Your Menopause Your Way

11/06/2025

🧠✨ Exercise for a Healthier Brain – New Research Confirms It! ✨🧠

A groundbreaking study from University College London has revealed that staying active throughout life can help protect your brain and reduce the risk of dementia – and it’s never too late to start!

📊 The study followed people born in 1946 and found those who exercised regularly had better brain health in their 70s. Amazing, right?

Here’s what they discovered:

✅ Exercise helps protect memory – Active people had a larger hippocampus, the part of the brain linked to memory.
✅ Lifelong movement matters – Being active earlier in life offers the best protection, but moving more at any age still helps.
✅ Even with early signs of Alzheimer’s, exercise helped preserve memory and thinking skills.
✅ Women may benefit even more from regular physical activity.
✅ Heart and brain health go hand in hand – walking, stretching, strengthening, it all adds up!

💬 Takeaway? Even gentle, regular movement like our Move it or Lose it! classes can make a real difference in brain health and memory.

So keep moving, keep connecting, and keep your brain and body strong 💪🧠

21/04/2025

Fascinating and extremely important nerve ...

The vagus nerve touches every organ in our body, especially our gut. It’s a critical part of our rest, digest and relax system (aka the parasympathetic nervous system). It's the longest nerve in our body, supplying both our organs and our brain with vital information. It controls things like our heart rate, digestion, breathing, swallowing, and also affects our mental health.

Stimulating the vagus nerve has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms.

Since the vagus nerve is part of our parasympathetic nervous system, when it gets stimulated it increases what is known as vagal tone; slowing our heart rate and our breathing and calming our nervous system down.

Studies have found that mothers pass on their vagal tone to their children. So if a mum struggles with anxiety or depression while pregnant, this can result in low vagal tone which is in turn passed on to her newborn. Fortunately, the same goes for the reverse. If a mum has a high vagal tone, she can pass that on also.

The good news is that vagal tones can be easily changed, increased and improved. There are many ways that we can trigger our vagus nerve so that we can start feeling better and more calm. Here's a little reminder to keep in mind!!

12/04/2025

Beautiful ...

31/03/2025

Such a pretty sky tonight. Remember to stop and enjoy the moment 🥰

29/03/2025

Clocks go forward tonight so lighter nights are on their way hurrah 🥰

25/03/2025

💙 March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month 💙

Did you know that only 1 in 5 women can name bloating as a symptom of ovarian cancer? We need to change that.

Early diagnosis saves lives, but too often, symptoms are mistaken for less serious conditions. Knowing what to look out for is vital:

🔹 Persistent bloating
🔹 Feeling full quickly or loss of appetite
🔹 Pelvic or abdominal pain
🔹 Needing to wee more often

If these symptoms are new, frequent, or persistent, don’t ignore them—speak to your GP.

Together, we can raise awareness, improve early diagnosis, and help save lives. Will you help us spread the word? 💙

23/03/2025

So good to be outside walking. Signs of spring everywhere. Looking forward to the clocks going forward and lighter nights 🥰

17/03/2025

Exciting new initiative 🥰

Have we told you about our wellbeing directory yet? 🤎

We are developing a brand new wellbeing directory and our mission is simple. We want to put people in touch with the *right* practitioner for them.

We want someone to find a new coach, nutritionist or even nail technician who they will instantly click with. This is because we are making things personal and encouraging our listers to tell their story to give potential customers the chance to connect.

That way, we all save time on the wrong sort of people and start being connected with our dream clients.

If you're interested in more information, click the link in our bio 🔗🍃

10/03/2025

Great little quiz to check out how much you know about your brain. Give it a go 🥰

🧠💜 Think Brain Health – Take the Quiz! 💜🧠

Your brain is amazing, and there’s so much you can do to protect it! Take the Brain Health Quiz from to learn more about how simple lifestyle changes can support your brain health now and in the future.

👉 Take the quiz today: https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/brain-health/take-our-quiz/

Small steps can make a big difference—so why not start now? 💡

08/03/2025

Exciting new initiative for heath and wellbeing 🥰

The wellbeing Directory Why we started The directory Partnership with the Busy Women Club We are on a mission to bring together and support all wellbeing businesses in the UK....

26/02/2025

This is my last post this month on the subject of Sleep and it’s a biggie …

What do I mean by restless legs and are they caused by the Menopause? Restless legs is that feeling of not being able to keep your legs still no matter how many times you move them; it can be an itchy or tingly or a crawling sensation; it also can be feelings of numbness and then there’s the aches and pains. It is often much worse at night. Whilst there are links to the menopause, it is not necessarily caused by it.

So, what does cause restless legs? There are quite possible culprits:

• Underlying medical conditions such as Parkinsons, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, Peripheral Neuropathy or Pregnancy (unlikely but possible in perimenopause)
• Medication side-affects such as anti-depressants and antihistamines
• Genetics (yes restless legs do run in families – sorry couldn’t resist)
• Dietary deficiencies typically iron, magnesium or folic acid. Heavy periods during the perimenopause can lead to anaemia and as said previously, menopausal women are often deficient in magnesium (see earlier post this month). Deficiency in this important mineral can affect effective nerve and muscle function.
• There are possible links with the loss of oestrogen during menopause affecting the ability of muscles to properly relax
• Other considerations are stress, high blood pressure (which can be linked to menopause), lack of exercise, caffeine, alcohol or ni****ne use and weight.

There’s no doubt that restless legs on top of other menopausal symptoms can be miserable especially which they impact the quality of our sleep – so what can we do to help?

• Moving or rubbing your legs can often relieve the symptoms
• Avoiding stimulants in the evening, such as caffeine, to***co, sugar and alcohol
• Not smoking
• Regular daily exercise, but not close to bedtime
• Massaging your legs
• Taking a hot bath in the evening (see below)
• Applying a hot compress to your leg muscles
• Doing activities that distract your mind, such as reading or doing puzzles
• Relaxation exercises, such as yoga, tai chi, meditation or breathwork
• Walking and stretching (pointing your toes may help)
• Epsom salts or magnesium butter/oil
• Staying well-hydrated. A glass of chilled tonic water (the variety with quinine), or a hot ginger and lemon tea may help particularly.
• HRT could help but is a big decision to be fully discussed with your GP or specialist
• Medications such as gabapentin and pregabalin, codeine-based painkillers or pramipexole can also help but equally, they come with their own side effects and need to be fully discussed with your GP or specialist

Does anyone have any other tips that they have found useful dealing with this irritating/frustrating/challenging/distressing problem? Over to you …

19/02/2025

I'm just back from a brisk walk in the countryside and am feeling refreshed and energised. There's no doubt that it's pretty cold today but I wrapped up well and am feeling so much better for having got outside into nature. This got me thinking about the the links between sleep quality and the importance of walking in nature. There are a whole host of benefits such as:
Exposure to natural light helps regulate your body's internal clock (especially early morning light), which in turn can help your sleep.
Physical activity can help reduce stress and help you feel tired, which can help you sleep better.
Being in nature can help you be more mindful, which can help you decompress and improve your sleep.
Breathing in the natural oils from trees and plants, being surrounded by the colour green or breathing in beautiful sea air all can help you relax and lead to better sleep quality.
Being outside in nature has mental and emotional health benefits too, so why not grab yourself some warm clothes and head on out for some nature time of your own?