The Happy Menopause

The menopause can be stressful enough for women without the challenges of dealing with it in front of your colleagues. 75% of women of menopausal age are in work and will be affected by a range of symptoms, from hot flushes which are uncomfortable and can embarrassing; flooding which can be a nightmare if access to a toilet is restricted; or anxiety and loss of confidence which might impact your performance.

In this episode, I’m talking to Julie Dennis, a specialist trainer and menopause coach who runs workplace workshops to support women in midlife. She’s full of practical ideas to help you navigate the challenge of the menopause at work and sensible strategies to ensure that you get the support you need from your employer. She’s also got some great advice for line managers on how to offer tangible support to their female workforce during the menopause. 

There are so many ways that life can be made easier for you and we discuss everything from mini USB fans and sanitary supplies to flexible working and occupational health support. Even very simple changes can help to make life bearable when menopause symptoms start to affect you at work and Julie seems to have a clever solution for everything. This episode aims to empower you to take control of your environment and make sure that you get the support you need, so that you feel more confident about coping with the menopause at work.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

For centuries, people have used herbs in a medicinal capacity, from ancient civilisations through to today, where many modern pharmaceutical drugs are originally derived from plant extracts. Drop into any health food store and you’ll find a whole range of herbal supplements; chat to your friends and they may swear by a miracle herb that banished their hot flushes but you might not find it so effective, so it’s obviously not a one-size-fits-all solution.

In this episode, I’ve invited herbalist Ed Joy to join me, so that he can demystify herbs for us and give you some practical suggestions for an herbal approach to your symptoms. Ed has over 20 years’ experience and he weaves a combination of homeopathy, naturopathy and nutrition into his work, taking a truly holistic approach.

Find out why you should be stocking up on sage; which herbs might help with hot flushes, and how to calm your nervous system and reduce anxiety with supportive plant compounds. Ed is a positive mine of information about herbs and the best way to approach them. He also shares some brilliant foodie tips about the benefit of cooking with herbs, so that it’s not just all about over-the-counter remedies.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

Forget hot flushes! Anxiety and loss of confidence are some of the most underestimated and upsetting symptoms of the menopause. Many women are taken by surprise in their mid to late forties to suddenly discover that they’re doubting themselves and their abilities; feeling overwhelmed by tasks or projects they previously handled with ease; or simply experiencing a residual sense of anxiety which is hard to shake off.

If this sounds familiar, then Becks Armstrong is your woman. Becks is a women’s health specialist, acupuncturist, traditional Chinese herbalist and doula. She’s also very interested in technology and how it can support our health. One of the ways she’s applied that is by founding the Clarity mindfulness app which is specifically designed to help midlife women who are struggling with menopause symptoms. There is an increasing body of research about the benefits of mindfulness in dealing with stress and supporting mental health.

In this episode of The Happy Menopause, Becks and I discuss the issue of anxiety and overwhelm which is so common to midlife women and yet relatively unrecognised as a mainstream menopause symptom. Becks explains a range of simple and practical techniques to show how mindfulness, gratitude and paced breathing can quickly help to reduce stress and anxiety. She’s incredibly clever at suggesting ways of introducing mindfulness into your daily life, which is especially helpful for people who are new to the concept or perhaps a bit hesitant about whether it’s right for them. We try out a simple mindfulness exercise that you can try out at home, while you’re listening. Becks is passionate about the importance of ‘me time’, the ultimate luxury for every menopausal woman!

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

“Your next position is your best position”. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to the ideal posture and exercise, according to Christien Bird, Women’s Health Physiotherapist. Regular exercise is crucial for women in midlife, not just to support bone density, but also to reduce the risk of heart attacks, which increases as oestrogen levels drop, post-menopause. Exercise is also a great stress-buster, and relieving those cortisol levels can make a big difference to your wellbeing during the menopause.

In this episode of The Happy Menopause, I speak to Christien about how, when and how much to exercise to optimise our bone, heart and hormone health. As a Women’s Health Physio and founder of the excellent White Hart Clinic in Barnes, South West London, she’s ideally placed to bust all those myths about what menopausal women ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ be doing on the exercise front. She’s a specialist in pelvic floor and incontinence and a passionate supporter of women’s health in midlife.

We talk bone health, nutrition and the different ways that exercise can keep you strong, healthy and mobile through the menopause and beyond. Christien shares the shocking statistic that from the age of 5, girls are already less active than boys – less likely to cycle, join a sports club or walk to school -  and this gap widens as children grow. The good news is that it’s never too late to start exercising and that women actually benefit more quickly and directly from exercise than men! She’s full of good advice about the different types of exercise you can try, how much you need to do and how to make sure you don’t get in a rut. Your muscles and bones adapt quickly to the same fitness regime, so it’s important to keep challenging yourself and to mix it up a bit, if you want to see results.

Christien is a really interesting, inspiring and convincing speaker – I’ve already made some tweaks to my exercise regime, based on her advice in the podcast. Have a listen and see what she can do for you too!

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

In the UK, 13 million women are going through a menopause, which can last anything up to 15 years. In the US, 6,000 women hit the menopause every single day! So it’s not exactly a niche subject, yet, it’s not something we easily talk about either. This means that many midlife women can feel isolated and worried by a range of symptoms they hadn’t expected which can disrupt their life.

The good news is that the Positive Pause team have made it their business to bust the menopause taboo and provide practical and accessible advice to midlife women. In this episode, I’m joined by Jo McEwan, one of the founders of the Positive Pause website which is an incredibly helpful resource, full of information to help you navigate the menopause minefield.

Feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by the lack of practical and user-friendly information available when they hit the perimenopause themselves, the Positive Pause team set to work to create a site that would inform, reassure and entertain women experiencing the perimenopause and the menopause. It’s really interesting to hear about Jo’s journey and the challenges she faced

We have a frank discussion about all matters meno- and peri-menopausal, why it's important to lay the groundwork for a healthy menopause in your early forties and the vast range of different symptoms and what you can do about them.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

Join Registered Nutritional Therapist Jackie Lynch as she takes you on a journey through midlife to learn how diet and lifestyle can help you take control of your menopause symptoms. Each month Jackie covers a range of topics, from managing hot flushes or dealing with anxiety to intimate health and strong bones. She'll introduce you to some fascinating guests who can offer real insight into managing midlife hormonal changes and challenges, so that you truly can have a happy menopause.

Launching Summer 2019! 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places.