Palms up if you happen to’ve ever referred to as in sick or skipped class with debilitating interval cramps? Interval poops killed your date evening plans? What about PMS-induced migraines? Be a part of the membership. Whereas each girl could have a sheet of pain-killers available for moments like these, Maria Rau and Felicia Liu, founders of natural tea model Ying Yi Wellness are working to make sure they’ll alleviate your interval woes even earlier than you get them.
To know Ying Yi’s modus operandi, we have to respect the variations in Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Not like Western medication which treats and gives some would say ‘quick-fix’ solutions to signs, Conventional Chinese language Medication goals to ‘the entire’, addressing the basis reason for issues—actually not an in a single day course of. In historic days, one would constantly see a TCM practitioner to keep good well being, not simply make a beeline for the clinic when dis-ease units in. However how does this all relate to durations and this homegrown model? Launched throughout the early days of the pandemic, Ying Yi Wellness is TCM 2.0. The holistic natural wellbeing model creates trendy TCM remedies geared at regulating interval whereas relieving the signs of PMS. And, given that folks with uteruses can menstruate for about 40 years of their lifetime, right here’s why their mission to help folks with durations issues.
What did uncover about durations in growing Ying Yi Wellness?
On common, a lady menstruates for about seven to 9 years of their life. Lots of people overlook {that a} interval is what occurs when your uterus is functioning, which in return provides life. Singapore has one of many lowest fertility charges on this planet. And about 15 per cent of {couples} in Singapore are unable to conceive inside 12 months of attempting for a child. In about 39 per cent of those instances, the trigger is feminine infertility, which is intently associated to interval well being. Syndromes that come up earlier than, throughout or after menstruation are a bodily signal that can’t be ignored, however much less and fewer persons are paying consideration. Individuals begin to normalise PMS as one thing that you just simply need to undergo each month, till the issues from that results in PCOS or different extra critical well being issues.
Why did you begin the model?
Maria: After I first began working, I seen lots of my pals and colleagues use durations as a motive for decreased work performance. As a lady, I need to have the ability to do my finest work, however I do know that my physique can restrict me and my efficiency. Many ladies simply put up with it. However that discomfort is a sign so that you can take note of your physique, so that you shouldn’t simply ignore it. I additionally hear extra girls telling me about their PCOS or PMDD. And that is one thing that may be prevented if in case you have consciousness early on in your life and begin early to keep up your general well being.
Conventional Chinese language Medication is much like the idea of taking nutritional vitamins on a regular basis as preventive medication
We discover that remedy for power syndromes is finest with a holistic method. Nevertheless, there’s little of one of these remedy for menstrual well being in Western medication. Normally, in Western practices, docs resort to contraceptive drugs to deal with menstrual cramps and regulate durations. After I bought married and tried to get pregnant, I realised lots of these professionalblems that had been neglected since we have been younger have an effect on fertility significantly.
What’s your signature interval tea designed to do
Maria: The largest distinction is that we provide three completely different teas for 3 phases of the month as a bundle. It’s completely different from different natural teas that declare you possibly can take one product that may care for all the pieces. It usually occurs that we hear which you could eat one sort of meals or take one complement and your well being will enhance, after which research present that taking an excessive amount of of the identical product tends to have adverse results. In case your physique is feeling unwell, it might be deeply associated to a way more difficult downside the place discomfort is only a sign. If we actually wish to enhance an individual’s general well being, it takes time and requires assembly completely different wants that happen at completely different levels.
In fact, this implies which you could not count on a single product to unravel your well being issues in a couple of days. As of late, folks need quick outcomes, however research present that transformation takes time and perseverance
You’ll hardly ever discover firms that make such teas designed for various levels, because it comes with larger prices. However Ying Yi’s mission is to assist girls with their issues, not simply promoting merchandise. We additionally selected the tea format, though it’s dearer to fabricate than a tablet, as a result of we wish to encourage folks to include the meals or beverage they eat and drink as a part of their journey to well being.
Felicia: As a lady, our physique chemistry modifications daily as a result of our durations. Our product is designed to take that under consideration. And it’s much like what you’d get at a TCM clinic, however with a way more handy subscription mannequin and decrease value. We additionally know that TCM follow focuses on completely different physique constitutions. That’s why we have now gone via a number of iterations of formulation which can be efficient however light for every physique sort throughout cycles. We’ve additionally targeted on trendy existence and dietary habits. For instance, our system was developed to counteract the spicy and overly fatty dishes that ladies in Asia are likely to eat as a result of it’s simply a lot simpler to eat out at meals stalls as an alternative of cooking at house.
Dr Wu Pei-Wen, your TCM physician at Ying Yi Wellness believes in ‘treating the entire’.
We consider that the absence of illness isn’t by definition “in the most effective of well being.” Well being and wellness have many sides. It’s about balancing physique, thoughts and spirit. Taking good care of the fundamental elements of our lives—consuming, sleeping, and many others—is key to good well being and psychological well-being. TCM can be utilized as preventative medication and has a wealth of expertise for feminine physiology from which it develops its theories and coverings.
Every section of the menstrual cycle requires a unique remedy and focus, relying on the completely different wants of the physique
Ying Yi selected tea as a method of speaking to trendy girls that the knowledge and data of TCM, gathered over generations, has sensible, on a regular basis advantages. Brewing a cup of tea not solely permits you to profit from the pure and wholesome substances, however it’s also a second to pause and decelerate.
Stroll us via your entrepreneurial journey, what needed to occur for Ying Yi to be based.
Maria: Ying Yi is generally self-funding, on the time, I used to be unsure if I may proceed Ying Yi. However I’m very fortunate to have my companion Felicia and our docs on board who helped us on this journey. And naturally, my religion has been a supply of power for me. I consider that Ying Yi wouldn’t even exist if I did it alone. That’s why we focus quite a bit on mental health along with menstruation, as a result of we will perceive the difficulties that each girl faces in society. Self-care is essential for us girls as we have a tendency to hold extra issues on our shoulders. I’m actually glad that we began Ying Yi. A minimum of on the primary day of my interval, I can accompany my husband to the hospital, to cook dinner and to work with out feeling uncomfortable.
“The week Ying Yi was launched, my husband was identified with end-stage most cancers. I bear in mind it properly when he went for a extra detailed examination and I had a gathering after which went out to ship the product to clients. I attempted to smile at everybody who opened the door, asking them how they came upon about us and what menstrual issues they’d. After I returned house that night, I felt helpless and couldn’t cease crying,” shares Rau
Felicia: Earlier than YY, I had the chance to affix a three way partnership startup in Taiwan. This expertise was each rewarding and very taxing as I skilled racism and sexism on an nearly day by day foundation in a piece setting that was largely dominated by males. Culturally, it was very completely different from the US and even Singapore. Within the midst of the demanding start-up setting the place I needed to be taught a brand new tradition and new job abilities, I needed to cope with a boss who was continually gaslighting me. Being a lady in Asia takes further resilience, grit and an amazing help group of ladies who’re continually speaking about these points to determine these troublesome conditions.
After I joined Maria in beginning YY, I used to be touring via Europe to take some a lot wanted time without work from psychological exhaustion and burnout at my earlier job. At my buddy’s marriage ceremony in Italy, I met a gaggle of ladies of their 60s and 70s. Most of them are widowed and residing in retirement, however the zest for all times and bonds of femininity they solid have been inspiring and heartwarming. The founding of YY grew to become clearer throughout that point, think about going via all that whereas having your interval each month, so naturally, beginning Ying Yi grew to become greater than only a product however a name to help girls.
However after all, beginning a enterprise isn’t simple. Anybody who has achieved it might probably inform you that. The fact is all the time going to be more durable than what you imagined. Once we began YY, Maria had already began 6 months earlier than me, and we bootstrapped for one more seven to eight months. So in complete it was nearly 1.5 years earlier than we bought slightly funding. Seeing that our runaway down was getting shorter and shorter, we determined to take the no wage method to increase our runway. Watching my small financial savings eat away month after month with no revenue was mentally draining and continually at the back of my thoughts and I already thought I used to be somebody who may deal with stress fairly properly however for the primary time in my life, I skilled insomnia. The entrepreneurial journey is unquestionably powerful, however as Maria stated, seeing clients have nice experiences after utilizing YY merchandise is greater than rewarding. Maria and I do know that we’re not the one ones who discover ourselves in troublesome conditions. Ying Yi is a love letter to girls and a secure area for ladies to not solely assist them navigate troublesome conditions of their lives, but in addition remind them to take the time to concentrate on interval well being, which is the muse of their well-being.
What stigmas round menstruation or girls’s well being are you hoping to interrupt via Ying Yi Wellness?
Maria: A interval isn’t soiled. It could be messy however it’s a pure a part of being a lady, similar to life, and plenty of women and girls would not have a whole and correct understanding of menstruation as a traditional organic course of. And even fewer males perceive durations. This makes it troublesome to coach them about its results. In conventional Chinese language medical research, the remedy of feminine well being is essentially based mostly on the incremental levels of seven years in a lady’s life. A girl’s fertility begins to age between 30 and 35. On the age of 49, fertility decreases drastically and menopause formally happens. These days, way of life and alternatives are completely different from the final technology and as of the present technology, we typically have youngsters at a later stage of life. After age 28, girls start being pregnant, childbirth, and breastfeeding. When folks perceive this timeline, you usually tend to perceive the significance of teaching women from their first interval. The reality is that schooling and an open dialog about durations, copy, intercourse, and being pregnant wellness builds self-confidence, contributes to social solidarity, and encourages wholesome habits avoiding critical sickness equivalent to ovarian most cancers.
Do you’ve got plans to create new teas for different well being points past durations?
We positively have plans to develop merchandise that deal with points past durations. Girls’s well being is one thing we wish to concentrate on as a place to begin as a result of as girls we face so many bodily challenges in any respect levels of our lives and plenty of of those points are stigmatised, equivalent to ageing and menopause. TCM additionally has a singular method to psychological well being, one thing we be taught turns into more and more essential as we age. Syndromes of day by day work life equivalent to dry eyes from continually watching a pc or bloating from poor eating regimen also needs to not be ignored. We would like folks to know taking good care of your self could be easy.