When I first realized that the chaos & madness that was manifesting in my life was the result of the menopause I knew It was so severe that a few flower petals just weren’t going to cut it. I decided HRT was the right route for me. There are over 50 different combinations so you may need to experiment with them to find the one that is a good fit for you. So I was also aware that it may take a couple of stabs at HRT to get the right combo.
However, I had rather naively assumed that once we got this sorted, that was it.
How wrong I was. Several months later I noticed the symptoms creeping in again: sleepless nights, hot sweats in the night, irritability & slumping moods. I was thankful of my mindfulness practice that helped me to be more, well mindful, of these signs & take action before I was floored by them again.
I consulted my doctor & was advised that our hormones plummet throughout the menopause & that this was normal. We swapped the HRT to gel – apparently the hormones are absorbed better through the skin.
Things settled down again, supported of course by my all important daily self-care rituals. I am dedicated to them because my life just flows with more grace & ease when I take some valuable time every day to do something nurturing & nourishing for myself.
Last week, however, I noticed that my skin & scalp was randomly & annoyingly itchy. My mood was low & pendulous swinging from irritability to tears & back again.
I was mindful that my own natural hormones had taken a nose-dive again. As a short term measure I added another pump to my nightly HRT application.
Whilst I discovered the challenges mentally, emotional & physically that I have experienced are the result of the menopause, I have also been on my own spiritual journey of self-development & self-discovery.
I now have a much better understanding of the quantum realm, how the body works & I am determined to find a more holistic way through the menopause, now that HRT has helped me to balance out the worst of the symptoms.
So I reflected on what I have learnt over the past 15+ months & how I could apply this for a more holistic approach to alleviating these symptoms.
Applying my mindfulness training, the first step was awareness: noticing that my mood was sliding, becoming aware of it before I was right down the rabbit hole & up to my ears in over-reactions, doom & despair. Awareness is the key to changing anything.
Then I started to challenge these thoughts. After all, you don’t have to believe everything you think! Not all thoughts are fact. This is a practice in itself!
I was mindful of the temptation to launch into catastrophizing mode such was the quality of my mood. Instead of dwelling in this energy I was mindful of switching the what’s if’s to what IS.
Instead of dwelling in the energy of fear, doubt & lack that my menopausal brain was trying to trick me into, I focused on what was working. For example, a private client decided to take a break until the New Year, so instead of wallowing in the lost income, I focused on the gratitude I felt for our time working together AND the freedom & space not working together gave me – valuable time to invest in my own personal journey & in new initiatives for the business. I focused on what were the positives from this situation.
Being mindful & aware the quality of our thoughts is really important generally but even more so during the menopause. The menopause is caused by falling hormones, predominantly oestrogen but also progesterone & for some even testosterone.
These hormonal fluctuations affect every system in our body & cause spikes in the hormones of stress, which is why sleepless nights, mood swings, irritability, feelings of overwhelm & up to 50 different symptoms can affect a woman during the menopause & make her feel utterly wretched. Life can feel very chaotic & out of control. You can end up feeling very not like yourself.
These spiking hormones kick the autonomic nervous system (ANS) out of whack, activating the fight or flight response, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).
But our body works best when the autonomic nervous system is balanced & in alignment. So it is important to be mindful of changes in mood which can be a sign the SNS is activated. And then do something about it, for example not believing all you think, focusing on what is working rather than what isn’t & the all important self-care.
Self-care is SO important because it activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest & digest response, which brings the ANS back into alignment & balance.
However, there is another element to be conscious of: the energetic piece. Our thoughts are energy. Low vibrational thoughts of doom & gloom, catastrophizing & dwelling in fear, doubt & lack send out low vibrational energy.
When this energy has a match in the quantum realm, this match is likely to be low vibrational & may tend to attract the worst possible situation playing out in the worst possible scenario, which is why when things feel like they are going wrong we seem to be a magnet for everything to go wrong.
Becoming mindful of these lower vibrational thoughts & flipping them shifts the energy of our thoughts to a higher vibration & we start to attract circumstances that play out in a much better way.
I saw this happen several times last week. Instead of dwelling in the fear, doubt & lack of ‘loosing’ a client, I was mindful of my thoughts, kept up my self-care & focused with gratitude & appreciation on what WAS working & little miracles started to happen – I attracted 2 NEW private clients, several people signed up for the Super Day of Self-care I’m hosting in January, new faces were appearing in my classes. It was magical to experience.
The whole week was a reminder that the life changing transition that is the menopause requires a sense of conscious awareness to navigate it successfully & create a life in which you are thriving.
One of the most important steps in this conscious awareness is having a mindfulness practice. This is why I am offering 1-2-1 mindfulness sessions to help you build your own mindfulness practice & in the new year will be launching a NEW mindfulness for beginner’s course. For more info just email me at alex@alexbannard.com.
The menopause was such a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, soul destroying experience that threatened my entire life. I lost my home & relationship. I was broken mentally & emotionally. I experienced crippling anxiety & panic attacks & suicidal thoughts.
But it was also the BEST thing to ever happen to me. It broke me into a million pieces so that I could let the light back in & take a really good look at my life. I committed to daily self-care practices to keep my ANS in balance, I am mindful of the quality of my thoughts, I manage my energy not just because it has a tangible impact on my business but because it has enabled me to create a life which I love & in which I am thriving. I went from broken to better than ever & you can too. And the first step is a mindful awareness practice.