Month: February 2024

Photo: @naomie_olindo

Originally posted at: Naomie Olindo’s Yellow and Blue Printed Dress

Also Seen on Madison LeCroy

Photo: @tamrajudge

Originally posted at: Tamra Judge’s Pink Sweater and Jeans

Bladder issues are something that affects many women going through menopause, with recent studies showing the prevalence of urinary incontinence and overactive bladder syndrome significantly increases for women in postmenopausal age.

Consequently, many women believe that urinary incontinence is an inevitable part of the aging process, yet it isn’t, and can be highly preventable and treatable if certain steps are taken.

According to this study, by 2030, the world population of menopausal and postmenopausal women is projected to increase to 1.2 billion, with 47 million new entrants each year. Based on these numbers, now is the time for women to understand what treatments and preventative measures are available to combat OAB (Overactive Bladder) syndrome.

If left untreated, OAB can interfere with work, going out with friends, exercise and sleep – resulting in more serious complications down the road.

How Does Menopause Impact the Bladder?

While many women think bladder issues develop during menopause, symptoms usually begin in the perimenopause stage, or menopause transition, as levels of estrogen and testosterone start to drop.

This causes the urethral and vaginal tissues to thin and pelvic floor muscles to relax and by the time a woman officially reaches menopause, tissues around the bladder and urethra are so thin that overactive bladder syndrome and stress incontinence has developed.

During this perimenopause phase women can start to experience bladder issues, including:

• sudden urges to urinate
• increase in urinary frequency
• having difficulty getting to a bathroom without leaking urine first
• Nocturia, which is needing to urinate frequently at night

Preventative Measures

One of the best ways to prevent incontinence and OAB is to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and core. This not only includes the Kegel exercises – which involves engaging the pelvic muscles as if you were holding in your urine for around 10 seconds and then repeat – but also exercises in the hips, back, and core are helpful.

Abdominal strength and hip security help ease tension and debilitation in the pelvic floor, and the stronger these muscles are by the time you reach the perimenopause stage, the less likely you are to experience bladder weakness. If unsure of how to properly exercise these muscles, consulting a pelvic floor physical therapist is the best way to ensure you are practicing correctly.

For those already in the perimenopause or even post-menopause stage, these exercises can still help alleviate OAB symptoms and manage some of your incontinence. While they may not be able to rid the body of bladder weakness altogether, strengthening your pelvic floor will certainly ease symptoms and make day-to-day life more enjoyable.

When to See Your Doctor

For those in the post-menopause or perimenopause phase who are experiencing severe bladder issues and have had little or no success in managing incontinence through holistic approaches like exercise and avoidance of trigger foods, there are certain continence medications available.

A good rule of thumb is to see your health care provider if you are no longer able to complete everyday tasks due to incontinence or having to accommodate regular activities. You should also consult your medical provider if you are experiencing frequent urine leakage or your sleep schedule is being constantly disrupted by the urge to urinate.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What have you done to improve your pelvic floor strength? Has this helped with bladder leakage? Have you had to consult with your doctor about OAB?

Is anxiety ruining your life? Is anxiety like a wrecking ball in your mind? Perhaps, like many of us, you live with overwhelm and worry, less sleep because of a chaotic mind, stress and turmoil.

You just want to be free of the constant anxiety. You just want to calm down. What would that be like?! What would it be like to have a peaceful mind?

You’d be more relaxed and focused; you’d think more clearly and rationally; you’d sleep better and have more energy.

You are clearly not the only woman experiencing overwhelm and longing to calm down.

I Was Tormented by Anxiety Too!

It was about 10 years ago that I was a wreck for weeks! I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. Relational and legal issues in my family had me bound up in knots. Scared? Yes! Disruptive thoughts? You bet! Xanax came to the rescue temporarily. I was a steaming hot mess!

After a while, things settled down and I made a personal decision: “I am not going to live like this anymore!” This decision changed my life. I found help and support. Life is much different now after learning about anxiety and practicing strategies to manage it. You might say I turned myself around. I did a 180!

Stop Anxiety in 3 Steps

Name the Fears Causing Anxiety

Reflect and identify what’s scaring you. Be honest. There is always fear hiding underneath anxiety. This may be hard, but do it anyway. Identify fears by responding to these questions.

1. What worst case situations am I imagining?
2. What is my inner critic telling me?
3. What is really triggering my anxiety?
4. What hard truth might I be ignoring?

Several months ago, a woman overcome with anxiety and anger about a situation in her family contacted me. She was having a very hard time calming down. Journaling about it wasn’t helping. She was distraught and scared.

We talked about her underlying fears. As the root of her anxiety became clear, she began to feel lighter and calmer. Actually, it was a relief to her to name what was really bothering her and prompting the crushing anxiety.

Switch Old Thoughts for New Thoughts

Be alert to thoughts that are negative. Notice how negative thoughts bring you down. Then intentionally replace them with thoughts that are positive and more uplifting. Shift thoughts from negative to positive over and over again. It takes practice. You’ll discover strategies to use when troublesome thoughts show up. Life will begin to calm down for you.

Recently, a woman contacted me because she was experiencing much anxiety about her husband’s frightening health diagnosis. Things seemed very grim. She was alarmed and panicky about the present and the future. Her mind was spinning out of control.

With support through conversations, she was able to focus on her negative, scary thoughts and feelings. Using tools and strategies to shift those thoughts toward a more optimistic place made a difference. It helped her face the immediate challenges and cope with worry.

Make a Plan to Stop Anxiety

Keep managing your thought life and create a plan to reduce anxiety daily. New habits of thinking emerge as you pay attention to your thoughts and stick to a plan. Rule out guilt producing and fear generating patterns of thinking. Outline a routine for quieting yourself. Anxiety will stop tormenting you.

I worked with another client who was distressed about an upcoming transition in her life. What was going to happen? Could she manage dealing with the various individuals involved? Where were the resources she would need? She had become agitated and unsettled about many things.

As we discussed her fears and worries, ideas emerged about how she could cope with current and potential anxieties as well as manage the transition piece by piece. Writing down the plan helped it become concrete and doable. This brought relief and calmness.

What’s Going on Inside You?

If this sounds like you, I sincerely hope you find someone to help you stop anxiety. It is possible!

Click here for a free video training about how to become anxiety free.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

How stressed out are you? Do you think you are anxious all the time? What are you doing to lower your anxiety?

What sort of person are you? Introverted? Sociable? More of a thinker than an extrovert? And do any of those personality traits have any bearing on what sort of holidays you take?

Search online and you’ll find multiple quizzes to determine whether your personality is more suited to the mountains or beach. Apparently, mountain lovers are more reserved, seek isolation, and tend to be more of a listener than a talker.

Naturally, quizzes like these are just a bit of fun and may have no bearing on our personality. While pristine blue water and golden sands may appeal to most of us on occasion, deep down you’ll probably know instinctively whether you’re a mountain or beach sort of person. If you fall into the former category, you’re technically an ‘orophile’ – in other words, a person who loves the mountains.

But for those of you who haven’t yet discovered the magnetism of the mountains, these are just a few of the reasons I can’t keep away.

Dazzling Views

The image of razor-sharp, clear lines of jagged mountains, snow-capped peaks and a backdrop of bewitching blue skies never fails to leave its mark. But if you thought that one mountain range was the same as another, think again. I do much of my mountain hiking in Italy where the UNESCO World Heritage Dolomites present a unique landscape of craggy peaks and vertical walls in light shades of white, grey and yellow. At sunrise and sunset, the rocks take on a rainbow range of pinks and fiery reds – or as it is known locally, ‘enrosadira’, that is, turning pink.

But while some of the hiking trails of the Dolomites are fairly well-trodden, you’ll find significantly quieter routes in the Maritime Alps, an area of mountain lakes, deep valleys, forests, historic villages and imposing castles, between Italy and France.

Escape from the Chaos of Everyday Life

Just as skiing offers the ultimate escape from everyday stresses and strains, so walking in the mountains can provide a complete sense of peace and calm. Once you hit those peaks, the inconsequential niggles and worries that fill our walking thoughts just melt away. And it’s not just the angst that falls away: equipped with comfortable, sustainable walking gear, water, food and just the basics for safety, being in the mountains can provide the ultimate antidote to narcissism and materialism.

Breathe in Fresh, Clean Air

With pollution invading most urban areas, there are few city dwellers that don’t crave fresh air at some time. Being in the mountains gives your lungs the opportunity to breathe in pollutant-free air which contains fewer toxins than the air you’ll breathe in cities and valleys, boosting lung function and the body’s natural healing process.

Physical Benefits

And it’s not just the pollutant-free air that makes a difference. There really is a physical reason for feeling better in the mountains. Firstly, the higher oxygen content in the air stimulates our immune system, resulting in us breathing more deeply, which in turn leads to the heart pumping more blood, and our red blood cell count increasing. There’s also a suggestion of a connection between altitude and weight loss but regardless of that, muscles also become more toned.

Other benefits? Well, you’re more likely to sleep better after a day’s hiking, but as an added bonus, all that exercise releases a flood of endorphins – those great feel-good hormones – into your system.

Mountain Food

One thing’s for sure – you’ll certainly work up an appetite in the mountains! Quench your thirst on clear spring water and herbal teas and tuck into delicious mountain fare, alpine cheeses and hearty meat dishes infused with aromatic herbs. Food in the French-influenced Italian Alps is the ultimate blend of Italian and French cuisine, while in the Dolomites, you’ll find plates of polenta, potato or pumpkin gnocchi and traditional ‘canaderli’ (dumplings), rounded off with a cinnamon-spiced apple strudel.

Fragrance

And it’s not just your taste buds that will be awakened. Walk through pine forests, breathing in the scent of pine, which is said to decrease depression and stress. And hike in May or June and you’ll find herb-scented trails through meadows of wildflowers.

Feel Connected

There is more than one way to get connected in the mountains. Humility and wonder go hand in hand in the mountains. Certainly, there’s a sense of the insignificance of our place in the world, but at the same time a connection with a timeless force that is infinitely bigger than us.

But walking in the mountains also presents an opportunity to connect with those around us. Whether you’re walking with a partner, a friend or a guided hike with a group of new acquaintances, this is a wonderful time to listen, share experiences and enjoy easy socialising. And what could be better than that?

Interested in UNESCO World Heritage sites? Read 15 OF THE BEST UNESCO DESTINATIONS FOR WOMEN OVER 50.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Are you a mountain or a beach person? What do you love most about being in the mountains? Do you prefer skiing or hiking?