Menopause Awareness Month is all about heart health this year, and you’ll find loads of great advice about exercise from @feelgoodwithlavina and from @sampalmermidlifemakeover amongst many others. You should definitely move in a way that feels good. Often.
Food is key for heart health too, eat more nourishing deliciousness! Add in more dark green leaves, linseeds and berries too. You can find more great advice from @karen.newby.nutritionist and @menopause.nutritionist amongst many others.
But at perimenopause you are being called to fall back in love with yourself, to let go of the endless striving and love your vulnerability, your frailty and humanness and through this, come to an authentic, grounded, less exhausting way of being.
My offering for menopause awareness month is four embodied, heart-based practices for perimenopause self-love, to explore and expand your capacity for love. No matter what other challenges you’re facing.
I’ll be sharing one practice each weekend in October, and placing them here so you can use them without the noisiness of social media. Do pop back as the month goes on and more practices are added.
Embodied Gratitude Practice
Heart-Womb practice
A gentle, adaptive practice to bring vibrancy, nourish your creative fire and connect with your body. It’s based on a Womb Yoga practice taught by @umadinsmoretuli and a Bau Mai meridian practice from Shiatsu which I learned from Suzanne yates at WellMother.
Hand-heart practice
Designed to bring some mindful appreciation to the body, this practice brings the energy of the heart into the hands and brings love to the body. By practicing mindful appreciation of the body we can develop a deeper connection and navigate this transition with more grace and self-compassion.
Breast and belly massage practice
Our breasts often seem to belogng to other people, to a child, or partner, to the casual gaze and they’re often lost to ourselves.
Today’s practice is a reclamation.
It’s resting on the possibility that you could bring some love to your breasts, that they could be organs of love and pleasure for yourself.
It’s a short practice to connect bring love for yourself through the breasts and the belly.
You can do it over clothes (ditch the bra though!) or on the skin with oil or lotion. The guideline is to do it in a way that feels safe, comfortable and pleasurable for you.
If these have been helpful please do share them with your friends, and you’re looking for more ways to connect with yourself, there’s a treasure trove at your fingertips here.
