The Heard Heart Hands Newsletter

Menopause. Weighted Vest. Gentle Fitness.

Head - Something to Learn

Did you all know that menopause is only one day in your life? The day you haven’t had your period for one year is the day you are considered in menopause. All the days leading up, you are in peri-menopause, and all the days after one big day, you are considered post-menopausal.

So, what causes menopause and its various stages? The simple version is this: when a woman is born, she has around one to three million eggs available to reproduce, and then, from the moment of birth, she gradually begins losing eggs. Isn’t that crazy? The symptoms of menopause occur when a woman’s ovaries begin to run out of functioning eggs and the hormones of estrogen and progesterone decline. So basically, once a woman is past her prime childbearing years, it’s as if her body says it’s time to put this baby-making phase behind us and lean into our mentoring and teaching years. God knows we’ve learned enough. And a woman does need not give birth to another life to give what she’s learned away. We can give even more of ourselves away in our older years.

The age at which a woman begins entering the phases of menopause can vary, but experts agree that “the change” can begin as early as 35. So, if you’re a woman who has noticed any of the following symptoms, you’re not crazy. Your body is leaning into a new stage.

Symptoms:

Hot flashes - Lord help us! And why do they never show up when we are cold?

Night sweats - Oh, the glory of knee and cleavage sweat at night!

Irregular periods- I had a partial hysterectomy almost ten years ago due to fibroids. This was one of the best medical decisions I’ve ever made. My ovaries were left in, which means I still get the privilege of going through menopause. And ladies, it is a privilege. I’ll come back to this a lot.

Vaginal dryness - Lord have mercy. This one has been real for me. TMI? Well, some preacher needs to be talking about this to keep us all from hating sex - a gift between a married man and woman that I’m still having to lean into, given my history. See my friend Francie Winslow if you need help enjoying the gift of sex. She’s taught me so much. And I’ve had to do much healing in this area due to the years the locusts ate in my pre-Jesus promiscuity years. That’s for another newsletter on another day.

Sleep problems - This was initially the first and worst symptom that showed up for me. I’m a 53-year-old baby. I need food, and don’t mess with my sleep.

Mood changes - See above

Urinary problems - leakage and UTIs. I didn’t have an issue here. That’s mercy.

Dry eyes or mouth - Yes to eyes. I started morning refresh drops a few years back.

Joint and muscle aches—THIS! I remember lying on my bed in the fetal position one day, crying out in pain. My entire body ached, hurt, and felt inflamed. (See the leaning into practice I’m sharing this week, which has completely changed how my body feels and has played a vital role in dramatically reducing my aches and pains game.)

Headaches - check

Weight gain - CHECK CHECK! One day, I sat at my breakfast table and wondered why I could feel my lower belly on my thighs. I changed nothing in my exercise practices, but suddenly, my body changed. All my pants with zippers no longer fit, and there was more of me in different places. (Listen to the linked teaching in the “heart” section to hear more about the journey I had to go on to stay free while addressing the weight gain and body change.)

Facial hair growth - I skated by on this one.Phew.

Concentration and memory problems. DING DING DING!! More than poor sleep, aches and pains, weight gain, and brain fog. THIS symptom was scaring the crud out of me! In the worst of times, I couldn’t remember how to form simple sentences or name everyday objects in my hand. 

If you’re heading into your post-childbirth years and any of these symptoms resonate with you, I have good news! There are practical things you can do. Research shows that the earlier you take preventative action, the more successfully you can go through “the change,” avoid health risks associated with menopause, and even experience some of the best years of your life with increased focus, energy, and vitality.

If you ask me, nothing is more beautiful than a confident, God-loving, God-fearing woman who doesn’t fear the future and can laugh at the days to come. She knows her value and adds value to others and the world. She is a woman growing in the strength of grace. Grace is only powerful and effective when someone feels helpless and weak.

Heart - Something to Love

I have been having fun trying something new when I go for a walk: wearing a weighted vest. One of the side effects of low estrogen is decreased bone density. Our bones become more porous and brittle as we age due to the loss of essential chemicals. According to the CDC, more than one in four adults over 65 report a fall each year. Over the past ten years, older adult falls that lead to death have increased by 60%. It’s not the fall that threatens a person’s life so much as the inability to recover and heal from a fall due to porous bones. Porous bones struggle to heal.

Several studies show that menopausal women who exercise with a weighted vest can help prevent bone less.

I had a very dear, dear loved one die in her hospital bed because she had fallen so many times and broken her bones that she was afraid to get out of bed. As much as the specialists and doctors told her that she had to get up and put weight on her bones to strengthen the bones and heal, she couldn’t get past the fear of falling again and hurting herself even more. Her body shut down, and infection occurred because she refused to move. Everything with a brain and body was made to move.  And what doesn’t move eventually dies.

This week's takeaway for your heart: An oldie but a goodie - get moving. Go for a walk. It’s good for you on so many levels.  (Ps. You’re invited to join me this year in walking a race at the speed of love. Learn more here.)

To heck with diet culture and whatever toxic potion you drank from the world that told you to exercise so you can make your body your slave. Your body is not your slave. It’s part of your personhood. It’s a piece of who you are. So in holy defiance, go for a walk. With every step you take, tell your mind you are subduing and having dominion over every creeping thing. And if you’re already walking and looking to increase your bone strength and challenge your core and proprioceptor (a sensory receptor that tells you where you are in space), consider adding some weight.

The weighted vest I’ve been using is out of stock. But this one looks good.

Hands - Something to Lean Into

As I entered “the change” my body stopped liking how I was moving. It was telling me every day as everything in my body hurt. I was sore longer than needed and everything ached. I hated the way I was feeling, but I was thick-skulled and dumb. I kept pushing myself like all good soldiers do until one beautiful breakdown day, into my bed sheets I cried, “Something has to change.”

At the crossroads of suffering enough and having learned enough, and it’s still not working, Jesus waits.

I sensed the Holy Spirit inviting me into a new way.  

Since then, I have changed my movement. I drastically cut back on the high-intensity anything and started leaning into zone 2 cardio, which is why I’ve been enjoying more brisk walks. Walking is not the only way I move my body, but it is a delightful way to move. I am moving my body in ways that don’t flood it with cortisol – the stress hormone that wreaks havoc on women in any stage of menopause. Most movement I do now has to feel good. And friends, this being kinder to our body is not a good Christian health and fitness girl thing to say. It really is the way, especially in the back forty, wiser days of our life.

Listen to my workshop on RW+ about zone 2 cardio and cortisol

My body has changed positively so much since I started practicing gentle fitness. My pants fit again, I have more energy, and my joints don’t ache, and I no longer think, “One day soon, I’m going to need knee replacement surgery.” Since changing how I move and improving how I eat, both in kinder ways, I feel so great. If you want, I’ll keep sharing all the new ways. But if I do, promise me you will stay you and seek that small voice that’s calling YOU into your new ways.

A friend said recently to me regarding a hard circumstance I’ve been walking through, “Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s wrong.” The reverse needs to be said for exercising our bodies. “Just because it feels easy doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

God is much kinder than we are, and He doesn’t pinch, prod, or place heavy yokes.

If your body hurts and you haven’t been kind to it, or it doesn’t feel kind to you, this week, try moving your body in a way that feels too simple and easy. Do it as a form of spiritual discipline. All disciplines of God come from and lead to delight.

God is in a good mood over you, which includes your body, which is connected to your personhood. Be good to her.

Everything God creates is good!

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” 1 Timothy 4:4

Tell me below what resonates with you. And let me know what you want to hear more about because I have learned and am learning so much I don’t know where to go next. :)