Our Menopause Workshop Team

Menopause discussion & Workshop Online.

We have come together to offer FREE help and advice this spring for 4 weeks online via websites , Facebook and Instagram this may help you during your menopausal journey into making healthy changes that will improve later life.

Introducing Emma as part of our collaboration in the  Menopause Team along with Alison and Carolyn from Beingwell.

Hi ! Im Ali or Alison, partner in Beingwell, Perth road. I am a Trained Colon hydrotherapist who  gained a BSc in Food, Nutrition & Health becoming a Professional Nutritionist in July 2018 and in 2021 became a Master Herbalist. As well as individual advice and treatment I support Seasonal Detoxing & cleansing programmes such as colon/ Liver cleanse ; as well as nutritional advice for good colon health.

 Although all my training & techniques did not prepare me for life during & after menopause. At 55 years old im ready to share my experiences , tips and advice.

Through a series of blogs here , Facebook  and Instagram posts in February,  we will try to empower you to wade through the plethora of advice with real life experience.

A FREE 4 week online Menopause Workshop & Gut Health help from real, menopausal Practitioners, who tell their own journeys to help you through this testing time. As you know, there is “no one size fits all”, were all different and so are our bodies. Your menopause journey Yours Alone! Let us share ours with you. Suggest strategies you may have not tried. We have the tools to improve our quality of life. Simple, sustainable changes that will, through time, have a big impact on our quality of later life. During this 4 weeks we journey through a Deep Tissue cleanse. Guide supplementation & dietary recommendations to support gut microbiome diversity and help with inflammation.  Instead of rushing into big dietary and health changes at the start of 2025, try to be patient when seeking this transformation within yourself; and incorporate subtle, but permanent change this time and WIN! Read our 4 week workshop and plan your strategies.

January has just gone and the pressure to get back in shape is on! Menopause makes it so much harder. Why?

Evidence from the SWAN study & The Healthy Women’s study suggests on average women gain approximately 1.5kgs per year during perimenopause transition, resulting in an average weight gain of 10kg by the time menopause is reached. Most weight accumulates on the abdomen and upper body.   And don’t we know it!

Why are we feeling down or out of sorts?

Perimenopause women are more likely to experience depression. A systematic review and Metaanalysis concluded that perimenopause women are 40% more likely to experience depression than women at other life stages. The research included seven studies on women from various countries, suggesting the result isn’t attributed to cultural & lifestyle factors.

 Alison Bower ( BsC Food, Nutrition & Health. )At 55 years of age, I am hopeful I’m coming out the other end of my Menopause Trip. My journey is a little over a decade now, and apart from broken sleep with night flushes, my symptoms now are not near as diverse or severe. From my early 40s I felt something wasn’t right. I was quick tempered, like really angry, and I slept a lot less. My period was still regular, lasted 3 to 5 day’s but every 2nd month I would be floored with fatigue and the first 3 days it was heavy bleeding. My feelings during this time I can only describe as despair…..a bit like depression but for no apparent reason. This got worse. Almost every month for 2/3 days I was so low in mood; almost suicidal, but the rest of the month I would pick back up again. Sleep was intermittent. I’d be absolutely exhausted by 9pm but by 3.15am I’d be wide awake mind racing and off to the gym at 6am after being up active from 4am.

By 54 years old I’d read lots of articles stating; if you have previously taken the contraceptive pill that your menopause would be a lot worse, and I had. I read lots of advice, watched Davina McCall’s HRT programme and; due to feeling so wretched I started HRT patches. Within days I felt “cured”; more energy, better sleep, mood lifted and swore at myself for not going on these patches sooner. I mean some women say they will take them for life! I had to remind myself that menopause is a natural process so HRT was just a crutch for me to get through this bad stage not for LIFE! After 4 months on it I stopped. I felt I was being forced into a heavy period that lasted almost 7 full days, almost like I was a teenager again. My body and mind was drained for a full week every month and I was borderline anaemic.

 Last year I began following an Australian Naturopath in her 70s called DR. Barbara O’Neill’s. She recommended Yam Comfort cream applied direct to your skin 3 weeks per month to stimulate progestogen production. I’ve used this cream 7 months now and feel it helps. I cleanse and detox regular. This helps weight stays well balanced by shedding the waste and toxins accumulated in my digestive tract and then boosts my probiotic gut bacteria, which enhances my immune health and ability to support recovery and vitality. I make a conscious effort to keep quite fit, although I don’t batter the gym at 6am now. These days I’ll get up do my olive oil n ginger shot for my liver, then take the dog out a few brisk miles and either do some yoga online or light/medium weight train. We also cold dip in the loch once a week and I’ve a cold pool at home too. Very handy some nights when the flushes are prolonged.

 I truly believe surviving menopause is to realise we need to slow things down a little and change what we do. We cannot keep doing the things we did in our 30s. Our machines do not perform as they used too, especially if you’ve had your foot on the gas too long!  By over exercising; to beat the bulge; I was depleting essential nutrients that need stored. It’s crucial to stay hydrated and put have a nourishing diet. Cleansing a couple of times a year not only lower our body toxicity, it boosts metabolism which kick starts weight loss and boosts energy. This year’s Detox Cleanse is a 7 Day Deep Tissue Cleanse by Dr.Bernard Jensen. Begins weds 12th Mar , last day Tuesday 18th March. All information is on our Detox page online at www.beingwell.scot. Buy the book & join in or follow the progress online.