Menopause

Our brains and how we think literally begin to change at perimenopause. Like the rising heat in our bodies, our brains also become fired up! Sparked by the hormonal fluctuations that are typical during the menopausal transition, a switch goes on that signals change in our brain - specifically, the region associated with enhanced intuition. How this will affect us depends largely upon how willing we are to make the changes in our lives that our hormones are urging us to make over the 10+ years or so of perimenopause.

Western culture leads us to believe that our mood swings are simply the result of raging hormones and do not have anything tangible to do with our lives, yet there is solid evidence that repeated episodes of stress are actually behind many of the hormonal changes in the brain and body. Unresolved emotional stress can aggravate a perimenopausal hormone imbalance.

As a woman makes the transition to this second phase of her life, she might find herself in a struggle not only with her own aversion to conflict and confrontation, but also with society's view of how women "should" be. The body's inner wisdom gets its last, best chance of breaking through culturally erected barriers, while shining a light on aspects of a woman's life that need work. To resolve the situation, it's up to the individual woman to meet her body's wisdom halfway.

Until midlife, it is characteristic for a woman's energies to be focused on caring for others. She is encouraged to do so, in part, by the hormones that drive her menstrual cycles, the hormones that foster her instincts for nurturing, her devotion to relationships and harmony within her world. As a woman enters the age of menopause, she steps out of the primarily child-bearing, caretaking role that was hormonally scripted for her. This is not to say that the postmenopausal woman is no longer an effective nurturer. Rather, she becomes freer to choose where she will direct her creative energies. Some women funnel this heightened energy into new businesses and new careers. Some discover and cultivate artistic talents they never knew they had.

I love the Chinese paradigm for midlife and aging. To the Chinese, this is the time when a woman truly comes into her own. When the distractions of the householding, childbearing, and child-rearing years wind down and her inner beauty emerges. A mature woman is a work of art, crafted by her experiences and her own inner resources. She now refines her wisdom and finds traditional or inventive ways to make it useful in the world. Far from ceasing to grow, she embarks on a new path of self-realization.

In the Chinese perspective, menopause is a time for celebration in a woman's life, when she is possessed of wisdom and graceful beauty. Aging does not have to be a downhill slide. This is the time to energize and revitalize yourself - to re-fashion your purpose in life.

The truth is, no one need be a helpless victim to menopause. With guidance, safe herbal support, and the right plan, every woman can turn menopause into an empowering experience of rejuvenation. It's Your Time!

Valerie Martinez is a nutritional health consultant who (together with her business partner Carine Horner -- a holistic nutritionist), is dedicated to helping women just like you learn how to achieve relief from their menopausal symptoms naturally and safely vs. the outdated traditional approach of HRT (hormone replacement therapy). To learn more about effective, SAFE, all-natural menopause symptom relief, visit our website at http://www.menopauserelieftoday.com/ and pick up your FREE Report.

View the original article here