A few years ago I started getting symptoms that I didn’t understand. My sleep was very broken, my mood was low, my anxiety was high, I started gaining weight in areas I hadn’t before. I thought I was losing the plot! Then a friend suggested it may have been changing hormones, as I was around 45. It was a relief when I could identify what was happening.
After researching and reading up on movement in menopause, I enrolled onto a course about women’s fitness/wellness and menopause and went to discuss my symptoms with the GP. Having started HRT and increased my self care, I began yoga, meditation, more movement, mindfulness and listening to self help podcasts. I have always been very active and although I am not running as much, I make up for it in hiking up mountains and swimming outdoors. I make poor food choices sometimes and I drink wine….enjoying life is important! But I’m much more aware now of what my body needs and pay attention to it.
Most of my clients are women between the ages of 40 and 65 so all these things also benefit them. I like to share my knowledge. I developed a greater awareness of just how important movement is to women of our age. Obviously movement is important at any age but with passing years we start losing muscle mass, bone density, balance, strength, cardiovascular function, mobility and flexibility. Its not all bad news though as there are lots of things we can do to help slow down these processes. Motion is lotion! Moving helps keep our joints and tissues hydrated. It builds strength and flexibility. It increases bone strength to protect us from fractures if we fall (which we wont as we are working on our balance too!). This is espcially important for women.
Our range of movement bubble shrinks as we age, we need to move our bodies to the edge of our bubble. Moving for the love of our body and the joy of being active. We need to nurture our body with good food and adequate rest times and movement. Most of all, we need to have fun whilst we are doing it. Movement in menopause is so important! For every bit of our bodies.
There are many reasons why we forget to take care of ourselves. Tired, busy lives, lack of motivation, hormones all over the place in menopause, but nobody will do it for us. We need to take control and care for our body and mind. Its the only place we have to live.
For information about the outdoor peronal training sessions I offer click here.
For more information about menopause click here.