Talking to a girlfriend of mine the other night, the subject of feelings came up. I have a great life, I have challenges, (I have a chronically ill child) and I have blessings: a great career, happy marriage and tools to deal with the difficulties in life. When I look at it from a birds-eye-view, I know I am truly blessed but then why do I feel incongruent with what my life looks like?

I have one word for you…

MENOPAUSE!!! (insert music here duhn, duhn, duhn!)

Here are some of the symptoms you might be experiencing:

Irritability.
Feelings of sadness.
Lack of motivation.
Anxiety.
Aggressiveness.
Difficulty concentrating.
Fatigue.
Mood changes.
Low self-esteem.

Research shows that your brain on Menopause is real! You are not imagining things. I can tell you that hormones are having a gremlin party with my thinking in my head. I figured if I had this going on then some of you do as well so I thought I would share some tips for managing the emotional rollercoaster of menopause.

1) Mindfulness and Meditation. (I know, you are sick of me saying this) but after taking the summer off of my regular routine of meditation and feeling increased anxiety, I have jumped back on the wagon and am carving out time in the morning to do my regular mediation. IT HELPS!!!

2) I know you are exhausted and it’s only 9am, but lay off the caffeine in the afternoon! Seriously, it really is affecting your mood, sleep (which is already screwed up-right?) so in the morning, MINDFULLY enjoy your cup-o-joe (or 2) and then switch to tea or decaf or better yet, cucumber and lemon water!

3) Reduce stress…yeah, right you say? Well studies show that even reducing stress by small amounts can make a large difference. Think small, think 10 minute walk at lunch. Think turning off the TV and reading instead, think of letting the laundry go today, or the dishes, or the spring cleaning…What can you let go of altogether?

Example: Tired of those magazines staring at you? You paid for them, you have good intentions of reading them? But they stress you out, reminding you that you don’t have time to read them but you “should” and you want to but won’t. So stop the subscription and then they won’t be yelling at you and stressing you out!

4) Sleep, sleep, sleep, oh how i miss you… There are several ways to induce sleep, some of them over the counter, some of them prescription, as well as being in a regular schedule and also winding down at the end of the night. No screen time 1-2 hours before bed.

5) And for those pesky hot flashes, I actually carry a fan everywhere I go!

These are just a few of the staples that help us manage this roller coaster in life called Menopause. The particular mood, hot flash, etc. WILL PASS and while we are waiting for it to pass, we still have to live our lives. So don’t put your life on PAUSE, waiting for things to change, dial into today and apply tools and skills that will help you live fully today, regardless of your mood.