Nicole is a professional career driven executive, 48 years old and running a family with kids and a husband. She travels overseas for work alot and has no time for stress and hassles. She is always up early and often to bed later than she knows she should be. Overall Nicole describes herself as very healthy and generally has a great outlook on life. She is naturally a more anxious type of person.
Nicole's Personal Story
My Favourite word: Eudaimonia
Meaning and definition: the greek word for happiness, human flourishing, good spirit and ethical wisdom. I felt this was applicable to set out my own personal beliefs and how I have approached wellness thus far, well up until now anyway.
My Life Philosophy: to live a life of inspired health and wellbeing, love and human connection.
Personal Affirmation:
‘Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.’ Earnest Hemmingway
About Me:
From my perspective health and wellbeing are vital – the roots of our existence. The soul intent of sharing my journey is to inspire growth and wellbeing, expanding your knowledge during your transition and to allow you to flourish as a woman and appreciate the finer things in life. To be present with this change and your lifestyle as much as your dreams for tomorrow, and to have courage; courage to look inside and critique your own patterns and behaviours, to become self-aware of the effect of your own choices, to make conscious decisions based on truth and fact and how you can cultivate health and wellbeing during this journey.
To not be afraid to go inside and do the hard yards, because let’s face it that can be daunting, to look ourselves in the mirror and have the strength to give our own souls a good polish when we need to. Wellbeing is every person’s birth right. It is both a journey and a destination – a way of life.
The Eclipse:
The 21st century woman – an interplay of genes and the environment, of mind and spirit, of energy and emotion. A woman who is all 100% sacrifice and devotion – and what I mean by this is certainly not framed in a positive sense. Somewhere along the way we have got lost in a chase - for what? The purpose of sacrifice is not to “give yourself away” in endless devotion be it exercise, work, family, diet or mental addiction - it is an art of living, in learning how you keep the things that mean the most to us well ‘sacred’. For me, perimenopause has been the beginning of this eclipse. I have had to step back and really assess what’s important and what’s not! What I can do on my own and acknowledge when I need support and know that is ok!!
I love what my move to France taught me as a person. One certainly cannot avoid the fact we are headed for a major cultural shift in westernised societies in the way we practice medicine and, in this case, specifically women’s health. This is what I refer to as the ‘ECLIPSE’ – the ideal that no one part of your life should eclipse the other parts. And that includes these 10 years of rides and bumps from peri through to post menopause.
If there is one message, I would like to convey up front it is the importance of self-connection. At the heart of lifestyle medicine is a phenomenon which put simply means - we cannot be one without the other. If we take all aspects of our lives and separate them into silos of mind, body, spirit, physical, mental and emotional, work, play and rest we also come to see that balance requires all counterparts, an ever-changing state of equilibrium.
One thing for certain is we need an infusion of positive action in understanding menopause better – imbalance, addictions, blame, and guilt have no home in the modern women’s life. It is a practice of taking pride in your inner health, boosting your morale and experiencing the most fascinating inner life. So here is the start of the journey for me – in identifying where and what parts of my life were/are in an eclipse and on the other side creating a pathway to enable a lifetime of Eudaimonia – happiness, human flourishing, personal wellbeing through ethical wisdom. – I am still the same woman. But changed and all the better for it. And this is only the beginning.
ACTNG FOR CHANGE - Putting myself back in the picture:
Modern day medicine is climbing out of its boxes and embracing a new philosophy in health and wellbeing. This is the personalized medicine approach to wellness. This traditional medical approach coupled with lifestyle practices is NOT a one size fits all approach – nor is it a philosophy that one’s health is purely left to luck or chance.
We have laid hope in the fact that by simply stripping the intelligence, philosophy and theology from women and viewing them solely as a race of mammals we may discover leads that will soon enough give indication to the whereabouts of the ‘holy grail’ for managing menopause. Have we been looking in the wrong places? Have we been looking with closed eyes? Who is putting together the pieces of this baffling puzzle and more importantly who is going to translate it for the rest of women? Tides come in and they go out and from I see where I stand is that we are amongst a big shift in the way we perceive, manage and deal with women’s health.
I have been very fortunate as a woman to have not experienced any reproductive conditions throughout adulthood and have reasonably had a calm and balanced hormonal system. Until now. The first glimpse of going through the change would definitely had to have been more severe mood changes. Extreme ups and downs, and a lower threshold when it comes to managing stress. Just ask my husband! Little things bother me that never have before. I’m a horror if I haven’t had my sleep and if I don’t get time out, well best to keep away!! Cycles have begun to lengthen, it is not as cut and dry, accurate and predictable as it once was. Libido has waned, and by the way….when do I get time being caught in the middle of career and family life anyway! In the mid afternoon I sometimes feel this overwhelming flush take over my whole body but mainly my cheeks start to burn, face is hot to touch and yes the ever famous hot flash and sweats comes. I reach for something to cool me down even in the middle of a cold winter.
But one thing has really stood out and that is the diminishing self-esteem and confidence I once had. Physical changes, weight gain, metabolism and fatigue has crept up slowly, all affecting my emotional wellbeing. I am not bouncing out of bed like I used to in the morning, and some days I am really on struggle street. Some days are just plain grey!! I generally have an anxious constitution and that has certainly taken its toll the most. So I am thankful now and more importantly grateful that Adira has been born and I can look forward to smoother, happier and more fulfilling days ahead with Adira Peri by my bedside table.
Alongside these natural solutions I have also created a step by step process to assist my journey. Not saying this is what may be right for you but this is what I have implemented to navigate through the beginning of my journey. It is based on Why, What and How…and lastly, my way back home to myself…
1. Identifying the eclipse – is this overtaking my life?
This is all about understanding why am I experiencing this …. The obstacle, the imbalance, reason for manifestation in the first place, how can I neutralise this and more importantly what is on the other side. What is going on with my hormones underlying and what has happened previously that could have predisposed me to this… ie menstrual irregularities, family history, stress and so forth. Essentially this is about what’s going on in the inside – what’s had to happen to get me here, what parts of myself are in an eclipse with the other – this is about understanding the intrinsic mechanics of your body throughout this change and why it is happening in the first place.
- The Physical – changes to weight, hot flashes, blood pressure, body temperature, urinary symptoms, bladder control
- The Philosophical – my outlook on life – is it doom and gloom or yellow roses by the ocean
- The Patterns - cyclic changes and how persistent are they or aren’t they at all?
- The Prevention – what can I do to manage this better – diet, exercise, meditation, sleep
This is all about self-empowerment – my attitude and beliefs are often what cultivates resistance within myself – sometimes we get in the way of our own progress. This is to set everyday with a positive frame of mind, an authentic intent and will to achieve my goals with balance and to keep the road ahead steady and at a strong pace.
It is important to understand that there is not a set order to your journey. It is not a definitive start and finish. My hope is that you use this as inspiration, a personal light and heart-warming guide to start to create the subtle differences that can assist you during your journey of perimenopause and that the benefits from these may be seen for many years to come.
Thanks for reading. Every journey is different and together we will have a better understanding and look our for each other.
Nicole