The Forest Dweller: Ayurvedic Menopause Wisdom with Victoria Tori Hyndman
- Joanne Smolders
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
The Story We're Told, and the One Ayurveda Tells Instead
What made you want to reframe how women+ think about menopause?
I remember being in my 20s and hearing mostly negative stories about pregnancy from older women+, and it sketched this image that it wasn't going to be fun to enter my 30s and beyond. The same thing happens with menopause. We hear about hot flashes, mood swings, exhaustion, insomnia, and it doesn't sound like a lot of fun. But having experienced a completely different way, thanks to Ayurveda, I wanted to offer that as an alternative message. Ayurveda is like the most loving grandmother reminding you of your own wisdom, giving you real tools to feel balanced instead of feeling ruled by your hormones.
"I'm here to bring a different message." — Victoria Tori Hyndman
How Ayurveda Explains the Body: The Five Elements
Where does the Ayurvedic understanding of the body actually begin?
Ayurveda sees us as quite literally "cooked" from our parents' ingredients, shaped by five elements known as the Panchamahabhutas:
Earth gives us our physical structure, our skeletal system, and a felt sense of stability and groundedness.
Water is fluidity, everything from saliva and joint lubrication to, in the mental body, the experience of love itself.
Fire governs digestion physically, and transformation, passion, and intellect mentally.
Air is movement, from the five physical "winds" that govern functions like elimination and circulation, to thought and communication mentally.
Ether is space, the emptiness inside the stomach, the uterus, the joints, and in the mind, a sense of clarity and calm.
Every person is a slightly different recipe of these elements, shaped by what their parents brought into that "kitchen."
The Three Life Stages of a Woman's+ Life
How do these elements show up across a woman's+ lifetime?
They combine into what Ayurveda calls doshas, and each life stage is dominated by a different combination:
Kapha (childhood): water and earth combine to build tissue, structure, and the body's foundation.
Pitta (teens through late 30s): fire takes over, bringing appetite, intensity, ambition, and the drive to build an identity and a life.
Vata (mid-40s onward): air and space begin to dominate, inviting a gradual, natural pull toward stillness.
Ayurveda has a beautiful name for this last stage: becoming "the forest dweller." It's the natural calling to step back from constantly proving yourself in the village and move toward something quieter and more your own.
"It's like we can't fight nature." — Tori Hyndman
What Is Ojas, and Why Does It Matter for Your Hormones?
You keep coming back to this word, ojas. What is it?
Ojas is described as a golden, honey-like substance in the ancient texts, the reserve behind your immune system, your hormones, and your overall vitality. When it's healthy, there's a radiance, a juiciness, emotional steadiness, and resilience. When it's depleted, that's when hot flashes, irritability, and exhaustion show up. I like to picture it as an oil lamp with a full reserve tank. Some of us keep topping it up. Others are burning the candle from both ends without realizing it until the flame starts to flicker.
What Drains Ojas, and What Rebuilds It
What are the biggest, most surprising drains on ojas in modern life?
A few stand out:
Chronic fear, anxiety, and worry
Unresolved anger and constant conflict
Overworking your focus, like staring at screens all day
Too much caffeine
Excessive detoxing without enough nourishment
Scrolling your phone late at night
Evening workouts or dynamic yoga, especially in colder months
And what actually rebuilds it?
The rituals matter more than people expect. A consistent bedtime around 9:30pm, legs up the wall for twenty minutes without your phone, and daily Abhyanga, a warm sesame oil self massage, are some of the most powerful tools. Nourishing foods like warm milk, honey, basmati rice, and paneer support ojas, along with herbs like shatavari, vidari, ashwagandha, and bala. Pomegranate juice and aloe vera juice daily are wonderful for hot flashes and general irritability.
"If any of you take away one thing from this talk, let it be this." — Tori Hyndman, on daily oil massage
The Real Ingredient Behind Healthy Hormones
After all the herbs and rituals, what actually matters most?
Love. Peace, patience, forgiveness, and compassion, especially toward yourself. You can take every herb and drink every glass of pomegranate juice, but if there's unresolved conflict weighing on your heart, your ojas won't be at peace. Going into this next life stage is like entering the forest, and you want to go without the baggage. Making peace with the past isn't about excusing what happened. It's about giving yourself permission to be free and light for the season ahead.
Whether you're decades away from this transition or standing right at its edge, Tori Hyndman's Ayurvedic framework offers something rare: permission to see this stage of life as an invitation instead of a warning. Listen to the full conversation on the Umaversity Podcast for the guided meditation, the complete list of herbs and rituals, and the face oils, and preparing in your 20s.
#About Victoria Tori Hyndman
What if everything you've been taught to fear about menopause is missing the point entirely? Victoria "Tori" Hyndman, an Ayurvedic practitioner specialized in female+ health and vitality, a Marma therapist, and an Ayur Yoga teacher, sat down to walk through a radically different framework for understanding perimenopause and menopause, one built on five ancient elements, a golden life force called ojas, and a life stage Ayurveda calls "the forest dweller."
📺Watch the full Umaversity Podcast episode here:
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