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Have you heard about the mystical Chinese art of Qigong? If you have, I still believe that Qigong may remain something of a mystery to
Menopause is a moment in time marking 12 months since your last period, a medical diagnosis or cut off point saying that is it, your time of menstruating is up and you are now into the next stage of your life.
The lead up to this can be slow and gradual or sometimes quite sudden.
Due to the change in how your body is now functioning through hormone changes mostly, women can have dreadful symptoms, mild symptoms or none at all.
It is something that hasn’t been talked about openly over the years and then it has been somewhat caricatured by women with uncontrollable temperature regulation and outbursts.
There has also historically been a lot of confusion as to how to manage and care for your body in this time of transition whether it is hormone therapy, diet, stress management etc.
I had the opportunity to meet one of the experts Thea O’Conner, Director of Menopause at Work Asia Pacific., speaking at the recent senate enquiry on menopause and the workplace and she agreed to share some of the findings and tools that she works with in her corporate and individual programs.
Here is what she had to say…
“I feel ripped off that no one talked to me about it.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me? This is a life change I was not prepared for at all.”
“Before I had my period at 13, I was told some stuff, but no one sat me down to have the ‘time of life’ conversation.”
These are the voices of Australian working women I interviewed three years ago about their experience of menopause.
Fast forward several years and menopause is now having something of a ‘#metoo’ movement around the globe. From Michelle Obama to Australia’s Senate Inquiry, menopause is being talked about at the highest levels of government. This has been great for bringing menopause out of the shadows. However, it’s also leaving some women ‘terrified’ about menopause because it’s often misrepresented as a list of scary-sounding symptoms that serve no purpose other than to add to women’s suffering. Instead, what I have come to discover is that menopause is a powerful developmental life stage that can take women deeper into our authority than ever before: steadier, more confident, liberated, with a newfound freedom to speak up and not be beholden to what others might think. Sound appealing?
We don’t automatically get these benefits simply by living through the menopause transition. When we consciously support ourselves, however, we are more likely to enjoy some of the gifts this life stage has to offer – even if the symptoms are really challenging.
Here are 7 very practical approaches to navigating this life stage that I have found really helpful for myself and the many women I’ve supported through my coaching and programs:
Educate yourself, but don’t freak out about the bad stuff. Get to know the range of possible symptoms so at least you aren’t blindsided if you experience any of them. While 20 percent of women experience severe long-lasting symptoms and need effective medical support, another 20 percent have no symptoms at all, and the remaining 60 percent experience mild to moderate symptoms.
Even if you haven’t reached peri-menopause yet.
Wherever you are in the transition, ask what you can do to make caring for your body a higher priority because, come menopause, your body won’t tolerate being neglected anymore!
For example, alcohol, caffeine, stress, and smoking typically make hot flushes worse, and cutting down on these will help.
What foundational health habits need more attention in your life right now?
Sleep?
Movement?
Setting boundaries?
Managing Stress?
The Link between Stress & Menopause article?
Your relationship with food?
It is our responsibility to ask for what we need, whether that’s a desk fan at work or help with cleaning the house.
Too often, we want others to notice that we need help, then feel resentful when that support is not forthcoming!
If we ask calmly, without apology or anger, we are more likely to get a positive response, while changing the tone around menopause conversations.
Many women complain about the long time – two years on average – it takes to find a good practitioner to support them.
If you don’t already have one, ask around to find a great doctor who specializes in women’s health and is up to date with the latest research on menopause hormone therapy (MHT) and other management approaches to menopause.
Note: most GPs do not receive specific education about menopause in their training – they need to do their own education about it.
WellFemme and The Australasian Menopause Society are good places to start looking.
Menopause offers women a great opportunity to reassess their lives and clear out anything that no longer serves them.
I believe that some menopausal symptoms, such as outbursts of anger, are fuelled by women putting up with things for too long or saying ‘yes’ one too many times.
If issues are building up in your life, start addressing them sooner rather than later.
Otherwise, as one of my interviewees said, “if you don’t do the [inner] work, menopause will bring you to your knees.”
Societal beliefs about menopause, fed by generations of myth and misogyny, would have us believe that once fertility ends, we are ‘over it’ and ‘past our prime.’
These untrue stereotypes are so harmful and can lead some women to withdraw and give up.
But the world needs the wisdom of post-menopausal women now more than ever!
What can be your mantra to support your self-concept, even when feeling battered by the symptoms, so you can remain engaged and have a powerful ‘third act’?
I hold the image of the Orca whales, where post-menopausal females become the leaders of their pods, as described in my TEDx talk.
Why?
As suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote to her friend Susan Anthony in 1857:
“We shall not be in our prime before fifty and after that we shall be good for twenty years at least.”
Have you heard about the mystical Chinese art of Qigong? If you have, I still believe that Qigong may remain something of a mystery to
Have you heard about the mystical Chinese art of Qigong? If you have, I still believe that Qigong may remain something of a mystery to
Have you heard about the mystical Chinese art of Qigong? If you have, I still believe that Qigong may remain something of a mystery to