ESSENTIALS INTRODUCTION
You've reached the Menopause
I remember, growing up in childhood, hearing people talk about “The M word” Menopause was a subject so taboo that it was only given one letter to describe it!
Menopause is the word we generally use to describe the Years of Change; the word that seems to generate fear, resentment, loss and many other negative feelings; and the word that actually seems to be becoming more openly discussed… at last!
Podcast Episode available
So what actually is “The Menopause”? It is in fact just a moment in time…… the moment that is exactly one year from your last period.
Menopause is defined as the time when you haven’t had a period for exactly one year, so in theory it is just a moment!
The time leading up to this moment is called the Perimenopause. This can last anything from a few months to 10 years or more, although the average time seems to be around 4 years. It is during this time that we start noticing changes.
What do Women expect from Menopause?
As I have already mentioned menopause does not get good press. Many Women expect the worst and face this stage of life with a lot of negative thoughts. The stress that some women feel about what is happening makes their ‘symptoms’ worse. However, evidence shows that women who face this stage of life with more knowledge and positivity have a better journey along the Menopause path.
Some women seem to glide through the menopause. Why? Perhaps luck? But perhaps because of the way they live their lives; the way they think; or the way they are.
We can be an influence on our journey and I can show you how.
I have yet to meet a woman who jumps for joy at the thought of her menopause. Often women have been primed by friends, family or colleagues to expect the worst. Many women think of the menopause as something that will turn us into an irritable, sweating, moody, forgetful, anxious, ageing female who is likely to get fat around the middle. All our clothes having ‘shrunk in the wash’!
We will become unattractive because of our wrinkles and will never sleep again. Sex will be out the window along with any energy we once had.
We will be hot, then cold; up, then down; irrational and may resort to getting up at night to shower; put our head in the fridge or eat what’s in it!
None of us HAVE TO be that woman. We are approaching what can potentially be one of the best stages of our life. No more periods, more freedom, we are wiser and you only have to look around you to see that the midlife woman of today can certainly give any younger woman a run for her money! Life is not ending. It is the beginning of a new and exciting stage of our life that can bring us great joy, perhaps Grandchildren, time to travel and to enjoy our freedom after bringing up our family.
Unfortunately, menopause doesn’t get very good press! If we think we may be going into ‘The change’ as it’s often referred to, what is the first thing we are likely to do?
Well, with good old Google we will most likely start there. One of the first things you may see is ‘The 34 symptoms of menopause’. How many have you got? Is this it? How will I be? That’s it; I’M OLD!
None of the symptoms listed are what you want to have to cope with. Now, possibly having convinced yourself it is all going to be awful, life is going to be full of dreadful things, you may already be feeling your stress levels rising.
Oh, here comes another heatwave. The possibilities of adding ‘wine o’ clock’ to your day seems like a good idea as does comforting yourself with sugary foods or extra snacks. And another heatwave. Worse still you now have no idea what to do with this newly learned information.
However, if we could take a more positive approach to this stage of our life, educate ourselves so that we learn more before or while we are going through it, we will fare better. If we can talk more openly about it with our friends and family, seek the right help and support each other the journey along this sometimes, challenging path, will be smoother. Let’s make that our plan and create a less bumpy ride.
At this time, as women, we have so many questions. We often feel so much uncertainty.One thing we do know is that we are going to travel along this path to our 3rd Age. And it’s not all bad news!
We are going to be older but wiser, have no troublesome periods to worry about and we potentially have many great things to look forward to as we enter what can be one of the best stages of our lives asa Woman! We are entering the prime of our lives
– THERE IS LIFE AFTER MENOPAUSE!
Many women tell me that they feel that there is no help or information for them; that it’s a subject that is kept rather quiet; that we just have to get on with it. Fortunately, that is changing.
My mission is to help you gain information that will arm you with the power to face this stage of life head on. We know that knowledge is power. You will learn new strategies to help you cope with symptoms you may be dealing with. You will find ways to manage this stage smoothly to help you emerge like a beautiful butterfly!
Even more importantly, you will not be in this process alone. I can bring you as much information as you wish for; but without the help I will give you to understand how to use the information, my motivation to help you to make the changes you may need to make and my support it would be like me handing you a book to read then walking away! That is not how this program works!
Evidence shows that the better prepared we are for this stage of our life as a Woman and the more knowledge we can gain the less we are likely to fear it. I am going to take you on quite a journey in this course!Through my studies I realised that I lacked so much knowledge myself as I went through my perimenopause and menopause but it has made me even more determined to share my knowledge with you now! Luckily, I seemed to work my way through it all reasonably well and in hindsight I know that exercise, good nutrition and several other factors helped me. However, there is still so much I know now that may have been of huge help and will be beneficial in my onward journey. Menopause isn’t something we can hide from and we can’t simply pretend it’s not happening, so let’s make it a better menopause!
What will you learn on this program?
- What is the menopause and what is changing?
- What symptoms are common and why are they happening?
- How to develop strategies to deal with symptoms, emotions and the outcomes of menopause through an extensive library of information
- How to live a healthy, positive life beyond menopause
- Sleep and sleep hygiene
It is so easy to assume that this stage of life is simply about hormonal changes, however the picture is much, much bigger than that! There are many factors that influence our health and wellbeing at midlife and beyond so we will be discovering lots more about the following;
- Hormonal health
- Nutritional health & weight management
- Exercise and restorative activities
- Pelvic floor health
- Bone health
- Musculoskeletal health
- Stress & stress management
- Brain health & cognitive health
- Breast health
We are going to think of it as a jigsaw, so that it doesn’t become overwhelming. As we lay each piece down we will gradually build a big picture that consists of many pieces. It all fits together, we just need to figure out how. Let’s take one piece at a time, let the piece settle into place then add more pieces when you feel ready.
We need to be able to see what is happening in our lives and how this can have an influence on our wellbeing. So we can see already that where we are and what is happening in our lives can have an influence on our wellbeing now or at any stage of our life.
We will cover this all in greater detail but briefly: Unhealthy levels of stress are likely to have a negative effect on our health and wellbeing. Stress hormones in excess are undesirable for many reasons. Uncontrolled, unhealthy eating and drinking habits are detrimental to our health and wellbeing.
Lack of exercise is likely to have a negative effect on our health and well beingChanges to your life may be leaving you with feelings of loss or grief, lower self-worth and lead to feelings of emptiness. But changes can also lead to a more positive approach to life and a feeling of new, fresh and exciting times ahead.
New challenges and experiences can be life changing, empowering and extremely positive. This time of life can be a great time for taking up new hobbies, challenging yourself and thinking of it as a time of new beginnings.