A special kind of friend gives you a tiny bidet for the holidays, and a silver-infused p*e cloth for your birthday.
Mine is also the one who talks me into another hike I wasn't sure I wanted - and I always end up fitter and more inspired for having done it.
Turns out the people who get you out the door are usually the ones who've already solved the boring, practical stuff nobody talks about too.
My picks, no friend required: Kula Cloth (kulacloth.com) and the CuloClean bidet (culoclean.com) - in my pack every trip now.
Want more of this - the stuff nobody else is telling you, backed by ancient medicine and modern science? That's my newsletter, The Missing Chapter. Free, unfiltered, actually useful. Get on the list - link in bio.
PS - not sure which way in makes sense for you? My free Menopause Kickstart mini-course (four short lessons over five days) or my Herbal Playbook program (full protocols, real support) - both linked in my bio.
Dana LaVoie, LAc
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Most women have tried everything for menopause except Chinese herbs. Let me show you how: www.danalavoiecoach.com/mini-course Are herbs right for you?
Take my FREE, 10-minute intro to herbs for menopause class to find out (what are you waiting for?) www.danalavoielac.com/mini-course
You can contact me with your questions directly from inside the class.
Hillsides of wildflowers. Alpine meadows perfect for napping. What felt like a hundred butterflies who'd clearly found the best spots on the trail before we did.
FYI I just got back from backpacking Mount Rainier - at almost 60, in case you're wondering if that's still on the table (it is).
I'm a menopause herbalist sharing my favorite backpacking tips for women in their 50s, 60s, and 70s all month - follow along, or save this one so you don't lose it.
If you like this - my email newsletter is where I shared all the links and tips in one handy place - the best stuff from me lands in your inbox - link in bio.
That first hot drink of the day. The one that has to happen before anything else does.
Now picture making it in the woods. Camp stove going, water just boiled, days into a backpacking trip.
Mine wasn't coffee. It wasn't a latte, and it wasn't hot chocolate - though it tasted like both.
It was a powder I mixed myself before the trip - a blend of several different herbs, ground down, in one little baggie with a tiny spoon.
Every morning I'd spoon it into my cup, add two wafers of pure cacao paste, then boiling water. What came out was rich and dark - genuinely felt like the elixir of life and chocolate at the same time. Not bitter. Just good.
Then I'd sit with my friends around the camp kitchen, sipping it, watching the woods wake up. One of the best parts of the whole day.
And through the trip - smoke in the air one day from wildfires, an endless brutal downhill another - I stayed steady. No headache. Knees held up. I felt resilient.
I ate enough protein, took my basic vitamins too. But the herbs are one of the biggest reasons I know I felt that way.
👉 Herbs for energy and stamina
👉 Herbs supportive of joints and low back strength
🌟 Herbs for hormone-related sleep and heat
🌟 Herbs supportive of urinary and vaginal health
This isn't a whole new routine. It's one small addition to something you're already doing anyway.
PS - There's more waiting for you, all free: my Menopause Kickstart mini-course, my newsletter, or this week's blog post. Connect however you're ready - link in bio. danalavoiecoach.com/mini
Half the internet says push harder. Half says surrender. Only one is right for you right now — and it'll flip in a few months. This is why generic midlife fatigue advice fails so many women.
The full breakdown of which one and when → Full Video on the blog at danalavoielac.com/menopause-fatigue (LINK IN BIO)
Jenny was a lifelong athlete who hit early perimenopause and could barely cook dinner. She was ready for HRT the next day.
We tried 12 weeks of herbs matched to her pattern first.
She was stuck, not depleted — and once we got things flowing, everything shifted.
Get the framework I used with Jenny → danalavoiecoach.com/kickstart (Free mini course - Link in BIO)
One of the fastest ways to tell which kind of fatigue you have: does rest actually help? If yes, you're likely depleted. If rest makes it worse — you're likely stuck. Opposite fix.
More on the two types of midlife fatigue → Full Video - latest on my blog - danalavoielac.com/menopause-fatigue
I was in the car on the way to the gym when I had to pull over. The thing that had always given me energy was the thing I couldn't do anymore — and I didn't know why.
The full video → on my blog (link in bio) danalavoiecoach.com/menopause-fatigue
The framework that finally explained it → (free mini course link in bio) danalavoiecoach.com/mini
08/09/2026
Went to the eye doctor this week. Vision improved in both eyes for the first time since fourth grade. Retinal risk went down too. I thank the herbs.
More on how Chinese herbs work in unexpected places → free Menopause Kickstart, link in bio.
Midlife fatigue isn't one thing. It's two things — and they need opposite fixes. Which is why the advice you keep getting doesn't match what your body is actually doing.
Full video on which one you have and what to do about it → https://youtu.be/_Eq65N27wEY
Link in Bio - it's newest on my blog!
08/02/2026
For most of your life, your body ran on rules you could count on. Cut the caffeine and sleep came back. Skip a few meals and your jeans fit again. Push through a brutal week and you were yourself again by Sunday.
Then somewhere in your 40s or 50s, the rules stopped applying.
The week ends and you don't reset the way you used to. What you eat sits differently. You're doing the things that always worked, and yet the old energy just isn't there.
I want you to know there's a logic to what you're experiencing, even when your body feels like it's stopped making sense.
I'm Dana LaVoie. I've spent more than 20 years working with women through the midlife hormone shift.
That work spans a master's in Oriental Medicine, a decade learning directly from one of the world's top tonic herbalists, and 20 years in the room with real women. What I've learned is that most of the advice women get was built for the body they had at 32, not the one they're in now.
The Menopause Kickstart is a free mini course, and it's where I'd want any woman in this stage to start. Four short lessons, at your own pace.
We cover:
👉 Why a "healthy" diet that worked at 35 can backfire now, and what tends to work better
👉 The exercise shift that helps your body respond more like it used to
👉 A 30-second acupressure technique you can use the next time irritability starts to climb
👉 The fourth lesson is the reason I made this. It's the tool my clients keep asking for, the one they say they wish someone had shown them years earlier, the thing that makes everything else finally fall into place.
As helpful as the food, movement, and stress shifts are, they're small next to what I show you on day four.
Each lesson ends with one small thing to try. Not a 30-day overhaul to fit into your already-full week. Just one small shift, one day at a time.
Finish all four lessons in five days, and you’ll unlock my Menopause Stage Map, which helps you find where you actually are in your transition.
Your first lesson lands within 5 minutes.
Start free here: https://danalavoiecoach.com/mini
LINK IN BIO!
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