THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 3, 1994 TAG: 9406300069
SECTION: HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: YOUR TURN
SOURCE: BY LOIS HOLLIS, SPECIAL TO HAMPTON ROADS WOMAN
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
MARVELOUS MENOPAUSE! No longer considered a physical disease or a mental disease, menopause is intended to be a marvelous time of self-discovery and personal growth. It also is a rebirth and beginning of your unique self, when you give yourself freedom, physical strength, mental clarity, emotional nurture and creative expression.
You do this by learning to honor your new stage of physical and mental development. You set aside time for relaxation and education about your processes of change, so you experience them in a healthy way.
As you honor menopause, you create the opportunity to learn about:
how to promote vigorous health
how to evaluate and focus on your mental and emotional needs
how to understand your spiritual needs, your purposes, the real you.
Physical strength can be achieved and maintained by a two-part program. First, cleanse your entire physical system from bodily toxins built up through the years; then supplement your diet with specific vitamins, minerals and natural herbs that help produce estrogen.
Toxic overload causes a decrease in the absorption of food nutrients, producing such symptoms as a slowdown in organ function, sexual dysfunction, aging and excess weight. Liver spots are the result of accumulated toxins in your body.
For reading material, pick up ``Every Woman's Book'' (Health Plus Publishers), written by Dr. Paavo Airola. ``Physical menopause - the cessation of menses - can be postponed for as long as 10 to 20 years if one has led a health-building life,'' says Airola. Vitamins and hormones work together in your body, he says. A deficiency in one can lead to a deficiency in the other. ``Vitamin E,'' Airola says, ``stimulates the production of estrogen and helps alleviate hot flashes.'' It also helps normalize estrogen levels. ``Vitamin B-5 enhances the effectiveness of estrogenic hormones and helps prevent menopausal arthritis.'' Other vitamins and minerals that work well are B-5, B-12, C and D, zinc and the trace minerals.
Herbs to enhance estrogen production and reduce symptoms include: don quai, raspberry leaves, blessed thistle, marshmallow root, gingerroot and licorice tea. Exercise, especially yoga stretches, and at least 10 glasses of purified water each day (unless there is a liquid restriction) are useful in increasing flexibility and cleansing your body of toxic buildup.
During menopause, your mind stretches in new directions for new ideas, new goals, challenging yourself as never before. Occasional lapses of memory, mental confusion or difficulty in making decisions may be temporary byproducts of this mind growth. Achieve mental clarity by scheduling time in your day for mental relaxation, meditation, or just resting from the focus of your daily actions.
In marvelous menopause, creative expression can be yours. Look for your neglected or hidden talents. Take your special interests to heart - and let them bloom.
And if you get fed up or bored with your life, or experience mood swings, anxiety or depression, take heart! Many of these feelings may also be temporary effects of making deep changes. Loneliness or lack of self-assurance can signal a time to connect with the real you and find meaning in your life. Your heart and soul may be urging you to create a balance of vigor and serenity. Your sexual drive and sexual relationships are sometimes on temporary slowdown while you rethink your sexual life and add deeper meaning to intimacy.
Successful menopause means lovingly taking time out for yourself to bring together all parts of you - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Thus, you create your true personal freedom. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Lois Hollis is a resident of Chesapeake. by CNB