Because stress can make the symptoms of the menopause worse, it is important to learn how to relax. Below are a few relaxation exercises. But first, be sure that you have a quiet location that is free of distractions and a comfortable body position.

• Deep breathing: Imagine a spot just below your navel. Breathe into that spot, filling your abdomen with air. Let the air fill you from the abdomen up, then let it out, like deflating a balloon. With every long, slow exhalation, you should feel more relaxed.
• Visualised breathing: Find a comfortable place where you can close your eyes, and combine slowed breathing with your imagination; picture relaxation entering your body as a cooling blue colour and tension leaving your body as an intense red colour. Breathe deeply, but in a natural rhythm. Visualise your breath coming into your nostrils, going into your lungs and expanding your chest and abdomen. Then, visualise your breath going out the same way. Continue breathing, but each time you inhale, imagine that you are breathing in more relaxation. Each time you exhale imagine that you are getting rid of a little more redness and tension.
• Progressive muscle relaxation: Switch your thoughts to yourself and your breathing. Take a few deep breaths, exhaling slowly. Mentally scan your body. Notice areas that feel tense or cramped. Quickly loosen up these areas. Let go of as much tension as you can. Rotate your head in a smooth, circular motion once or twice. (Stop any movements that cause pain!) Roll your shoulders forward and backward several times. Let all of your muscles completely relax. Recall a pleasant thought for a few seconds. Take another deep breath and exhale slowly.
• Relax to music: Combine relaxation exercises with your favourite music in the background. Select the type of music that lifts your mood (not heavy metal!) or that you find soothing or calming. Some people find it easier to relax while listening to specially designed relaxation audio tapes, which provide music and relaxation instructions.
• Mental imagery relaxation: Mental imagery relaxation, or guided imagery, is a proven form of focused relaxation that helps create harmony between the mind and body. Guided imagery coaches you in creating calm, peaceful images in your mind — a “mental escape.” Identify your self-talk, that is, what you are saying to yourself about what is going on with you. It is important to identify negative self-talk and develop healthy, positive self-talk. By making affirmations, you can counteract negative thoughts and emotions. Here are some positive statements you can practice:
  • “I am healthy, vital and strong”
  • “There is nothing in the world I cannot handle”
  • “The menopause is the beginning of a wonderful new phase in my life”

Whenever you feel stressed or tense practice the following breathing exercise to relax your body and mind:

Breathe deeply and relax. For 2 or 3 minutes each hour, take a short mental vacation.

You can engage in this exercise while you are standing in the checkout line at the supermarket or a few minutes during your lunch break. You can do this exercise at home or at work.

Take three deep breaths and relax. As you inhale, concentrate on calm and peaceful thoughts. You may think about relaxing by a mountain, by the ocean or comfortably in your favourite room at home.

As you exhale, concentrate on pushing any tension out of your lungs.

Focus on positive images in your life. Focus on laughter, love, excitement, and hope. If you can’t recall any, imagine feeling happy and excited and hopeful.

Keep breathing in and out in this pattern until you feel better. If you practice the exercise often, you will notice wonderful changes in your outlook and in other aspects of your life.

Stress is common to us all and a little of it is a positive thing because it spices up our lives. Too much stress, however, can be dangerous.

Research has shown that if it gets out of hand it can increase your chances of getting ill and overweight. Some of the symptoms of stress are obvious, for example headaches and mood swings, but others are not so easy to spot. Here are some of the most common health problems that can flare up as a result of stress overload:

Fat around the middle

If you’re a woman and you tend to carry your excess weight around the middle, it may be linked to stress. When you’re stressed your body releases hormones, including cortisol, to boost blood sugar and give you a shot of energy you need to deal with the stress. But if the cause of stress is not removed or managed, cortisol levels remain high and eventually your body adapts to this constant state of emergency by increasing your appetite for high energy foods and keeping a convenient fat store around your waist, near your vital organs where it can be most easily converted back into energy.

To help yourself, make exercise a priority because it will not just boost your metabolism and help you burn fat, it will also reduce the negative effects of the fat storing hormones cortisol and insulin.

Cutting down on sugar and refined carbohydrates is also recommended as these increase the likelihood of blood sugar problems that can lead to weight gain so eat plenty of whole grains, including vegetables, essential fats, good quality protein and whole grains instead.

To keep your blood sugar levels steady you should also aim to eat five or six small meals a day. Last but by no means least get plenty of quality sleep because there is a strong link between tiredness and high cortisol levels. (For a more detailed three month ‘lose your belly’ plan see my book ‘Fat around the Middle’).

Problem skin

According to research from the American Academy of Dermatology, stress triggers the production of androgens (male hormones), which increase the production of follicle clogging sebum and provide nourishment for bacteria responsible for acne. In addition, stress slows down wound healing and may make symptoms of skin conditions like acne, eczema, psoriasis and dermatitis worse.

To help yourself, get plenty of quality sleep, as lack of sleep is linked to acne breakouts. You should also eat regularly and cut down on caffeine as fasting and too many cups of coffee can slow down the natural exfoliation process.

Drinking more water is absolutely crucial as the skin is an organ of elimination and you can eliminate toxins through the kidneys rather than through the skin with the more water you drink. Nettle tea may also be able to help clear the lymphatic system. Taking the herb milk thistle is helpful for detoxification as it improves liver function.

Digestive troubles

Stress can be the cause of digestive upsets and it can make symptoms of irritable bowel worse. This is because during the body’s stress response powerful chemicals are released which make you want to empty your bowels quickly so you are lighter for action.

To help yourself, increase the amount of natural whole foods in your diet by eating more whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. Live organic bio yogurt, containing Lactobacillus acidophilus or acidophilus supplements, may help line your bowel with healthy stress resistant bacteria.

Acupuncture is often used to ease stress as it is thought to stimulate the release of natural painkillers that can help reduce the effects of stress and hypnotherapy may also be able to encourage regular bowel movements by boosting feelings of general well being.

A number of herbal remedies may also help including: garlic for diarrhoea and indigestion, ginger for flatulence and peppermint or chamomile tea for intestinal cramps. Goldenseal may also help normalise bowel function and Siberian ginseng is an adaptogen (balancing herb) that can help the body adapt to stress.

Constantly getting colds

If you seem to get every cold or bug that is going around your immunity might be impaired by stress. Research has shown that high levels of stress double your chances of getting ill when exposed to a cold virus; more research needs to be done but it is thought that stress hormones interfere with immune function in some way.

To help yourself, eat a healthy, whole food, if possible, organic diet that gives you plenty of immune boosting nutrients found in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oily fish and whole grains. You may also want to supplement with vitamin C (as ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) with bio flavonoids and some herbs (e.g. echinacea) that can boost your immunity and help you cope better with stress.

Twitchy legs

If you get pins and needles or cramps in your legs or an irresistible urge to move them you may be suffering from restless leg syndrome that is estimated to affect around one in twenty people regularly and tends to occur when you are tired or stressed. The exact cause is unknown but it may be due to a form of nerve irritation that is linked with a lack of iron, magnesium and folic acid in your diet.

To help yourself, increase your intake of foods rich in magnesium, (leafy green vegetables and whole grains) iron (parsley and pulses) and folic acid (vegetables and whole grains). Smoking and drinking alcohol seem to make restless legs worse so avoiding them will help. During the day it is also worthwhile doing exercises to stretch your leg muscles and a warm bath before bed with a few drops of rosemary essential oil will ease stress and prevent the likelihood of attacks during the night. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant and can be helpful in supplement form as magnesium malate.

Keep forgetting things

When you are feeling stressed or anxious the first thing to go is often your ability to concentrate and your memory. High levels of the stress hormone cortisol can limit the amount of glucose sent to the memory centre in your brain (hippocampus). Even short periods of intense stress can have a negative impact on brain function but the good news is that all the effects are reversible when cortisol levels are reduced.

To help yourself, keep your brain as active as possible because the more you stretch your brain the better it works. Keep your brain busy by reading demanding books or doing puzzles that require you to concentrate. You should also increase your intake of foods rich in thiamine (vitamin B1) such as brewer’s yeast, brown rice, whole grain bread and cereals. As well as thiamine other B vitamins and the minerals potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc are important for good memory function.

Eating more fish or supplementing with fish oils will certainly help as they contain phosphatidycholine that helps boost memory function. Finally, you may want to consider taking the herb ginkgo biloba which can improve blood flow to the brain and improve memory and concentration.

Loss of libido

In general stress dampens libido. This may be because higher levels of cortisol interfere with the healthy function of reproductive hormones and also because (most sex therapists agree that sex begins in the head) when you are feeling anxious and unsettled sex is probably the last thing on your mind.

To help yourself, deal with common place stresses by checking out my top ten stress busting tips. It’s also important to eat healthily. Vitamins A and B, essential fats and the minerals zinc and selenium are all crucial for libido and exercise helps too, by boosting your mood and your body image.

There are also numerous herbal treatments that are thought to help increase sexual desire and these include agnus castus, damiana, dong quai, siberian ginseng, for women, and saw palmetto and St John’s Wort for men. Finally, aromatherapists believe that certain scents can have an aphrodisiac effect. Jasmine, rose, sandalwood and vanilla can be uplifting and sensual if used in a bath or as a massage oil.

Note: If you want to take herbs make sure you are not taking any medication that can cause the herbs to be contraindicated.