World Menopause Day
It’s World Menopause Day, and Claudia Brown, Yoga teacher who specialises in menopause is sharing a few tips on how to navigate your menopause journey. The theme this year is cognition and mood – often the psychological and emotional symptoms that a woman can experience during perimenopause and menopause are totally unexpected and can be distressing.
But what is menopause? It is part of the natural evolution process for women, and the majority of things we can do to age in a healthy way also can ease some of us through this sometimes-challenging time of life. The menopause occurs when your ovaries stop producing eggs and, as a result, the levels of your hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone fall.
The average age of menopause in the UK is 51, but often earlier for some women with perimenopause symptoms starting in the early 40’s and being ignored, put down to stress, general fatigue or coping with a busy day to day life. The actual definition of being menopausal is the one day when you have not had a period for one year, and then after that day you are postmenopausal.
The term perimenopause refers to experiencing menopausal symptoms but you are still having periods. During perimenopause, these hormones fluctuate greatly often leading to symptoms of the menopause occurring. For some women these symptoms only occur for a few months and then their periods stop completely. However, other women experience symptoms for years before their periods stop, and for years after periods stop. Oestrogen protects a number of different systems in your body: your brain, skin, bones, heart and vagina – so low levels can affect all these parts of your body.
The symptoms of stress and peri/menopause are very similar to stress which is why so many women are incorrectly offered anti-depressants instead of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). I ignored my own perimenopausal symptoms for a good 18 months because I was writing them off as a result of a busy life and some low-level stress. If you check out the 34 recognised symptoms of menopause you will see why this confusion can occur. Stress can also worsen menopausal symptoms, so try to minimise stress as much as you can.
The perimenopause and menopause can bring unexpected symptoms - you might not have never experienced anxiety or worry, low mood, mood swings, brain fog and/or forgetfulness. While this is predominantly caused by a reduction in hormones (and therefore hormone replacement/HRT can be a very effective treatment, there are some other things that can help too.
Yoga - the physical movement, the breathwork and the meditation, options of yin yoga and yoga nidra, the choice is vast, and enjoyable. I’m biased as I am a yoga teacher, but there are also many benefits of yoga that also help with managing symptoms of the menopause. But don’t rule out walking, swimming, Pilates, tai chi, jogging, dancing – anything that gets you moving!
Be informed and get the right medical advice. Download the Balance menopause app launched by leading menopause doctor Dr Louise Newson. The free app provides evidence based advice, support and guidance on all things menopause, personalised health reports to share with your GP and has an interactive online community. Do your research and if necessary when visiting your GP, go armed with a copy of NICE guidelines . Download the Balance app – www.balance-menopause.com
Meditation and breathing exercises can help to ease stress and anxiety, providing you with a focus to quieten the mind and easing the body into the parasympathetic state.
Get plenty sleep and good quality rest. Schedule in naps like you would schedule in a meeting. Menopausal fatigue is real and this can worsen brain fog and low mood.
Start a mindfulness practice. Being present, stop multi-tasking and be aware of when you are functioning on autopilot. Read anything by Jon Kabat-Zinn or Prof Mark Williams, the founders of modern mindfulness based cognitive therapy, to point you in the right direction.
Claudia Brown
Yoga by Claudia
Yoga Teacher and Om Yoga magazine contributor
