Are you aware of a rise and fall in your energy, mood and focus during your menstrual cycle years? Or if you're in midlife, how do you feel during the fluctuations years of peri to post menopause? With the constant ebb and flow of hormones, and the unpredictability of when they may change, it's no wonder why women can feel on edge. Sometimes you feel totally on your A game and loving life, next thing you feel blindsided and feel like you're wading through mud.
So if many women are affected during an 'average' menstrual cycle, and then most peri to post menopausal women feel the highs and lows of their hormones, why do we think we can push ourselves constantly with exception every week in every month? Because the truth of the matter is that some weeks we may struggle and other weeks we may exceed all expectations.
So this is why women should sync with their cycle and therefore maximise their efforts and productivity as well as protecting their well-being.
The trouble is that social constructs work in weekly and daily schedules and women are expected to conform, yet our body works on a monthly pattern, only then to meet the unpredictable rollercoaster in our 40s/50s.
Here's an image of a menstrual cycle which clearly depicts the difference between male and female hormone levels. The male hormones have a daily even rise and fall compared to that of the female hormones and therefore men do not experience any significant changes during a month.
However, women experience the shift that comes with an increase and decrease of oestrogen and progesterone during approximately 28 days. The period starts on day 1 and then we enter the follicular phase when oestrogen rises and we get more energy. Then progesterone comes on the scene in the luteal phase and we can feel a sense of calm before it slowly declines with oestrogen and we feel that change in mood and energy before we go into another period.
Now here is an image that shows the decline in our hormones over our lifespan.
Just note the huge fluctuations in our late 40s! Is it any wonder in perimenopause why our energy levels constantly go up and down as well as our anxiety, mood, focus?
There needs to be much more awareness and appreciation of how much a woman's hormones affect her throughout her whole life. Not only do women themselves need to understand this, but also, society in general and workplaces, so that allowances can be made. This is a biological necessity. 51% of the population need to adapt their life according to their monthly cycle, not to mention the big hormonal fluctuations during peri to post menopause.
I wonder how many women actually tailor their life in response to hormonal changes. Imagine if we did. We could push our productivity and exercise when our hormones are at their peak and then taper as the hormones drop. We would feel much more harmony and satisfaction with our life, than a constant level of effort that might push us against what our body really needs.
So here's my challenge to you. (At least we can control the controllables even if we might struggle in society and the corporate world.) See if you can sync with your cycle and hormones. Maybe you can you exert your fitness and go for a PB at peak time or blitz a particular job or project you’ve got to do. And then respect your body if it feels the need for more rest and nurture during the lower hormone levels and especially during the fluctuations experienced during the perimenopausal years.
Remember, this is not in your mind, it is a biological and hormonal change that you cannot ignore. So embrace it and work with it where possible.
If you need any further advice or help please get in touch and if you are managing the peri to post menopause years, then you should consider my online programme Maximise your Menopause.
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