Bernadette Crane
B.A. Hons, PGCE
Qualified and Registered Mindfulness Teacher
DBS checked
Mindfulness Courses, Training, Retreats and Events
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Session 6 Emotions during Menopause
Perhaps one of the most drustrating and confusing aspects of menopuase for many women is emotion.
Some surveys have found that 95% of women report negative chnages to their mood during menopause ( Dr Lousie Newsome find ref)
However, it is essential remebere that mood flucations and dioffculties in managing emtion are not a personal wekaness but a normal of the menopasue processs and it is essential for us to practice non-judgement and self compassion during this period.
Mini Meditation
Causes of Emotional Changes during Menopause
It is true that hormal fluctuations play a massive role in the way we experience emotions during menopasue. But there are a number of other factors that can also signficantly influence our emotional state. A few of these include . . .
As you can see it's a lot to cope with and understandly can have the effect of leaving some women feeling overhwelmed. Impact on wellbeing can manifest in a number of ways and its worth noting some of the ways in which this might be experienced.
Hormonal Infuences on Emotions
One of the main function sof hormones is to act as neurotransmitters. These means that they are used by our nervous systems to trasnmot messages to various muscle,orgasn and glands to release other hormones that make our body function. During menopasue floucatations adn eventuall a decline in the amount of estradio ( a potent from of the hormones estrogen) and progesterone means that thes messages become disrupted and other horones such as serotinin and dopamine 9the feel goo holrmones) are not produced on the same scale as they once were causing chnages to our mood. As you can see from the illsutration below these hormones are essential for our sense of wellbeing . . .
Menopause has been described by some (find ref) as being a 'window of vulnerability', meaning the chemical changes that occur during this phase of our lives can make us more suspectible to mental health issues and can intensify other menopausal symptoms. Using a mindful approach - an awareness and acceptance of this possibilitiy means we can prepare for this and migigate some of the more serious effects. We will shortly be exploring some of these.
Stress and Menopause
High levels of stress can exacerbate menopause symptoms and as these symptoms intensify they can cause stress so many women find themselves stuck in a vicious circle.
The decline of estrogen and progesterone decreases the production of feel good hormones such as dopamine and serotonin making it harder for the body and mind to combat the effects of stress and this in turn means and elevation of stress hormones such as Cortisol and Adrenaline. Both of these hormones are important for the body to function effectively but too much and they can begin to casue problems. First, lets find out what ttheir purpose is . . .
Problems can start to occur when too much of these hormones are present in the body for an extended period of time. This is the work of our sympathetic nervous system protecting us from danger, commonly known as the Flight or Fight Response. Humans being are only meant to stay in this state for a brief period of time – until the dangers of stressor has past. Think going for an interview, once the interview is over your tension and stress eases. The trouble is that remaining in the stressed for prolonged periods of time can begin to cause longer term damage to physical and motional health.
Many menopausal women experience extended periods in heightened state of stress and it can be difficult to get under control. Constant, frequent high levels of cortisol and adrenaline can lead the body to stop producing as much of these hormone leading to cortisol depletion (Addison’s disease) causing problems with immune systems, joint and ligaments , low blood pressure, weight loss and chronic fatigue. At this point medical intervention is required to replace the cortisol.
However, there are things you can do to prevent getting to this stage. Let’s have a look at some ways in which you can keep your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) functioning effectively.
Breathwork
EFT
Mindfulness
Nature
Sensory Input
Journalling
How can mindfulness help you to manage your emotions?
The practice of mindfulness allows us to obersve our thogufhts and feelings from a distance without getting caught up in the narractive of them. It creates a space between us and them which is allows us to view them objectively .
Scientists think that humans have around 7,000 thoughts a day but many of them we don;t notice. The ones we do tend to notice are the more negative thoughts
There is a good reason for this. In the past humans needed to remeber the more negative aspects of their existence in order to survice. Think of a caveman - he needed to remeber where the negative expereince of fighting a bear happened in order to prevent it from happening again. It was a form of prtection.
Today we don;t need this skill qwite so much but ours brains have not evoloved as fast as the world has. The introduction with modern technology such as mobile phones and social media has only intensified this focus on the negative. So we find that we keep returning to the diffuclt thoughts and somethines they are diffcult to shake, sepcially when we are feeing loew.
By acknlwedging the presence of our thoughts, feelings and emotions with a nion judgemtnal approach, we are in the process of acceptance. Learning to accept our thoughts means it is easier to let them go.
Mindfulness is als we have alredy dsicovered an excercise in sensory input. When we are mindful we are present and we notice in great great depth, taking infomration in through our senses. When we focus on our senses feelings of stress reduce and our sympaethic nervous system returns to a state of 'rest and digest', which is where we wnat ot be be for a healthy mind and body. Its a happy by product of mindfulness.
Mindful Activities
Mindful Eating -
Mindful Walking -
Mindful Body practice - youga, tai chi etc.
Mindfulness Meditation
The Endochrine Meditation
This meditation is best done in a sitting position with your feet flat on the floor and your hands in a comfortable position in your lap.
Throughou the meditation you will need to visualise different organs in your body. The illustration below helps you to locate the different organs and you may want tot ake a look at it before your start the meditation.
