• Skip to main content

The Shakti School

Feminine Form Sacred Technology

  • About
  • Blog
  • Glow-Worthy
  • Ayurveda
  • Subscribe
  • Podcast
  • Book a Call
  • Free Course
  •  
Podcast

Ep. 186 Menopause Made Me Look Like My Mother with Mary Thompson

This is a picture of Mary Thompson and Katie Silcox. It links to the show notes for and episode of the Spirit Sessions podcast about menopause.

If you’re perimenopausal or know someone in menopause, this episode is for you! Unfortunately, much of the mainstream conversation around menopause shames women for experiencing symptoms, but in this episode, Katie and fellow Ayurveda wise woman Mary Thompson offer a softer, more spiritual perspective. They discuss common symptoms of perimenopause, simple Ayurvedic practices you can use to mitigate these symptoms and the spiritual gifts of menopause!

Want to learn more about menopause and women's wellness from Mary Thompson and our other amazing teachers? Our year-long Ayurveda School is open for registration!

 

In this episode you’ll hear: 

~ What's going on in your body during menopause?

~ Freeing yourself from shame

~ Common perimenopause symptoms

~ Ayurvedic practices to prevent and soothe symptoms of menopause

~ The deeper meaning of our symptoms and struggle

~ What does Ayurveda say about bioidentical hormones?

~ The maiden, mother, creatrix and crone

~ The Ama - Agni - Ojas formula

~ Benefits of seasonal Ayurvedic Cleansing for hormone balance

~ The spiritual gifts of menopause

~ Sign up for our free mini-course about Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda!

 

Other links mentioned in this episode:

~ Mary's Podcast: Ayur.. What Now?

~ Mary’s website: The Ayurvedic Approach

~ Herbalist Susun Weed

~ Book: Strong Women Stay Young

Or Subscribe on iTunes

Learn more:

  • Ayurveda Certification
  • The Shakti School Subscription

HELP US SPREAD OUR POD WINGS

Did you love listening to this conversation about menopause and Ayurvedic practices to sooth perimenopause symptoms? This show is a passion project that I produce for the love of sharing. If you enjoy this show and want a free and easy way to help it grow, the most effective way you can help is to:

  1. Subscribe to the show by clicking “subscribe” in iTunes
  2. Write us a review in iTunes
  3. Share this show with one friend right now!

It seems simple, but you’d be AMAZED to know how much it helps my little love project reach more people. iTunes’ algorithm uses ratings and reviews to know who to show our show to in their app.

Here’s the link to leave us reviews in iTunes.

Have fun stepping into the menopause energy of the Creatrix!

From my heart to your screen,

Katie

Footer Hero Widget

theshaktischool

TheShaktiSchool

Ayurveda doesn’t separate the body into isolated Ayurveda doesn’t separate the body into isolated systems. When you support digestion, you support hormones. When you calm inflammation, you calm the mind. These herbs are working on multiple layers at once, gently guiding the body back into balance.

Here are some foundational herbal helpers to keep in mind for common imbalances:

🫚 For digestion:
• Triphala cleanses, tones the gut and supports elimination
• Trikatu is hot, sharp and activating, cutting through ama
• Hing is pungent and penetrating, breaking up gas and stagnation
• Ginger is warming, helping digestion come online
• Ajwain is a carminative, clearing bloating from the digestive tract

🌿 For inflammation:
• Turmeric moves through the blood, helping clear heat and stagnation
• Guduchi is cooling, restorative and calming
• Amalaki is rejuvenative and cooling, supporting the blood and skin
• Licorice is sweet and soothing, coating irritated tissues and calming the gut and lungs
• Aloe vera is cooling and moistening, pulling heat out of the system

🌀For the nervous system:
• Ashwagandha is grounding, stabilizing and supports the stress response
• Shankhpushpi is calming, clarifying and helps ease anxiety
• Jatamansi helps settle excess vata and support emotional regulation

🧠For mental clarity:
• Brahmi is light and sattvic, clearing mental fog and supporting memory and focus
• Gotu kola supports circulation to the brain, helping create steady, grounded clarity
• Saffron is subtle and uplifting, supporting mood and perception
• Tulsi clears the mind and invigorates the respiratory system, increasing alertness
• Rosemary is aromatic and stimulating, helping wake up the mind and sharpen concentration

🌹 If you’re ready to dive deeper into this work, comment WISDOM for our free Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda mini-course. 

✨ Calling all Level 1 Graduates - the first classes of our Level 2 Ayurvedic Health Counselor Training are waiting for you inside the virtual classroom and this is the final call to get in the door. Comment “LEVEL2” (one word) to learn more.
Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers, the ones who Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers, the ones who long to be mothers, the ones navigating complicated or tender relationships with their mothers, and the ones learning to mother themselves in new ways. 🌺⁠
⁠
Today we’re honoring the mothers of Team Shakti—the women who shaped us, held us, challenged us and loved us. When we asked our team to describe their mothers, these are just a few of the words that surfaced: generous, earth-conscious, devoted, vibrant, kind, thoughtful, adventurous, loving, supportive.⁠
⁠
We’re also honoring the universal, inner threads that are woven through this holiday and offer something that we can each lean into, no matter our personal stories: the archetype of the Divine Mother. The Inner Mother who lives in all of us.⁠
⁠
Reconnecting with this archetype allows us to become better mothers to ourselves, more compassionate in how we show up for others, and to begin healing the ancestral cords we carry from the lineage of women who came before us.⁠
⁠
Today we are honoring all of it. The love, the complexity and the becoming. Happy Mother’s Day from Katie & Team Shakti! 💐💚✨🌸 Spread the love with us - share a photo of your mom or your stories and make sure to tag us so that we can reshare it!
We are currently being overloaded with pollen over We are currently being overloaded with pollen over here on the East Coast and it’s got me thinking about how we can all navigate allergy season with a little more support…

Allergies are a typical imbalance associated with Kapha season in Ayurveda (late-winter/early spring in the Northern Hemisphere). 💐

Ayurveda understands that allergies are the result of an outer allergen aggravating one of the doshas. Spring seasonal allergies are usually more Kapha-related, since Kapha dominates the environment this time of year. 

An excess of Kapha dosha = sluggishness, mucous and water retention. (Read: classic allergy symptoms). 🤧

🐝 This is the formula for aiding your Kapha seasonal allergies: 
👉🏽 Heat things up + boost circulation + clear and CLEANSE your bodies’ pathways.

Allergies don’t have to be your destiny. Reducing the effects of allergies comes down to boosting agni + reducing ama +  supporting immunity. 

Save this for allergy rescue. And let us know what makes the biggest difference for you this time of year. 🫡🌸
“Tantra” means a methodology for expansion, a “Tantra” means a methodology for expansion, a tool for getting bigger, a means by which you open—not just big in the sense of loud or boisterous. It can actually be very quiet. 

And yet there’s this quality of something opening. 

When I learned about Tantra, something woke up in me. 

It was like this recognition of, oh my goodness, I have this opportunity in this life to change, to expand, to move out of some of the limitations of my mind and in the way I perceive my reality. 

We all have this particular way that we run our energy and that we perceive our reality. 

And the real aim of tantra, and what we focus on in our school, is to help you see which limitations are self-imposed - the ones that we actually can do something about.

Then, we work with energy, lifestyle, spiritual practices and physical practices to move beyond them. 

Tantra offers us a way in. It’s a philosophy, a way of understanding your mind, a psychology, an energetic anatomical map. And the way we teach and live it at The Shakti School, it all begins with cultivating self-trust and self-belonging. ⚡️

We dive into all of this and more in our free course, Women’s Wisdom and Ayurveda. And it’s yours to dive into starting right now. 

Just comment WISDOM below and I’ll send it to you. 🌹🌙
The quality of your presence is the healing. Your The quality of your presence is the healing. Your presence is more potent than any herb, any protocol, any certification you could hold.⁠
⁠
In Shakti Ayurveda School, we study and we learn, yes, but the deeper work is learning how to be with ourselves. To understand our state, our energy and our way of showing up.⁠
⁠
Level 2 is where we embody this on a deeper level. Where we keep moving Ayurveda out of the mind and into our relationships, nervous systems and our presence as a practitioner.⁠
⁠
🧬 It’s not too late to join us in Level 2. The first few classes are ready for you now inside the virtual classroom, and our next class is happening today at 2pm Eastern time. ✨

Footer

© 2026 Shakti School

  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Advocacy
  • Find a Coach
  • Login
  • Katie's Books
  • Contact and Support

Get the Shakti Letter love, katie