Purplelight Midlife

28/05/2026

Everywoman festival is coming to Edinburgh on 6th & 7th June at Meadows, pop in for free, lot of interesting talks and activities there. Check their programme here:

Explore the Everywoman Festival's programmes across London and Edinburgh, offering insightful sessions on women's health, wellness, and empowerment. Join us today!

18/05/2026

This is reminder to take better care of yourself.
Not with meds first.
Not with panic.
But with what quietly works.

Supporting Your Mood Through Hormonal Shifts:
*Prioritise regular movement, including brisk walks. Exercise increases serotonin and endorphins, both of which dip when oestrogen fluctuates.
*Eat foods rich in tryptophan (eggs, turkey, nuts, seeds) to support your body's serotonin production.
*Reduce alcohol intake. It disrupts sleep, increases anxiety, and interferes with hormone regulation.
*Spend time outdoors in natural light, especially in the morning.
Daylight helps regulate cortisol and melatonin cycles.

Starting Conversations That Help:
*Tell one trusted person how you're really feeling this week. You don't need to explain everything. Just start talking.
Use specific language: "I've been feeling anxious and I think my hormones might be involved" is more useful than "I'm fine"
*Track your symptoms and share with your GP to discuss whether perimenopause could be a factor. Write your symptoms down beforehand so nothing gets lost in a short appointment.
If you manage a team or work alongside someone struggling, ask: "How can I support you?" and mean it.

Calming Your Nervous System:
*Try box breathing: inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat for 2 minutes.
*Use guided meditations
*Limit caffeine after midday. It raises cortisol and can amplify anxiety symptoms during perimenopause.

Building Daily Resilience:
*Schedule one thing each day that is just for you. Not productive. Not useful. Just enjoyable
*Set a boundary with your phone: no email or news scrolling in the first and last 30 minutes of your day
*Write down three things that went well today, however small. This retrains your brain to notice the good when hormones are pushing it towards the negative
*Say no to things and relationships that do not serve you anymore.

And if you had extra 2 hours in a week just for you, what would you like to do?

14/05/2026

Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) is the new name for the condition previously known as Polycystic O***y Syndrome (PCOS)

11/05/2026

Menopause and mental health.
When employees are exhausted from disrupted sleep, struggling with brain fog, battling anxiety they’ve never experienced before, or losing confidence seemingly overnight, work performance is affected.

Not because they suddenly became less capable.
Because physiology impacts psychology.

And yet many workplaces still approach mental health and menopause separately:

Mental health strategy over here.
Menopause policy over there.
Leadership performance somewhere else entirely.

A senior leader navigating hormonal changes may also be managing stress differently. Research from UCL found that women in perimenopause are 40% more likely to experience depressive symptoms than premenopausal women. The risk for poor mental health increases for those who have experienced trauma, have small networks of support, are neurodivergent or have a high stress load. The result can be anxiety that appears from nowhere, low mood that won't lift, brain fog that makes you doubt yourself, irritability that feels out of character, and sleep disruption that makes everything worse.

The overlap between perimenopausal symptoms and clinical depression is significant. Many women are prescribed antidepressants when what they actually need is a conversation about their hormones. That's not to say antidepressants aren't right for some people. They are. But getting the right diagnosis matters, and that starts with understanding what perimenopause can do to your mental health.

If any of this sounds familiar, please make an appointment with your GP and mention your hormonal health. If you are lucky enough to have support at your workplace, use it!

A manager may completely miss the signs because nobody ever taught them what menopause can look like at work.

This is why menopause awareness alone is no longer enough.

Workplaces need:
✔ Managers who can confidently hold conversations
✔ Cultures where people don’t feel forced to mask symptoms
✔ Better understanding of sleep, stress, cognition, and energy
✔ Practical support that improves retention and productivity

Because replacing experienced talent is expensive.

Ignoring the issue is expensive too.

The organisations leading this conversation well are not doing it because it’s trendy.
They’re doing it because employee wellbeing and business performance are deeply connected.

This month celebrates Mental Health Awareness Week, so we will be exploring more about the power of mind and its importance during perimenopause and beyond. The theme this year is Action, not just being aware of our feelings but doing something about them. Please ask for support if you need it.

08/05/2026

English Vocabulary 📖
GORGONIZE (v.) /ˈɡɔːr.ɡə.naɪz/
to paralyze, petrify, or mesmerize them, typically through an intense or terrifying gaze

Examples:
She was gorgonized by the sudden shock.
The audience was gorgonized by the performance.

Try using the word in your own sentence!

07/05/2026

Only 3 per cent of those with polycystic o***y syndrome reach perimenopause by the age of 46, which may allow them to conceive when older.

22/04/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sw4_o2V11c

NOTE FROM TED: As the speaker states, individual hormonal health is often variable, so always consult a medical professional for advice and treatment. See be...

15/04/2026

Today, the government (Department of Health and Social Care - DHSC) is launching a renewed Women’s Health Strategy.

We know from the women we speak to that too many of them were dismissed and ignored when they went to the doctors with their symptoms. Often leading to a later diagnosis which can have devastating consequences.

Research into gynae health is under-funded and education of our bodies and the symptoms to look out for hasn’t been prioritised.

The waiting lists for gynaecology have been improving recently but with over 565,000 people still waiting for care, we have a long way left to go.

Today’s renewed strategy has set out some key commitments to help improve the health and wellbeing of women across England, including:
•New ways women can feedback to inform funding and improvements, holding services accountable to the women they support.

•Gynae care streamlined to help cut waiting lists and ensure faster access. Women will be directed to the right professional first time through a single referral point. Local services will be linked with online support.

•Ensuring women are offered appropriate and effective pain relief for invasive procedures like hysteroscopy. Addressing longstanding concerns around inadequate pain management.

•£1 million funding to improve menstrual education so girls are better equipped to recognise the signs of unhealthy periods. Helping them look after their health into the future by being able to spot when something might be wrong and getting checked quickly.

•Establishing a women’s voices partnership to bring organisations representing women together to help inform future policy and decision making.

• Through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the government is funding research into areas of unmet need for women’s health. Inluding bringing s*x and gender policies into health research, to ensure women are involved in scientific research and no woman is left behind by science.

• More involvement from women from underrepresented groups. So that all women across the country will be better heard and served.

• Better care in the community and improved digital access for women to be able to access care more easily and reduce regional variation. More Community Diagnostic Centres which can offer tests like MRIs and bloods, reducing waits between gynae appointments. The roll out of NHS Online will offer support around menopause and menstrual health.

We welcome the renewed strategy and any move to ensure women are listened to and their concerns acted upon quickly, which is essential in the early diagnosis of gynae cancers and can help save lives.

We know there are huge gaps in care and we need a focus on reducing these gaps so that every woman and person with gynae organs has the care they deserve. This is essential in improving the health and wellbeing of women across the country. We hope that the commitments in the strategy will help support better gynae health for all.

There is a lot of work to do. For this strategy to be a success we need sustained funding, true collaboration, delivery plans and support, and progress monitoring. We look forward to working with the government and the NHS on delivering these plans.

We will be sharing our more in depth thoughts on the full strategy later this week.

15/04/2026

Are you a woman in your 40s or 50s feeling like work has become so much harder than it used to be? 💜
You're not imagining it. And you're not alone.
Menopause affects every woman differently, but for many, the workplace becomes one of the hardest places to be. Brain fog in back-to-back meetings. Exhaustion that no amount of sleep fixes. Anxiety that feels completely out of character. All while trying to show up as the experienced, capable professional you absolutely still are.
Here's what too many senior women are told: push through, stay quiet, hope it passes.
Here's what actually helps: being seen, being supported, and having someone who gets it.
Your experience, expertise and ambition don't disappear in midlife but you might need a new strategy to protect them. That's not weakness. That's wisdom.
Whether you're navigating symptoms at work, considering a career pivot, rebuilding your confidence, or simply trying to figure out what this next chapter looks like, you deserve support that's built around you.

✨ Purple Light Midlife offers 1-2-1 coaching specifically for senior women navigating menopause and midlife transitions.
No generic advice. No one-size-fits-all programmes. Just a space that's entirely yours.
👉 Reach out today and let's talk about what's possible.
💜 You've spent years showing up for others. Now let's show up for you.
Book free 30 min chat with Dana.
dana@purplelightmidlife.com

14/04/2026

We don’t talk about the physical symptoms of anxiety enough.

Like that horrible churning feeling in your stomach. Or feeling light-headed or dizzy. Or pins and needles.

Anxiety can affect our body in so many ways. Such as:

• Trembling or shaking
• Feeling restless or unable to sit still
• Aches and pains like headaches or sore muscles
• Faster breathing
• A fast, thumping or irregular heartbeat
• Sweating or hot flushes
• Sleep problems
• Grinding your teeth, especially at night
• Nausea (feeling sick)
• Needing the toilet more or less often
• Changes in your s*x drive
• Having panic attacks

Sometimes it might be hard to work out if your symptoms are related to anxiety. Or to your physical health.

If you’re unsure or worried, talk to your GP. Meanwhile if you want to find out more about anxiety and what can be done to ease it, please visit our website 💙