Read an Excerpt

Help I'm Menopausal

- A Spiritual Journey for Grown Up Women

Balboa Press

THE INTUITIVE APPROACH

Menopause - what is it good for?

"The reason for most of the shadows in life, is that we ourselves are blocking the sun!"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

As far as I know menopause comes in as many versions, as there are women. I have met women, who have been going through menopause for 10 years or more with violent fluctuations, and I have met women who have gotten through it easily - one in particualr with only a nights worth of hot flashes, and that was it!

The early signs of menopause are often irregular or missing periods, hot flashes and heat waves, tiredness, a change in sleep patterns and for some headaches similar to migraine. Apart from that many experience mood changes, becoming more vulnerable, emotionally volatile and irritable. All of which manifest to variying degrees.

What is important for you to know is, that you will need to be there for yourself more than before, to be considerate about the fact that your strength, needs and energy will change, and to know that there are many ways to lessen the discomforts through healthy living, natural medicine, osteopathy, massage, reflexology, acupuncture and more (see the bibliography in the back of the book).

And finally It Is Important to know that menopause can be used in a positive way, as a means to incredible personal growth, and a life balanced by your needs, your potential and your dreams.

It is important that you take yourself seriously, and accept that you no longer will be comfortable mulitasking at 80 m/ ph. Your body, psyche and energy system are changing in such a way, that you will need more time for peace and quiet, contemplation, reflection and pleasure. You will find, that when you take the time for yourself, your thoughts, and your emotions, you will create a much greater satisfaction and presence, both when it comes to your inner life, and the people you surround yourself with.

Hurry slowly

"Such a wonderful life I have had. I only wish I had seen it earlier!"

Colette

The other day I was standing in line at the supermarket with a cart loaded with groceries. At the checkout next to me were two elderly people about 75-80 years of age, both with walkers and a basket with a few groceries. Everybody got in line behind them, which made perfect sense!

When I was done, I realised, that I had loaded all of my groceries onto the checkout station, moved them through the cash register, loaded them back into the cart and payed before the two elderly people were finished with theirs, and I realised that I had been very effective WITHOUT feeling hounded, hurried or stressed out. A lot of women going through menopause go through a phase, where they become aware of the fact, that things are beginning to take more time, and we no longer have room for as much at a time.

It creeps up on you - the change of pace - and it is very common, that in menopause we become aware in earnest of how hard it will be for us to manage the same, to remember everything, to multitask without straining ourselves. When I noticed the two elderly people, I thought about how natural it was, that they were slow. Because they are "old", and we know that old people are slower.

At the same time I thought about how I myself are consciously slowing down, and have arrived at a much more pleasant place, than I have been in years. To me, as to all others, it crept up on me - the feeling of not being able to accomplish as much as before, and the challenge in accepting things as they are.

I often see that it can be a difficult phase for women to go through. We probably expect, that now that the children are more or less independent, everything should be easier, and we should be able to take care of everything using only the littlefinger of our left hand, and have much more time to ourselves. Instead many realise, that everything actually takes a lot more time, that we need a lot more breaks and time to think, and that our strength has diminished. And if we don't take this seriously it will backfire.

To some comes a period of emptiness, sadness and maybe depression, and to others the change will be more graduate and easy. You will be doing yourself a huge favour by realising right know, that you actually have reached the perfect time in you life, to adjust your pace to fit you and who you are. When you accept, that as everything and everyone change, you will change, it will be a positive experience and lovely to settle into a new pace.

A few years ago a movement with the credo "Hurry Slowly" began, and it has been of great benefit to people of all ages. An awareness of the fact that we, in our culture, have been running so fast, that we haven't been able to be present, has coincided with the acceptance of the fact, that things have been moving to fast, resulting in the plague of our time: Stress.

I often notice that women have led lives, where they had to keep track of everything and everyone, and have been so used to planning and looking ahead, that they can hardly stand being fully present in the now and not invested in what will happen in the near future. It is a marvellous process to learn to relate to what is, and at the same time greet the future without fear. You will all of a sudden be given the opportunity to do more of what you want to do, and let some of your obligations wait untill you choose to deal with them. You will get time off and you will be set FREE!

Our physical changes help us to understand that we no longer need to be in such a hurry. For many it will backfire, if they don't listen to that need, and they will experience a worsening of "the symptomes", if they do not slow their pace.

Make a habit of finding quiet time for contemplation and reflection, for sensing and detecting where you are at, and how you feel, what you want, what makes you happy and content. Make sure that everyday you find small oases of quiet, and sit down from time to time and allow yourself to watch the world around you, without having to intervene, control, and evaluate what is happening.

When you notice you hurrying yourself, make sure to stop and do things slower and more focused - and you will see, that you get almost the same amount done and with much more pleasure.

A cycle of life has ended and a new is set to begin. Until now you have lived your life and contributed in one way - and now is the time to find a slightly different way - one that suits you and the person you have become.

Energy

"If everything I see is based on what I already know, How can I ever see something new?

If I never see anything new, how can I change? How can I grow?"

William Arntz

Everything is energy and vibrations - down to the smallest cell, the smallest molecule. The density of matter depends on the speed of the vibrations. So the fact that we can grab the edge of a table, a chair, a body, and not our energy system, only means that the dense matter of the table, chair and body vibrates at a lower frequency than our energy system. The higher the frequency, the less dense the matter. This is a well established fact of physics - and for those of us who don't understand it, it is easier to accept it as a mere fact, a sort of framework for understanding to be used in making sense of things.

On the surface of our physical bodies you find various energetic bodies, that vibrate with an ever higher frequency, as the distance to our physical bodies increases, and therefore can't be detected with the naked eye. People with an active third eye, and people with well developed clairsentience can see and sense some of these bodies.

Everybody can see the body of energy closest to the physical body, if they put in a bit of time and effort. Try watching a person sitting in front of a white wall. Do not blink but just watch the outline of the person, and soon you will notice a small, white and glowing edge surrounding the body and head of the person. This is the inner body of energy.

When I refer to the energy system with regards to the changes women go through in menopause, I am primarily referring to our "energetic spine", which is connected to the 7 energy centres, which we have a greater opportunity of working with differently at this time of our lives. Another word for energy centre is chakra, and energy system is also known as chakra system. The knowledge we have of the chakra system and the chakras, come from eastern wisdom, but to make things a bit more easily digested, I will make do with the words energy system and energy centre.

Imagine that along the vertical line of your body 7 energy centres are placed - tiny ventilators - producing energy for our entire physique and psyche. They serve as energy conductors, making sure that everything is working for us.

When the energy centres are over- or understimulated they create imbalances within us. These imbalances will manifest differently, depending on which energy centre is affected. When you learn to meditate on your energy centres, you will find that you become calmer and more balanced, and will experience fewer symptoms relating to your menopause.

Have you ever tried standing in front of a crowd of strangers and suddenly become overwhelmed by a huge hot flash? I have! The first few times I experienced this, I almost panicked. I had all kinds of realistic and unrealistic thoughts about, what my course participants thought about me. Did they think I was nervous? Did they find it unappetizing? Would I be able to change in the interval, and would they notice? All kinds of assumptions raced around my mind.

At one point I was teaching a group of course participants in Greenland, and I had one of the most violent hot flashes, I can remember. I noticed growing hot and how the sweat poured from my head. People started to get uneasy, giving each other looks, some giggled, others looked worried. Finally a course participant gently asked if I felt ill.

When I told them, that I was having hot flashes, the smiles broke out. Several had even considered if I needed first aid, since I had been almost purple. Since then I always start my introduction by stating my age and explaining, that I am going through menopause, and that the participants shouldn't think that I am about to keel over, if I suddenly turn purple and resemble a furnace about to overheat. It always creates a nice and cheerful mood, I relax - and I have actually noticed, that I can almost ignore a hot flash, because I am more relaxed about it. And if I should feel stressed and out of balance, a quick meditation on the energy centres usually helps.

Remind yourself, that you are, as you are - and you are exactly where you are supposed to be in life. So you might as well embrace what follows, and make the best of it. After all, it is just a phase!

The energy system (Chakra system)

I am not going to give a lengthy, scientific explanation of our energy system, but just to be able to understand the changes experienced by women going through menopause, it is useful to know a little bit about the structure and function of the energy centres.

Picture your spine as an energy conductor - a sort of antenna for the energy - that makes it easier to visualize the energy centres. The physical placement of the energy centres more or less follows our physical spine. The 7 centres are placed as small funnels protruding the front of our body, while narrowing through the body and connecting to the spine with a tiny "stem", all the way from the bottom of our spine to the top of our heads. Don't worry if it is difficult to imagine.

When later on you are introduced to the meditations about activating and balancing the energy centres, you will see that it is not so difficult to visualize and sense the energy centres, and it will bring more peace, clarity and positive energy to your daily life.

Each energy centre corresponds to a specific colour, vibrating at the same frequency as the centre*. It is helpful to meditate on the colours, when later on you are going to open Your Inner Core (se chapter on "Meditation on the Energy Centres").

I am going to give you a short introduction to the energy system, and if you want to know more about how the different centres give you energy, and which parts of you they are linked to, you can read the appendix: "A bit more about the energy system" at the back of the book. You can also delve into the bibliography, which you will also find at the back of the book.

The energy centres (The chakras)

As mentioned before, we operate with 7 energy centres, and each centre has its own task relating to our body and psyche, and a specific correlation to physical organs, psychological balances and imbalances, strengths and weaknesses and the relationship between ourselves and our surroundings in general.

When we women approach menopause, a change in the distribution of energy through the energy system occurs. In our younger years the energy is focused around the lower centres: The root, spleen and solar plexus centres. This is logical since these 3 centres are connected to our more "grounded" and earthly relationships and skills.

Because we in our younger years are involved in creating a foundation with regards to family, our social and emotional relations and the expression of our ego and individuality, there will be a larger need for energy in these areas. This occurs quite naturally for most people, because through our 20's and 30's we are involved in affirming our position in life financially, with regards to where we live, we are creating our own family, forming our own friendships, and not least establishing our place in the labour market in whichever career we have chosen.

I have noticed, that whether we are career women, homemakers, unemployed or happy or sad with our lives, the energy will move upwards around menopause putting more emphasis on the heart, throat and brow centres, and it is precisely these energy fields we associate with the sixth sense - the inner core - and the great wisdom of the universe. From these upper centres the energy flows to the part of us we call intution. With the energy flowing more forcefully from the upper centres, we have an increased opportunity to let go of our old baggage, and rediscover our dreams at this point in our lives. For many of us this coincides with the fact that we already have established ourselves with regards to housing, family and career, which means that we are also ready both psychologically and timewise to bring it to the next level.

As mentioned our energetic spine is composed of 7 energy centres (chakras) placed throughout the body as shown in the illustration below.

And what does that have to do with menopause?

Maybe you are now thinking: That is all well and good, but where is she going with this? Which I perfectly understand. All of this is ancient eastern wisdom, and what good does that do us? Well - we need it in combination with all that we know here in the west.

It is no coincidence that so many alternative forms of treatment work with energy centres (chakras), meridians and energy patterns. It is an old science which relate to our relationship with the physical body. Our kind of science is invaluable once the problem is already there, and we are ill, but eastern thinking is invaluable in prevention and development. So why not combine the two?

When women approach menopause, the focal point of the energy moves from the lower energy centres to the upper energy centres. This means that the lower centres (root, spleen and solar plexus) no longer need as much energy any more, because the base - the foundation - has been laid for us earlier in life. Instead we have increased energy in the upper centres (the heart, throat and brow centres), which means we have easier access to inner peace, access to Our Inner Core and therefore access to our intuitive self.

It also means that we are at a time in our lives, in which we energetically and psychologically have greater opportunity for realising any potential lying hidden and forgotten in our system.

I have not seen the same overall change in the energy patterns in men, and I imagine it has something to do with the fact, that men traditionally have been less tied to the home and the children than women, so the changes arising from children leaving home are less intense for most men. At the same time many middleaged men are at a high point in their careers, which means that they still have a lot of emphasis on the lower chakras. Finally, men and women generally react differently to their "midlife crises" not only physically but mentally.

It is important to understand, that balance comes from a harmonious flow through all the energy centres, so it remains important to bring energy to the lower centres during the meditation, especially the root centre, which is the energy centre that creates and maintains our sense of grounding and foothold in our everyday lives.

We can do a lot to ease the physical discomfort related to menopause, just by working with the energetic and psychological factors of it. But some women still experience such a loss of quality of life, that they need traditional medicine to be able to lead a useful life. And that is as it should be! But it would be a shame not to try the things that can be done without sideeffects, would it not?

---

Excerpted from Help I'm Menopausal by Inge Hajslund. Copyright © 2016 Inge Hajslund. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---