Fight the Change – yet again
21 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in All posts, Menopause and ageing Tags: ageing, Fight the Change, menopause, sex and the menopause
I feel another soapbox rant coming on. On the train to London I read a left-behind Daily Mail. ‘Fight the Change’ cried the headline of Life and Style section. For those suffering from dry skin caused by the menopause, new products promise to turn back the clocks.
‘Fortunately,’ said the article, ‘skinscare companies realise there’s a market for high-tech products targeted specifically at postmenopausal skin.
And how!
Deathbed visions and the paranormal
17 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in All posts, End-of-life issues Tags: Churches' Fellowship for Physical and Spiritual Studies, death and dying, deathbed visions, Dr Peter Fenwick, end of life, paranormal
Last weekend I spent a delightful twenty-four hours with a group of Christian parapsychologists. Yes, those belonging to the Churches’ Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies are more than open to the weird and wonderful, and even the downright scary and unexplainable.
Thank goodness for that, because every few years they hold a conference to share their experiences with each other, and to add to the paranormal research that is happening in the UK, and in fact, all over the world. I was there because I had been invited to give a paper on The D-Word:Talking about Dying – but more about that a little later.
There’s nothing like beer and kuchen at the end of a long day’s cycle ride
13 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in All posts Tags: Big Society, David Cameron, Germany, Romantic Strasse
I’m aware I haven’t blogged for quite a while. Lots of reasons why not – when it comes to writing, I excel in diversion tactics – but it’s mainly due to a most enjoyable tandem trip along Germany’s Romantic Strasse, from which my husband and I have recently returned.
Our cycle route took us from the Nazi rally grounds of Nuremberg, through delightful and welcoming cobbled-stoned medieval villages (some seething with Japanese tourists on whirl-wind European coach tours, giving the impression that as it was Monday it had to be Germany) to the fabulous and over-the-top Neuschwanstein castle near Fussen. The castle inspired Walt Disney to create his own fantastical fairy-tale castles that we all know and love.
Therapy Today
21 Aug 2011 2 Comments
in All posts, Menopause and ageing Tags: BACP, Menoapause. early menopause, Therapy Today
Therapy Today has published my article on Menopause: How Women Suffer in Silence. I would welcome your comments and feedback.
Being the creators of our own change
19 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in All posts Tags: Bob Hoffman, Change, healing, healing journey, Hoffman Process, self healing
This morning I spoke to a dear friend who is struggling with life-long depression. Listening to her reminded me of the phrase, ‘I am the creator of my own change.’ This lies at the heart of the Hoffman Process, a personal development programme, created in the 60s by an inspirational American, Bob Hoffman.
Over the decades, with the input of many extraordinary people who work as Hoffman teachers and support staff, it evolved from ‘evening classes’ spread over 13 weeks into the intensive eight-day residential process that it is today. These days the Hoffman Process is taught in over 14 countries across the world.
Terry Pratchett’s courageous odyssey into assisted suicide
15 Jun 2011 2 Comments
in All posts, End-of-life issues Tags: assisted suicide, end of life, end of life care plan, Terry Pratchett
It was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch Terry Pratchett’s BBC 2 documentary (if you can call it that) ‘Choosing to Die’ last night on catch-up. Trepidation, because the deaths I have witnessed as a nurse, and sitting with both my mother and father as they died, are not about the ‘gentle closing of the eyes’ we see in films or read about in books.
People tend to hover between life and death for a long time, often becoming increasingly restless or agitated. It can also be alarming, and sickening, to listen to laboured breathing caused by fluid gathering in the lungs, and get used to the distinctive and unpleasant acetone odour that pervades everything as the dying person’s system closes down.
Marriage, menopause, and the importance of good communication
06 Jun 2011 4 Comments
in All posts, Menopause and ageing Tags: ageing, Daily Mail, Femail, Men and the menopause, menopause, post menopause
Following the article, Will YOUR marriage survive the menopause? (adapted from Sex, Meaning and the Menopause) in last week’s Femail section of the Daily Mail, I received an email from a distraught reader. He was very concerned about the state of his own marriage. According to her GP, his wife had gone through the menopause a few months ago, but he recognised many of the symptoms discussed in the article, particularly anger outbursts and ’behaving like a crazed lunatic’.
‘I love my wife,’ he said, ‘and would do anything to save our marriage and help her.’ He went on to ask how to broach the subject of couples counselling with her.
