Our mantra is that being healthy is all about balance – move a lot, eat well and take time to de stress, laugh and enjoy the odd treat or too as well

We all know it’s good to talk about mental health but there is less chat about the Menopause which can be closely linked to feelings of depression and lack of confidence as well as being directly affected by the the balance we mention above.

That’s why we decided it would be good to Talk about Menopause too as for too long now, it’s been seen as something that is either not mentioned or the butt of the odd joke.

We asked Menopause expert Clare Shepherd (pictured), founder of YOUR NEW LIFE PLAN plan to give us some more information about this natural phase of life which should be viewed (according to Clare) just like we do Puberty. She also believes that the symptoms associated with it are wider than those typically mentioned and that many can be helped enormously by getting that all important healthy living balance right.

As Clare shares our belief that exercise and particularly walking have an important part to play in this process, we teamed up to deliver a 90 minute on line chat session and were delighted to see so many people interested in finding out more (and not just those it is affecting now)

Clare covered a host of topics about hormones, stress and the simple things that can help with Night sweats, Flushes and other symptoms that can really affect the daily lives of those navigating this life phase alone. Her easy going approach was fun and engaging and soon the questions were coming in with subjects as wide as oestrogen patches, anxiety, osteoporosis, poor sleep and weight gain being discussed.

The key is to understand your body and what’s happening to it and to also articulate how you are feeling in order to work out what you can do to make things better  ” In essence it’s about taking control and not just accepting that it’s something you need to just get on with” says Clare

Clare is a nutritional therapist and believes in a natural approach to managing these symptoms and she gave some simple tips for people to follow as well as a guide the types of food that can impact either positively or adversely. As one Lady commented…………

I really wish I had access to more information like this 6 years ago , Thanks Clare

Clare also touched on supplements and Phytoestrogens and the aim now is to host a monthly drop in session where we cover each subject in more detail and simply keep talking about Menopause!

There’s certainly lot’s of interest for this with people saying “yes please to more sessions” and the feedback was really positive. Another Lady told us……

Thanks so much, I have really enjoyed tonight – time flew by!

Everybody agreed that having a chat about something that is natural and can be made more positive by working with nature was inspiring. Here’s hoping that when we touch base again, we have even more positive feedback form those who are making the small changes.

The next step for us at HQ is to also set up some Instructor training sessions so these chats can continue all over the UK when groups are out walking or drinking that socially distanced coffee at the end!

After all….it’s good to talk!

For more information about the sessions e mail gill@walx.co.uk

THE NEXT ON LINE SESSION WILL BE ON 6th APRL at 7 PM