Perimenopause Power

Wahoooooh! Well, if the title didn’t get your attention then I hope the energy of my whoop did.

It’s taken me years to find the grove of my perimenopause power and I want to share with you today what it is I’ve learnt and you find your perimenopausal power.

You may be questioning my use of the word power, especially if your struggling like I did with numerous perimenopause symptoms and getting through the day feels like a struggle, but bare with me and keep reading, I promise you’ll find some gold.

MY TOP PERI POWER TIPS:

1. The power of NO. Oh my gosh, say no as much as you can (I’m not kidding). This is a time when you need to rest and really focus on what feels good and right for you. Don’t want to go to the ptfa meeting. DON’T. Don’t want to go for drinks on Friday night. DONT. Don’t want to be pulled here there and everywhere by commitments. DONT. Just start saying no, say, thanks so much for the invitation but it’s a no from me this time, or I’m afraid I can’t help out because I’m busy. I know this can feel scary as you might worry that you won’t get invited again (FOMO calling) but you will, trust me and if you don’t then the invitation wasn’t from true friends. Remember, if it’s not a full bodied YES during perimenopause, then it’s a flat out NO!!!!!!!

2. Say YES to what you want to do. As women we’re kick ass at putting others first, so don’t worry about that for a movement. It’s time to put yourself first. Say YES to the things you love, whatever they may be. Do more of them. More girly nights in, more sauna’s and swims, more yoga, more walking, more reading, more naps in the afternoon. More yes yes yes to what you want and love to do. This is so soothing for your souls and will reduce your stress levels (helping ease those peri symptoms) and boost your enjoyment of YOUR life. Trust me, do it now. Cancel something your not looking forward to and book something you are!

3. DO LESS. You are going through a huge transition and having a jam packed life does not leave any space for your body, brain and being to do that. You need time doing nothing. Honestly if I could persuade you to do one thing today it would be to do less. You are not superhuman, so stop trying to be. You’re a beautiful woman who needs rest just as much as everyone else. You’re going through a huge transition and you need downtime for that to happen. The emotions that arise at this time need space to be sat with and listened too and you can only listen to your inner wisdom when you have the time to sit and do nothing.

4. EMPOWER YOURSELF. That’s what my blog is all about really, I want you to learn more about what’s going on during perimenopause and find tools that support you through this incredible, if sometimes challenging, transition. And you can do this by reading books about this subject, check out My top perimenopause books. Learning about the Hormonal changes during Perimenopause and how they affect you at different times during your cycle. What you can do to support yourself and your friends during this transition, like ways to improve your sleep Top 6 tips - Perimenopause and Sleep and how Yoga can help you today 3 reasons why you should practice yoga during Perimenopause.

Start right now.

1. Cancel something

2. Book something lovely in

3. Stare into space for a bit

4. And then order that perimenopause book

Lets grow Happier, Older and Wiser together ladies.

Love and hugs as always, Heather*

3 reasons why you should practice yoga during Perimenopause

Firstly yoga is fantastic for reducing stress, which can be at an all time high during perimenopause.

It’s quite likely that during your perimenopausal years, which could start in your mid 40’s (or sooner) and continue for up to an average of 3-7 years, that you are going to be busy working, raising a family and life is going to jam packed with work/life commitments.

Add into that mix achy joints, night sweats, anxiety, brain fog, disturbed sleep, and any number of perimenopause symptoms (find a list here: What is Perimenopause?) And, well, then you have the perfect storm for stress.

Yoga is a great antidote to stress, many forms of yogic breathing, referred to as pranayama, are specifically designed to help us release stress from the body, bringing us into a calm state of rest and digest. It does this by activating what is known as our parasympathic nervous system. This 20 minute free class is specifically designed to help reduce your stress levels, so give it a go.

Secondly, yoga is also wonderful for reducing feelings of anxiety, which might pop up from out of no where, which feels unnerving to say the least. I remember frequently wondering why on earth I felt anxious when they was seemingly no real reason.

As I learnt more about the hormonal changes during perimenopause, check out my blog on these here. I started to understand that it was these hormonal shifts that were causing my anxiety, which was a relief, but it didn’t mean those feelings just went away.

So I turned to my yoga practice once more. Moving gentle and kindly, and working with mantras like “It’s going to be okay” I found I was able to support myself through those days and weeks each cycle where I just couldn’t shake off my anxiety.

Yoga is designed to help us find a deeper connection to our bodies, minds and souls and when we do this we feel more grounded and centered, which helps those feelings of anxiety slip away. I’ve created a lovely free class for you to enjoy on YouTube here:

And thirdly, yoga is great for getting our joints moving, which helps to ease those common perimenopause aches and pains. I remember waking up some mornings and thinking, “oh my god, I feel like I’ve never even practiced yoga.” I was so stiff and everything ached.

I found that gentle rhythmical movements (like those in the class above) really helped to ease out my early morning aches and pains.

By gently rotating our joins we encourage blood and lymph (a fluid in the body that delivers nutrients and proteins to your muscles) to head to these areas and this really helps us to feel less achy. It’s especially important to do this before you get into a more challenging yoga practice, or before you go running as it helps to cushion and protect the joints.

With limited time I also regularly reached for this morning practice below:

Yoga can support you during the perimenopause transition in so many wonderful ways. In this blog I’ve touched on just 3 of hundreds, and I hope they help you. Heather*

Perimenopause and me

To start the story of my perimenopause journey in many ways I need to travel back into my early teens when my periods started and the role of hormones in my day to day life became more obvious.

As a child of the 80’s periods weren’t really talked about that much and the emotional changes that can occur were never mentioned, but I had all the practical info and like most girls cracked on with it.

In some ways I was lucky, I had light, irregular periods (no 28 day cycle for me) and I didn’t feel that they had a huge impact on my day to day life. Although I knew I was never going to wear white and go rollerblading when I had my period, who remembers those adds!

I was lucky, pregnancy came easily in my 30’s and it was only really towards my late 30’s that I started to experience any symptoms in relation to my periods.

It started with heavy bleeding and periods coming quicker and faster. My periods were so heavy I had to spend the day in bed. These hormonal changes, which I know now were the early signs of perimenopause, soon developed into low moods, anxiety, achy joints, crying uncontrollably, headaches, exhaustion and memory problems. I found it terrifying not to be able to explain how I felt, or equally remember the word windowsill (bit of wood under the window anyone?)

It’s hard to think back to how awful I felt some days, I’ve almost forgotten how bad it was now that I’ve educated myself, made pretty small but dramatic life changes (slowly and one at a time.)

I’ve now grasped this life change with both hands. But it was awful, it really was. And if you’re going through something similar my heart reaches out to you. You will be okay. With time and support, you will.

In some ways I’m now thankful for this journey, I’m happier than I’ve ever been, I feel present and alive and I have a much stronger sense of who I am and what it is I care about than every before.

But the roads been a bumpy one and a long one and I’m by no means at its end. But over the next few weeks, months and years I’m going to share my story here on my blog and everything I have learnt with you. In the hope that it will help. I really hope it does.

Please reach out to me if you’re struggling through this time.

Heather*

email heather@deavilleyoga.com