Are health issues popping up out of nowhere, stressing you out and sending you down the Dr. Google rabbit hole at 3 am? Me too!

It might be TMI but I’d like to share with you the crazy digestive symptoms I’m having right now and what I’m doing about it. It’s not about a special exercise or new supplement. This is down to basics yoga and mindfulness tools that you can start today to feel more yourself.

Be forewarned… we’re going to be very good friends at the end of this. If you are a bit squeamish about bathroom talk, you may want to skip this one.

Random Health Issues Cropping Up

What the heck is happening with us? As new things crop up, I feel like a delicate flower… can only eat certain things or go certain places. Am I weak? Am I getting old?

The truth is that our bodies feel everything but can’t escape the way our minds can. The body is in it, 24/7. So all those late nights in your 20’s? Body remembers. All those great parties on vacation last year? Body’s still feeling it. The sleepless nights with kids? Body’s keeping score. You get the picture.

Mentally, I’ve moved on. I maybe don’t even remember half this stuff. But my body still bears the imprint of the stress. The exhaustion. The unhealthy food. Maybe bad drugs in the 60’s …but I admit nothing.

Why Things are Different Now

Before menopause, we had this little helper called estrogen. She floated around binding it all together. I’ve talked before about how estrogen is a little like that mom in our family. She does all this background stuff -remembers doctors appointments, gets permission slips signed, buys toilet paper … we don’t really acknowledge all she does to keep us together. But then mom gets the flu and the house goes to shit. No one knows where we keep the toilet paper. I think I’m building a theme here. Oh boy. Anyway… you get the idea. When mom goes down, the real cracks start to show. Someone should have been helping mom with the toilet paper all along but she just did it.

This is like our bodies when estrogen goes down. It all goes to shit. There I go again with the unintended puns. I warned that this episode is a bit down the toilet. The point is that the stuff we got away with in our 20’s, 30’s, even 40’s will now catch up with us. It’s not a personal failing but biology. Unavoidable.

Even if you exercise. Eat super healthy. Do yoga every day. Trust me. I know this from my clients but more intimately from my own experience.

Lessons from the Restroom

Recently my body has decided to send a stern memorandum that I need to make some changes. After returning from a trip in April, I thought I had a parasite. Fast forward through doctor’s visits, antibiotics, herbal remedies and cutting out dairy and gluten… blah blah blah… I’m pretty sure that my newfound desperation to always be by the loo is IBS.

We had some significant family stress in February (normal stuff for women our age) that I think pushed me over the edge. The routines of self care I had no longer were sufficient.

This is Common at our Age

Have you been hit with a health issue out of the blue? One of my clients just shared with me that she’s start bleeding after 10 years post menopause. Another developed a rash with no clear cause. Another client has started waking up at 2:36 am every morning for no reason. She’s exhausted. Another client got slammed with sciatica. Very painful, derailed her whole summer… no discernible cause.

The doctor will have some help for all these problems but as a yoga therapist, I see a common thread amongst all of us.

Stress.

Specifically, the cumulative load of a life lived in overdrive for decades.

Just a quick clarification here: WE DID NOT DO ANYTHING WRONG. A lot of times when people get diagnosed with a chronic disease that is exacerbated by stress, we blame ourselves. I should have retired earlier or left the marriage or been better somehow.

The truth is when you are in the weeds, you don’t know you’re in the weeds. Maybe it’s a bit of arrogance but we think we can handle it. And we did. But the body kept tally. And now the debt is being called in.

And because of what I do for a living, I’m particularly vulnerable to beating myself up for not recognizing the patterns earlier. But that is not helpful.

Look to Yoga and Mindfulness for Help

What is helpful is knowing simple adjustments and tools to employ to pay off the deficit and get us back into the game of life again.

Let’s talk about 3 simple shifts that you can start today to reassure your body, and your nervous system, that you are serious about getting better. These are really helping with my symptoms. I can get through teaching a whole yoga class now without rushing for the facilities. I’m back to eating cheese and pasta. Thank heavens because I love cheese and pasta. You obviously will assemble many things from your health care team like supplements, prescriptions, creams, dietary changes and other lifestyle habits… all this forms a puzzle unique to you and your healing. But these habits will accelerate your progress.

1. Mindfulness Snacks

Ever been on a trip, using your phone for maps and photos and watching YouTube videos and it almost dies half way through the day? Your nervous system needs recharging when there’s a heavy load on it in that same way.

A mindfulness snack is 3 – 5 minutes segregated from normal activities to recharge the batteries.

This can be a quick “legs up the couch”, a short guided meditation or one of my favourite is the 3 minute breathing space. It’s a classic mindfulness tool that can be utilized almost anywhere. If you’re not driving or operating heavy machinery while you listen to this, let’s try it together.

1. orient to present moment experience

2. Focus on purpose on movements of breath in the belly

3. Expand awareness to include breath but also full present moment experience.

2. Technology Boundaries

With smart watches and computer phones a part of our minute to minute lives, I see the nervous system toll for my students. They are getting buzzed and binged even through yoga class. The one place I would hope they could take a break from the outside world. I guarantee that our bodies were never designed for 24/7 connectivity with the entire universe. It’s just overwhelming.

Dumping the tech for long stretches can be even more stressful, or perhaps not practical. And turning off all notifications permanently might not even be safe or desirable.

The first step is just to be more aware of how often you are responding to notifications or prompts. Or how often you are checking the news headlines. Can you set boundaries around that? Be aware that every time you look at your device, your nervous system is getting a jolt. It’s burning through battery power, in other words.

Do you ever close apps on your phone to save the battery? You get the picture.

My suggestion is that you start with limits around bedtime. Maybe a one hour moratorium on devices before bed. No scrolling when you wake up at night. Then try creating sacred silence around mealtime. No devices. And another time of day that is precious real estate is first thing in the morning. So many of us reach for our phones to open our day. Consider creating another sacred space when your brain is fresh and the day is full of exciting new possibilities. Conserve your battery power for your own thoughts and plans.

Which segues to #3

3. Journal more

If you do decide to put the devices away in the morning, you could use that time to visit with the most amazing and fascinating person in the world… YOU.

Journalling can be complicated. But this doesn’t have to be.

Many of my clients who are more visually stimulated start with a blank page and a doodle. I love colour so sometimes I just draw a rainbow and let that start the juices flowing. Remember, you’re not writing a book report. It doesn’t have to make much sense.

There are so many compelling reasons to journal but in this context, it’s just about scheduling a little time to invest in the relationship you have with yourself.

Do you remember those pen pal letters we wrote in school? Hi. How are you. I am fine. Today we have a spelling test. Do you like spelling? Simple stuff. But it was pretty cool when the pen pal wrote back. And said the same stupid stuff. But you felt important right?

Carving out 10 minutes, or more, to write to yourself is a way to say to your body that you matter. You exist. Your feelings and experiences are worth writing down.

You can save them or burn them in a ceremonial fire. Doesn’t matter. You put in the effort and your body is keeping score.

So to recap:

You are not falling apart. Life isn’t in the toilet (another zinger for you!).

You’ve lost one of the most important buffers you had to all the shit in life, your estrogen. Even if you are on hormone therapy, it’s a fraction of what your body produced in your heyday.

You are going to have to get more serious about self care. Today we talked about 3 little things that can start you on the road to feeling better right away.

But this is a bigger conversation for many of us. Setting boundaries. Eating healthier. Exercising more consistently and without punishing ourselves. Prioritizing sleep and rest. Basically undoing decades of the habitual pushing and forcing that kept life humming along.

If you would like to tackle this within a supportive group of women just like you, and with my expertise as a yoga therapist, please check out my SHE Mindfulness program. There are online and in person options so all are welcome. I’ll put a link to a free masterclass in the show notes that will give you a little taste of our approach.

You don’t need to suffer through this alone. There are supports waiting for you. And asking for help, for me, is the hardest part.

Please share this episode with a friend who could use a boost. It’s the best way to grow this podcast and help more women out there. Until next time, namaste.