Body & beauty

Lynne Franks

Our columnist on why we should embrace the menopause

I went through my menopause some 20 years ago. Despite experiencing a certain amount of mood swings and hot flushes, I have been so much happier and creative ever since. So I felt shocked to read that scientists are proposing a way for millions of women to postpone it for 20 years.

I appreciate that the journey of menopause is different for everyone and can be a real challenge for many, but I believe that most of us are healthier and happier in the long-term, letting nature takes its course.

I was fortunate to be living near the sea in Los Angeles when I was 52 and starting to experience my symptoms. My outdoor lifestyle, with early morning walks on the beach, a lot of sunshine and drinking lots of water certainly helped me get over the worse. I ate healthy, light food; didn’t drink any alcohol and rarely had hot drinks. I didn’t realise that I was instinctively following the very best path to avoid intense symptoms caused by extra toxins in the body.

I had been advised by a top UK gynaecologist to start taking HRT, but my doctor in LA advised against it, and I started using natural oestrogen patches and creams, mostly made from wild yams, together with top supplements. I regularly detoxed, and kept away from sugar, meat and dairy.

In the end, it just seemed easier to live a healthy lifestyle and I found that after a bit of a fuzzy brain, I had a clearer mind than ever, more energy and no more heavy, painful periods every month. I appreciate how lucky I was, yet any of us can create a healthy lifestyle wherever we are, which will certainly help during this meaningful passage of life.

I also re-discovered my libido, and ended up having the most enjoyable lovemaking I had ever experienced with subsequent boyfriends and partners from my early 50s to the current time. Far from age taking away my sexuality, it seemed to only improve during, and after, menopause. I felt sexier than ever, as well as far more confident in expressing my physical preferences and satisfying my partners.

And I know I am not alone. So many women I meet over the age of 50 enjoy their lives, including the sexually intimate aspect, far more than they did when they were younger, and with a lot more confidence. This is particularly, but not exclusively, relevant to single women who feel relaxed enough in their knowledge and affection for their bodies to experiment and try new experiences.

I feel passionately that unless someone has serious health challenges or a premature menopause, there is no reason to want to delay the inevitable by 20 years, other than to make shed loads more money for the pharmaceutical industry. This new medical procedure has been launched by the same scientist who developed IVF. I totally respect the doctor’s claim that the operation could benefit thousands of women who experience serious health problems that are brought on by the menopause, including heart conditions and osteoporosis.

Yet, as I have written before, this doesn’t apply to all women. In Japan, for example, there is no word for menopause and there, as in most other Asian countries, the national healthy diet of vegetables, fish and soya means that women have very few issues and hardly notice any dramatic passage of change to their bodies.

Where I query the artificial change to our natural physical process, is that specialists also believe the same procedure could help improve the lives of millions more women by delaying the onset of more common symptoms of the menopause, which range from hot flushes and memory problems, to anxiety and a reduced sex drive.

It just doesn’t have to be that way. Practices like meditation, chanting, yoga and dancing all add to the balanced way we can live through menopause. And without question, as we enter our natural, wise stage, we are able to deal with all that life throws in a far more harmonious, peaceful way.

Also I am so delighted that far from hiding away the natural issues that can arise through menopause, women are now discussing their experiences online, in real-time circles and in the media which stops any personal worried isolation. So may I suggest we keep in our natural alignment, do not buy in to unnecessary surgery and medication, and celebrate our change to the wise woman third period of our lives and the wonderful time that awaits us.

Join Lynne Franks for her workshops, retreats and events at her wellbeing Somerset destination by visiting hubatno3.com Watch the video of her TEDx Talk on the Return of the Wise Woman at lynnefranks.com where you can also check out her Power of 7 Gathering, focusing on healing the feminine wound, presented together with her daughter and 5 Rhythms teacher Jessica Howie in Marrakesh this November