Review: The Essential Oils Menopause Solution

Title: The Essential Oils Menopause Solution

Author: Mariza Snyder

Publisher: 20th April 2021 by Rodale Books

Pages: 416 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: health, mind, body

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

What if menopause didn’t have to be a struggle?

Your body is always changing—necessarily and beautifully—throughout life. During menopause, however, declining ovarian function and fluctuating hormones often clash with environmental toxins, stress, and digestive distress, leading to the symptoms we have been told we should expect: hot flashes, weight gain, brain fog, low libido, and irritability. But as women’s hormonal health expert and bestselling author Dr. Mariza Snyder explains, you can and deserve to experience a good night’s sleep, clear thinking, stable moods, an energized metabolism, and pain-free sex. The solution is not to medicate the changes, but instead get to the root cause of what’s really going on in the body. In The Essential Oils Menopause Solution, Dr. Mariza offers a cutting-edge, comprehensive plan to do just that, including:

• a clear explanation of what’s happening in your body before, during, and after “the change,” and how certain lifestyle triggers exacerbate hormonal imbalance.

• the latest science behind the benefits of essential oils as safe, effective solutions for perimenopause and menopause symptoms.

• more than 75 recipes and protocols designed to provide solutions for deep, restful sleep, anxiousness, mood swings, fatigue, hot flashes, low libido, brain fog, vaginal dryness, digestive distress, and much more.

• a proven 21-day hormone-balancing program complete with meal plans, exercise recommendations, supplementation, and herbal therapies designed to reverse the myriad of symptoms affecting millions of women today.

• easy self-care rituals to support every system of your body—from digestion and vaginal health to mitochondrial and liver function—throughout the perimenopausal and menopausal transition.

You always deserve a body that works for you, and if you are feeling less than your best, you deserve solutions that promote actual healing. In as little as twenty-one days, The Essential Oils Menopause Solution will help you reclaim vibrant, optimal, and long-lasting health.

My Thoughts

‘This is it - the time to redefine your midlife and embrace your future with grace and joy.’

I’m not sure of other’s experiences when it comes to the latter stages of a woman’s life, however personally speaking, it is not something conversed about often or indeed, at all. Therefore I read what I can to educate myself about this new phase of life I, and indeed all women, will enter into at some stage. 

‘Those hormonal imbalances are driving the mood swings, migraines, disrupted sleep, fatigue, and other symptoms hastily misunderstood and tagged as “menopause.”

Whilst there is an assortment of books on the topic to read, I look for one’s that might provide a key factor that could go some way to making the experience more positive. The complete ‘makeover’ on offer in this book is not something I would necessarily subscribe to, however, I did find a few useful ideas to experiment with. I subscribe to the science behind essential oils and therefore found some of the blends suggested here to be valuable.

‘Essential oils aren’t the solution here - they are the support. Use them as tools to get you to the end game: healthy hormonal balance. But they won’t get you there if you neglect lifestyle choices that establish the foundation for your good health.’

You will learn what hormones are, what their roles are in your body and what may be the cause of them becoming unbalanced. There is a lot of useful information provided by the author as she covers a wide range of variables from essential oils to nutrition that might assist women to better understand and work with their bodies during this change of life. The tone of the book is friendly and compassionate, structured in such a way to make it easy to come back to if particular chapters are pertinent to the reader. 

Therefore I do recommend this book as a type of manual or reference for women wishing to learn more about the perimenopause or menopause as it provides a wealth of medical information. There are then chapters on various symptoms from sleep issues, to brain fog, to low energy. The author then provides a 21 Day Makeover plan. I did put into practice some of the suggestions for the essential oil recipes (there are over seventy five) for diffusers, rollerballs or sprays. All up, an excellent guide with a range of valuable suggestions to assist women during this challenging time of their life. 

‘The heart of this 21-Day Makeover is establishing a series of moments in your day that shift the priority back to you. It’s about integrating foods, self-care rituals, movement, essential oils, and supplement protocols that address your unique combination of symptoms to help you reclaim your energy and joy at midlife.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: A Moment for Me

Title: A Moment for Me - 52 Simple Mindfulness Practices to Slow Down, Relieve Stress, and Nourish the Spirit

Author: Catherine Polan Orzech

Publisher: 1st January 2021 by New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Reveal Press

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: Health, Mind & Body, Self-Help

My Rating: 3 cups

Synopsis:

If you could do one thing for yourself today, why not do a quick mindfulness ritual?

In our busy, high-stress lives, sometimes we all need to slow down, breathe, and just be. But, as easy as that sounds, many of us are intimidated by the practice of meditation. Fortunately, you don’t have to experience a divine awakening or reach profound enlightenment to take advantage of this ancient practice. The simple rituals in this take-anywhere guide can help you get started—right now!

In A Moment for Me, you’ll learn to create a personal and well-rounded mindfulness practice to last you all year long. Featuring 52 satisfying and easy rituals, you’ll find quick inspiration to help you make mindfulness a regular part of your routine. The best part? You can use this book as a weekly dose of spiritual insight, or use each chapter as a standalone ritual. Whatever feels comfortable and meaningful to you!

So, why not get started today? Mindfulness meditation has never been so simple.

My Thoughts

“Mind the gap.” And there is a gap,  a small space that exists between thoughts. What would happen if we really “minded” it? If we really paid attention to what train of thought we were getting on and whether it was where we really wanted to go?’

What better way to start the new year than with this little gem on Mindfulness. A timely reminder to breathe and be present in the small moments of the everyday. Set out in monthly themes, made up of 52 chapters each containing a core concept to contemplate and reflect upon. The reader is then provided with practical suggestions to move from the theory to the practical in making small yet significant changes to their life. For it is in these seemingly mundane everyday activities that real life happens - so it makes sense to pay more attention to the little details as together they combine to make up one’s life.

The author declares that each and every day there are the little moments where we experience both enriching and depleting activities and it is about maintaining a balance between the two. How it is important to seek those moments of stillness, where you can let things go and be at peace with how things actually are. 

‘While it may be true that there is nothing we can concretely do right now to change the final outcome of some of our major stressors, we can reclaim our sense of mastery in our lives in myriad small ways in the tasks of daily living - one small step at a time. By reclaiming our ability to take care of things and influence the flow of our lives, we nurture an internal reminder of our competency and lessen the likelihood that we will succumb to being overwhelmed.’

Whilst there are indeed many mindfulness books out there, I think that this one is worth a look.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Older and Wider - A Survivor’s Guide to the Menopause

Title: Older and Wider - A Survivor’s Guide to the Menopause

Author: Jenny Eclair

Publisher: 2nd July 2020 by Quercus Books

Pages: 352 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: nonfiction, Health, Mind & Body

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

'The menopause is a weird one, as a woman you know that the likelihood of it happening to you is pretty inevitable, but no-one really tells you what to expect.'

So says Jenny Eclair, who, with her trademark humour, will share her experience of what can be a difficult time for many women, from the emotional side of life - missing the woman you were, the empty nest, mood swings - to the health aspects of the menopause, starring the hot flush and also periods (lack of), weight problems, insomnia and other issues. Upbeat and honest, Jenny shares her new-found hobbies, the joy of pets and how to make the best of the different but still-fabulous you.

My Thoughts

‘... she accidentally catches sight of what looks suspiciously like her mum standing just three feet away. Only her mum lives two hundred miles up the M6. Once she realizes that she is, in fact, staring at her own reflection and that she has turned into the doppelganger of her mother in her furious fifties, the truth of what is happening will hit her. Of course, this is it.’

Finding myself at the start of this journey, I was keen to read what I could to educate myself. Jenny (an English comedian, author and actor) has written a comprehensive A-Z of well researched information (she clearly states she is not a doctor) on menopause. Considering half of the world’s population will experience this, it was refreshing to find a book that was informative, relatable and funny - able to shine some light into an otherwise taboo subject. 

‘We only get one go at life, and considering the menopause can drag on for a decade of your allotted time on this planet (plus an extra couple of years for the peri-menopause) it would be a shame to waste that time by being permanently down. So, with that in mind, let’s put a positive spin on the menopause...’

This is a book everyone should read - female/male, young/old - as a book such as this is long overdue. There are some serious discussions, however being written by a comedian, there is much fun and laughter as Jenny brings her hysterical interpretation to some of the facts, fads and fascinations. She is most candid in sharing her own experiences and this is really helpful to those of us who, let’s be honest, have no idea. Her down to earth approach makes it relatable and accessible from an understanding of what can occur and how to try and stay on top of things. 

‘One of the most interesting revelations about the menopause is that, for many of us women, it’s a time of discovering who we really are, what we really like and what we really can’t be bothered with.’

The range of issues is truly comprehensive and I just love Jenny’s fun, yet no nonsense approach. She makes a lot of sense. Physical, social and emotional concerns are all here from HRT to mood swings to taking up a new hobby. It was a relief to read and realise that there are many women who feel exactly like you do - we just don’t talk about it. Apart from the humour and information, what I truly appreciated was Jenny’s insight into finding the silver lining on this otherwise grey cloud. The glass needs to be viewed as half full as women of this age can find themselves liberated from the confines of society's images and expectations and instead embrace just happily being themselves. 

‘We might as well start pleasing ourselves at this stage in our lives and that’s why it’s really important to know what makes us tick more happily as time goes by.’

I cannot recommend this book highly enough for its funny yet wise offerings. There is just so much here that it will keep you coming back as a guide and reference to the many helpful ideas suggested. Jenny’s honesty helps put things into perspective from practical ideas to confirmation that this is really just the beginning. 

‘The menopause is a definite chapter in your life. Not only does it mark the end of the young you, it also heralds in the dawn of a new you and what this new you is going to be is very much your decision to make.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.