“The most significant health benefits of meditation are stress reduction, better sleep, lower blood pressure, improved immunity, and the ability to stay centered in the midst of all the turmoil that’s going on around you. Meditation helps you do less and accomplish more.
If you were to ask me what the most important experience of my life was, I would say it was learning to meditate. Meditation has been the key to the creativity, success, and happiness I have enjoyed in my own life, and it continues to be a powerful healing tool”.

Deepak Chopra, M.D. on the Benefits of Meditation

I am so stressed! I just feel overwhelmed! I am exhausted! I have so much on right now!

Does this sound familiar? Well, it is not surprising with the busy lives we are all leading, weather it is the stress of our personal health, a relationship, children, work, elderly parents, study commitments, the cost of living, or the plethora of other things that we all have happening and concerning us in our modern lives; it is common to feel pressure and stress. When we feel stress, a surge of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released from our adrenal glands. When we have high levels of these over long periods of time, studies have shown that our immune system, memory, blood pressure regulation, circadian rhythm and metabolism are all impacted. Being in a constant state of fight-or-flight (your body’s stress response) will disrupt almost all the body’s processes and health. So, it is important to find time to release your stress, find regulation of your body and mind and meditation as part of your mindset practice is a great way to help you achieve this.

When we hit Meno simple things in our day can become stressful and this is partly due to the fact that when you have lower oestrogen levels, whose one of many functions, is to lower the impact of stress on your body, through reducing the amount of cortisol hormone released, we are less likely to be able to deal with our Meno symptoms and life in general, to a point that a minor stressor (like driving your car, waiting in line, having to stack/ unpack the dishwasher again(!)), becomes unbearable and overwhelming and can impact our home, work and social scenarios; often you will hear, ‘you need to chill out!’ or ‘take it easy!’, or ‘I will give you some space!’, from those around you.

Our stress response and cortisol levels will equally impact our Meno symptoms and your overall experience of this change. There is research to support that women who are in a state adrenal fatigue (a result of constant stress) can experience Peri Meno and Meno earlier. I know this was certainly the case for me, when having gone though an incredibly stressful time in my life, I first noticed serious changes and had a 6-month period! Stress can make your periods heavier, last longer, show up late, or stop altogether!

One of the most common complaints I hear about from women in Meno is the lack of sleep, or waking up at 3am, wired, exhausted and not being able to get back to sleep (It’s 3 A.M., 3 A.M. It’s 3 A.M. Eternal (eternal) A-ha, a-ha, a-ha, a-ha). While this is a Meno symptom it is also caused by stress. Hot flushes and a racing heart can be caused by adrenaline being released, but they will last longer and be more intense, if you feel stressed. Cognitive impacts like concentration, memory, and moodiness are all symptoms of Meno but made worse by stress. And weight gain, another common complaint during Meno, is made worse by stress, because your cortisol slows functions that would be nonessential or harmful in a fight-or-flight situation, so it suppresses the digestive system, slowing your metabolism, while increasing your cravings for sweets, to get the sugar you need to fight, and thereby contributing to weight gain.

Meditation has been around for thousands of years and is an ancient practice that is believed to have originated in India, where the earliest written descriptions of meditation techniques are found in the Indian Vedas. The Vedas are recorded in Sanskrit, where the sages while in meditation heard the songs of Brahma, the creator that sang the universe into being, and putting these sounds into Sanskrit, is believed to remake the atmospheric sounds of the origin of the universe. Known as the Vedic hymns, their recording in Sanskrit is very important, as being a vibrational language, each word carries a specific vibration, that evokes an energetic effect within your body and to those who hear it. For this reason, the most powerful mantras are those in Sanskrit language. Even if you do not understand the mantra, that is OK, because the power is in the sound vibration and the effect in your mouth. More on that in the journal about positive affirmations here.

Meditation is said to be a spiritual journey that reconnects us with our true essential nature and sense of self. Knowing how meditation came into being, it could also be said to connect us with that stellar energy event that created our whole universe, again another way to connect us with an ancient, indirect, and delicate communication that is vibrational at its core. Meditation takes us from at state of activity and anxiety into silence, allowing our body to enter a deep level of rest and observe stillness. As we know rest is an essential part of healing. Without rest our body cannot cleanse itself of stress, fatigue, and toxins. While many think that meditation is the act of forcing your mind to be quiet, it is actually more about finding the quiet that is already there. Using crystals in your meditation will enhance the practice, increase energies and the raising of vibrations. Learn more about crystals here.

There are lots of ways to meditate and for best results you should aim to do it early in the morning, before the sun rises, while the earth is quite and still. It is believed that how you start your day is how it will be for its duration, so starting your day with peacefulness, means you are more likely to take that with you mindfully throughout your day’s journey. Depending on you as a person, will depend on the type of meditation that will work best. There are broadly 3 types of people when looking at how you could meditate and why it is important for you. These personas come from the Ayurvedic practice and are known as Doshas.

If you are the type of person that is always on the move and always running to the next challenge, then you will struggle with meditation, because your mind is busy, and it is difficult to quiet and centre yourself. You Dosha is that of Vata. In this case you will be best to focus your mind with a mantra or affirmation and ensure that your body is supported, so you can’t wander to aches or pains. If you are this type of person, meditation is going to be especially beneficial for helping you to stop the internal analysing and to improve your short-term memory, reduce anxiety and improve your digestion, amongst other things.

You may be very focused, ambitious, and hyper organised; you are good at scheduling, completing tasks and you have a regular exercise routine. Others would describe you as someone who is at full speed all the time, or very driven (my hand is up!). This is known as a Pitta Dosha. Meditation is particularly important for us, because we are prone to burnout and don’t know how to rest. We will struggle with meditation initially. The benefits of being still are not immediately apparent, but it soon becomes additive. The benefit of a still mind is the focus to be as effective and deliberate as possible with each energy transaction in your day. For us, because of our tendency for the extreme, it is not uncommon to become a master of meditation. We love a silent retreat for several days or by contrast a dynamic meditation that involves movement. The best type of meditation if you identify with this persona is to visualise. Because we are people who get things done, our left brain will naturally rebuff stillness, so to counteract this we can visualise something realistic, like walking on a beach with the sound of the waves, the breeze on your face, the feeling of sand at your feet and the smell of the ocean. Simply being more present in your day, such as not feeling fury if you are stuck in traffic, is actually a form of meditation that is useful for us.

Finally, you may be the person who already appears to be easy going and calm. You are a Kapha. You might take your time to do something, but it is done right. You are the caregiver and often also a people pleaser. You are naturally patient, reliable, and supportive. People would describe you as an empath. You are very good at listening to others concerns, but can rarely articulate your own, which results in you feeling weighed down. And while you have a smile on your face often the hidden sadness you feel means you experience lethargy, heat, and weight gain. While you might be viewed as patient or relaxed, it does not mean that your mind is calm, in fact it is generally the opposite. So, if this is you, try a focused walking meditation, as it has double benefit, of getting you moving and your blood circulating and at the same time brings your mind stillness through the movement and concentration on your breath. If you have a respiratory condition, try a cleansing breath work meditation, such as pranayama in the morning and nighttime, for just 5 minutes it will help you with cleansing your lungs, decreasing stress, improving your mood, and increasing your cognitive function.

So, how do you take the pressure down and become more aware? Where do you start with meditation if you have never done it before? And what might you need to modify to bring balance back to your body? Here are my top 3 recommendations:

1. Really understand what is setting you off. It is a particular activity, situation or person causing you stress. Can you do something differently, can you change it, can you have a conversation to gain shared understanding, can it be fixed and or can you get help from anywhere to support you in renavigating to a point of objectivity. Remember if you are struggling with your Meno symptoms, then you must speak with your medical practitioner about treatment options to support your stress response, to avoid ongoing health conditions.
2. Have a look at some apps or YouTube. There are so many meditation apps and videos and recordings out there now, you will be hard pressed not to find something that resonates with you. When I first started doing meditation, I was recommended to Deepak Chopra. I find his voice soothing and I love how he takes you on a journey back to your centre. Other popular mediation apps include www.headspace.com, www.smilingmind.com.au, www.calm.com, or if you have Spotify and search ‘meditation’ you will get 100’s of options to try. You could also Join a meditation class that is guided by a master. This will help you to commit to the meditation and to yourself to make the time to be present and still. It is a fabulous way to connect with other likeminded people in a positive and calm way. Shared mediation will help with better communication, deeper connection, and stress reduction, especially if you do it with a loved one, who you may be experiencing relationship issues with. It is easy to find somewhere that offers guided 1:1 or group mediation, simply hop on google and search ‘meditation near me’. Or very simply try a walking meditation where you are device free, in nature and where you can concentrate on your breath and your surroundings to find that inner stillness. Personally, this is my favourite daily meditation, and you can read more about it here.
3. Finally look at the modification of what is going in your mouth and contributing to stress. Stress can often bring on a need for oral fixations, I know this is certainly the case for me. Eating sugar or overeating, self-medicating with alcohol or other substances, smoking or using caffeine to pep yourself up, are all counterproductive behaviours when you are stressed or dealing with Meno symptoms. So, focusing on a nutritious diet, movement, and mindset, will help you vastly, because the food you eat and the way you live your life will impact you spiritually and emotionally. Eat good, clean foods, and if you can, grow as much as possible yourself and take the time to prepare your own food, using food as your medicine. Slowing down to prepare a meal, researching what it is you need to eat, gathering the ingredients and cooking, can also be a form of meditation, if you set the intention and are truly present.

However, you start, just start to reduce stress in your life and try meditation to compliment the other things you are doing. Don’t be tempted to do too much too soon, start with bite size sessions, and keep trying new versions until you find the one that really clicks and then start a new healthy habit of meditation to improve your stress response, improve self-awareness, and help you to be present and positively charged in all aspects of your life.