Two years ago, whilst I was still working in London and a busy world of finance and stockbroking, I started suffering with menopausal and mental health issues. Unreasonable deadlines at #work, #sleepless nights and a busy family led to a #breakdown. What I didn’t realise then, was that I was also suffering with hormonal imbalance! But now – I’m not so sure if that would help much either.

So, I left my high-powered job, unsuccessfully tried antidepressants or the medical route for nervous breakdown, which helped to an extent but it didn’t treat the cause. I stopped it. I spent a lot of time walking in the nature, did many known yogic techniques like #pranayama (breath awareness) #practice and #meditation. I #persevered in my own #remedy. Practicing #yoga, family #unity, mindfulness, #detachment and acceptance helped and still helps a lot. And I keep doing it and keep advocating it. Practices that promote mental state and focus like ANB (alternative nostril breathing) or Nadi Shodhana help.

Grounding and more Earth based flows and asanas help overall whereas menstrual Mula #bandha (yogic #pelvic floor with #breath #control) helps with #erratic #periods and bleeding. #Cooling #breaths are the first port of call for management of #hot #flushes. But also herbs Red Clover and Black Cohosh are known to help with hot flushes too, I have only tried the first one and found it calming the hot flushes and reducing the intensity. Meditation and Yoga #Nidra – extremely helpful with exhaustion as well as restorative yoga. #Pawanmuktasana (especially with counting) and other asanas help with forgetfulness and absent mindedness. But this is not an exhaustive list. As it isn’t an exhaustive list of all the symptoms.

I have also tried changing my #diet – #nutritionists have a lot to say about menopause. And practising all of this whilst at the same looking after a busy family and running a yoga business isn’t very easy. We are not always on a yoga retreat.

Few weeks ago I was running a yoga retreat – and it happened to be with my family – and we all felt extremely relaxed and enjoyed it immensely. The blessing for me was getting everyone in meditation and to be silent for five minutes (calm and silent children- this doesn’t happen every day!) Oh, every mum knows how this can be blissful! And this is yoga! Beautiful hugs from your children after the meditation, and all the time, playing around in the pool, spending time together. An utter bliss (for me this is #enlightenment)! But we all came back and my busy life took over.

So, what do I do now? If I’m going to go down the natural route, this may be a difficult and very long road ahead! Reducing stress with a busy lifestyle and family is difficult enough – I know it! Reducing stress whilst going through menopause is even harder! And am I prepared to lose my sanity just because I (or pretty much everyone reading this) don’t know enough about HRT!

Next chapter, HRT pros and cons (and perhaps my decision)???

If you have any useful suggestions on battling the symptoms please post them or message me! The journey is one – your life is one! No point in wasting it battling the symptoms, enjoy your life fully!