A recipe for perimenopause wellbeing
Perimenopause wellbeing is personal.
Our life history, our genetics, our habits, our working patterns and family life all have an impact.
But there are certain factors that we all need.
A recipe for wellbeing
Key ingredients include:
Hydration
This helps support our detoxification pathways (liver, kidneys, gut health) as well as maintain energy levels.
Water is great, but even tea and coffee in moderate amounts help increase our hydration levels.
Nourishing well with food and fun
If you’re in your 40s and 50s you’ve probably grown up in a culture of dieting and food fads - and this still dominates our ‘healthy living’ content on social media.
Nourishment does include protein, plenty of fruit and veg, and enough carbs for energy - but it’s great if it’s also combined with pleasure and ease.
Pleasure and fun are important in all parts of health and well-being too - creating space for this can feel hard but small moments of joy and fun are essential nourishment too in what can be a stressful time of life.
Sleep hygiene and habits
Sleep disruption is common in perimenopause, which can be debilitating, creating supportive habits around going to bed as well as reducing caffeine and alcohol can make a huge difference.
Being underslept increases stress levels and exacerbates the symptoms of perimenopause.
This blog has some suggestions on how micro rests can help your sleep.
Tracking cycles and symptom triggers
Tracking your cycle, symptoms, mood and energy can be incredibly helpful when it comes to understanding what helps or hinders your wellbeing in perimenopause
Or download my cycle tracking template and get some helpful email guidance
Movement (this is a whole personalised recipe in itself!)
Movement helps us sleep better, manage stress, supports our immune system, and helps energy levels and metabolism working.
We all need to find our own personal mix that works, but blending in some strength, flexibility, cardio, and restorative activity is great - you might find it in a pilates class, the gym, walks with friends, or online workouts. Starting small and finding some fun is key to consistency. You can book in an exercise inspiration session with me if you’d like to create a firm starting block!
Connection - supportive relationships with friends, partner, family, and giving space to those that no longer serve you
Finding the right people to support you in this stage of life isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes we need to let go of negative relationships, groups, or situations.
Connections with people who share our values and world view can help us feel safe, supported, and seen, and now is a good time to start to cultivate them, through groups and activities, or simply through picking up the phone!
Self awareness and self compassion
This should be top of the list. Cycle tracking is a great tool for self awareness, and can help us to cultivate self compassion too, when we understand our moods and exhaustion might be linked to the stages or our cycles or our hormone change.
Being more aware of the impact of perimenopause can help here. I have a handy download that can help here.
Vision creation - where are you going next?
We can get very caught up in the day to day busy-ness of life, but, as we get older in a society that doesn’t celebrate ageing, it can be really helpful to have a clear idea of what you want out of the next stage of life - what kind of 60/70/80 year old do you want to be? And what are the steps that will get you there. This is something I can help you with in a coaching session. Either as a one-off session or as part of a 6 month programme. Why not book a call for a 15 minute chat at the button below!
Joy
Joy is an incredible tool for wellbeing, as are gratitude and hope!
Look for the everyday joys, the flowers blooming in spring, rainbows and sunsets, a delicious meal, a task accomplished. Even the brief moment the house is tidy!
Is it time for you to think about creating your own plan? Perhaps you could jot down one key area to work on right now…and another for a month’s time.
Or book in a 15 minute call with me to explore how I could help you create a plan you’ll actually stick to, and a vision to be excited about.