Functional Them

18/02/2026

💛Before Tarawera 102km race: excited/anxious & hoping all the prep = a finish
🩵After: relaxed, content & recovering with a finish under my belt.

This was a long game endeavor after having my own struggles with perimenopause changing my body and the way it responds to everything❤️

Just because I do many of the “right things” doesn’t make me immune to aging & the hormonal dysregulation so many of us go through. At first, it was unbelievable. Then, it was frustrating. Doing the same things the same ways surely wasn’t working. Trying to keep up with everyone else definitely wasn’t working.

I had to go at my own pace, find my own rhythm & try new things: Some of it fully-backed by research, & some of it intuitive.

The deeper I went, for my own sake and the sake of my patients, the more I found it’s all about the inter-connectedness of our systems. Sure, hormones are important, but guess what? Nervous system function and digestive function are so key to smoothing that ride. Immune system support and mgmt of inflammatory responses play a big role too.

I used to run many races a year. Now I pick ONE, & honor where my body is, while pushing gently to improve. I am so grateful I can even still do my sport of choice.

What makes it possible for me:
💜Anti-inflammatory eating style (like 80% of the time till a few weeks before race or big training runs then it’s 100%)
💙Sleep from 9:30-5:30 most nights.
💚Strength training 2-3 times per week (thanks !💪🏼)
💛Walk AT LEAST an hour 5 days per week (some of these are short runs)
🧡Big long run 1-2 per month (this used to be every weekend, but it ain’t the perimenopause way for me!)
❤️physio exercises for injury prevention (thanks 🥰)
🩷my own combo of supports (that aren’t in my diet) that includes things like creatine, HRT, magnesium, NAC. I say this bc there are as many combos as there are people, and I can help you find the right one for you.

This year’s race went down as the most difficult in the history of the race. Torrential storms and ankle deep mud for 43km of 102km made what I thought would’ve taken 20 hrs turn into 28.5hrs of focus & grunt. And I did it🥳

03/02/2026

It’s baaaaaaack, after a long hiatus, we are back this weekend for a pop-up Somatic Session. If you came to the last one, you KNOW it’s all the good feels. And this time, your koha goes to Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust—-to help Wharekahika rebuild and plan for their future after The Storm with No Name That Changed Everything.⭐️🕊️⭐️ Reg Link in Stories (Koha either online or at the door)

27/01/2026

Helping vs burning out. The world is beautiful but these times are difficult. I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can be there for each other for the long run. The balance between what to me feels like tension and sadness in the body….embodies more than just those two feelings but it helps me have language for it. Language creates vision and action. This is good for anyone, and crucial if you’re here because of hormones. Our hormones are some of the first things to go awry when we spend too long in tension/stress/sadness/overwork. Kids innately know how to mobilize their tension, so do animals. Find your way back to your own knowing.❤️

22/01/2026

Nervous system delights.🌟

20/01/2026

From the bottom of my bag, a particularly thoughtful set of questions from a past puberty class. Kids always get a chance to submit their questions on paper. I love this one, this kid has no idea how many people ask the same Qs about perimenopause. ❤️

08/11/2025

After 4 years of learning, I have finally completed all the mahi for Level 5 Rongoā diploma. My class is here at Lake Karapiro to present our final projects, engage in some healthy debate about Rongoā legislations, and celebrate together with all of the other students tonight!

Is Rongoā like naturopathic medicine? Yes and no. There’s a lot of overlap, but it’s been really cool to add to my medical, and in this case, Perimenopause (Te Ruahinetanga) knowledge from a different lens.

I’m not hanging my shingle as a practitioner of Rongoā anytime soon. I’ll need more experience if I ever decide to go fully down that path, but I understand it more. And I understand the language and the practices to be able to work with people even more holistically.

If you’ve ever seen me as a patient, you may recognize your experience in the framework in the first photo. I finally created a visual for it. 🌈

The Te Ruahinetanga Zine will soon be available as a download for those of you in far-flung places😉

06/09/2025

Climate impact on Health and Wellbeing data, transformed into art for you. Come see us Sept 27th!

The exhibition features 30+ local artists and opens on September 27 in Gisborne.

29/08/2025

Last call for tickets, Gizzy! Link through www.roe.co.nz/classes or head to Stories!
Hei apōpo🙌🏼 2pm