Ah, I’m so glad you asked. Because all of the internet advice might feel a bit bloody annoying to you.

1) Lower your stress. Right, thanks Barbara, but how the hell are you actually supposed to do that?

2) Exercise more. Ah, yes. Of course! Easy peasy. (except I’m dead on the sofa, and feel like my legs are made of lead and the thought of putting on a sports bra makes me want to chop my own t*Ts off).

3) Eat the right foods, and the right amount. No more choffing bowls of pasta, but instead loads more greens, protein til you’re Gaston, and probably no carbs. Right – this actually seems quite hard, espec when you know that a big bag of crisps is 100% more appealing right now.

4) Try relaxation techniques such as mindfulness. Great idea. Except my mind is racing and the thought of sitting still to focus on being mindful is too impossible.

So, yes, the advice would probably be BRILLIANT. If it was that easy. Honestly, I sometimes think this advice is given out by people who are NOT effing exhausted and think that it’d all be easy to sort out if you just sorted yourself out.

Sigh.

So here’s what you CAN do.

Tap lightly using your three middle fingers, on the side of the other hand. Take a big breath in, and hold it… then release it. Do that again, take the biggest breath you’ve taken in years… hold it… zip a tiny bit extra in, and then release.
And then repeat:
Even though I’m exhausted… I’m going to send myself some love.
Even though I’m absolutely shattered, I’m going to send my body some love.
And, even though I’m knackered, and I’ve been knackered for (insert xyz amount of time), I give myself permission to take a break.

You can then repeat that for as long as you want, as many times as you want.

Tapping on the side of your hand will send a safety signal to the amygdala in your brain, disarming the fight or flight response. So it knows it IS safe to take a break (because your primal brain will shout NO, IT’S NOT SAFE, YOU MUST KEEP GOING).

And you need to be relaxed, and not stressed, in order TO be able to eat better. To exercise more. If you were able to take some stuff off your to-do list, without feeling any guilt or fear of repercussion, then you WOULD have more energy.

You WOULD be able to sleep better. Without waking at 3am with machine gun style thoughts rat-a-tat-tatting through your poor brain. Without lying awake worrying about everything you need to do.

Allowing our body to rest and reset is IMPERATIVE during menopause, yet we’re just not told how to actually do that without the world imploding (and yes there is a very real thought of ‘if I don’t do it, who will?’.)

Because menopausal exhaustion is not just ‘a bit tired’. It’s not just being knackered.

It can be a full body exhaustion. A fatigue.

So, my advice – try tapping to soothe your nervous system. Take some stuff off your to-do list, give yourself a break, and do the easiest thing. Make it easy for yourself. And use tapping to make sure your body knows that’s allowed.

I can’t tell you the number of fried, frazzled, overworked, stressed, exhausted women I see – who simply are unable to find a way to give themselves a break (hello patriarchy). But with a few simple rounds of tapping, their entire physiology changes. It becomes so much more natural, to take deep breaths and relax. And when you’re relaxed, you CAN take stuff off your to do list. You can go to bed earlier. You can sleep. You can say no.

And that my friends, is how to get more energy. Give it a go, and let me know how you get on.