We all have busy lives. And that’s without taking into account a huge curveball thrown our way – such as the menopause! In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to feel bogged down and the menopause can bring with it a wave of overwhelming changes. You might find that you feel inexplicable mood swings, be more sensitive than usual, overly anxious and downright tired due to constant night sweats. All these symptoms can leave many of us exhausted and strung out. Introducing self care, such as mindfulness, into our routines is one way in which we can reflect on ourselves and find some inner calm.    

Finding a balance

Self care is more important than ever in helping us to find balance in our lives and to overcome daily stresses and challenges to prevent them from becoming overbearing. As well as making changes to keep our bodies healthy, through, for example, regular exercise and a good diet, it’s also important to take a bit of time to focus on our minds. One of the best ways to unwind can be finding a relaxation technique that works for you. The NHS recognises meditation and particularly mindfulness as important for mental wellbeing and it has been proven to help with depression and create a positive mindset.

One person who has come to realise the power of just how beneficial mindfulness can be, specifically for women, is Becks Armstrong. She saw the need to fill a gap in women’s health support and has since made many programmes to help women with their physical and mental wellbeing. This has lead her and a team of female experts to create a mobile app called Clarity. We were lucky enough to be treated to a taster mindfulness session by Becks at our Menopause Workshop Event where we learned how it can help women facing the menopause.

So what is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a form of meditation. It’s the art of stopping and becoming aware of where you are at that present moment. Focusing your full attention in this way has been shown to be a powerful tool to help deal with fluctuating moods and lower the impact of stress. Taking a break and stopping for even just five minutes has been proven to slow down your pulse, reset your mind and calm down your emotions. It can even help you get a good night’s rest. At our event, Becks talked us through a five-minute body scan, and it was a fantastic feeling to just relax and focus for a moment.

How can mindfulness help in the menopause?

The debilitating symptoms of menopause are well documented with some of the most common being night sweats, hot flushes, fatigue, brain fog and mood swings. These can all trigger a huge shift in emotions and feelings. Becks tells us: ‘Creating a short daily habit of mindfulness is so important to help you get on with your day. Mindfulness can help you concentrate and focus, it can help you to battle overwhelm or anxiety and it can even help you get to sleep at night. We have created a range of sessions to fit in with your busy life and we encourage you to find the time and a place that will work for you.’

The main benefits of mindfulness include:

• Combatting fatigue
• Lowering stress levels
• Helping you to let go of negative thoughts
• Calming your mind
• Helping you get to sleep and to return to sleep if you wake during the night
• Providing cooling relief

A typical mindfulness session

Clarity’s guided sessions offer a range of tools to help you be present in the moment and reconnect to your body, giving you the space to listen to it’s signals. The curated sessions (which range from one to twenty minutes long) include topics such as breathing techniques to help with relaxation and visual aids to help you to settle. The sessions are all created to help fit mindfulness into your day – you can use it to get you started in the morning, when you need a moment at work or even when you're standing in a queue. You're sure to find something that will fit in with your day, no matter how busy it is.

Becks has kindly offered all of our Become customers an introductory offer to the Clarity App. For one month’s free full access, please use code CFA-WBE which can be redeemed at https://clarity.app/ (click on Redeem a Code in the footer). Thanks Becks!