Mindfulness and Menopause

[KathleenH]

Hi all

Bit of background before I start - I went through the menopause as I turned 30 and have been on HRT since then (I'm now 41).

Over the last year and a half my practice encountered a huge block, my mind would not settle, I had terrible anxiety and physical uneasiness. This seemed to come out of nowhere, I was doing well with my practice and was really enjoying it but for some reason every time I sat to meditate it was as though a wall had gone up, my brain was so foggy and I couldn't concentrate, even on simple tasks.

I also had other symptoms, terrible night sweats, hot flushes, pain in my chest and several others. I felt as though I was going through the menopause again. I went to my doctor who was very helpful and told me to get a fan but luckily I had a health assessment booked with my medical insurer. I mentioned it to the consultant to sent me to a specialist and it turned out my HRT was too low and my body could no longer keep the symptoms at bay. I'm now on a higher dose and feeling fantastic, the brain fog has cleared and amazingly my mindfulness blockage has cleared.

It had never occurred to me that my low hormones could also be causing my monkey brain.

Has anyone else encountered this? Have any of you had similar troubles with the menopause and difficulties in meditating?

Kathleen

[monkey]

Hi Kathleen. That's really interesting. I think the more I practice the more I realise that you can't really separate mind and body - whatever's going on in the mind comes out in the body and vice versa. I haven't yet had my menopause but I find that the week before my period my brain is just scattered, extremely difficult to find even a brief respite, monkey mind overload because of PMT. I am convinced everything is wrong wrong wrong, I can't get my head straight, I know that something terrible is happening, I just can't work out what it is, everything is unbearable. The day I get my period it's gone, mind clear, back to normal. I track dates now so that I am aware when it's coming and I can just be kind to myself (and others!) and remind myself about what it is. So I can well believe that hormones and other physical processes hugely influence your state of mind, yes!

[KathleenH]

Hormones are funny things, I was amazed at how clear I felt once the HRT kicked in.

It's good to be back