I often get asked about support and advice for the partners of those experiencing menopause. I love to see men at my talks 🙂
A woman’s menopause can impact her relationships with friends, families, colleagues and partners. Many loved ones feel helpless and want to help but don’t know how.
A couple of months ago I was invited to go on a podcast called Mindset, Mood & Movement hosted by coach, strength and conditioning trainer and psychotherapist Sal Jefferies
Sal wanted to create an episode about menopause from a man’s perspective and he invited me to the discussion.
The podcast was released today on World Menopause Day.
This is what Sal says
It’s World Menopause Day and I want to be part of this conversation from a man’s perspective. Men need to understand this as much as women. Someone close to us – partner, colleague, friend, sibling etc will go through menopause which means we, as men, will also be part of this.
I share my personal experience with this as my partner is going through the peri-menopause and it has been a challenging experience for both of us. I also have numerous clients going through the menopause so I have exposure to the impact on women and their life/work.
Tanith Lee aka ‘Mrs Menopause’ joins me as a specialist to talk about menopause with a particular focus from a man’s perspective.
As a partner of someone, you might start to notice changes your their partner and feel the effects on you and your relationship. Can we change the description of a ‘symptom’ to a ‘signal’ of what’s going on – when you see these you can start to get interested in them.
Some highlights of our conversation.
Tanith says that peri-menopause > menopause shouldn’t be feared. If we can go into this with knowledge and compassion (rather than fear) then this is a good place to start. Stress will make the experience worse so that needs addressing.
I talk about the nervous system which needs to be understood. The stress response is either ‘fight’ mode or ‘flight’ mode. If you feel anger can it be expressed healthily without trying to avoid it or shutting it down? We discuss this in depth. Tanith explains the common narrative is to calm everything down BUT menopausal ‘rage’ but we discuss this and how you can take actions to process this rather than suppressing what you’re feeling.
★ How can we communicate better?
★ How can men deal with the difficult feelings that might come up such as rejection?
★ We discuss all of this and provide various options you can do.
★ And yes, we also discuss intimacy!
Finally, we cover the powerful impact of exercise. The relationship with your body needs to be nurtured. Tanith explains the issues to be aware of due to hormonal changes. How you feel is the ultimate payoff and if you can find ‘joy’ this is such a lift. I call these moments ‘Joy Lilly-Pads’ to hop from between the difficult times.
This year’s #WorldMenopauseDay2023 theme is cardiovascular disease. Fitness and activity are vital components in dealing with this health challenge.
Here is a helpful ink Link – https://www.imsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Toolkit-2023-1.pdf
This is one to listen to. Head to my profile, select the MMM Podcast list and please share your thoughts and experiences.
#worldmenopauseday2023 #IMS #worldmenopauseday
Listen on Apple Podcasts – https://apple.co/3rKhAPG
