How Reiki Supported My Clients in Their Pre-Menopause/Menopause Stages
Menopause stage is a natural part of a woman’s life. When I was young, and heard that menopause is the time we would stop having periods, I thought it was the best news ever! I was looking forward to it big time. I think back to the time when I had my first period. Pads were the preferred best friend choice for most women. O.B. was the only mainstream brand that supplied tampons on the store shelves, remember the ones with no applicator? Then came Always and Playtex’s tampons with applicators and the likes of them before the plastic free movement brought introduced us to the Diva cup, reusable pads, other moon cups and the god-send period panties. Finally, enough tools to prevent anymore messy periods! And then of course there’s a whirl of PMS that most women had to deal with, headaches, migraines, cramps and bloating. Honestly, when I was young and first learn about menopause, I thought it was the best news ever! No more periods? There’s really an end to it all?
You can easily think it’s going to be good too. No more uncomfortable monthly periods. No more hassles. But you can never really say that because one day you find yourself already at that stage. You may end up having mixed feelings when you’re already at the pre-menopausal stage and start to panic.
Reaching the end of your reproductive years and the finality of that can be a bit unnerving. You need to accept you are at the door of your twilight years. For some the fact can be easily accepted but a number can also find this as a low point in their life.
As as I’m in my late 30’s, almost reaching my 40’s, and being one of the thousands of women who’ve had PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome), I’ve come to appreciate periods and yearned for them to come because not going through that cycle felt like my body was completely off, blocked yet hollow at the same time. There were times that I didn’t have for three, and once seven months. I felt oddly less womanly. And now, having focused on healing that part of myself, and even more so for the last two years, through Reiki to relieve myself of stress and support my body’s functions, emotional energy healing to assist with the layers of repressed emotions tied to my hormonal disruptions, a more nutrient dense diet along with supplements to aid my body, sleeping earlier so my body can rest better, I’d like to continue keeping my hormonal levels in check and nourish my body so that it can be in its most optimal state.
One of my focuses now is to prepare my body better in hopes of having a smoother time during menopause when it hits. Luckily, aside from my mom, aunts and friends who have experienced menopause, I’ve also been able to support many clients who have had a wild time during this particular phase in their lives and have seen firsthand how helpful Reiki is during their perimenopausal and menopause stages. And therefore I hope to support more clients having a hard time during this phase in their life.
Menopause stage kicks in anywhere between ages 45 and 55, and it’s bound to happen for all women. It might seem far away until it comes and nobody is really completely prepared for it so I thought I’d share more about how we can better prepare ourselves for menopause and for those already on menopause, how they can better cope with it as menopause can last on average seven years, but it could go up to 14 years. Not only are their physical adjustments to be made to adapt better to our transitioning body, but it can very much impact our emotional and mental health too.
The Psychological Symptoms
Not all women are the same. Some may not feel the symptoms as badly. Some not at all. But unfortunately, you can experience severe symptoms.
With menopause stage comes some psychological symptoms. Hormonal imbalances during menopause can cause you to feel moody or irritable. You easily get annoyed and the people around you are noticing. The fluctuations in estrogen levels are causing havoc with your serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters and all of a sudden you just can’t regulate your mood the way you used to.
All of a sudden it’s not only the “Monday Blues” you are experiencing. Even the weekends feel so uneventful and depressing. You start to bury yourself in anxiety and depression even without knowing it. The declining estrogen levels caused by menopause are changing your brain’s chemistry. At this point, if you have a history of depression you are especially prone to experience it again.
And you can’t seem to concentrate. The memory and concentration difficulties, often described as “brain fog” makes you feel even more devastated with yourself. Menopause is affecting the way you think and even how you recall that you don’t even feel like yourself anymore.
You feel like you cannot do things you used to do. The decline in estrogen levels can lead to a decrease in cognitive function and even memory loss! Unfortunately, many women experience difficulty remembering even the most basic conversations.
The Physical Symptoms
It’s not just how you think. Menopause stage can be felt in your body too. You can’t even catch a break with a good night’s sleep. Again the changes in the hormones are the culprit. It is affecting your body’s temperature regulation system, and you finally know what hot flashes and night sweats are all about as it disturbs your sleep. It’s not helping your mood swings. Definitely not helping with your anxiety.
The sudden feelings of intense body heat that causes sweating and discomfort may come several times a day, and it can easily get in the way of your day-to-day life. The days are not as breezy and easy as they used to be.
And for many women, it also changes how they enjoy sex. The reduced levels of estrogen cause a decrease in vaginal lubrication and elasticity. And with that, you just do not feel like doing it like you used to. Especially if the sexual intercourse can become painful.
It’s that time of your life when your kids already have their own lives. Some may even be old enough to leave home. It’s about time to travel and have your much-needed time but then comes the headaches, joint, and muscle pain.
Common Symptoms of Menopause:
According to the NHS, “Common symptoms of the menopause include:
- anxiety
- changes in mood – such as low mood or irritability
- changes in skin conditions, including dryness or increase in oiliness and onset of adult acne
- difficulty sleeping – this may make you feel tired and irritable during the day
- discomfort during sex
- feelings of loss of self
- hair loss or thinning
- headaches or migraines
- hot flushes – short, sudden feelings of heat, usually in the face, neck and chest, which can make your skin red and sweaty
- increase in facial hair
- joint stiffness, aches and pains
- loss of self-confidence
- night sweats – hot flushes that occur at night
- palpitations – heartbeats that suddenly become more noticeable
- problems with memory, concentration and ‘brain fog’
- recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), such as cystitis
- reduced sex drive (libido)
- tinnitus
- vaginal dryness and pain
Menopause stage can also increase your risk of developing certain other problems, such as weak bones (osteoporosis) or cardiac disease.”
How to Help Yourself
Remember that menopause stage is not a disease and it’s not the end of the world. It lasts for a few years and there are more and more tools to help you cope with it. Perspective can do a lot to how you go through this natural transition. As this happens a lot of things can also be transitioning in your life and you just need to find joy in the journey.
These psychological and physical effects of menopause stage can be challenging to manage, but there are ways to alleviate them. Engage in regular exercise. Many women in their 50’s and 60’s have told me how much weighlifting has helped them during menopause. Find a physical activity you enjoy doing and try healthier, nutrient-dense food options. These will do wonders in stabilizing mood and decreasing anxiety and depression.
You can also turn to your family for support as well as friends or even a therapist of your choice. And if you are experiencing severe symptoms you can even consider hormone replacement therapy or other prescription medications as long as it is recommended by a healthcare professional. You can also turn to yoga, meditation, and different complimentary alternative healing approaches such as Reiki, or Intuitive Energy Healing for more severe emotionally charged issues.
How Reiki Can Help
With the right care and management, women can navigate this transition such as going through pre-menopause or menopause with ease and maintain their mental health and emotional well-being. It really is about finding what works for you and if you haven’t tried a Reiki session yet, then it can do wonders for you.
A research study “The use of complementary and alternative medicines among a sample of Canadian menopausal-aged women” published on PubMed involving 432 Canadian menopausal aged women who used CAM (complementary alternative medicine) therapies during menopause shared the following results: “Ninety-one percent of women reported trying CAM therapies for their symptoms. Women reported using an average of five kinds of CAM therapies. The most common treatments were vitamins (61.5%), relaxation techniques (57.0%), yoga/meditation (37.6%), soy products (37.4%), and prayer (35.7%). The most beneficial CAM therapies reported were prayer/spiritual healing, relaxation techniques, counseling/therapy, and therapeutic touch/Reiki.”
Reiki, is a safe holistic healing technique. It can help calm your restless mind. With that, you can claim back better concentration and think better for yourself, your career, or your family. You can finally sleep, or get better quality sleep. Just being in the moment you are able to find your center and find joy in your new journey.
Reiki as it balances your energy pathways alleviates your physical symptoms as well. Such symptoms as hot flashes, joint pains, and night sweats. By calming your mind and alleviating physical symptoms you will be able to sleep better and longer.
You can do away with such feelings of fatigue and an overall lack of energy. By harmonizing the energetic pathways in your body, Reiki healing sessions can help boost your energy levels and support your overall health.
For those experiencing lots of emotional difficulty, due to menopause stage, or perhaps paired with common and/or naturally occurring experiences in life at the time such as loss and grief of a loved one, challenges in a relationship or marital issues, needing to care more for a family member with special needs, disability, chronic health issue, or the like, Intuitive Healing may be a more supportive tool for you as it’s a type of advanced Reiki that focuses largely of emotional healing and emotional release.
I’ve had tons of clients telling me how much calmer, centered and balanced they felt after their Reiki sessions as they were experiencing menopausal symptoms, and how much Reiki had helped over time. Some shared they felt less of the hot flushes so they didn’t have as much trouble sleeping anymore at night and less night sweats, which allowed them to have much more energy and feeling a ton more comfortable compared to their similar aged friends who were also going through menopause.
As the effects of menopause can equate to day-to-day struggles, and significantly impacts your work, relationships, and quality of life you will need to step up. Love yourself even better and recognize and address your struggles. In the process, you may even find new passions and new meanings in life, a beginning of a new, exciting and fulfilling adventure.
