By Valerie Martinez

So you’ve hit menopause and now you’re asking yourself what to do next. Or possibly you just SUPPOSE that your sliding into menopause (pre-menopause) because you’re beginning to experience any of the myriad of signs, like hot flashes, night sweats, restlessness, weariness, lowered libido, mood swings, and unforgiving weight gain.

The good news is that we now live in a era when menopause is no longer a forbidden subject. We are more comfortable discussing it with our pals, significant others, spouses and physicians. There are more approaches than ever to help aid us in our change. The bad news is that there are a lot of sanctioned “old” Western medical approaches to menopause relief that are certainly risky and sure to be stayed away from whenever feasible.

The beauty of menopause, however, is that it is the period of time when most women are blossoming into the fullness of their personal identity– eg: what they want out of life, what dreams and skills they want to give birth to, what desires they want to fulfill. They spent their younger years defining themselves as wife, mother, confidant, and dependable employee, but the midlife change ushers them into a new age– the Age of Wisdom– and here are 5 little bits of wisdom for you to get you through this transformation with grace:

Tip 1: Shake Your Booty!

Even a gentle walk every day for 20 minutes (outdoors preferably) will go far towards retaining your muscle tone and bone density. Walking can assist in lowering your bad cholesterol and boost the good, lower your blood pressure, help regulate your weight and even improve your attitude. What’s more is that if you do it outdoors, you also get the advantage of naturally-occuring Vitamin D which is essential to your immune system and also assists in preventing cancer. (info derived from “The Mayo Clinic” and “Medical News Today”).

Tip 2: Eat Right

There is a LOT of misinformation fed to the public about what’s healthy nutritionwise. If your main source of nutritional expertise comes from the “News at 10″ or the government’s latest food pyramid, it’s essential to start doing a bit of research on your own. Some trusty sources are Dr. Mercola’s site or our own “Sugar Control Diet” which is not only fabulous for weight loss, but also for balancing hormones (so important for menopause symptom relief!), as well as reducing inflammation and even identifying foods that may be instigating indigestion.

Tip 3: Enjoy Some “Personal” Time

Menopause often gets a bad reputation because we’re so inundated with details about the unfavorable parts. But let’s try to encounter its “good” aspects. For example, as previously stated, this is a time when women are coming into their own. They know themselves better. They often have more free hours in their day because their kids require less supervision– and so they can write that autobiography they never wrote, or attend that class they never had time for in the past. They can forge that new fufilling career or find their real purpose and passion that infuses them. And part of birthing this new “you” is learning how to take care of yourself and your needs better. So start laying down the law with some 100 % ME time. Put in some earplugs, declare it a no-kid-zone, and go take a lavish bubble bath by candlelight. Go to your local gymnasium and indulge in some yoga time. Get a Thai massage– or better yet, some reflexology! As Tony Robbins puts it, schedule your own “Hour of Power” or “Thirty Minutes to Thrive” … if you can’t do that, at least schedule some “Fifteen Minutes for Fulfillment”! Everyone can find 15 minutes in their schedule somewhere. But schedule it and make it a “must” for yourself. It will relax your nerves, rejuvenate your physical self, and restore your soul.

Tip 4: Keep away from Caffeine, Alcohol & Nicotine

If you indulge in significant consumption of caffeine or alcohol or any intake at all of cigarette smoke (first or second hand), you should know that these substances aggravate menopause symptoms. Caffeine & Alcohol serve to increase hot flashes, anxiety, sleeping disorders and bone loss during the critical menopause & perimenopausal years. Caffeine especially interferes with mineral assimilation and exacerbates stress. Alcohol ruthlessly dehydrates you (never a good thing!) and is an “magnifier”– so if you’re already feeling low, alcohol will “magnify” that depression and make it worse. It will take your menopausal anxiety and increase that as well. And you may imagine that it helps you sleep, but when the sugar increase in your blood system finally crashes (alcohol = sugar), you will awaken in the middle of the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep.

In addition, did you know that cigarette smoking is the primary factor in causing early menopause (before age 45) in women?!? PLUS it increases the risk of bone loss and heart disease. The deadly-three of Caffeine, Alcohol & Nicotine are sure to be avoided.

Tip 5: Get Yourself Some 100 % SAFE, All-Natural Support for Menopause Symptom Relief

Now this is the PRIMARY tip we have for you. The big enchilada. The issue every menopausal woman must educate herself about. It used to be that we all just cruised to our health-care practioner and he or she prescribed the typical HRT (hormone replacement therapy)… you know: Premarin, Prempro, Provera and others. Those synthetic hormone drugs that most often are made from the urine of pregnant horses. Yes… CRUDE, we know. But it’s the truth.

Despite all that, all shifted when a recent study done as a part of the Women’s Health Initiative discovered that long-term use of these synthetic hormone replacement prescriptions may increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, blood clots and BREAST CANCER. Even as far back as 1975, “they” knew these pharmaceuticals drastically intensified the risk of endometrial cancer as well. Despite all the findings of this study, doctors nevertheless prescribe it. It is serious madness – and ladies, we need to stand up against it!

There is no doubt that we do need some type of significant reduction for the side-effects of menopause– so we can feel like ourselves, not suffer the “crazies”, the sleep disturbances and HOT FLASHES all the time (not to mention the lowered desire for sex), but it’s ABSOLUTELY CRAZY to potentially harm yourself by taking traditional HRT.

There are a great many good and efficient, natural herbal remedies for menopause symptoms over the counter today… they do work, but some work more effectively than others. We highly recommend getting a full-spectrum product made with trustworthy, quality herbs… not pesticide-laden, and not in capsules that are hard for your body to digest and assimilate.

As an example, most nutritional supplements DO contain Black Cohosh for hot flash relief, but make sure your supplement also addresses your other symptoms. Like sage for excessive sweating, and Damiana + Soy Isoflavones for low-libido and depression. Adrenal support is helpful as well– because you need that during this time– and Valerian to relax. Full spectrum SAFE support!

Inform yourself also about bio-identical hormone therapy (bHRT), which is a much safer alternative than traditional HRT. A great source of information and facts for those is found in the book “Ageless” by Suzanne Somers. Ms. Somers even has a list of healthcare professionals in the back so you can find one in your area to get help.

In conclusion, we hope these 5 Tips can help you to a happier, healthier menopause and guide you toward a smooth evolution into the New You. If you ‘d like to learn more, read our other articles and visit our website– we truly seek to help you live your best life NOW.

Valerie Martinez is a nutritional health consultant who (with her business partner Carine Horner — a holistic nutritionist), educates women in how to get help for their menopausal symptoms safely vs. dangerous HRT. To learn more about SAFE, all-natural symptom relief, visit our website at MenopauseReliefToday.com and pick up your FREE Report.