Pause for a moment - life changing

Our first pause for a moment using the Co-op Community Cafe in Insomnia was a great success.  

The Northern Membership & Community Council welcomed people and started with a game of menopause bingo.  This was a fun way to start the session and then we had some brilliant breathing techniques from Hannah and Claire from the Derby County Community Trust which gave people a real understanding of how breathing can help with anxiety and give them a better focus.  The Trust is also running a number of activities that would help people and their families.

Rob a colleague gave his account of the male menopause and how he had dealt with that and then his wife's menopause.  Sharing stories is so important and helping others to understand why things happen to their body and why they have brain fog was interesting to hear.

Mina from St. Alkmund's Church in Derby referred to the group she was running and the activities and discussion that were helping people face into perimenopuase or menopause, which were really insightful.   The main focus around going to the doctors and seeing doctors that had a greater understanding around this was important.  Medication is only one source and it needs to be a wider discussion and understanding.    The symptoms are so far ranging from mood changes, hot sweats, weight gain, muscle aches and many more.

Some people attending found the session enjoyable but also realised that talking with others was so important.  One couple said that coming along had been so inspirational that it was life changing for them and that it had given them a new focus as a couple and a much greater understanding.  Others said they would take the information away with them and give to their friends and families.