Lose yourself in a book (or 20)

There’s nothing quite like a good book and a sun lounger. It’s one of life’s great pleasures. And one that escapes nearly all menopausal women for one reason or another, be it kids, life, general busyness, workload, hot flushes, lack of concentration, inability to focus, a feeling of guilt. In fact I could go on for hours about the reasons why we shouldn’t take time out & read.

One study found 69% of hot flushes at night wake women up. We experienced that first hand. We also know you might not even realise that is why you are waking. Side note for women struggling with hot flushes – you can grab hot flush relief here.

It’s so good for you on so many levels. It relaxes you, reduces stress levels, helps your communication skills, works on your focus and improves your memory function. And that’s before the actual enjoyment of losing yourself in someone else’s story.

One of our menopause champions took time out to travel solo in Greece (yes, if only) when she hit menopause hard & needed time to reassess what she wanted from life. Books kept her sane and stopped her over thinking the day to day.

Sorry to ask but how is your sleep?

Sleep disturbance and insomnia are common challenge for many peri-menopausal women. Lack of sleep makes it hard to focus on work, increases stress and can worsen health and symptoms of menopause.

I know I am not the only woman awake at 2.14AM feeling crushed by the weight of my endless to-do. Have you noticed EVERYTHING seems urgent in the middle of the night?

How will I survive tomorrow?

The bottom line is we cannot survive without sleep.

Sleep – elusive and critical. We can all enjoy improving the quality of our sleep.

Sleep fuels family and social life as well as mood and mojo. Sleep helps you lose weight. Sleep turns back the clock on your appearance. Sleep is great for your libido. Do I need to go on? Sleep is happiness.

Hormonal changes affect sleep.

Lack of sleep leads to cell damage, impacting biological aging.

What can we do?

There are many things we can do to improve sleep. We would love to hear what helps you?

Sleep is no joke for women like you and I. But, we want to keep an eye on it without obsessing and stressing about it.

When all else fails, lose yourself in a book

If you are lying awake, get out of bed, and leave your bedroom armed with a book (not a device!). Try reading for 20 minutes. Then, go back to bed.

I learned that you may be tired the next day, but you will likely cope.

Here are 20 favorites.....a mixture of fiction, menopause observations, humour, life’s challenges, biographies, and real stories.

1. The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
2. Glorious Rock Bottom - Bryony Gordon
3. Older & Wider - Jenny Eclair
4. Blood Orange - Harriet Tyce
5. The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa
6. A River in Darkness - Masaji Ishikawa
7. The Whisper Man - Alex North
8. Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
9. The Cows - Dawn O'Porter
10. The Other Wife - Claire McGowan
11. City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert
12. Vox - Christina Dacher
13. Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
14. Colour Bar - Susan Williams
15. Lion - Saroo Brierley
16. The 100 Year old Man who climbed out the Window - Jonas Jonasson
17. We are all Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
18. The Menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health with Facts and Feminism - Jennifer Gunter
19. Fierce Self-Compassion: How Women Can Harness Kindness to Speak Up, Claim Their Power, and Thrive – Kristin Neff
20. This Changes Everything: The Honest Guide to Menopause and Perimenopause – Niki Bezzant

Choose one to have on hand for those tough days, sleepless nights, train journeys to work or time waiting in the car for the kids to finish sport. So much better for our brains than scrolling through a phone.

👇🏽👇🏽   Let us know your favorite book? 👇🏽👇🏽

We would love to build out our bookshelf.

Books are essential to your midlife health toolkit. Receiving support to connect the dots on what is going on for you as hormones change (or the “hormado” hits) is a game-changer.

I have got to be honest with you – surviving and thriving as you navigate your menopause transition doesn’t happen overnight but it happens.

It starts with connection. If you would like support from someone who has been there, other women and menopause experts, jump on the waitlist to become a member of The Menopause Work and Life Transformation Project (our 8-week program).

PS here is what our members are saying….

Be well.

Melissa MacGowan, Meno Collective

The information in this post is for information purposes only and is not intended to replace or substitute medical advice.