about emma
Ready to keep it cool through peri / menopause (and beyond)?
I can help you work out exactly what that means for you – and what to do next.
One thing you need to know about me is…
I’ve been where you are
If there was a t-shirt, I’d be wearing it.
You’re stressed. Tired. You feel out of control, so overwhelmed by worries and unfamiliar changes and symptoms, that you don’t know which one to focus on first.
Despite years of good health, a busy family life, a job you love, and a busy and fun social calendar – everything suddenly seems so much harder.
You can’t focus on important tasks, can’t walk without a weird ache in your feet, can’t figure out where you put your keys/phone/wallet.
At times, it feels like you’re reverting back to being a teenager.
Or fast-forwarding into being a dithery, elderly woman.
Either way, you’re losing sight of the woman you once were – and you have no idea how to get back to her.
And deep down, you do have an inkling of what’s going on…
You know this might have something to do with peri/menopause, but you’re SO not ready for it. Sound about right?
See? I told you I know how you feel.
I know because I’ve felt it, too
My own disruptive menopause caused complete chaos.
Just like you, I was in full flow with my big, beautiful life.
In between running my own business and qualifying to become a life coach, I trained for hundreds of hours (literally) with coaching clients.
And I was raising my son (Hi Will!, having adventures with my husband (Hi, James!), cooking from my favourite cookbooks, going to gigs, visiting friends and family.
Living life, in other words.
A life I’d worked hard for. A life I deserved and loved. v
Until the day I couldn’t get out of bed
I woke up with a sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. It felt like depression, but somehow, I knew I wasn’t depressed. I felt exhausted, but I’d just woken up.
I felt like I was grieving, yet nobody had died.
It came from nowhere, but deep feelings of sadness, worry and confusion were making themselves very comfortable in my mind and body.
Day after day, something new joined in.
Aches and pains in otherwise perfectly healthy legs and hips.
Total confusion or forgetfulness when I’d been so great at focusing before.
A complete lack of interest in doing anything that I used to enjoy.
I had no idea what was going on, but every day felt like a step further away from the life I had, and a step closer into the complete unknown.
Eventually, I went to the doctor for help
I struggled to explain how I was feeling. I found it hard to articulate – somehow, saying it out loud made it seem like it was nothing.
And the doctor wrote the whole thing off as me being out of sorts. I clutched the prescription for anti-depressants and checked my watch.
Eight minutes.
Dismissed.
The GP hadn’t bothered to hear me, to connect with me.
One thing I did know, I wasn’t depressed
So, I did some research. I’m an ex-teacher, I love a project…
That’s when I discovered I was in the perimenopause phase of my life.
It should have been obvious – but it snuck up on me so fast I had no idea. I thought I was ill with a degenerative disease. The only explanation, surely?
While I researched, I learned that millions of women felt the same as me. They, too, had no idea what to expect. They, too, thought they were losing themselves to an as-yet-undiagnosed disease.
And that made me angry
Millions of women – myself included – left outside of something that happens to us all? Feeling confused, scared, worried, exhausted, and massively underprepared for what is a natural part of the ageing process.
How could this happen?
That so many of us are let down by the society we grow up in?
Let down by our teachers and educators?
Let down by our health care providers?
I knew then that I couldn’t leave this huge part of my life to other people. I didn’t want to be dismissed. To be ignored and abandoned in my own body. I didn’t want to be left out in the dark.
This was my peri/menopause.
I would do it my way. I would find my own way through it. And I can help you do it too
I’m here to help you understand how you want to make your way through your peri/menopause
Since my own bumpy start to peri/menopause, I’ve gone even deeper into research.
I’ve taken courses on nutrition. I studied the science behind the medication, worked alongside nurses and other health professionals, learned all about health and wellbeing, discovered natural methods and remedies, and went on a voyage of discovery through this incredible phase of my life.
And I’ve combined my twenty years of experience of teaching with ten years experience of life-coaching together with my own studies on all things menopause to help women just like you make sense of the big changes.
To feel confident about moving forward.
To find your own path through the peri/menopause and beyond.
You probably clicked this page because you want to know more about me – so here are a few fun facts…
- I’m the kind of friend who doesn’t bullsh*t you. I get to the important stuff quickly, but gently – this is the kind of energy I bring to my coaching calls every day.
- I taught French in secondary schools for many years. Oui, donc j’ai la patience d’un saint.
- I still consider myself pretty cool; I wear doc martens and go to gigs (and I especially enjoy going to gigs with my son)
- I absolutely love Scotland – so much so I moved here just before lockdown and have loved every day since
- I love singing – and can even hit those high notes
- I’ve got a little campervan and love nothing better than heading off on a solo adventure, playing tunes, and singing along while the Scottish scenery flies by.
- I’m a cat and dog person, a city and country person, and a coffee AND tea person. I find delight in most things and enjoy as much as I can.
- But if I absolutely had to choose, my happiest of all happy places is a beach. Salty air, lapping waves, ice cream in hand – oh yes.
The absolute best way to get to know me and to see if I’m the right person to help you with your perimenopause journey is to give me a call and chat it out
I can’t wait to meet you. x
