The topic of women’s health has been on my mind a lot lately on a personal and a professional level. Throughout my 55+ year journey on this planet, I have been interested in approaching health using a combination of medical and complementary modalities. I try to address health concerns holistically, taking my personality, my beliefs and my health needs into account and I find what works best for me. The one thing I have noted most, is that this journey can be a lonely one, and I hope to change this reality.
Spending time with women as colleagues, friends and clients, has been an absolute privilege. Women are truly exceptional people. The more I speak and listen, the more I witness the common experience of increasing mental health symptoms such as anxiety, difficulty with coping and mood changes for women approaching perimenopause and menopause. Therapy can be one of the things we do for ourselves but as a holistic practitioner, I advocate that hormonal health is extremely important to address chronic stress, fatigue, and sleep issues. Aging well does not have to include accepting brittle bones, hot flashes, urogenital decline, and poor health outcomes. There are things we can do to support our bodies and live a full and wonderful life. Gone are the days that we get “old lady” hair cuts and wear dusters around the house as our grandmothers did. These days, our focus has shifted to living healthy and vibrant lives and leaning into this beautiful time of knowing ourselves and connecting to what matters most to us. This is difficult to do in the face of endless advertising saying that we are not (thin, young, smart, pretty) enough by companies invested in us feeling bad about ourselves so they can sell us the next life changing product. GAH!
There is so much information “out there”; I have often found myself confused by which advice to take and so I have sometimes done nothing. Doing nothing is a coping strategy, albeit not an entirely helpful one (insert eye roll here), and the problems never do just vanish. On the opposite end of “doing nothing”, I have jumped headfirst into strategies that were expensive, time consuming and highly restrictive and these often left me feeling irritable and resentful that my health depended on me “never” having fun again (or so my belief at the time would tell me). I felt that somewhere, there must be a way to find balance.
One important aspect that I have been focussing on over the last several years is hormones. As humans, we are hormonally driven organisms. Our hormones are responsible for making our systems run smoothly and when these are not balanced, we are at risk for a myriad of ailments. The more I researched this, the more shocked I was about how many things in our daily life, disrupt our hormones, simple things such as perfumes, laundry detergent, fabric softeners and household cleaners… yes really! Luckily there are amazing and budget friendly options out there for us, so we do have a choice. Simple changes can make such a huge difference.
A great resource for me has been Dr. Marie Claire Haver. Dr. Haver specializes in supporting women through perimenopause and menopause. Dr. Haver has authored books, she offers courses and other services, but she also offers free information via her website, and social media such as Instagram. I encourage you to look her up at https://thepauselife.com/
Information is power and we need to arm ourselves with information so that when we visit our doctors or nurse practitioners, we can ask the right questions and take charge of our health because we are the most important member of our healthcare team. I encourage you to take that next step for yourself; begin having small conversations with your closest friends and family members. Learn about the things that women often accept as part of the natural side effect of aging and if you have a symptom that is dismissed by anyone, continue to seek information because there may just be something you can do to alleviate suffering. If you find something that is helpful, please consider posting it in the comment section of this blog. Remember, we can all have personal power, but we are stronger together.
If you need mental health supports, please reach out. You don’t have to do this alone.
I wish you well dear sisters, until next time.