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Catholic, Health, Hormone, Hormones, Meditation, Menopause, Tao, United States
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Some days I feel terribly old and others I feel as though I’m 20. Hormones. (This is where I lose the dudes.)
I’m not yet menopausal but I’ve finally learned that it’s all kinda hideous and great. The great part is recognizing the cause. Just because it is hormonal does not make the pain less nor does it diminish the joy. I immerse myself and then let it pass over me, like just another blade of seagrass waving back and forth, to and fro. It’s that whole Lao Tse (?) philosophy of being able to bend like a reed in the wind. Harder to practice than one hopes. In all the Tao, Buddhist, Catholic or any spiritual readings I’ve come across, nobody ever talks about hormones. Probably because most religions are controlled by men. This is not a criticism, it is just an observation. Male yogi’s are a bit better about showing compassion to what happens to a woman’s body but lets face it, even that’s a stretch. (no pun intended) I will say that learning how to breathe (meditate) makes all the difference.
One has to be aware of what is happening to the body, that which is beyond your control, so as not to be crushed by emotion. For it (emotion) will crush your delicate blade under its calloused feet; smashing your will down into the sand, enjoying your soft body giving into its weight. It’s getting unstuck from the thickness and stickiness of the marsh (Life) that is so tough. Sometimes the more you fight it the more immovable you become.
Caught up in a hormonal high (or low), Life is one giant wetland, occasionally a bog, and sometimes a desert, where there is room for contemplation; one can’t avoid it. That’s why the desert is an acquired taste; you can run but you can not hide.
I’m just another wave, part of one ocean. Heck sometimes I’m a Joshua Tree, my body an aquifer.
Is my giddiness hormonal or perhaps it was that second cup of tea?
Be gentle with your self.
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Walter Kitty's Diary 
Walter
I have been told that men go through their own kind of menopause. SOmehow I think that it is not true. I have seen many woman going through menopause starting with my mother , teachers, aunts, etc. and what I have gone through in no way mirrors the experience of women.
A loss of testosterone and some crying when our football teams win isn’t the same.
I
I weep when I hear the accordion…but I’ve always been that way, and I’m not menopausal YET (she said defiantly). To the gallows I go!
Our pastor was wearing a sweater and said he (He!)was too hot. Then he started waving his hands, saying that he is over 50 so it must be a hot flash. Some people laughed, others probably went home…annoyed? 🙂
One must always have a sense of humor. Always! Thats why I love the Franciscan’s…they love a good joke.
Hormone’s are predetermined at birth and continually flow from the Anterior pituitary until valve is shut off roughly around 50-ish…maybe 55…possibly..60.
All the FSH in the sea can’t regulate the diminished capacity of our hormones at a certain point in life…..
Now PMS is something else….
spread the humor:charlywalker.wordpress.com
I’ve decided it was 2 cups of PG Tips.
Walter, this is fine advice. And while I appreciate it…
Unfortunately, there is a level of massive hormonal collapse/surge/implossion/explosion that you must not yet have encountered. It disfigures your self-perception, because hormones controll moods which create the temprament of thoughts. Broken down, this means you can not pull yourself out of it. I know this from experience and it’s a bitch. It interferes with not only the act of mediation of thought/mood and meditation, but makes you write really crappy and raging reviews of strawberry M&M’s.
I know all too well the “hideous” nature of the beast. Speaking only from my own experience, the only thing I can do is give into it- be it a nightmare or a dream. I have had to force myself to sit with days so horrendous I think it will never end…and I have had this problem for years. I’ve watched most of the women I know go through the same hell. The difference is that now I do not judge myself, I force myself to yoga or lock myself indoors…and then it passes. The breathing takes my mind off of whatever is going on and gives me a reprieve. But meditation is by no means a good time all the time. I’ve tried all the “remedies” and this is the only one that seems to help. This or a scotch and Motrin!
LOL, Scotch AND Motrin? Whew! This whole thing is cruel punishment for women. Knowing my friends go through it and sharing our grief helps, so you don’t think it’s only you who suffers and feels crazy. I’ll keep the breathing in mind. Have you tried Soy Isoflavones with Black Cohosh? It really works for many women, or helps. But thats more a hot flash thing. God Bless us all!
What I really hate is when women act like they never have ANY issues hormonally, and I know a lot of women like this. They refuse to question what is going on in their bodies because they are upset at the aging process. Vanity thy name is menstrual cycle (or lack thereof)!
I think meditation helps because it clears my mind of that crazy stuff we tell ourselves when under the spell of some kind of hormonal flux. It does not make it go away but it helps me sit with it, accept it, watch it ruin my day and then send it on it’s way. Bye Bye crazy-town!
The scotch and Motrin ease the pain and I imagine make me a far more palatable person to be around! But I can’t do Soy.
Sadly, I have several friends who cannot touch soy either – it’s the breast cancer-in-the-history thing… For me and a friend, we swear by it. When we run out, our bodies go beserk. I see your point more clearly now about surrendering. I have to also lock myself away so as not to spaz out on people, as I fear I will, and even have. People never forget your meanness, even if you try to explain it afterward. My drug of choice: usually red wine. And at a recent wine tasting, they were selling Chocolate Red Wine – a ladies dream come true! I recommend searching for it if anyone likes both of those temptatons!
mmmmmchocolate red wine
You lost me at “Some days I feel…” I think there was something written after that, but, alas… dust in the eye.
Sorry.
I might catch this one on re-runs.
This topic is a hot one, no pun intended.
I would like to add something that I feel is important:
Pain is not a competition.
Compassion and empathy play a role in that I do not have to have given birth to have the qualities of a mother, nor do I have to have gone through menopause to know that it is difficult. And those that have sent me private messages intimating that I will “learn” once I go through it are giving me very little credit, know nothing about my own experiences in life, and ultimately are diminishing their own experience.
Again, this is my ignorant, humble, dumb-dumb opinion. But by the way, you do not need to have been hog-tied and had a gun held to your temple to know that it is bad; that it can cause all kinds of problems in your private life, your health and your public “persona”.
This kind of holier-than-thou bullshit is a real problem…in my humble, ignorant opinion.
Oh dear, I used a bad word.
What was this topic about? You lost me??? Did you say something about what you are making for breakfast?
wipe your mouth, you’re drooling.