Podcast Summary
Managing Stress During Menopause: A Holistic Approach: Focus on body hacks like massage, tapping, and breathing techniques to manage stress during menopause, as the loss of hormones amplifies cortisol response. Join the Reset Academy for resources and support in customizing a fasting lifestyle and taking control of your health.
Learning from this episode of the Resetter podcast is that managing stress during menopause can be approached from a physical perspective, not just a mental one. Chantelle Donnelly, a physical therapist, offers strategies to help women navigate the loss of hormones and the amplified cortisol response by focusing on body hacks like massage, tapping, and breathing techniques. As we age, the same stressors have a stronger impact on our brains and bodies due to the loss of estrogen and progesterone. The Reset Academy, a membership program, offers exclusive access to resources and support for customizing a fasting lifestyle and taking control of your health. By approaching stress management from a holistic perspective, we can calm our menopausal brains and bring joy back into our lives.
Stress management crucial for women in menopause: Women in menopause face multiple body symptoms due to hormonal imbalance, stress management is essential to help manage symptoms effectively, join Dr. Mindy Pelszone's Reset Academy for support and guidance.
Stress management is crucial for women going through menopause. Dr. Mindy Pelszone, a physical therapist and stress expert, shared her journey into this field after noticing that stress was a major obstacle to her patients' recovery. She found that women in menopause often experienced multiple body symptoms that grew in number as they progressed through menopause. This is because menopause marks the beginning of a shift in the body's hormonal balance, making traditional healing approaches less effective. Dr. Pelszone emphasized the importance of addressing stress to help women manage their menopause symptoms better. She encourages women to join her Reset Academy at doctormindypels.com/resetacademy for support and guidance on this journey.
Menopause and Stress: A Double Whammy: Menopause amplifies stress responses due to hormonal changes, creating a negative feedback loop. Prioritize self-care and understanding hormonal shifts to break the cycle.
Menopausal women face unique challenges related to stress and hormonal changes. As cortisol levels increase and sex hormones decline, women can experience a "double whammy" effect, leading to various symptoms such as weight gain, insomnia, mood swings, and brain fog. This stress response can create a negative feedback loop, leading to more cortisol production and exacerbating symptoms. Additionally, women may feel shame and self-blame, which can further increase cortisol levels. It's essential to understand these hormonal changes and how they impact stress responses to break this cycle and prioritize self-care, such as practicing ease and softening rather than intensifying exercise or work. Cortisol's role becomes more prominent in menopause as a neurochemical armor that helps us react to stress, but when it's no longer balanced by estrogen and progesterone, women become more reactive to stressors.
Managing Stress During Menopause: Focus on the Body: During menopause, increased cortisol levels can make traditional stress-reducing practices challenging. Instead, try body-up processes like deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and grounding techniques to calm the body and decrease overall survival mode symptoms.
During menopause, women may experience increased stress due to the body's natural hormonal changes and external stressors like the pandemic. This hormonal shift can make traditional stress-reducing practices like meditation and yoga more challenging. The reason for this is the increase in cortisol, which causes the mind to become restless and ping pong between thoughts. Instead of relying solely on top-down processes like meditation, consider incorporating body-up processes that focus on calming the body first. These body-up processes can help decrease overall survival mode symptoms and cortisol levels, making it easier to manage stress. Examples of body-up processes include deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and grounding techniques. Remember, stress starts in the body and lives in the body, so focusing on calming the body can have a significant impact on the mind.
Calming the body to reduce stress: Focusing on calming the body can help reduce stress and anxiety by signaling safety to the brain, especially for those going through menopause. Try using a destressing tool like PowerSync 60 for improved well-being.
When dealing with stress and anxiety, focusing on calming the body first can be more effective than trying to change the mind directly. The brain often predicts our physical responses, so by calming the body, we can send a signal to the brain that we are safe and reduce the stress response. This can be particularly important for those going through menopause, who may find their stress responses becoming more reactive and impacting their quality of life. The first step in this process is to identify when and why you might need to use a destressing tool, and if you're unsure, it can be helpful to try one out. PowerSync 60, a new fitness program created for both men and women, is designed with this approach in mind and can be a useful tool for managing stress and improving overall well-being.
Stress: Acute vs Chronic: Acute stress can boost focus and performance, but chronic stress leads to negative health effects. Recognize when stress is no longer helpful and consider rest or seeking support.
Stress, in its acute phase, can be helpful by increasing focus, motivation, and performance. However, when stress persists and turns into a chronic response, it can lead to negative health consequences such as inflammation, cardiovascular disease, and dementia. The key is to recognize when stress is no longer serving us and is causing us to feel stuck or unable to function. Freezing or needing rest can also be necessary for recovery and should not be pathologized. Women, in particular, may need more rest due to societal pressures and hormonal differences. To join a community focused on managing stress and improving overall health, visit doctormindy.org using the code ps60pels for a discount.
Reconnecting with the body during menopause: Menopause can be a time for self-discovery and learning to regulate the nervous system through techniques like bilateral tactile stimulation to navigate emotional and physical changes and rediscover sensuality and intuition.
Menopause can be a challenging time for women, but it also presents an opportunity for reconnection with the body and intuition. Our culture often prioritizes rushing and top-down processing, which can lead to ignoring our intuition and needs. However, as women enter menopause, they may become more in tune with their bodies and learn to regulate their nervous systems through techniques like bilateral tactile stimulation. This can help women navigate the emotional and physical changes of menopause and rediscover their sensuality and intuition. By acknowledging the impact of stress on the body during menopause and implementing tools like arm sweeps or squeezes, women can better understand their internal experiences and find calm in the midst of change.
Practice simple self-care to calm the nervous system: Engaging in practices like alternating shoulder rubs or massaging the sternocleidomastoid muscle can activate the body's relaxation response, helping to calm the nervous system and reduce stress.
Engaging in simple self-care practices, such as alternating shoulder rubs or massaging the sternocleidomastoid muscle, can help calm the nervous system by activating the body's natural relaxation response. This process, known as bilateral alternating stimulation, is similar to the technique used in EMDR therapy and can help settle the amygdala. Additionally, massaging the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which is innervated by cranial nerve 11, can be particularly effective in calming the nervous system and engaging the social engagement system. Symptoms of relaxation, such as warmth, expansive lightness, yawning, burping, and sighing, can indicate that the nervous system is being downregulated.
Understanding body responses to nervous system's state: Identifying tools to manage stress through body responses and practicing consistently can help build a larger toolbox for relaxation and stress relief.
Our body's responses, such as burping, yawning, or tummy gurgles, can indicate our nervous system's state. When our body is in survival mode, we may not feel the need to eat, sleep, or reproduce. However, anything opposite to survival mode, like relaxing activities, can signal that our nervous system is relaxed and content. It's essential to identify which tools work best for us, as some may increase anxiety despite calming effects on others. Regular practices like arm sweeps, sternocleidomastoid massage, or breathing techniques can help build a larger toolbox for managing stress. Remember, consistency is key, and these practices can serve both as preventative measures and as rescue practices in moments of high stress. Breathing from the chest can activate the fight or flight response, so focusing on deep, belly breaths is crucial. All these techniques and more can be found in the book.
Activating the calming nervous system with proper breathing and rib cage flexibility: Proper belly breathing from the lower belly and rib cage can activate the calming nervous system, while inflexible rib cages can lead to shallow chest breathing and trigger the fight-or-flight response. Simple exercises like the rotation reset can improve rib cage flexibility and promote deeper, more effective breathing.
Proper breathing from the lower belly and rib cage can help activate the calming nervous system, while overbreathing from the chest and neck can trigger the fight-or-flight response. The rotation reset exercise is a simple Tai Chi warm-up that helps make the rib cage more flexible, allowing for deeper and more effective belly breathing. This exercise can be thought of as a massage for the sympathetic nervous system, which is primarily housed in the thoracic spine. It's important to find what works best for your individual needs and incorporate these practices regularly, whether it's in the morning or throughout the day. These tools can be especially helpful during the perimenopausal journey as the body adjusts to hormonal changes. Remember, not everything will feel good all the time, so it's essential to experiment and find what works best for you in different situations.
Exploring Emotional Responses During Menopause: Menopause can bring emotional responses like anxiety and depression, linked to hormonal changes and stress. Address root causes, explore stress management tools, and recognize menopause as a significant life transition.
Menopause brings about various emotional responses, including anxiety and depression, which can be linked to hormonal changes and stress. While some women turn to HRT or bioidenticals for relief, it's essential to address the root causes of stress during this time. The medications may help manage stress responses, but it's crucial to use this time to explore and manage external stressors effectively. Depression during menopause can sometimes be a result of a freeze response, which may require different approaches to address. The tools and techniques shared in the Menopause Reset can help women navigate these emotional shifts and find joy and calmness, regardless of whether they choose to use medication or not. It's essential to recognize that menopause is a significant life transition that requires a lifestyle shift, and being prepared and knowledgeable can make all the difference.
Moving out of the 'freeze' state through social connection and movement: Engaging in activities that promote social connection and movement can help improve overall well-being by dissipating sympathetic energy and promoting a rest and digest response, even during menopause.
Engaging in activities that promote social connection and movement, such as taking a walk with a trusted friend or going on a hike, can help individuals move out of the "freeze" state and improve their overall well-being. These activities can help dissipate sympathetic energy and promote a rest and digest response. Additionally, it's important to note that the process of moving out of freeze and into a more balanced state can be complex and individualized, and may involve some temporary discomfort or shifts in mood. It's also worth mentioning that the gut-brain axis plays a role in the freeze response, and individuals may experience symptoms such as nausea or constipation as they move out of this state. Ultimately, understanding and caring for our own nervous systems is an essential part of self-care, especially during times of transition such as menopause.
Recognizing unique abilities and needs for self-care: Embrace individuality, prioritize alone time, and practice self-care techniques like fasting, tapping, and breathing for improved well-being and stress management.
Self-care practices, such as fasting, tapping, and breathing techniques, can significantly improve our well-being and are accessible to everyone. Chantal, the author of the upcoming book "Settled," emphasized the importance of recognizing our unique abilities and needs, using her dyslexia as an example of a creative superpower. She also shared her new self-love practice of prioritizing alone time, especially during menopause. By embracing our individuality and making time for self-care, we can better manage stress and find calm in our chaotic world. To learn more from Chantal, follow her on Instagram @bodyinsightinc or visit her website, bodyinsight.com. Don't forget to check out Mindy's book, "The Menopause Reset," for more insights on menopause and stress management.
