Times like these ...
Oh yes! 
Got a chance to sneak away for some me time. Sitting in front of the falling sun tuning along to my favourite 70's cruise music. Reminiscing. Sooo relaxing ....
It’s been years and years since I’ve allowed myself time to r e a l l y, t r u l y, w h o l e h e a r t e d l y relax.
Why does this happen? As our reproductive hormones, and in particular estrogen, start to diminish before during and after menopause, it sends a biofeedback signal to the brain, which then starts scrambling for more estrogen from other parts of the body - the kidneys, the adrenal and thyroid glands. The lower reptilian brain, our survival brain, then responds as if the body is under stress. So it produces more cortisol, causing the heart rate to increase, resulting in heart palpitations. Night sweats can also accompany this. These are rarely dangerous, though it can be distressing to experience. And it's good to check with your doctor if you are concerned. When the higher brain releases stress hormones, and the adrenals are pumping more and more cortisol, it can prevent the body from returning to normal easily.
Key #1. BREATHING down into the belly. 20 breaths concentrating on a long outbreath settles me straight away. Nothing lowers Cortisol faster than breathing deeply. Key #2 - being still to bring me into presence Key #3 - keeping check of my emotions Key #4 - gentle and restorative yoga Key #5 - Supporting my body through good healthy nutrition Key #6 - Slow muscle building exercise and fun outdoors with friends and family Key #7 - Times like these that are key to supporting creativity and taking action from inspiration, not obligationStress is one of the number causes of relationship breakdown and we each have a responsibility to keep our cortisol levels in check, for the sake of LOVE. Do it for you, do it for your relationship. Do it for your family. Commit to at least one daily habit that you can implement easily and enjoy immediate benefits from.
I go into this and the solutions a lot at my Womantime events. Click here to register your interest for future events.
Intimacy Matters
Very early one morning in February I was interviewed by a beautiful couple, Nicola Foster and Jason Porthouse in the UK for their podcast, Intimacy Matters.
I think I am the most relaxed I've ever been in any interview here, having known Nicola before. I'd met Nicola, a Relationship therapist, while attending The Making Love Retreat some 8 years ago in Europe.
We cover a heap of territory from...
Touch is a force.
To approach the body with sensitivity and awareness is a rare thing and yet it’s what every ‘body’ is craving for.
Touch, with presence. It’s the most life-giving, life-saving resource we can offer to our loved ones and those around us.
Yet, in our society generally, the body just doesn’t receive enough safe, loving, respectful, non-intentional touch.
Touch is the first communication that we have in our world. The power of touch, and...
I have a Dream
2020. The year of crumbling, also the year of opening. Opening doors that were perhaps closed.
Intimacy is about opening doors. Doors that have been shut for too long. Doors that need a little prying open. Doors that need the hinges oiled with love and understanding, so they open more easily.
Never before has the human connection been more important than now. The heart, compassion, understanding, empathy, even more potently needed. We...
It's all going to be ok
This one. Me, 23, in Rockhampton in 1984.
A few months later my whole life was about to be turned upside down. I was having a heap of fun, had the best job ever. Art teacher at Rocky Girls Grammar. So good. Never really had any aspirations. Was just like a leaf floating along the river of life.
Times like these
It’s been years and years since I’ve allowed myself time to r e a l l y, t r u l y, w h o l e h e a r t e d l y relax.
Cortisol levels rising before, during and after menopause make anxiety a very real thing for many mid-life women. So delicate is a woman’s hormonal system it makes times like these a must for us to maintain balance.
This is becoming common knowledge now but when I was researching for our book, Tantric Sex and Menopause almost 5 years ago, no one was talking about it.
I'm No Hero
While others have ‘pivoted’ their businesses through this COVID time, or otherwise switched quickly to online (some are my dear friends and I commend them) I instead battened down the hatches.
Resonating with this?
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