SELF LOVE THROUGH SELF CARE AT MENOPAUSE CRITICAL

Health and wellness touch everyone’s life differently. While it’s also true every person’s menopause experience is different, knowing how to successfully manage the bodily changes that accompany this stage of life has the potential to be both frustrating and isolating. It’s for this reason self-care during this time is so important. By practicing self care you don’t just help manage your symptoms you build resilience too. You become less fragile.

To better understand how self-care can help you navigate this transition and to find out what works for some; I have had discussions and interactions with a couple of women in the last few weeks; who are experiencing menopause and they shared their amazing experiences.

Over a catch-up chat with a long time friend, Kate; we unanimously agreed that self-care is so important during menopause. Did you know that Self-care means ensuring you make the time to have your needs met (physical, emotional, and spiritual)? So often we, women are caregivers for our children or spouses, only to find ourselves care taking our aging parents while going through menopause.

Self care calls for honesty with oneself, dealing with the stresses in your life, creating new habits to get yourself back to the person you where before menopause, prioritizing some “me time” to pursue hobbies, and engaging in calming activities such as quite time. others are: silence, affirmations, visualisation, reading or scribing.

During menopause, our bodies are changing, and it’s very important that we shift some of that focus of care taking onto ourselves. Even just 10 minutes a day of a quiet time, a nice bath, or taking time to meet with a girlfriend – like I did today can be very valuable.

Therefore self-care is also having a positive mindset, sleeping well, exercising, looking after your physical and mental health, and eating healthily to give my body a chance to deal with midlife changes. Women so famously get drawn to help everyone else in their lives, often neglecting their own needs. Menopause is a time when women need, for once, to focus on learning to meet their own needs if a smooth journey through menopause is what they have in mind.

What you can do for self-care during menopause

I have now tried to institutionalize a daily self-care routine which includes exercising (indoor aerobics-walking), The value of exercise also helps shake off the stress of what was happening in the body but also lose weight. I am also trying to make dietary changes as self-care during menopause and doing everything I can to get enough sleep at night- go to sleep early. I am glad to be seeing positive results. The hot flashes and night sweats have drastically reduced. Jolly (65 years+)  has turned around her diet and is experiencing great results

For me writing this posts is one of the ways I am speaking up and seeking more interaction with women and I find this a helpful thing I am doing for myself. I am able to search for information on menopause, share with fields which has greatly helped me accept the reality of menopause but also know how to deal with is symptoms.

Some women have also advised that having routine yearly visit with my menopause specialist is important. My other friend Jolly shared her experience going through menopause, saying she had to deal with her dry skin due to menopause by applying moisturizer to her whole body after every shower. I had trouble sleeping at night, so I gave myself permission to lay down with a book in the afternoon to rest and often had a short nap.

As counsel, be gentle with yourself, and listen to what your changing body needs. If you feel stressed, find someone to talk to. If you’re concerned with putting on weight, up your exercise and pay attention to the extra calories you may be eating unconsciously. But make sure you’re patient with yourself and your body. Oh, and sleep in cotton! Those night sweats can be wild! Come to terms that menopause is a transition and not a life sentence. The changes of menopause can be so intense and seem never-ending. This can make it feel as though you’ll never feel “normal” again. But you will. In fact, once actual menopause is reached, not only will [some women] feel “normal” again, but [for some] there’s a wonderful, renewed sense of self and life energy. While it’s true that our youth is behind us, and this can be a cause for mourning and loss for some women, it’s also true that freedom from menstrual cycles and all of the accompanying physical difficulties is equally exhilarating.

Let me leave you with a powerful statement from Jennifer Connolly “Don’t stop looking after yourself at the exact time in your life that you need to care for yourself the most. It’s possible to feel great in perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause if you get the help that you need and deserve!”