My Mona Lisa Smile 😉. Pre-procedure If you’re new to the Pod, my name is Laura and I’m a certified Feng Shui Practitioner, Curator and Stylist for you and your Space. Join me and my guests for conversations around lifestyle and wellness with a focus on living and curating our best lives. Subscribe for tips on mindful living! This hybrid Podcast & Newsletter originates on Substack where you can follow me for all the visuals, text and video. The Show is now on video with interview guests along with solo episodes so I encourage you to subscribe and watch on Substack and YouTube . For all my other content and services check out my Link-tree . Welcome back to Where Feng Shui Meets Fashion! This Episode is about my Menopause, journey. I’m diving into laser therapy, HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) and lifestyle options. This may not sound very Feng Shui or Fashion related but stay with me because it is. Trust me, I can make anything about Feng Shui. It’s our relationship with our environment and the divine after all. Our bodies are our most intimate environment… Menopause is the great Equalizer! If you were born a woman, it’s coming for you too. Let me help illuminate a more empowering path. Recently, I have Feng Shui’d everything in my life from my wardrobe to my home and vehicle. Now it’s my bodies turn…. Listen folks, the reality is that I’m 55 and I have been educating myself about Menopause for the last few years. Preparing for what I understand is the inevitable. I am aware I appear younger than my years but I own all 55 of them. I’ve read books, gone to Gynecological seminars, listened to podcasts on the topic and spoken with other women at different stages of Menopause. In my teens and 20’s, I struggled with Endometriosis and other painful conditions associated with being a woman. I ultimately had to educate myself in order to advocate for myself. Those years were very challenging until I was able to self diagnose and convince doctors to properly treat me for Endometriosis. I learned to be my own council. So a few decades later, I feel much more confident in my ability to advocate for myself as I enter this next chapter. From an Archetypal perspective; I am transitioning from maiden to chrone. I did not experience the motherhood archetype so it’s a bigger jump and I’m not quite fulfilled and done being a “maiden” so to speak. I’m feel like I’m in “no man’s” land. The in-between. As far as my menopause journey, I’m in the process of figuring out where I land. Perimenopause is like menopausal limbo and it can last for years and years with varying degrees of symptoms. No one can tell you exactly how long it will last but your body. The final notice is when you stop menstruating for a solid 12 months. I HAVE NOT personally experienced the typical mainstream symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, brain fog, migraines, irregular periods, uncontrollable weight gain, loss of libido, night sweats or sleep disturbances. So I figured I was good and had more time on the clock. Yay! Meanwhile, many of my friends and contemporaries have experienced some or most of these symptoms and it doesn’t sound like fun. What I have learned through my research, is that there are strategic ways to minimize, mitigate and even avoid a lot if not all of these symptoms. You have to get ahead of it though. I’m sharing my personal experience and options that were suited for me with the help of my doctor. We are all different and you should strategize with your doctor to explore the best options for you and your unique circumstances. My actual symptoms turned out to be rather covert. I developed joint issues that began in my mid forties but I did not attribute them perimenopause. Neither did the medical professionals I sought out to help me. The more obvious culprit seemed to be years of wear and tear from figure skating, soccer and running. Running was my drug, my therapist and my friend until I was 47! When I was forced to give it up and I’m still not over it. I miss the high, the endorphins. No other form of exercise delivers that exact dose. When I was 47, I woke up one day with both my knees on fire. I could barely walk. It was alarming. I went on to have an MRI and was referred to an Orthopedic surgeon and specialist who told me I had a torn meniscus in one knee and Osteoarthritis in both knees. Looking back, I suppose the Osteoarthritis should have been a clue that I was entering perimenopause. Loss of Bone density is a major symptom of menopause. It can be treated and even stopped in its tracks with the right solutions. Studies have shown that HRT, Supplements and resistance or weight bearing exercise can do wonders. When I worked with the orthopedic surgeon, I got fluid removed from one of my knees along with a shot of cortisone to relieve the pain and inflammation. He didn’t suggest anything to do with my hormones though. He said if I wanted to be able to walk, I needed to stop running and no longer work on my feet for hours
