We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Cari Schaefer, DACM recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dr. Cari , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.

At 48, feeling healthier than ever, there was still a nagging digestive issue that eluded resolution. When a trusted health mentor in Ithaca invited me over for testing and a detox retreat, I was hesitant. Memories of extreme detox methods I’d shunned as a practitioner flashed in my mind. But weighing the odds, I decided to embark on the journey.

The retreat was beautiful – a quaint tent in the woods, serene lake, gardens, and various wellness amenities. I was all in. But the strict liquid diet, rigorous exercises, enemas with wheatgrass, and sauna sessions seemed more intense than anticipated. As days passed, I grew weaker. My skin showed signs of dehydration. And alarmingly, by day seven, staring at a simple clock, my brain failed to decipher time. Was this the detox at play?

Cutting down on some treatments, I hoped for balance. But, returning home, the toll was evident in my sunken weight and weakened system. Strangely, my health wasn’t the only thing out of tune. Claustrophobic feelings began to surface. Elevators, car backseats, windowless rooms – places I’d frequented without a second thought now induced panic.

Then came the revelation. A client, describing eerily similar symptoms, mentioned it could be perimenopause. I was stunned. Could this be the missing link? My periods were regular, but the age was right. Yet, none of my studies on female hormones and menopause had ever linked these symptoms. How was this such an unknown?

Research confirmed it. I was in perimenopause. The extreme detox had stressed not just my body, but my hormones. The fragile balance of this transition phase had been disrupted.

Perimenopause is a natural phase every woman goes through. It’s not about the irregular periods but the overall wellness. Stress plays a massive role in this phase, an aspect grossly overlooked. My ordeal taught me the importance of balance and listening to one’s body. With the knowledge gained, I’m committed to ensuring other women don’t suffer in ignorance. The gap between cultural understanding and medical insight for perimenopausal and menopausal women is vast, but with shared experiences, it’s a gap we can bridge.

This was the defining moment when I committed my practice and life to educating women about menopause and reshaping what has been an ignored or negative cultural experience into one of hope. This can be one of the most amazing times in a woman’s life when approached with balance and wisdom.

Dr. Cari , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Dr. Cari Schaefer DACM Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Nationally Certified Herbalist, Author, Speaker, Teacher

Dr. Cari Schaefer DACM is the founder of Your Menopause Midwife platform midwifing woman through the menopausal change. Her vision is to restore women with the empowerment of this life change, lost in our current culture, and help them find the optimal mental, spiritual and physical balance she knows is possible.

At age 32 Cari had to overcome her own health crisis. Challenged to walk three blocks due to extreme fatigue, constant pain, and depression, she learned firsthand the limitations that poor health creates. Cari has combined all that she has learned through her training and her personal health journey and created Body Stress Analysis, the system she uses to help others obtain a solid foundation of high quality health.
Cari shares what she has learned with others through one-on-one clinical care, public speaking, radio appearances, and by teaching and mentoring other healthcare practitioners. She is the author of the #1 bestselling book, The Food Solution, demonstrating how the choices we make everyday can make the difference between a vibrant, success-filled life and a life fraught with ill health and other challenges.
Cari is a healthcare expert, provider, author, lecturer, and teacher on health and nutrition. With a Doctorate in Traditional Chinese Medicine and as a nationally certified herbalist and health practitioner, for over 23 years Cari has helped thousands of people identify and remove the barriers blocking them from feeling their best.

She has guided thousands of people to identify and remove the barriers blocking them from feeling good, so they can claim the life of their dreams.

For more information, go to: http://www.cari4health.com

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

After my really bumpy introduction into menopausal syndrome, I started to attend every seminar that was offered on the subject. One day I went to hear this medical doctor speak who was supposed to be the foremost expert on helping women navigate the change naturally. I was excited to learn about what she had to teach. I was sitting in a room of 50 or so health practitioners from various modalities, all with a focus on holistic health.

The doctor, let’s just call Dr. Y, came to the front of the room, introduced herself and then proceeded to say something that would change my life forever. She stood there and said, “from a biological and an anthropological perspective women were done post menopause.”.

I froze. Did I hear her right? She said it again, yes I heard it right. My jaw dropped. I could not believe what I was hearing and from a menopausal woman no less. She then goes on to explain that because of this “fact” the kindest thing that you can do for a woman is to keep her on bioidentical hormones at levels that will keep her bleeding well into her later years.

I was astounded. In Chinese medicine we study the natural rhythms of life. We learn about how our bodies mimic nature and here was this medical professional standing in front of a room,” this expert,” and educator of other healthcare professionals, telling us that nature got it wrong, thereby we needed to intervene and fix it for women. What? At this point I’m actually starting to get a little upset. I had to calm myself down to even hear the rest of what she had to say.

She went on to talk about all the horrible things that happen to women if they have low estrogen, which is what she uses as her evidence for why she is recommending the Bio identical Hormone Replacement.

As she winds down her talk she asks if there are any questions. I raise my hand practically jumping out of my seat. When she calls on me I stand up and ask, “so, how long do you think we need to keep women on high levels of hormones?” She stands there and very nonchalantly says “my mother is still having a period”. I hear a few gasps of surprise from the audience. I do everything I can to suppress mine. She had to be in her 60’s, so her mother at a minimum must be close to 80.

At this point, I had to just sit down and take a few deep breaths. I knew that getting upset and stressed was not going to help the situation and it certainly wasn’t going to help my overall well being.

I knew with every fiber in my body that what this woman was saying was incorrect. Not just incorrect but dangerous. It is perpetuating the belief that has been held by our society for way too long. That woman post menopause had no purpose. They should be happy to melt into the background and not make trouble. I knew that nothing was further from the truth. Women served a purpose in the menopausal years. I knew this at the depth of my soul. And yet, when I looked inside I realized that I just wasn’t sure what that was yet.

Women are supposed to stop bleeding. This happens for a reason. What I was seeing is how much our society has forgotten this. I was seeing that we had a much bigger problem than I had assumed. If this is what holistic doctors were learning, we were in big trouble.

This was my wakeup call. This is the moment I knew I could no longer sit back and say nothing about what was happening. This is when I made the decision to do something about it. I wasn’t sure exactly what yet, but I knew I had to.

Women are suffering through this process and it is not necessary for them to suffer. Even though I experienced a fairly extreme, compared to most women, perimenopausal imbalance. I found my way back to a place of harmony. I found my way out of my perimenopausal syndrome. So can you.

Remember, this is a very normal divinely designed part of every woman’s life. The problem isn’t the transition, the issue is the way we have learned to live. The average woman that walks into my clinic reports being under high levels of stress. How stressed do you feel on average?

If you are having symptoms that are uncomfortable, if you are experiencing this time of life as being difficult, I want you to hear that it doesn’t have to be this way. This transition is a natural part of a woman’s life. It is supposed to happen. It can get bumpy for some women. If it does for you, like it did for me at age 48, after I attended a drastic detox center, know you can find balance again, just like I did.

Know there’s a reason, and that reason can be identified and balanced out. For me the insulting stress was obvious. I did a drastic cleanse which threw my body into an acute stress state, but sometimes it is not so obvious. Regardless, whether the source of stress in your body is obvious or not, it can be identified and balanced out. You do not have to suffer and you certainly do not need to suffer alone. You can get through this transition to the other side and in my opinion, experience one of the best times of your life.

The symptoms you are having in your body are a call. They are letting you know that your body is under too much stress and that something about your health, about your life is needing to change.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Referrals has been my most effective strategy for gaining clients as the new clients arrive with a preconceived positive impression. I encourage referrals through various marketing tools on an ongoing basis such newsletters, social media and meeting the heart needs of my clients in addition to the body treatments they come to me to receive.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Cari4health.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcari4health/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrCariSchaeferDACM
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarischaefer/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCphY-zv9dJEPbFRdzrVIb2w