Episode 44: Perimenopause – A Second Spring
What if perimenopause is not something to be suppressed, vilified or medicated away?? What if it is a portal into a more essential, more exquisitely-aligned version of ourselves? An invitation to re-examine how we do life, and to witness and heal parts of ourselves. An initiation into our wisdom and power. In Chinese Medicine, perimenopause is considered the “Second Spring”. A second puberty, a second metamorphosis. When we reflect on what a wild ride that first puberty was, we can begin to see the grace, space and compassion that we can offer ourselves in this transition. Patients have shared with me that they have felt gaslit by the mainstream system, where their various concerns were instantly dismissed as “just perimenopause”, and HRT was offered as the only solution. But it is no coincidence that symptoms like fatigue, low moods, irritability, low libido, poor sleep and weight gain can show up at this time of our life. These symptoms can also be a reflection of decades of caring for others at the cost of ourselves: of self-abandonment, people-pleasing, over-giving and under-receiving.. In Chinese Medicine, we see “symptoms” as wise messages from the body. An insight into what desires to be balanced or healed. And I see common underlying patterns in women at this phase of life, which also explain the common “symptoms” of perimenopause. In this episode, I share what those patterns are, and simple ways that we can support ourselves to move most easefully through this powerful portal! To be the first to know about the courses I mention in this episode, you can sign up via the form below. More on Hormone Health Episode 2: Happy hormones naturally, for general health, easier periods and optimising fertility (Part 1 of 2) Episode 3: Happy hormones for all (not “just for the ladies!”), and the role of inflammation (Part 2 of 2) More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au instagram.com/balanced_with_drmaz/ facebook.com/balancedwithdrmaz Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2025
Episode 43: Essence & Spirit: Longevity, Sex, Fertility, Living Your Destiny
Have you heard of the Three Treasures, and how they relate to feeling great, aging vibrantly, manifesting your destiny and living your soul purpose? Together with our Qi, our Jing (Essence) and our Shen (Spirit) make up the Three Treasures – treasures, because they are the precious substances that form the foundation for our health and longevity. Jing can be translated variously as our DNA, our genetic endowment, our constitution. Qi is the total of all of our energetic and metabolic processes that govern daily function, like digestion, respiration, circulation, cellular function, tissue structure and integrity (more in episode 41). Shen is our spirit, our presence, our consciousness – the spark of life in our eyes. Jing-Qi-Shen are interrelated and dependent upon each other. When they are in coherence and harmony, we manifest our destiny in this lifetime – our soul purpose. We feel lighter, clearer and more vibrant – and are well resourced for life’s adventures. Many of our Chinese Medicine health cultivation practices centre around preserving and refining the Three Treasures. In this episode, Dr. Maz shares simple practices that you can incorporate into your everyday to boost your Qi, protect your Essence and help your Spirit shine bright! The simple Qi Gong move, practised slowly, with intent and slow breathing, can be a powerful way to connect the energies of Heaven and Earth. Bonus points if you do it barefoot outside! More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au instagram.com/balanced_with_drmaz/ facebook.com/balancedwithdrmaz Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2025
Episode 42: Fasting – helpful or harmful? A Chinese Medicine perspective.
PODCAST SCHEDULE UPDATE: new episode monthly – or more specifically, each Full Moon, for the next while. In Chinese Medicine, we are adherents of “The Middle Way” or “The Middle Path” – a path of moderation. Rather than opting for extreme or dramatic health practices, we opt for a gentle, daily nourishing of Life. Each moment is an opportunity to nurture health. Our amazing bodies already know how to heal, how to detox, how to repair – sometimes, we just need to get out of the way. When I was asked my thoughts on fasting, the answer, while tending to alignment with The Middle Way, had some nuances that I share with you in this episode. We touch on: • the view of our ancient medical texts on fasting (scroll down for a quote) • eating close to nature and the seasons vs. processed foods, preservatives, seed oils and, frankly, non-foods that pop up in the modern “diet” • intermittent fasting, the Chinese Medicine Organ / Meridian Clock and circadian rhythms • the “hollow” organs – what even are they, their relationship to health (and consciousness) • how fasting can cause our systems to dip into our Jing – the vital “Essence” that we come into this world with, and that nourishes us throughout our lifespan. “The source of vitality is the diet. If one stops eating or drinking, one will die. Without food or liquid, Stomach Qi will not be evident in the pulses. Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine), Chapter 18: Pulse Analysis; circa 200CE More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au instagram.com/balanced_with_drmaz/ facebook.com/balancedwithdrmaz Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2025
Episode 41: Health is charge – or, our ability to power up & move our Qi
(APOLOGIES for the audio issue halfway through the episode – it’s only 30 seconds or so, so thank you for bearing with me!) Put simply, life (and health!) is about how well we can gain and hold charge, and how effectively our systems work with it. Chinese Medicine has a profound understanding of this. Our view of health and healing focuses greatly on Qi and its many expressions, qualities and functions within mind, body and soul. Qi is often loosely translated as “energy”, but it is so much more than that. It describes function, metabolism, processes of transformation, directions of movement… the list goes on! In our medicine, we understand that when the body is well-resourced and abundant in Qi – and when the Qi channels, or meridians – are open and harmoniously organised, vibrant health naturally follows. Here we talk about the concept of health as charge – and our ability to hold and use it effectively – and the many ways, both ancient and new, that we can charge up our Qi today. PRODUCT SHOUTOUT I talk in the episode about native frequencies (or EMFs) vs non-native ones. A common source of non-native EMFs are many lightbulbs – the wavelength of these lights can be disruptive to our body clock, or circadian rhythm. This in turn can derail everything from hormones to nervous system, sleep, repair and whole host of other important processes. This is why our house is full of natural wavelength lightbulbs from Block Blue Light. The link below gets you 10% off, or just enter “DrMaz” at checkout. https://www.blockbluelight.com.au/?ref=DrMaz More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au instagram.com/balanced_with_drmaz/ facebook.com/balancedwithdrmaz Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2025
Episode 40: Why I DON’T biohack, “detox” or load up on supplements – and what I DO
With the health and wellness industry exploding as it is, the following is a conversation I find myself having more and more frequently. What I have observed over the years – both in my own health journey and in my many years in clinic – is that simple & natural is most often best. While extreme or heroic practices, and expensive biohacks & supplements, may seem glamorous and exciting and may promise the world, I see that we can achieve the same benefits with the simple – often free! – consistent things that we do each day (grounding, sunlight, movement, emotional expression) and by living as closely to Mama Nature as we can (wholefoods, clean & coherent water, natural light & frequencies, aligning with daily / seasonal rhythms). I also have witnessed that while it may be tempting to ADD more to our lives in an attempt to gain more vitality, it is very often what we REMOVE that frees up our vital force to go about its job of healing, repair and restoration. Reducing the load in our “toxin bucket” by limiting what we throw in there (food additives, chemicals, synthetic fragrances, toxin in personal care & home products, non-native electromagnetic fields, artificial lighting, etc.) can be just as – if not more – profound as what we add to our lives. I can also add to this the witnessing & releasing of limiting beliefs, “congestive” emotional habits and stored trauma is another important piece of the puzzle – letting go of these liberates vast amounts of our innate healing powers. In this episode I share the simple, daily practices that I include to nourish my health, and easy ways you can apply them yourself. CAVEAT: the practices discussed are suitable for most of us who are in at least a reasonable state of health. There are times when systems may be so depleted, overloaded with toxins or in such an pronounced state of compensation (“disease”) that more extreme measures – practices, supplements, devices – may be temporarily necessary in order to restore a baseline level of vital energy to the system, which can then take it from there. CLEAN 15 & DIRTY DOZEN WATER FILTERS I USE EPISODE 2: Happy hormones naturally, for better health (“detox”) EPISODE 3: Happy hormones naturally, for better health (“detox”) More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au instagram.com/balanced_with_drmaz/ facebook.com/balancedwithdrmaz Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2025