This ‘change of life’ affects not only your body but also your relationships and your feelings about yourself. It is a time when you can come to know yourself more deeply, to drop all the labels and come into your own sense of who you are
Menopause is one of those strange times when your body takes over and does its own thing beyond your control. Thinking that hot flashes only happen to other people, you suddenly find yourself having a ‘tropical moment’ or being ‘thermostatically challenged.’ Your periods are changing, you’re putting on weight, getting hot and claustrophobic, feeling overly emotional, bitchy and irrational, and perhaps sad at the end of this cycle of your life.
It can also be a time of depression, loss and insecurity. There is a fear of being unattractive, of losing your sex appeal and appetite, alongside a loss of purpose. For most women, mothering a child gives her life meaning and direction. Menopause usually comes at a time when children are leaving home so it can feel as if your role or reason for being has now gone. Any tension or sadness that you feel will add to the physical difficulties experienced as stress affects the hormone levels and balance. This is especially so with temperature changes—hot sweats increase with stress and can decrease with deep relaxation.
This ‘change of life’ affects not only your body but also your relationships and your feelings about yourself. It is a time when you can come to know yourself more deeply, to drop all the labels and come into your own sense of who you are.
Many women spend their thirties and forties caring for others and putting their own needs on hold. Now is the time to make friends with yourself, to find out what you want to do, to own your passion, to respond to your needs. This does not have to be at the expense of your partner or family, but share your changes with them and ask for their support. You may want to start dancing or rock climbing, become a poet, write a book, or work for the homeless— whatever it may be, allow yourself the freedom to explore and discover a new way of being.
Alongside expressing your hidden self this is also the perfect time to discover meditation. The benefits are enormous, especially to help you ‘cool off’, both physically and emotionally. It lowers your blood pressure, reduces the stress response and, most importantly, it enables you to make friends with yourself and helps you get in touch with your inner self. Try this below for just five minutes a day, and let it grow naturally.
Sit comfortably with your back upright. Take a deep breath and let it go. Begin to silently count at the end of each out breath: Inhale… exhale… count one, inhale… exhale… two, inhale… ex-hale… three, up to five. Then start at one again. Just five breathes and back to one.
Simply following each breath in and silently counting. So simple.
Do this as many times as you want, eyes closed or slightly open, breathing normally…Making Changes.
