Walking the Tightrope Through Peri/Menopause - 6 Ways to create more Balance

Does any of the following sound familiar?
Lately, you have found yourself enduring a seemingly endless series of physical mishaps around your home.  First, you stubbed several toes on a piece of furniture during an unlit midnight walk to the kitchen - a path you knew by heart. Next, you inexplicably walk headfirst into the side of the cupboard in your living room. You are also experiencing more frequent bouts of dizziness and a distinct loss of balance and depth perception.  Maybe, you have to look more closely, when you used to skip up a flight of stairs.
When you convey your concerns to family members and friends, you become frustrated with their indifference. Maybe you have always been clumsy by nature? Are you exaggerating?
Or maybe, you’re a hypochondriac.

If you are a (cough, cough) middle-aged woman, you are not crazy, and your concerns are valid. What you are most likely suffering from are symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.  While episodes of dizziness and loss of balance can be disconcerting, physical changes are a natural part of the life transition process. For many women, these experiences are most likely triggered by a hormonal imbalance brought on by the onset of perimenopause and this change in hormones can significantly affect proprioception. 

Proprioception, otherwise known as kinesthesia, is your body’s ability to sense movement, action, and location. It’s present in every muscle movement you have. Without proprioception, you wouldn’t be able to move without thinking about your next step.

“Proprioception allows you to walk without consciously thinking about where to place your foot next. It lets you touch your elbow with your eyes closed. Proprioception results from sensory receptors in your nervous system and body. Most of these receptors are located in your muscles, joints, and tendons. When you move, the receptors send detailed messages to your brain about your positions and actions. Your brain processes these messages and works with your vision, nervous system, and vestibular system to create your perception of where your body is and how you’re moving.” (Web MD)

The decrease of estrogen levels during peri/menopause directly affects blood pressure and circulation, and a restricted flow of blood and oxygen to the brain can create a loss of equilibrium, which women experience as dizziness. Consequently, by balancing estrogen levels, women might find their circulation improves and, with it, their sense of balance.

Of course, balance isn’t just physical. It is also vital to balance one’s lifestyle to ensure proper mental and psychological health as well, especially for women in the peri/menopausal stage of life. Just making small changes that combine both body and mind, such as adhering to a regular exercise and healthy nutritional diet regimen, can help minimize the occurrence of dizzy spells if they are related to fatigue and low blood pressure. Meditation and breathing exercises (such as box breathing) are beneficial to address symptoms such as anxiety and irritability. 

Women will also lose up to half a pound of muscle per year during peri/menopause, which makes strength training one of the most important changes to incorporate and to maintain (including lunges and squats and incorporating heavier weights for added benefit).

3 Easy At Home Balance Strengthening Exercises

1. Standing on one foot and hinging forward while holding on to a chair and working up to Single Leg Deadlifts with a weight in each hand (keep a soft bend in the knee as you lean forward, touch the ground and then lift yourself up engaging your glute muscles).

2. Walking heel to toe and adding ankle weights like Bala bangles (walk in a straight line placing the heel of one foot in front of the toe of the other and with time, lift the knee high on each side, in between steps).

3. Forward Lunges, initially without weights and working towards holding a weight and twisting towards the same side as the forward stepping leg. (Don’t overstep and keep your knee behind your big toe, place weight firmly on the entire foot and keep your chest up).

5 Mindfulness Exercises to try at Home

1. Box Breathing (breathe in for 4 counts, hold your breath for 4 counts, then exhale for 4 counts. Repeat the sequence until you feel calmer)

2. Inhale a positive thought and exhale a negative thought (keep focusing on the words or change up the words for 5 minutes, inhale ‘joy’ and exhale ‘fear’…)

3. Sigh loudly or scream into a pillow (it sounds cliché but when frustration builds, the physical release of a deep sigh, a guttoral scream or a combination of the two, has a positive effect on the parasympathetic nervous system. Athletes release tension like in tennis, when they hit a ball and moan, it might seem awkward to the spectator but it’s almost involuntary and shows us the body mind connection and balance during a high pressure situation).