How to Get into a Positive Mindset and Stop Fearing Menopause

You know your approaching menopause, perhaps you’ve already started to experience the first symptoms, and the perspective scares you. It’s normal. Your body will be going through major changes, and since you cannot avoid them, you feel that things are getting out of control.

Well, it is up to you if you let them. Sure, you cannot avoid menopause. You can learn all about it, though, and you can embrace it as a natural stage of life, with its goods and bads, pros and cons. Attitude is everything, and, in the following lives, we will militate for positivity.

Getting into a Positive Mindset

If you cannot change something, accept it and make the most of it! Fearing the inevitable never helps, and menopause is something you cannot avoid. In fact, it’s not that different from your first period. You can actually think of it as the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one.

Remember how the previous cycle began? You knew your period was going to start one day. Your mom prepared had told you all about it, and you had surely read or heard first period stories from your friends. They probably scared you, and when your own period started, it felt like the world was ending.
But didn’t everything turn out alright in the end. You got over the craze, learned to deal with the bleeding and the occasional pain, and learned to enjoy life even during your periods. You can do the same when it comes with menopause.

All you have to do is apply a simple, 3-step formula:

1. Learn All about it
2. Accept and Prepare
3. Embrace and Enjoy

Let’s see what each of these steps involves

How to Stop Fearing Menopause and Learn to Enjoy Life with It in 3 Steps

1. Learning All about Menopause

Menopause is not a disease but a normal stage in your life – the end of your menstrual period. You can be sure you’ve reached it when you have missed your period for twelve consecutive months. As they are aging, your ovaries’ reduce their functioning and produce less estrogen. The levels of other hormones decrease as well, and your body loses its ability to conceive.

The process usually begins after 45 years of age and can be slowed down. Each woman experiences it differently, according to her physical and emotional health. Some only realize they’ve reached menopause because their period stops. Others deal with a plethora of symptoms, such as:

● Hot flashes
● Night sweats
● Sleeping problems
● Memory loss
● Mood changes
● Vaginal dryness
● Decreased libido
● Weight gain
● Fatigue
● Joint pain

While menopause is impossible to avoid, its symptoms are easy to fight. If you learn all about them, you will know what to expect and how to react when they appear. That is what the second step is all about: learning to live with menopause and mitigating its symptoms.

2. Accepting Menopause and Preparing for It

Here are a few tips to help you prepare for menopause and deal with its symptoms:

● Find a good menopause practitioner to help you navigate this new period in your life. A great starting point is the search directory of the North American Menopause Society. It will help you identify a few specialists in your area. You can then find out more about them, compare their experience and reputation, and choose the ones you want to meet and work with.
● Evaluate your health and take measures to improve it. Many of the symptoms associated with menopause actually have other causes, like underlying conditions (chronic illnesses, stress, sleep disorders, hormonal imbalance), poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, etc. If you manage to solve these problems, chances are you’ll have no unpleasant symptoms to worry about.
● Take care of yourself. No matter your age, employment, and marital status, you should always try to look and feel at your best. Don’t hesitate to update your wardrobe, get your hair and nails done regularly, take care of your skin, stay hydrated, and exercise to keep your body toned and attractive. The better you feel in your own skin, the better you will feel around others, and the better they will feel around you.
● Deal with menopause symptoms as they appear. You may not experience any symptoms but if you do, they can be alleviated. Lifestyle changes and relaxation techniques work miracles. If they are not enough, your menopause specialist can help you with further treatment and advice. Also, there are many natural ways to boost libido, fight vaginal dryness, and avoid letting menopause ruin your relationship.
● Look after your bone health. Menopause brings about an inherent risk of osteoporosis, arthritis, and other bone disease. To lower the risks, make sure you get enough sun exposure, vitamin d, collagen, and minerals
● Do not neglect your breast health. Your breasts go through tremendous changes as you reach menopause. The last thing you want is saggy, sore breasts, full of cysts that need monitoring and, maybe, surgical excision. Stay alert for unusual symptoms and changes, and seek medical help when you notice that something is wrong.
● Join a menopause support community. When things get tough, it helps to be around and receive support from people who understand you and went through the same. You could have such people in your circle of friends or among family members. However, sometimes, it is easier to talk to strangers and ask for advice and support online. That is what menopause support communities offer, and you could benefit from joining one.

3. Enjoying Life at Menopause

After years of work, nurturing relationships, and going through tremendous changes, under the pressure of another major change, you may feel tempted to isolate yourself and give up things and activities that you used to enjoy. Don’t!
Now is the best time to live life to its fullest. You have no periods to prevent you from swimming in the sea, bathing in the sun, and having sex, no reason not to wear white skirts or trousers, no need to keep carrying around tampons, and no menstrual pain to keep you from dancing or force you to take painkillers.

You have no reason not to enjoy life, and you should. You are beautiful, both on the inside and on the outside. You are amazing, and you should not let anyone or anything make you feel less than that. Menopause is just a phase, and you’ve surely been through worst phases, so you have nothing to fear!
If others could go through it, you can, too. You can do it the hard way, with depression and anxiety, isolating yourself from the world and your loved and focusing on symptoms that you may never develop. However, I suggest you do it the nice and easy way, being the best you can be, enjoying every minute that goes by, and taking every challenge as an opportunity to prove that nothing brings you down! You’ve got this, girl!

Dani Fogel. is a Communication Coordinator at Brandable, based in Los Angeles, CA. She works on the Queen V brand within the company’s Digital and Ecommerce department.