The Menopause

Taboo I hear you say, hot flashes that is. I never really looked at the menopause as a taboo subject, but it is. Men know it, and so went my conversation this morning with a young male business owner in town, who described it so.

It seems to me that a lot of things women do are taboo.

Why do we feel awkward talking about the normal cycles of life? the natural ageing process? Our breasts-I said it- that feed our children and have done since the beginning of time? Exposing our legs unless perfectly shaven?

When we lived in costa Rica, our gardener who was a man in his 60’s asked me if I was breast feeding our youngest daughter- he used the word nipple multiple times without hesitation- la teta he would say, it’s better!

And if he saw me with a bottle of milk, he would ask again about la teta!  

He understood how difficult breast feeding could be and told me stories of women who ran-out of milk after three months and instead used home-made rice milk to feed their child. He seemed to know more about breast feeding than I did!

I digress.

Why is it that these normal bodily functions should convey embarrassment?

It’s like talking about mental illness or other ailments we have, where we risk sounding like a hypochondriac in front of other ‘strong’ men and women.

The menopause, like every stage of a women’s life, is to be celebrated, no matter how difficult. It’s a time to seek companionship from your fellow women, a time to discuss the changing body, and for some, the changing mind.

It’s a time to learn about something you may know little about.

Let’s talk about the menopause!

Over the next few months as the temperature hopefully rises, I will be writing about myths around HRT, why strength training is so important and how to keep healthy and happy with diet and mindfulness.

If you want to learn more, Positive Wellbeing NI will be running another “ Big Pause” conference in September, so look out for that.

Here’s to Hot women everywhere!