I have been studying and learning about how Yoga can help support those of us who are in peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause, with Judith Hanson Lasater, Lizzie Lasater, and Mary Richards, and it has been fascinating.

I have also started reading this book – “The Menopause Brain” by Lisa Mosconi. Lisa is a world-renowned neuroscientist, and has spent over 20 years researching the impact of menopause on women’s brain health. 

Hormones change a lot during menopause…well that might be an understatement! Did you also know how hormones affect your brain? Lisa talks about research into how changes in womens hormones (specifically the decline in estrogen) during menopause could be linked to Alzheimer’s disease. It is known that worldwide, 60 – 70% of people with Alzheimer’s disease are women. 

Lisa Mosconi also did an excellent TEDx talk, and I found it really informative…I recommend you check it out.  Here’s the link for you

The funny (not-funny) thing about peri-menopause is that we might not know we are in it. And it’s only with retrospect (12 months without a menstrual period) that you can officially say you are in menopause. 
The first sentence of Lisa’s book is:
“Between the ages of thirty and sixty, many women will wake up one morning and wonder what hit them.”

Maybe you are thinking: I’m waaay off getting to peri-menopause, I’ve nothing to learn about here. But maybe you are experiencing painful periods, heavy periods, irregular periods, PMS, endometriosis, menstrual migraines, anxiety or depression due to hormonal changes in your cycle. Maybe you know your stress levels are high, which means your cortisol levels are high, which can affect your estrogen levels.

 The way I see it, knowledge is power. And there are many ways we can NURTURE ourselves now. And know when something isn’t okay, to check with a healthcare provider.

A couple more hundred reasons I’m extra grateful for my yoga practice. I intend to stay healthy, mobile, strong, in body and mind and bones and heart and brain into my 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s and maybe 100s too, and I wish that for you too.

Karen