much compassion that you can have for your younger self and going through that right of passage. and we're kind of in our metal years. We are on the other end of that, really. In puberty, we're coming into the reproductive cycles. And in perimenopause, we are journeying outside of our, yeah, we're cycling out of our reproductive cycles.

And that's kind of a big deal. When you've had a rhythm for so many years, and this huge capability of creating a human life is about to expire. On top of, you know, that grief, there's just a lot of change happening. Yeah, and so what I would say, about that cusp of like earth-bearing metal. That's kind of about what happens. You're in your kind of abundant earthy years and you're building all your comforts.

And then all of a sudden change is coming. And you're like, wait, what? It was comfortable here. Oh, gosh. But it is, it's an opportunity to, tend to things that you have been ignoring for a long time because your earth years are really external. You know, it's like you're serving the community. It's very external. You're serving your kids, your partner, you know, your job. It's, it's a lot of outward energy. It's like

center outward. But where you're moving is more internal. And so it's really this journey of you take the sword and you're like, I can't see clearly anymore. There's too much overgrowth. There's too much stuff here. It starts to feel really stifling. And because there's change happening, your energy reallocation is like happening. your body can't tolerate stress as well as it used to. And so what it does innately is turn to your resource,

which is your kidney water system, right? It's like that's my backup savings. I'm going to be fine. But what if you've been pulling at your resources this whole time? And so not only are you going through the change, your resources are empty. Yeah, and these years are really asking you to cut away, cut away at the abundance because you can't carry it all anymore. Yeah.

So as much as it is a physiological journey where, yes, your hormones are changing, but that's a given. our elders all went through it. But that's not the full story. The full story is the, gosh, the alchemy that happens at kind of chipping at the chipping away at the overgrowth and getting to the core of what really matters to you. and then putting your focus there instead of all of the things. Yeah, and it's it of course is for self-preservation, but because you're so entangled into the community,

your survival is paramount. You know, yeah. And so there's this, I call it an opportunity, and so does East Asian medicine because it is this opportunity to not tend to the outside, but to return to the self and tend to things that you've been putting off for a long time. It could be maybe your passions, your dreams, your aspirations, but also maybe your health. things that you've gone away with before, your body will not tolerate those things anymore. It's all for survival.

It's all for survival. Yeah, so it's definitely an unraveling. It does come with some waves because it's change, but it doesn't have to be big waves. Yeah, there's a way to ride the waves of perimenopies to where it doesn't feel like your whole world is flipping upside down. And I think it first comes with kind of understanding what's actually happening and really giving ourselves permission to just pause and really kind of take stock in where we are. what the demands are, what's pulling at us, how we can kind of reclaim energy to heal, to take care of ourselves. Yeah, it's like that, it's the whole butterfly experience. You know, we kind of coil in and we're building a cocoon and we're basically mush in there.

Oh. Wow. Yeah, a couple of things that I heard you say was with an understanding of what's happening and what our own experience has been that there's that possibility of there being gentle waves rather than a tidal wave. Yeah. Right? Or something that feels like this impending thing that is just going to like. be super, I don't know, not just destructive isn't the word, but like the upheaval. Yes. And it's this mystery. It is looking for me, at least out onto the horizon. I'm like, there's waves coming, but I don't even know when they're going to hit or what size they're going to be. And that advice around tending to the kidneys and that backup balance within

the body where there's the reserves with adrenals and kidneys, the more that that's cared for, especially in earth years. I mean, probably the whole life cycle, but whenever I go to acupuncture, which is monthly because it is for me a necessary routine care for my body, my everything, energy, spirit. It's always the kidney. It's kidneys, kidneys, kidneys. It's our backup. Yeah, it's our levels of reserves. And that's really where our Jing essence resides. And so what we know about Jing essence is that we need to protect it at all costs

because it's the most precious substance that we have because it determines the trajectory of your life. And so we have to protect it. Yeah, so if anybody's listening and they're kind of around that time where they're maybe still in their earth years or maybe they've just stepped their toes into the metal years. And you know that the change is coming and it hasn't happened yet. There's so many things that we can do to start preparing. Yeah, it's like preparing for winter. essentially, what things do you need in the winter? And so it's actually a prolonged period of time for most of us.

You know, sometimes it's years in the making. And so if we think of the autumn season, it's usually around like three-ish months. Parymenopies is over like several years. So our bodies really do give us some time to acclimate. if we just listen to the messages that it's providing. So if you're starting to notice signs like, wow, my digestion is really off. I never used to have these issues. That's a really good sign to kind of, okay, maybe I should start paying attention to my digestion

because that's how I build my chi in blood, aka hormones. or you're not able to handle stress as well as you used to. That's a really good indication that your reserves, your adrenals, are maybe tinkering on like adrenal fatigue and that you kind of overdrawn your savings account. And your body as it's going through that change or trying to is pulling at your reserves to get you through, but it's on empty. And so maybe you'll start to feel some discomfort. Yeah, sometimes it's not like the quintessential signs of like hot flashes and, you know, night sweats and, you know, those types of things. It could be, but those usually kind of come

later. It's more of like the kind of overarching health pillars. Like, your digestion, your sleep, stress management, but those pillars start to feel a little shakier. You're like, whoa, what's happening here? Those are kind of the gentle signs that your body starts to give you kind of early on. Like, hey, can we lean into these a little bit so that as we're progressing through perimenopause, that the waves are just not like really big. How can we anchor into the pillars of health to help ride us through? Yeah. Yeah.

It's hard. I'm not going to say it's easy because I feel like a lot of us had kids later. And so we're kind of still, we're on this kind of push and pull on this bridge, essentially. because we're still needed so much when we have young kids, but the change is happening, right? So it's like the pull is to kind of draw inward to tend and care, but we're still tending to our young. So I see that a lot, especially in my practice of because we had kids later, I'm including my that we're going through these perimenopausal years, these changes that are happening, these subtle changes while we're still, you know, taking care of our littles.

Yeah. Yeah, that the demands, that those demands are there. The tending is still needed. Absolutely. Yeah. In hearing this tending towards the autumn years, and I know, or the metal years, and I know you have a course that you're running and there's a wait list. So if, you know, this conversation is really juicy and this is a time of life where this

support would be good. I think that I was looking at it last year for myself. And I'm like, okay, April, that discernment, the discernment around what is one more thing and what even when the thing is super nourishing, like to even have to say no to things that I want that I know are even like good for me and find the time that does make sense so that it's not more output of energy. Whereas I think five years ago, I'd be like, oh, I could take five classes at the same time. Yes.

That is so like earth energy creeping into metal to where there is this kind of realization of like how much more information can I ingest? because when you ingest food information, you have to digest it and then integrate it. Yeah, and I don't know if we're still living in the information age, are we? I can't keep up anymore. But there is a lot out there. So I would say if you're feeling exactly what you're, you know, if the people that are in your community feel exactly how you're feeling. feeling. That's a great indication to where like, okay, I'm in overwhelm. That means I need to pause

and not take in more. I need to assess what I currently have and what I currently have is overwhelming to where I can't take in anymore. So I need to assess what I have. What I have and really discern what are the things that are kind of pulling at my energy but are not regenerative that are not giving back and could those things can I let those things go? Yeah. So perimenopause is really about making a lot of decisions. It's like decision time really. Yeah.

what you said made me wonder like what is the post information age like what does because i feel like that that saturation of like wow i could learn about anything that i want to then look and see like what comes after the information age like what do we do how are we implementing or what do we even like once that saturation level is so high then what comes you know well what's supposed to come is integration and then relaxation into it. Yeah, but I think for many people, the experience is just kind of staying in the input phase, right? It's just like ingesting, ingesting.

But over time, it's, that could be taxing because you're not actually fully digesting and integrating what you're ingesting. Yeah, and one of the things that does burn at your resources is like too much multitasking. Like when your attention is on like a hundred things. And so it, um, the metal years. is a gift because it helps you gain a bit of clarity. It forces you to kind of look in the mirror. And of course, that's very hard.

But to really ask the kind of hard questions of what do you want? What does bring you joy? What do you need to let go? Yeah. And what am I, what am I giving my precious attention to what and who? And yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

So to, yeah, to wrap up, I'd love to hear what you are looking forward to for this year of the, the Yin Wood Snake in this new year, new year of moons. I printed out like a bunch of things to color with the snake on it. I want to, I want to learn from this archetype. Yeah, and try to embody what the snake wants to teach us. and it feels it has this feeling of protection for some reason. I think that's maybe just like a personal thing that I've just kind of captured with just sitting with like the archetype of snake. And that it has like this kind of coiling kind of hug type feeling and protection and tending. Yeah, and just being a little bit more in that kind of deep listening versus like action, action, action.

It feels patient. And yeah, I don't want to say calculated. Just smart. I would say smart in how. we're distributing our efforts. Yeah. And so that's what I'm going to try and be mindful of this year, is to really watch where I'm putting my energy.

Does it feel resonant? Does it feel regenerative? Does it inspire me and elicit, you know, that release of oxytocin that feels, so healing and pleasurable. Yeah, just being mindful of

action versus reservation. Yeah. And I think in doing that, I think that invokes a shedding. You know, it's like that

undulation of kind of discernment. of like, you know, is it or is it not that kind of undulation feels almost kind of like it encourages that shedding. Finding, finding whatever that rhythm is, that feels like a shedding is a natural process along the way. And I wonder.

I'd love to hear from you, April. I want to, I want to hear. Oh, my goodness. I'm a snake. I was born in a snake. year. And it's because I've spent more time with tropical astrology, for me, there's this year of reflection around even like, what is it to be like natal, native to the snake energy to start with in that self-understanding part. And this last year, 2024, I did a whole series of paintings

of snakes and got books on California snakes and spent time. And that was a part of like, oh, well, if I am a snake, it's taking me this long to really kind of, the identification. I'm like the identification with that particular, you know, that animal, the creature and the archetype, like you said, then to be studying and painting snakes in the draft. wagon year was kind of this preparation for the coming.

Yeah. And one of the things that I learned from that, that just kind of came through the embodiment of painting and thinking about cycles and the lunar cycle and especially like the Ouroboros, the snake eating its tail. and that feeling of the endings and beginnings being this point of connection and the snake in that form embodying that when you take a circle and if you try to like straighten out a circle I mean not to make it straight the circle becomes a wave if that makes sense I know yeah the circle so becomes

a sign wave. And so there's something there that I'm still curious about with cycles and repetition and how it's also wave-like in its nature. Yeah, absolutely. That almost kind of like in the Tai Chi symbol, like you have, you know, the circle, but then in it you have like the two elements, but it almost looks like kind of like a snake. Yeah.

Yeah. Right. Oh, that just gave me goosebumps. I've never seen it. I've never seen it drawn that way, but it could so easily be drawn with the snake along that curved path. Yeah. Yeah. And I was just at a talk this last weekend for listening and learning and feeling into the year of the snake.

And the things that stood out to me were about pattern recognition. of like what's the path most of our lives are not these straight lines right the point A to point B so the pattern recognition of like how did I get here that winding whatever that kind of winding road

pattern recognition around just what you were talking about with the cycle awareness of our own energy what it brings up how we might work against it when the breakdowns happen, when the replenishing really does happen, really, what are those activities or foods or, you know, relationships.

So, yeah, kind of a pattern recognition around all of that kind of culmination bringing together of the learnings over these last, I mean, lifetime, but really over this last decade cycle work in coming to a place of what do I really want to share around from this, from this self-study and from this being with the lunar cycle as an expression, kind of of all the other ones as well. Yeah. It's hard, non-doing is hard for me. Oh, it's an art.

It's called Lou Way, the art of doing nothing. It's so hard. So, but really, when I read your newsletter, Chris, it struck me in the way of a kind of a preparation is really receiving this as an opportunity of preparation and groundwork and not overdoing to really see what the energy feels like to move from wood to fire and to do that consciously, you know, having awareness of something ahead of time moving into and tracking along the way to kind of see it's all a mystery, how it's going to unfold. But to have the kind of orientation and the archetype and the energy as a guide to play with

it and see what is it to maybe be a little more. a little more coiled up to then be more available for perhaps increased activity next year. Yes. Yeah. And the impetus of fire will really support that too. Whereas here in Wood, it's almost like that sitting in the potential of it. Can you remain in the potential of it without forcing it? Yeah. And almost trusting that it's coming. Yeah.

Without forcing it to come. And then figuring out what the it is. What is the it? What is the it that is coming? That really over and over the last. lessons around, like, wanting, want and desire and how wanting something really gives energy a focus towards something when it's, when there's clarity around, like, where, what is the desire, then, you know, things can rally around that. And so I think taking, you know,

having this year and being with the snake and my, like, natal animal. creature friend befriending the snake perhaps tap in and tune in to that desire nature so whenever the it the activity around the it the energy can be poured into it yeah the care towards longevity I feel like it comes into play in a big way especially now life cycle-wise for me in the late 40s.

It's like those concerns around longevity are really like closer up. Yes. Yeah, the mirror. That's metal. Looking at the reflection in the metal mirror. The reflection. Yeah. Yeah.

And just to maybe add another layer because you mentioned like snake is like your natal. Yeah, Chinese astrology is wild. And it's so layered and deep. And yeah, so there's, you know,

the Bata. And of course, I'm like super novice and all of this. But yeah, the year that you're born in, essentially, is like one of the 12 zodiacs, right? So the snake.

But that's like in your youth. So the year that you were born represents kind of your youth. But then that changes. And it moves to like, I think the month. And the animal that represents the month that you were born in. And I can't remember the age that that that, kind of shifts. But then later in

in life, maybe like around your 60s, it moves to the day that you were born and the animal that represents. Yeah. So you, we, we might be in that kind of second part of the Vatsa where we're being represented by the animal

according to the month that we were born. Yeah. Interesting. I'll look I'm curious to look into that because that sounds like progressions, just in tropical astrology of like progressed signs and this progression. Yeah. I progresses down to the hour, the hour of your birth. Yeah.

I think there's, you know, of course you could get a baza reading by, you know, somebody who knows their stuff. But if you're ever curious, I'm sure there's like an app or something. something where you can actually put in your information and just find out, you know, at this time in your life, which animal represents this era? Yeah. Fun. Okay.

Good things for the curious, the curious mind. Yes. And the movement through cycles and eras and the maturing, you know, the kind of maturing process through experience. and I think also the learning from the wisdom of each animal, whether that's, I mean, definitely in the Chinese, like that horoscope and that the years that we get to experience and that there's these returns that come around.

Yeah. Yeah, and to play with that. Well, thank. I'm so grateful for this conversation, Chris. Same. Yeah. I love how this screen is like showing all these like reflective colors. I know the sun, the angle of the sun at this time of year comes in. I have office windows that are high up. You can see like the sun right there. Yeah. That the angle starts changing that more light fills the room because in winter,

you know, not too long ago, the sun wasn't even cresting and coming up directly through the windows. So it's one of those indicators of change. Yes. Or light. And it's beautiful. It's so beautiful. Thank you. Thank you.

Do you want to share any, just I'll put in links for how people can find your work at Way of Yin, but anything else that you're excited about that's coming up. yeah so there's some cyclical things that i've deepened into as the years have gone by so yeah as you mentioned like the maidens and menstruation um yeah if anybody's interested in holding just maiden circles within their communities and um are you know thinking that they are just missing some language around it and are craving language around it to, you know, teach that the menstrual cycle is the barometer of your health and teach that to our young. If that interests you, there's a waiting list for that, and we start in the spring. Yeah, and then I am a part of like a certification program for practitioners called the Sematic Wom Path, which is a part of Wom School. And that's for healing practitioners who are really interested in bridging somatics and understanding of the nervous

system along with East Asian medicine and how they all kind of coalesce around the womb continuum. It really is a program deeply rooted in practitioner cultivation because I think a lot of times as healers, whatever healing paradigm we're in, I think one thing that's missing is considering our health and well-being as healers, as practitioners, and how to really work and root into that as we're holding space for others. Because I think a lot of things that we see in the healing profession is burnout. And I think it's probably because we haven't been talking. the skills of how to actually consider ourselves as part of that healing relationship. Yeah.

So that's a huge part of that program. Yeah. And then when Earth bears metal always comes around in the fall time, autumn time. Yeah. So that offering is really an intimate space where we get to relate to our changing bodies along the language of the elements and just kind of paused and root in together and really understand the changes that are happening with us like individually but in the supportive community. Yeah.

So that comes in the autumn time. Beautiful. Well, yeah, I'll put the links in and I recommend just getting on your email list. All right. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. So before I sign off.

I just wanted to bring all of this back to the moon. And in case you didn't already pick up on the parallels of the lunar phases as they are connected with the energetic frequency and template and blueprint of the elements, I just wanted to map that out here. So when Chris begins describing the elements, she starts with water. and that watery womb, wintry, dark potential space where life is born from, and that is the parallel energy of the new moon. And so from water then birthing the wood and from winter to spring and from the new moon, then the wood element is like the first quarter moon. that time of life that goes from birth to childhood, where there's rapid growth.

The wood then is the kindling or feeds the fire. And so in the menstrual cycle, that's like the pre-ovulation and then fire is ovulation, the parallel energy with, you guessed it, the full moon and summertime. And in the five elements, then next is Earth. and in the lunar cycle then we're kind of putting earth in the center where the other elements are revolving around and are like an expression of the phases of the moon and so that final phase after the fullness of the fire element then metal comes in as the autumn as the premenstrual and perimenopausal time and the the metal you

years. And in the lunar cycle, this is the last quarter moon. And so that time of discernment of saying no and tying up loose ends. So hopefully you can see how this can create a map and energetic template and beginning to understand these parallel relationships. So I hope this has been insightful and helpful and really supportive of your practice of self-study in relationship with cycles. Thanks again for listening to today's episode. Between the Moon is a listener-supported podcast. If you haven't already, please consider subscribing or writing a review. These are ways that help this work reach more people. And if you'd like to access all the episodes as well as bonus articles, head on over to Substack. That is Substack.com. Backslash.

at Between the Moon to see ways that you can support this work. This is April, and I'll be with you next time on Between the Moon.