The best is yet to come

May 2009

"Out of the tree of life I picked me a plum, you came along and things started to hum, but still it's a real good bet, the best is yet to come." These are the opening lines of a song I have been humming to myself lately.

In thinking about this article, I kept turning back to this line. Why? I am not in love, but it expresses optimism, hope and trust in the future (plus, it is a really good tune).

Too often, in our culture, women around the age of menopause are not regarded highly.

• Over the hill, mutton dressed as lamb, etc.
• Many feel as if they are invisible.
• There are dire health warnings: heart disease, breast cancer, osteoporosis and dementia await us.
• And the transition of menopause heralds the closing in of old age, closer and closer.

What's there to hum about?

Well, let me tell you – it is a lot to do with perception. Is the glass half full or half empty? And where you are. If you were born a Navajo Indian woman, with menopause you would be entering your most powerful phase in life. Many other non-western cultures have a high regard for the older, mature, post menopausal woman. And in these cultures the women experience very little of the usual discomforts we expect to go through. Their menopausal transition is supported by the community they live in.

Even in our western youth obsessed society, women have learned that menopause is not the end; it can be the beginning to a new life. Yes, it can come with great discomfort, difficulty even, but that is to be expected from a transition.

• For some it means a complete upheaval and turnaround, but then they are on their way and don't look back.
• For others there are subtle revelations and simple adjustments that give meaning again and the sense that the best is yet to come.

This is not to deny the very real physical discomfort of hot flushes and night sweats. But think of them as power surges and it puts a different slant on it. It means that there is energy available to you – it just goes out of control at times. As anything does while you get used to a new order of things.

This is after all what is happening. As the ovaries wind up their reproductive life, they produce fewer hormones including androgens. But other organs also make androgens, including:

• the adrenal gland
• the skin
• muscle
• brain
• pineal gland
• hair follicles
• body fat.

These hormones regulate:

• sexual response
• libido
• general well-being.

During and after menopause these other organs take over. If a woman has been through a lot of stress over a period of time and has become nutritionally depleted, then it is much harder for these organs to do the job.

We also know that during menopause there is a twofold increase in production of androgenic hormones from these other non-ovarian sources. Androgens can themselves act as weak oestrogens and so our bodies are very well equipped to deal with the hormonal changes in the ovary. But, if we lack the right nutrients, if we are emotionally and physically stressed, then the hormonal adjustment is much harder.

Really, when you think it about, in one sense nothing much changes in the body, it is just the chain of command that alters and as always when there is a change of management there is upheaval.

I've gone into this rather technical explanation to show that we can trust our bodies and ourselves to manage and complete this transition in hormonal management. And that, once completed, we can and do live a full, active and satisfying life. But the terms may have changed. It may only be at this time that a woman has the realization and the motivation to make fundamental changes to her life that may not have been possible earlier. So, there you go – pick another plum out of your tree of life. The best is sure to come.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Blomberg at mind body insight. You can also schedule a consultation online.