Benefits of Meditation for Peri-Menopausal and Menopausal Women

Women between the ages of 45-55 that are going through Peri-Menopause or Menopause can face a variety of challenges, as this is a period of transition with many different changes. The symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats can be life altering for some women and can lead to an enormous amount of stress. Increased stress levels can come from a variety of different sources during this time including dealing with hot flashes and continuous changes to your body and mood. It is only natural that these rapid changes would lead to a diminished quality of life and higher levels of anxiety.

Although you cannot control the physical symptoms your body is facing, you can control your reaction to them. Once you have noticed your triggers for increased stress, you can begin to think about the coping mechanisms you will engage in so that you do not fall in to negative spirals and a poor emotional state.

One of the key things you can do to combat high stress levels and anxiety is introducing a practice of meditation into your life. This practice helps to bring you into a state of calm and does not allow negative thoughts to take over. Additionally, mediation helps to promote improved mood and memory, helps to regulate cravings and prevent weight gain, and relieves the stressors of everyday life.

A key helping factor in mediation is breath work. The more you connect to breath the more it helps bring awareness to the physical symptoms. For example, if you are experiencing a hot flash with increasing sweat you can stop and begin to breathe consciously to bring awareness to your body. Once you begin harmonizing with your body rather than fighting its symptoms your hot flashes will slow down, decrease in temperature and eventually diminish. The more we fight harmony with our bodies the stronger the symptoms react and lead to increased levels of stress and anxiety. Here is a really good cooling breath: breathing in through a rolled rounded tongue slowly and exhaling through your nose slowly (repeat 3-4 time). There is cooling mechanism on the inhalation, delivering a gentle cooling energy to the body. 

Additionally, it is important to note that meditation is very powerful when done on its own, but to mediate collectively with other women is even more powerful. When women meditate together you are creating a very strong frequency of healing energy for a community of woman all experiencing the same struggle. This is one of the many reasons why community and support systems help those who experience daily struggles and increased levels of stress.

Here are some other tips to help you sleep well during Peri-Menopause and Menopause:

• Meditate before bed and keep a regular sleep schedule to ensure you get a healing sleep every night

• Avoid naps during the day

• Exercise regularly but not right before sleep

• Avoid excessive caffeine.

Once you commit to meditation you realize that it is your responsibility to change how you handle these challenges and to choose calm and happiness rather than settling for what is. It is important to know that you still have many years ahead of you and how you cope with these challenging times can actually effect the rest of your life.

So sit, find your inner self, find your breath and be open to allow whatever comes in – this is meditating.