WARNING: French below!
In writing The New Menopause: Navigating Your Path Through Hormonal Change With Purpose, Power, and Facts, ob-gyn Mary Claire Haver wanted to inform, equip and empower people experiencing this intense transformation. After clarifying just what is meant by the terms "perimenopause," "menopause" and "post-menopause," she provides a detailed explanation of the wide variety of symptoms that can appear, along with the different approaches that can be employed in alleviating them (through nutrition, supplementation, pharmacologic options, etc.). She also devotes a sizable chunk of the book to debunking certain myths about hormone replacement therapy, describing the types, delivery methods, reasons why it may not be recommended, possible side effects, and strategies to manage them. So much of this information was entirely new to me! Even more useful is the chapter where she helps readers to prepare for discussing treatment with their healthcare provider by keeping a journal of their symptoms as well as proactively considering their preferences and feelings. My enthusiasm was more than a little dampened by the author touting her very own "diet" (plus she sells supplements on her website and endorses intermittent fasting, forsooth...). I still got quite a bit out of this book, but now I really can't wait for my hold on Dr. Jen Gunther's The Menopause Manifesto to come in. Only 2 more months!
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Brooke McAlary and "The Tortoise" podcast. At that time I was unfamiliar with her writing, but I was finally able to borrow Slow: Simple Living for a Frantic World. Admittedly, I'm far from being her target audience; I'm not overwhelmed by family and work commitments, a large home to maintain, heaps of material possessions, or massive debt. However, as someone who strives to keep things as basic as possible, I found much of value here, especially in her chapter on mindfulness. (Although this word has become a bit of a cliché, in Slow — which is determinedly, refreshingly free of "woo" or jargon — none of it is theoretical.) Throughout this short guide to discovering the core reason for adopting a different pace of life, then gradually taking steps to nurture it, Brooke speaks from the depths of her own experience in simple, direct language.
You are allowed to make changes to the way you're living. You're allowed to look after yourself. You're allowed to decide what is important to you. And you're allowed to create a life with those things at the center.
And just when I thought I couldn't like her more, it turns out that we share a fondness for postapocalyptic fiction!
En quête de contenu francophone, j'ai découvert l'excellent balado «Moteur de recherche», qui répond aux questions d'un auditoire curieux et allumé. Les sujets abordés — science, technologie, environnement, santé et consommation —, à la fois fascinants et traités avec beaucoup d'humour, viennent étancher à gorgées bien dosées ma grande soif d'information. Totalement addictif! Une des chroniques que je viens d'écouter parlait notamment de croisières scientifiques, et j'y ai appris avec délice qu'il existe certaines expéditions participatives dans le cadre desquelles des membres du public peuvent contribuer activement à la recherche, par exemple en surveillant les populations de manchots!