Nettlejuice

06/05/2026

Last call!
First class is tonight. Join today and bring a friend for free.
I'm really proud of this course. You will come out of it with a different understanding about the menopause transition and lots of practical tools to help you navigate peri and post-menopause life in an empowering way.

Have questions?
Let me know in the comments below.

Ready to join the course?
Click the link in the comments.

06/04/2026

Yesterday I listened to an interview with a functional doctor who works with perimenopausal women. It was a good interview. She talked about how it is common to start perimenopause in your early 40s or even your late 30s, how most women aren't expecting it so early, and are caught off guard. She talked about how it often looks different than most people expect and how disruptive it can be in our lives. She talked about lifestyle strategies for peri and post-menopause. And she talked about hormone testing and hormone therapy.

I love functional medicine and often refer clients out to functional doctors when appropriate. They aren't afraid to do testing and really explore what might be going on at a deeper level. I also couldn't help but realize, while listening to this interview, that herbalists still have a huge tool bag that even functional doctors don't have. We have the plants.

Yes, many doctors now recommend herbs in their practice. But these are often in the form of single herb capsules and targeted to one area (astragalus for stress). Herbalists have a wealth of herbs to draw upon, and a multi-layered understanding of what they bring to the table. We can combine herbs in formulas for the individual client sitting before us. We can adjust those formulas as our clients move along their healing journeys.

Yesterday, I saw a client with whom I had been working for 2 months. She had never used herbs before. In just 2 months she was already seeing improvements in stress levels, sleep, and digestion. She described her digestion improvements as "life changing" and said she wished she had known about herbs 20 years ago. Client visits like these remind me why I continue to do this work. So many folks still don't quite understand herbal medicine and the gentle power it has to nudge the body in the direction of normal function.

For perimenopause, herbs can be incredible allies. This transition has a way of affecting everything, from sleep to digestion to cognitive function. Herbs can support it all. There is no one herb or formula for perimenopause, because perimenopause looks different for each of us. But you bet there are ways to support everyone's perimenopause journey with herbs. And that support can change our whole experience from one of struggle to one of healing and empowerment.

Today is the last day to register for my Perimenopause Crash Course. This is a 4-week course designed to walk you through holistic menopause and how to bring in the supports for your own journey. We'll cover what happens during perimenopause, lifestyle strategies, herbal supports, and post-menopausal wellness. The course is designed to give you lots of information, but not in an overwhelming way. I'm available for questions and discussion, and there is also a private chat for sharing.

As an extra bonus, anyone who registers today can bring along a friend for free. Just send me the name and email of your friend after you register and I will add them to the course. You can split the cost, or just gift the course to someone.

Link in comments.

06/04/2026

Last day to join... sign up today, and bring a friend for free!
Studies show that folks who feel supported during perimenopause have a smoother experience. When you take the Perimenopause Crash Course with a friend, you can support one another along the way.
After you register, send me the name and email of a friend, and I will add them to the course.
Let's reclaim menopause as a time of healing and empowerment!

See comments for registration link.

06/03/2026

One of the most common struggles my perimenopause clients bring up is an increase in gas and bloating. This can happen out of the blue without any change in diet or lifestyle. Suddenly certain foods cause our belly to become increasingly distended throughout the day. This can be disconcerting, to say the least, and uncomfortable. It is so important to eat well and get proper nourishment during our peri years, but how can we do that if food suddenly makes us feel bad?

As we learn more about the microbiome and how important it is for our overall health, we also continue to learn how it can change at different stages of life. During perimenopause, wildly fluctuating estrogen, which helps to regulate the gut microbiome, can lead to changes in bacteria populations. The loss of "good" bacteria species can lead to an overgrowth of "bad" bacteria, or a migration of bacteria up from the large intestine into the small intestines, where it doesn't really belong. What this change in microbiome can look like for us includes symptoms such as increased gas and bloating when we eat sugar, carbs, veggies, or legumes. If the imbalance goes on long enough, the constant irritation in the small intestine can lead to an inflammation of the gut lining, and eventually to leaky gut. This means that our gut has become more permeable, allowing for material to pass through that would have been kept out by a healthy gut lining. When foreign material gets into our system, our immune system responds and we now have systemic inflammation. (a topic for another newsletter)

Back to our imbalanced microbiome... Part of the role of a healthy microbiome is to help regulate hormones. Once the liver packages up estrogen and sends it to the gut to be excreted, a population of bacteria in our gut known as the estrobalome helps to send it on its way. You see, we really need to keep moving estrogen out of the body. If it continues to circulate in the system we can easily end up with too much, a condition known as estrogen dominance (very common in early perimenopause), with symptoms such as super heavy periods, periods that go on "forever", uterine fibroids, worsening PMS, weight gain, and more.
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You can see how this can become a vicious cycle... shifting hormones lead to microbiome changes, which leads to increased hormone imbalance and possible systemic inflammation, which leads to worse perimenopause symptoms (symptoms like hot flashes, yes, but also anxiety, brain fog, low energy, mood swings...).

Click the link to keep reading.

To dive deeper into this subject, join me for my Perimenopause Crash Course. We start this Friday. Link in the comments.

One of the most common struggles my perimenopause clients bring up is an increase in gas and bloating. This can happen out of the blue without any change in diet or lifestyle. Suddenly certain foods...

06/02/2026

We start this Friday!
Join me for 4 weeks of diving into holistic peri and post menopause. Let's explore how to support ourselves for an empowering experience.
Registration open now.
Details in link in the comments.

06/01/2026

Times change and chapters end. I don't know if I will ever teach in this garden again. I cherish the memories from classes here. They were all special. But opening up your private space to strangers requires vulnerability. I need a break from that for now.

It is important to honor where we are on our journeys and adjust boundaries as needed.

05/29/2026

Herbs, foraging, cooking with herbs, herbal medicine, herb crafting and wildcrafting information from our herb magazine.

05/29/2026

Free class tonight!
If you haven't registered yet, there is still time. Grab the link in the bio and join me. If you cannot make the live class, the recording will be sent out after the class.

Let's talk about holistic menopause support and how this transition can be one of empowerment. I'll be sharing real cases from my clinical practice and there will also be time for questions.

Know someone who may be interested? Please share this post.

We are changing the story we tell about menopause.

See you tonight!

05/28/2026

Look at this gorgeous saint john’s wort oil! I don't have enough SJW here to make my own infused oil, but I need it for the Joints & Sinews salve. This oil came from a fellow herbalist and wow is it beautiful.

Saint john’s wort is great for pain (especially nerve pain), inflammation, and tissue trauma. It can even be used to help repair nerve damage and address viruses that live in the nerves.

Such an amazing medicine.

05/25/2026

Balancing rest and exercise during perimenopause menopause can be tricky. Exercise is important, but if we don't have the reserves, if we don't have the energy, we may be exercising our way to burnout.

As women, we are often used to pushing through in order to get it done. This may have worked in the past, but during perimenopause it is often a recipe for disaster. When we tune into our bodies, we can allow them to guide us about what is needed.

When was the last time you listened to your body?

Join me for a free class this Friday. I'll be sharing how I approach perimenopause holistically in my herbal practice.

Link in the bio.