Attitude and Menopause

The saying “mind over matter” means that the mind can control the physical. I’ve heard about people who can move objects by just thinking about them moving. I’ve never met one of the phenomenons personally, but I have heard about them, and I do believe that they exist.

The mind is powerful, and science is only just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding the relationship between the mind and the physical body.


Eastern medical practitioners have long recognized the mind/body connection, but Western medical practitioners are just beginning to accept the idea as fact. Our emotions can make us physically sick. I think we can all agree about that. Under undue stress, the body reacts by increasing the heart rate, pumping extra adrenaline, sweating, etc., and that IS mind over matter. Our minds are affecting our bodies.

During menopause, I do believe that the attitude and the mindset of the menopausal woman have a great deal of effect on her physical menopausal symptoms. I am most certainly not implying that a woman can mentally PREVENT night sweats of hot flashes. That would be ridiculous.

I am saying, however, that the woman’s attitude can determine the level of intensity, and possibly even the frequency. There isn’t any scientific proof that this is true, as far as I know; but just like the body reacts to stress, the body also reacts to other emotions and even perceptions of situations.

The human body is a living, breathing symphony of many systems. There are many things that the body just does all by itself…like breathing…that the mind has no control at all over. However, while the body does breathe without instructions from the mind, the mind can control the rate and depth of breathing. I think the same thing is true of menopausal symptoms.

Filed under Menopause |