Balancing Your Emotions with Your Breath

by Nina

Close-Up of the Falls by Melina Meza

As I wrote in Your Breath: The Key to Your Nervous System, while you cannot tell your nervous system directly to slow your heart beat, digest your food more quickly or to start relaxing right this minute, you can control your breath. And because your heart rate tends to speed up on your inhalation and your heart rate tends to slow on your exhalation, this enables you to consciously access your nervous system. By intentionally taking in more air (either by speeding up your breath or by lengthening your inhalation) you can stimulate your nervous system. And by taking in less air (by slowing your breath or lengthening your exhalation), you can calm yourself down.

Last week, I wrote about emotional counter-poses that you can use to balance your emotions. You can use various yogic breath practices in the same way. You can use breath practices when nothing serious is wrong but you’re just feeling slightly hyper (see anxiety or stress) or slightly down (see clinical depression). And you can also use them as a supplement to other treatments if you are suffering from anxiety, agitated depression, clinical depression or chronic stress.

(Note that yogic breath practices have evolved over thousands of years as yogis experimented on themselves and passed on discoveries their students. And while some schools of yoga teach yogic breath practices (pranayama) to beginners, the type of yoga that I’m trained in, Iyengar style, considers breath practices to be so powerful that pranayama is introduced very gradually. So if you start experimenting with breath practices to balance your emotional condition, do take it easy.)

Anxiety and agitated depression. Because anxiety and agitated depression—which is anxiety based—are so often related to an overactive sympathetic nervous system, for these two conditions it’s best to focus on your exhalation. You can simply work on exhaling completely or lengthen your exhalation a beat or two (by pausing after your exhalation is complete). Or, you can try a more formal practice that focuses on lengthening the exhalation, such as Viloma with interrupted exhalation, where you actually pause twice during your exhalation and once at the end. This is the practice that Iyengar himself recommends in Light on Life in his “Asanas for Emotional Stability” practice.

If manipulating your exhalation causes you to feel any agitation whatsoever, stop the practice. In addition, practices that lengthen your inhalation or even that bring your awareness to the inhalation (which can cause you to unintentionally lengthen or deepen your inhalation) may aggravate your condition, so you may want to avoid them.

If you’ve noticed that you are a chest breather—a type of breathing that seems to be associated with anxiety—and it doesn’t make you feel more anxious to work with your inhalation as well as your exhalation, you could practice abdominal breathing. In abdominal breathing, you focus on slowly inhaling into and exhaling from your belly rather than your chest, as you intentionally keep your abdominal area relaxed. You could lie on your back, and place a block or other light weight, such as a 1 pound bag of rice, on your belly to bring awareness to your abdomen, and keep your abdomen relaxed as you slowly inhale and exhale. Or, if lying on your back makes you anxious, you could lie in Crocodile pose (on your belly with your arms out to the sides, elbows bent, and forehead resting on stacked hands) so you can feel your abdomen moving toward and away from the floor as you slowly inhale and exhale.

You can also use any of these techniques if you're just feeling mildly hyper and want to calm down.

Clinical depression. For clinical depression, which tends to make people feel heavy and lifeless, focusing on your inhalation or breathing more quickly can stimulate your nervous system and bring you out of your lethargy. This is one reason why an active vinyasa practice, such as the Ashtanga series or Sun Salutations, can be helpful to those with clinical depression because when you move with your breath, you tend to breathe more quickly and take in more oxygen. So for you, it may be helpful to focus on your inhalation. You can simply work with inhaling more completely or lengthen your inhalation by holding it for a beat or two. Or, you can try a more formal practice that focuses on lengthening the inhalation, such as Viloma with interrupted inhalation, where you actually pause twice during your inhalation and once after. In Yoga As Medicine, Timothy McCall recommends Ujjayi breathing, which tends to lengthen both the inhalation and exhalation, as well as the version of Viloma with interrupted inhalation

Some people who are depressed tend to have a slumped posture, with a collapsed chest, so focusing on opening your chest and inhaling into that area can be beneficial. In Yoga As Medicine, Timothy quotes Patricia Walden, who herself has suffered from clinical depression, saying:

“When you start focusing on your breath, and taking the breath into your chest and breathing deeply, you begin to feel the presence of your breath. What comes with that is a feeling of life returning, a feeling of warm that percolates throughout your chest at the beginning, but then throughout your entire body.”

You can also use any of these techniques if you're just feeling mildly depressed or blue.

Because stress is often a trigger for clinical depression, it’s possible that working with your exhalation as described for anxiety rather than your inhalation, could be helpful for you. So don’t hesitate to give it a try if you feel so inclined. As I said in my post Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body, when it comes to emotional balance, anything that makes you feel better is working.

Stress. Because chronic stress is the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system, it makes sense to focus on pacifying your nervous system by working with your exhalation as I described for anxiety. However, from my observations of people doing pranayama, some people find any kind of pranayama relaxing (I, myself, do not, by the way). If you do find all breath work relaxing, go ahead and do whichever breath practice quiets your mind and relaxes you. Simply slowing your breath in general, with long, slow inhalations as well as exhalations, could be helpful in reducing stress. Practices where you speed up your breath will no doubt stimulate your nervous system. So if you are doing an active vinyasa practice to burn off your excess energy, end your yoga practice with a calming breath practice or an emotional counter-pose (see Balancing Your Emotional Body With Counter-Poses) that triggers the relaxation response.

Balancing Your Emotional Body With Counter-Poses

by Nina

Last week in my posts about anxiety Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body and Soothing Yourself With Supported Forward Bends, I discussed yoga poses to rely on when you’re feeling anxious (supported inversions and forward bends) and yoga poses to avoid when you’re in that state (backbends, twists, and Sun Salutations).

It makes sense if you’re in a crisis period to practice the poses that calm you down and avoid stimulating poses that might exacerbate your condition. However, if you’re in a state of chronic anxiety, avoiding backbends, twists, and many of the active poses for a long period of time will move your body toward imbalance. The same is true if your practice is focused on any emotion-based condition, such as agitated depression, clinical depression, or even just chronic stress.

In this case, I feel it is better to return to a more well-rounded yoga practice (see A Week of Yoga Practice) but consider how you end your practices. By choosing an appropriate counter-pose to end your practice, you can counteract any negative emotional effects of your practice without negating the beneficial physical ones. That way, you can move on to the rest of your day with your nervous system and emotions more in balance. Some people with anxiety or agitated depression even find that beginning with a very active practice can help burn off excess energy, which makes the soothing or relaxing counter-poses at the end of the sequence more effective (or even possible, as it can be hard to stay still when you’re feeling very anxious).

My post Yoga and Your Emotions describes the emotional effects different types of poses have on most people. So if you’re interested in practicing for balancing your emotions, take a look at that and consider how a given practice (standing pose, Sun Salutation, twist, backbend, forward bend, restorative) might affect your current emotional state. Then choose one or more counter-poses—especially passive poses that can be held for long periods of time—that you can add on to the end of your practice to counteract the poses that were the main focus of the practice. For example, if you’re already feeling anxious or hyper yet need to practice backbends for the health of your body, you can end your backbend sequence with a long supported inversion, such as a Chair Shoulderstand or Legs Up the Wall pose, to calm yourself down. 

Anxiety and Agitated Depression. We’ve already said that supported inverted poses and supported forward bends are the best poses to counteract anxiety. These may also be helpful for agitated depression as that is anxiety based. So at the end of a more active sequence, try resting in Supported Child’s pose for a few minutes and then practice Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani) for 10 minutes or more. If Child’s pose is uncomfortable for you or you can’t kneel for some reason, try a Supported Seated Forward Bend with a chair (see Soothing Yourself With Supported Forward Bends), with a straight back. If Legs Up the Wall pose doesn’t work well for you, try Easy Inverted Pose (Featured Pose: Easy Inverted Pose). If having your front body exposed makes you feel vulnerable, try covering yourself with a blanket. 

Clinical Depression. On the other hand, for people who are suffering from clinical depression, forward bends, with their inward turning quality, can cause you to brood. For you, therefore, a couple of mild, active backbends, such as Purvottanasana (Reverse Plank pose) or Bridge pose, would be good counter poses after practicing a forward bend sequence. Generally speaking, an active practice is best for those with clinical depression, especially one that includes backbends, because that helps counteract feelings of lethargy. But if you are tired and want to practice restorative poses, focus on passive backbends rather than forward bending poses, and be sure to end your sequence with a backbending position, rather than a forward bending one. Rather than doing Savasana flat on your back, try doing it with your torso supported by a bolster or stack of blankets, so your chest is open and your back is in a slight backbend. Or, maybe even reverse the typical pattern of a practice, begin your sequence with resting poses and moving slowly onto more active ones so you are left feeling a bit energized. Often I'll end a restorative sequence by standing in Mountain pose and inhaling as I raise my arms overhead into a slight backbend and exhaling as I return my arms to my sides. 

Stress. For people who are suffering from chronic stress, standing poses, Sun Salutations, backbends, and twists can be over stimulating. So try to end a sequence that is focused on any of those types of poses with any long supported inversion, such as Legs Up the Wall pose or Easy Inverted pose, or any restorative pose that you enjoy.

Even a long Savasana of 10 minutes or more, with a mental focus, such as your breath, would be helpful as an emotional counter-pose (see Savasana Variations) or any form of yoga nidra (see Audio Tracks tab above). Stressed out people tend to skip these ending poses because they think they don’t have time and that restorative poses are not “productive.” However, when you’re suffering from chronic stress, the most beneficial practice for you is some type of conscious relaxation (see The Relaxation Response and Yoga). As with anxiety, you may need to first burn off excess energy with a more active practice, but always leave time for conscious relaxation at the end of your sequence.

 I, myself, have been practicing like this for many years, with focused, nervous-system pacifying sequences during particularly challenging times, and balanced sequences with emotional counter-poses the rest of the time. But what if you, like many other people, do not practice often at home and do most of your yoga practice in classes or with videos? In this case, there is no reason why you can’t do just the counter-pose after the class or video. For example, if an evening backbend practice has left you feeling agitated or even just hyper (I can’t tell you how many people have told me that backbends at night cause insomnia), there’s no reason why you can’t just practice a supported inverted pose or conscious relaxation on your own before bed. This will help pacify your nervous system and may even lead to better sleep.

FEAR

My 49th Birthday!

What a gripping word that can literally take the wind out of our sails, right? We have all experienced some sort of fear in our lives and it does not discriminate with gender or age.  In my journey of life and health I have definitely felt and experienced fear on all levels, physical, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual.  Of course, when going through such feelings, it can be difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel, and sometimes, just staying put in the comfort of a warm bed until the storm blows over makes perfect sense at the time.  Facing a fear is one of the hardest things to do in life, and it does take courage, inner strength, and the physical will to force the body to go, when the mind says to freeze. 

Emotional challenges and fears seem to be the most draining, at least in my

experience, and take time to process through, and figure out the best way to persevere.  It does not matter how long anything takes to get resolved, the important thing is to keep going, and never give up. I have found that prayer and a bond with a great therapist to get over emotional hurdles worked for me years ago.  I was able to heal from hurt and learn how to create boundaries that I now implement to take care of me.  It is amazing how years of moving through different emotional challenges and fear has created such a positive growth process, but that is all in how I was taught to respond to life’s circumstances.  Healthy creates healthy and that is what I am striving for each day.  Going through emotional difficulties and this is also linked to relational definitely opened my eyes to what I do want and do not want in my life, and how to now walk through each fear or challenge with a new pair of eyes that can see clearly the way to a healthy resolution.  No more rose colored glasses for this girl. 

Many things that cause fear are out of my and your control, but the feeling can creep in and try to steal away our happiness, create doubt, anxiety and other self destructive mind games that our inner selves again need to recognize, and respond in a healthy way.  When I was injured years ago and flat on my back, I felt so fearful of my life never being the same, being stripped of who I was as a therapist and trainer, extreme athlete, and person…I felt like a failure and I grieved the loss of who I was…this was gripping FEAR.  I was very humbled through this year long healing process and truly lost some faith in what I was going to do.  It was this journey however, that finally opened my eyes to who I really was, and what I could really do with my life, my knowledge, and my body.  It was painful and fearful, but each day opened the window a little more to my purpose and my hope slowly was restored.  Again, things did not happen overnight, just like with getting healthy in every aspect, patience and perseverance are required. 

What I am trying to share about FEAR is that it is a part of life, is not going

anywhere, and to say that it will not be experienced is well…an untruth.  The truth is that fear can be used to grow me and you in a healthy positive way, or take us to the ground.  Let’s say lack of finances has caused fear and believe me I have felt that sting as well, and sometimes this is not created by our own doing, and sometimes it is.  The point is…what is going to be done to get into a healthy place?  Having a plan to fix the problem is important, can provide a comfort and eventually remove the fear surrounding the circumstance.  I am talking about all areas of life where fear can rear its’ ugly head. 

I have found that keeping a journal helps with being a healthy person, and if I am feeling a certain way, or fearful about something, I journal about it, pray about it, and let it go.  There may be work for me to do, but I always feel more sure and able to work through the process when I have written about it.  I look back on my periods of fear in the different areas of my life and can now say that I am thankful for the learning journey, and the blessings along the way.  Letting go of unhealthy and embracing the healthy has opened many doors in my life, closed those doors that needed to be nailed shut, brought fabulous loving people to share my life, and a wonderful husband that I love and cherish dearly.  I no longer look upon fear as such a negative thing, but get through those feelings the best that I know how, and ask myself …why am I feeling this way, what is causing me to feel this way, and create a plan to remove the source further asking myself…what am I learning to better ME through this circumstance.  YES, there will be FEAR, but what matters is how I will be handling it.  Stay Healthy!

IN YOUR FACE MOTIVATIONS

I dedicate this Blog to my fabulous husband Don who is celebrating his birthday next week!  Happy Birthday Babe and I Love YOU Forever and a Day~

Married to my Best Friend

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

Stay Healthy~ Darla 

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Soothing Yourself with Supported Forward Bends

by Nina

As I discussed yesterday in Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body, supported forward bends can be wonderfully quieting and soothing. You can use these poses to calm yourself when you’re feeling anxious or to turn inward when you’ve been over-stimulated. However, you do need to set up for them properly. By that I mean that the poses need to be completely comfortable. If they’re not completely comfortable for you, they’re going to be irritating and maybe even aggravating, which defeats the whole purpose of practicing them.

To be comfortable in these poses, you need to:

• Pick the seated position that is best for your body (crossed legs, straight legs or wide angle legs). Experiment and see which of the three poses described below are most effective for you.
• Choose the propping (bolster, pillows, stack of blankets or chair) that is truly comfortable for you. Be honest with yourself about the height you need to be comfortable, rather than imitating a photograph.

Crossed-Legs Forward Bend

If your hips are more flexible than the backs of your legs, you might prefer sitting with crossed legs (Sukasana) as in the following two photos.

Unless you are super flexible, start by sitting with crossed legs on a height, such as a folded blanket, with the bolster, stack of blankets, or chair in front of you. Then, bending from your hip joints without rounding your back, slowly fold forward. When you reach the full extension of your spine, allow your back to gently round as you come down toward the prop. (If rounding irritates your lower back, do the version with the chair and keep your back straight.)

Fold your arms, with elbows out to the sides, and stack your hands on the prop. Then rest your forehead on your hands, gently tugging your forehead skin down towards your eye. Stay for two or three minutes (or longer if it's delicious), switching the cross of your legs half way through.

Straight Legs Forward Bend

If your legs are more flexible than your hips (this is somewhat atypical but some people—like me—have this body type), you might find it easier to do the pose with straight legs (Paschimottanasana), as in the next two photos.

Unless you are super flexible, start by sitting with straight legs on a height, such as a folded blanket, with the bolster, stack of blankets on top of your legs or chair over them. Then, bending from your hip joints without rounding your back, slowly fold forward. When you reach the full extension of your spine, allow your back to gently round as you come down toward the prop. (If rounding irritates your lower back, do the version with the chair and keep your back straight.)

Fold your arms, with elbows out to the sides, and stack your hands on the prop. Then rest your forehead on your hands, gently tugging your forehead skin down towards your eye. Stay for two or three minutes (or longer if it is delicious), keeping your legs lightly active.

Wide Angle Forward Bend

People who are relatively flexible in both the hips and legs often find wide angle legs (Upavistha Konasana) the most comfortable position for a forward bend, as shown in the next two photos. Unless you are super flexible, start by sitting with wide angle legs on a height, such as a folded blanket, with the bolster, stack of blankets, or chair in front of you. Then, bending from your hip joints without rounding your back, slowly fold forward. When you reach the full extension of your spine, allow your back to gently round as you come down toward the prop. (If rounding irritates your lower back, do the version with the chair and keep your back straight.)

Fold your arms, with elbows out to the sides, and stack your hands on the prop. Then rest your forehead on your hands, gently tugging your forehead skin down towards your eye. Stay for two or three minutes (or longer if it is delicious), keeping your legs lightly active.

Sequencing

Of course, there is no reason why you can’t do more than one of these poses or all three. And by doing more than one pose, you’ll increase the quieting effects. If I were to sequence them, I do them as follows:

1. Seated Crossed Legs Forward Bend (Sukasana)
2. Wide Angle Forward Bend (Upavistha Konasana)
3. Straight Legs Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)

But you can sequence these poses in any way that feels good to you. Before practicing these poses, you might like to do some Reclined Leg Stretches (see Reclined Leg Stretch Sequence) as stretching your legs and hips beforehand can make the forward bends more comfortable. And if your lower back feels irritated after the forward bends, I recommend doing Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), with your lower back supported by a bolster (tailbone hanging just off the bolster) as a counter pose. In Viparita Karani, your lower back is in a slight backbend, which will help restore the curve to your lower back, but since the pose is overall a quieting one, it allows you to maintain the quieting effect of your practice.

Finally, some people just do not enjoy the effects of a long forward bend; they find that the poses elicit an unpleasant, heavy feeling that is kind of deadening rather than soothing. If that’s true for you, supported inverted poses (see Just In Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses) may be better options. Remember, when working with yoga for emotional wellbeing, your own reactions to the poses should be your guide.

Anxiety, Yoga and the Front Body

by Nina

I’m going to be tackling the subject of anxiety in the coming weeks, and I thought that I’d start today by addressing an aspect of yoga for anxiety that is rather, well, subjective. Much of the information we have on the blog is science based, whether we’re citing scientific or medical studies, or exploring anatomy as Baxter did yesterday in Which Way Should Your Shoulder Blades Go?. However, when it comes to the yoga and the emotions, there is very little science that we can turn to for guidance. Fortunately, when working with our emotions, our own experience is key. I mean, with emotions, it’s not like, say, cancer. As Andrew Solomon wrote in his book about depression, The Noonday Demon:

"It is my absolute belief that in the field of depression, there is no such thing as a placebo. If you have cancer and try an exotic treatment and then you think you are better, you may well be wrong. If you have depression and try an exotic treatment and you think you are better, then you are better."

The same is true for anxiety. So for people who are feeling anxious, one strategy is to start taking a look at how certain yoga poses make them feel. And this might lead to the discovery that poses that are generally considered “relaxing,” such as Reclined Cobbler’s pose or Savasana, might actually be increasing your anxiety. That’s because for many people, just lying on your back, with your front body exposed, can make your feel vulnerable. Perhaps this is a primitive, instinctive reaction because we are descending from four-legged animals, and for them lying on the back means taking a submissive position and exposing their vital organs. But who really knows? All I can say is that yoga tradition tells us this reaction is common, and I’ve confirmed this theory with many yoga practitioners who suffer from anxiety. Likewise, opening the front of your body in a backbend or twist is considered stimulating and can therefore also feel agitating and increase your anxiety.

Maybe Not So Relaxing!

So my suggestion is that when you are in a state of high anxiety or are battling chronic anxiety, consider avoiding poses where you are lying on your back or are opening your chest. Definitely avoid active backbends and twists, and consider avoiding even passive, restorative backbends and twists. In general, look to forward bends for soothing and calming effects. Supported Child’s pose is a good option.

Maybe More Relaxing....

Supported seated forward bends with your head and arms resting on a bolster or, if your hamstrings are tight, the seat of a chair, are generally very soothing. But even an active forward bend practice, especially for those who are more flexible, can be quite effective for reducing anxiety.

And instead of doing Savasana, consider doing Crocodile pose. Fold a yoga blanket in a rectangle and place it cross-wise on your mat. Then lie down with your lower belly on the blanket (this reduces the over-curving of your lower back that tends to occur when you lie on your belly). Take your feet slightly apart from each other and fold your arms so your elbows are out to the sides and your forearms are parallel with the front edge of your mat with your hands stacked. Then rest your forehead on your hands, gently tugging your forehead skin down toward your nose (an action that seems to be very calming, who knows why).

If closing your eyes in any of the forward bends or prone poses causes you to brood or worry, let your eyes remain open, with a soft, diffuse gaze.

In the end, always allow your own experiences in these poses to be your guide. What if you find that forward bends and prone poses cause you to feel more anxious rather than less so? In that case, I’d say, by all means, avoid them. And what if you were to say that backbends make you feel less anxious? To that, I’d answer, go for it. Traditionally twists are considered stimulating and potentially agitating, and therefore probably not a good solution for insomnia, but I once had a student who said twists made her sleepy. Hearing her say that was a lesson for me that I keep returning to when I teach yoga for emotional wellbeing.

Supported Forward Bends: Peaceful Poses for Stress, Anxiety, Neck Pain and Headache Prevention

by Nina

We finally took some new photographs, and now I’ve got a portfolio of my favorite poses for stress management and anxiety! So I thought that today I’d introduce you to some of favorite quieting poses: supported forward bends. A supported forward bend is one where you use a prop, such as a bolster, stack of blankets or a chair seat to support your head and arms as you stay in the pose. Relaxing onto the support helps remove straining from the pose and enhances the quieting quality of the forward bend. These are gentle, inward-turning poses that both calming and nurturing.

You can do supported forward bends in two forms: standing and seated. Standing supported forward bends are particularly good for stress as they are partial inversions. See Just in Time for the Holidays: Inverted Poses for information about why inverted poses, including partial inversions, are so beneficial for stress management.

Because the supported seated forward bends are less active than the standing versions, they are more quieting. And because you’re resting the weight of your head and relaxing your neck, these poses may also help with neck pain and headache prevention. I love supported seated forward bends, especially when I’m feeling anxious, however, some people do not enjoy supported seated forward bends, finding them rather too quieting, in other words, sort of deadening. And they’re probably not the right poses for people suffering from depression. So you’ll have to try for yourself and see what you think.

In general, when setting up for these poses, it’s important to be honest with yourself about how many props you need to be truly comfortable. The aim here isn’t to feel a stretch, much less any pain, but to use the pose to quiet yourself physically and emotionally.

As you come into the pose, bend from your hip joints and keep your back straight. This will help prevent back strain that comes from rounding your back. If you need to sit on a folded blanket to encourage the bend from your hips—most of us do—then add that prop as well (see photo).

When you bring your head onto the prop, do not force your head down. If your head doesn’t reach easily, you need a higher prop. For the Standing Forward Bend, you can stack two blocks, with one on the lowest height and the second on the highest. Stacking two blocks end on end, however, is unstable, so be honest with yourself and get your chair! (Besides, if you compare, most chair seats are lower than two blocks end on end, anyway—check it out and see.)

If you want to sequence these poses, I recommend starting with the standing versions first—they are better for warming up your legs and hips, and are more active—and then moving onto the seated ones. Of course, any of these can be done alone, or as part of any restorative or stress management sequence (we’ll have some of those coming in the near future). And there’s no reason at all why you can’t end an active practice with a supported seated forward bend of your choice, followed by Savasana.

1. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), with your head on a block or chair
2. Widespread Standing Forward Bend (Prasarita Padottanasana), with your head on the floor or on a block or chair
3. Wide Angle Pose (Upavista Konasana) or Seated Crossed Legs, with your head on a bolster or chair
4. Seated Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana), with your head on a bolster or chair

I hope these poses bring you peace.

Update: Wondering where those photos are? It turns out, they're not quite ready yet. We took them, but I don't have access to them this afternoon. I'll add them to this post as soon as I get them, so check back again.

The Holidays, Hormones, and Happiness

Lots of changes this year with the family and how this Mom/Trainer will be spending the Christmas Holiday…all good, but different.  It feels weird for me having to adjust to the changes in life and not just for the holidays, but with my hormones.  Thanksgiving month was the start of struggle with marked and increased changes to that which I can only attribute to transitioning into another part of womanhood…OH MY!  I mean really…all at the same time…during the holidays…really, really??? 

I was already having a bit of a time adjusting to the changes occurring with how the holidays would have to be split up as a Mom of adult kids that have their own new agendas…bitter sweet happiness…but still a big adjustment.  Mixed in with the throws of hot flashes, high anxiety, other personal changes,  irritability due to sleep deprivation, just not feeling like ME…GEEZ…the pumpkin seeds just are not cutting the mustard anymore…lol…and for heaven’s sake watermelon season is long gone.  I am so blessed to have such a supportive husband through this journey and  hats off to all the other husbands out there that are understanding and do not take personal all the goings on of menopausal issues…GOLD STARS!

I am such a faith person and celebrate what Christmas means to me as a woman of God, but let me tell you, I have had to have more than a few one on one conversations over  the last two months.  Life can feel overwhelming when hormonal changes are occurring and YES…although I am usually springing about happy as a clam during the cherished holiday season…it just has not felt the same this year.  I understand that it is probably the combo of everything happening at the same time, but YIKEE.  It is even more awkward that I can’t even offer up a good explanation for feeling high anxiety…I already have an A1 personality type anyway which probably does not help.  On top of that, what the heck happened to my energy, stamina, and everything else that felt like Darla…I mean come on now…this is a double REALLY, REALLY?

OK…I am sharing some very personal things right now and please do not confuse it for complaining…I am letting you know that I, just like you,  go through life, experience what every woman of a young, fit almost 50 can go through and it can SUCK.  YES…I said it…some days, it really sucks to not feel like ME…my plug has been pulled right out of the wall and I am holding onto the cord going OK…now what?  You know me…I do not let things get the best of me…so more research was in order and a trip to the doctor.  I have worked with many women who experience peri-menopause and menopause symptoms and although I suspected that this was indeed the culprit invading my inner body space, I needed to rule out the possibilities of medical issues not related.  Believe me, I would have hit the floor with a positive pregnancy test…love babies, love my children, am a grandmother…but that would have definitely sent me to the peri-menopausal special place for TLC.  Whew…negative…let’s move on and off that subject. 

The beautiful thing about life is that we all experience different things when it comes to reaching menopause…some sail through without a scratch, while others, and that would include me, do not necessarily care for the changes that are happening through the process.  So, through my research, I am  giving a natural herb blend menopausal support supplement a try and am hopeful for a positive result after reading the reviews,  understanding each herb independently and the possible benefits/negatives to the body.  The next few months will tell me if I need to take a different direction, but I will keep a positive outlook and in conjunction with the transdermal hormone creams that I use now, what do I have to lose.  I will let you know how it goes a couple of months into my herbal therapy.

What a subject to write about during the holidays, but HERE IT IS…out of my control, happening right now, and Merry Christmas Darla…ho ho  ho.  One of my fabulous clients shared “look at it this way…you will be able to wear white pants now”.  I had to laugh…she was right…love my clients.  As much as I motivate them, there are days that they motivate me without their even knowing it.  I say, I really enjoy my strong coffee in the morning right now too…especially after a night of visits from the” flash club”.  This is a part of my life that I have no control over, except for the introduction of herbal supplements, but that truly does not change that I am changing.  Acceptance of again, the New Modified Me, feels like it needs to repeat itself through my menopausal journey.  Technically, I will not be in true menopause until I have not had a cycle for a year…WHAT???  Ughhh…so, I can be out and about in my new WHITE PANTS and still be surprised…OH FA LA LA LA LA…JOY JOY JOY JOY. 

Honestly, it can feel unfair, but I have experienced all kinds of unfairness in my life, AND all circumstances have been used to grow me in a positive way to be a BETTER, STRONGER, and even MORE FAITHFUL person.  So, I will look upon this part of my life in the same way, and I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY.  In fact, I am HAPPY and have so much to be thankful for with my health, meeting the man I can truly say I LOVE and understand fully what that means and feels like, my children, family, friends, clients, and even the fact that I have a roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in…more than HAPPY…I am humbled and thankful.  So, when the overwhelming Life is Bigger than ME Menopausal Monster tries to creep into the crevices of my mind and body, I will try really hard to concentrate on all the things positive in my life.  This is in fact a journey that will require patience and TLC, and I know that some days will be more challenging than others, but I also realize that even this experience will enable me to help others, and through that, I will be blessed. 

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and Stay Healthy~

From My Family to Yours

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list.  If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding! 

 

Have a FABULOUS weekend and upcoming holiday week!

 

Dedicated to my Always Supportive Hubby, Don

Stay Healthy!

Darla;) 

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