PEAK TO PEAK - Disclosure: The menopause series is not advice from professionals. It is a collection of stories and ideas that have helped women manage their menopause symptoms naturally.

Welcome to the third installment of The Mountain-Ear’s menopause series. Before continuing, please read “Menopause: The gut and hormone link,” which you can read here: https://themtnear.com/stories/menopause-the-gut-health-and-hormone-link,31667?. It will help you understand some of the content in this article.

To recap: both the brain and gut produce hormones, playing the biggest role in regulating digestion and bodily functions, including mood and hot flashes. An unhealthy gut means worse menopausal symptoms.

Quantum, in general, is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. In neuroscience (neuroplasticity), it is a model of the mind-brain interaction involving adaptive structural and functional changes to the brain. Stay with me.

Theorists believe combining quantum and neuroplasticity will allow humans to reprogram their brains in three days. By the third day, the brain begins transitioning from its current state into a new reality, all by using the biggest and most influential tool we have: our brain.

According to physicists, everything in our world is energy, and if theorists are correct and our brains don’t know the difference between what’s happening externally and the energy we feed our brains, no wonder many people are sick with diseases and illnesses. 

If something as simple as negative thoughts creates stress and illnesses in our bodies, why can’t changing how we think make us healthier?

I’m a journalist. This means I’m used to questioning everything. I desire proof, so I set out on a three-day journey. 

On the first day of my quantum and neuroplasticity test, I focused on positive affirmations. I set my clock to ring every hour. I would then spend 20-30 seconds thinking about what I was grateful for and creating positive affirmations, including gratitude for the smallest things, like my tea kettle.

By the second morning, I lay in bed after waking, practicing the 4-7-8 breathing technique: I inhaled for four seconds, held my breath for seven seconds, and exhaled for eight seconds. After my breath meditation, I remained in bed, acknowledging 10 things I was grateful for, even if I didn’t have some of those things yet. 

Throughout the day, I continued my positive affirmations. By the third day, I was already in the habit of breathing and gratitude meditation, and it was much easier to be positive. Even the challenges I was facing felt miniscule. Nothing miraculous happened on the third day, but that wasn’t too far away. 

Upon further research, I learned that positive self-talk and meditation are great, but there is one more important factor to consider: emotions. This brings me to the hundreds of studies on the human condition related to our addiction to our emotions. Many people experience a dependency on certain emotions or the chemical reactions they trigger.

I added more time for self-reflection, which allowed me to pinpoint the emotions triggering hot flashes. That’s right—my stress emotions were always followed by hot flashes (the type that made me want to swim in the snow.) 

So, every time I felt a hot flash start, I stopped what I was doing to breathe (4-7-8) and filled my mind with positive health talk. I repeated things such as “I am in perfect health,” “Thank you, body for healing,” and “I am worthy and deserving of miraculous health.” You get the idea.

I had moments when I chuckled at myself for being cheesy, but I figured it wasn’t doing any harm. My new journey inspired me to make it part of my daily life. In addition to my food journal, I started an affirmation journal. I write down those things I’m grateful for (and know I am worthy of.) 

Humans crave self-taught negative emotions because that is what you’ve conditioned your body to know and rely on. A part of you feels at home within those negative emotions.

Immediately upon feeling negative emotions, snap out of them by gravitating toward your affirmations and breath. It’s also important to reprogram your emotions so your brain has a support system.

If you decide to put the quantum and neuroplasticity theory to the test but find yourself constantly reverting to your negative self-talk, don’t worry. It’s part of the process. Keep going and don’t allow your old negative self to be better than your new powerful self. 

Remember these steps:

• Positive self-talk/affirmations

• Visual meditation

• Emotional meditation: It’s important to feel your emotions as if what you wish for is already occurring.

Tips to remember:

• Falling off the wagon is part of the process. 

• The important thing is to get back on it. 

• Be patient; nothing happens overnight.

• Practice makes perfect.

My quantum and neuroplasticity theory (QNT) began when I suffered a brain and tailbone injury. After having success, I incorporated it to diminish most of my menopausal symptoms. Between improving my gut health and my QNT, I’ve started feeling like a walking miracle. 

In conclusion, stop stressing your body with negative thoughts and feelings—that’s only making your menopausal symptoms worse. Change the way you think to change the way you feel. Once you master control of your emotions, you will conquer anything, including menopause!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4380644/

https://theholisticpsychologist.com/how-to-break-an-emotional-addiction/

https://www.mindful.org/rewiring-your-emotions/

https://www.healthline.com/health/rewiring-your-brain

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3161031/