Candice Baker Life Coach

Tag: wellness

  • Menopause Mayhem-Volume One

    MENOPAUSE MAYHEM-VOLUME ONE

    Menopause Mayhem- Volume 1
    For every woman experiencing the train wreck that is menopause, there is the realisation that the information around it does not flow freely. Yes, we all know about rage and mood swings, but there is so much more.
    I’ve been doing some research, and I’ll be sharing it to raise awareness, because I understand how it can feel like you’re going crazy and don’t know why!

    Today’s issue: Sensory Overload
    Did you know that menopause can cause sensory issues? This can lead to heightened sensitivity (sensory overload) or altered sensations like skin prickling, taste/smell changes, and balance problems, largely due to fluctuating estrogen affecting brain chemistry (serotonin, dopamine) and nerve pathways, impacting how you perceive the world. These shifts can make you more sensitive to lights, sounds, textures, and smells, impacting daily coping.

    Here are some common Menopause-Related Sensory Issues:
    Heightened Sensitivity (Overload):
    Your partner has verbal diarrhoea while you’re trying to watch a movie and it’s taking every ounce of self control not to stab him with your dinner fork. Normal stimuli (lights, noises, crowds, textures) can feel overwhelming, triggering panic or needing to escape.

    Altered Skin Sensations: Are your feet on fire, without doing the fire walk your guru says will change your life? You might be experiencing formication (insects crawling), burning, itching, numbness, or tingling (paresthesias).

    Taste & Smell Changes: You used to love mincemeat and now you can’t even cook it without gagging like an adult film star.
    Fluctuations in estrogen can alter your sense of smell and taste, or cause a burning mouth sensation (burning mouth syndrome).

    Balance & Coordination: You tried to catch the cat, went flying out of your bedroom door and impaled your boob on the garden gnome. Changes in the cerebellum, affected by hormones, can lead to dizziness, vertigo, clumsiness, and spatial disorientation.

    Touch Sensitivity: Your forehead is flaking like an old paint job and you have to sit on your hands to stop clawing at your face.
    Skin can become drier and more sensitive, or conversely, responsiveness to touch (even intimate) might decrease.

    Why It Happens:
    -Estrogen Decline: Estrogen influences neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, crucial for mood, cognition, and sensory processing. Lower levels disrupt these pathways, lowering your sensory threshold.
    -Nervous System Impact: Hormonal shifts affect nerve function, potentially increasing pain perception and disrupting sensory input.

    If you have read this and some of these issues have resonated with you, there are some things you can do.
    Now that you know you’re not going crazy, give some thought to how you can adapt to this new and confusing version of you. Recognising these changes are hormonal, not you being “difficult,”is the first step. Try adjusting your environment (dim lights, quiet spaces) to feel more comfortable.

    Seek support from a doctor or therapist, or life coach like me. A menopause coach perhaps, it’s important to speak with somebody who has knowledge of menopause and its symptoms. Women have been gaslit by the medical community for far too long. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help manage overwhelming feelings, and is such a great life skill to learn in general.

    Start managing underlying factors like getting a hormone test and putting in place a plan to correct them holistically or with HRT. Address stress, sleep, and overall health, as these can worsen sensory issues. Once you’ve realised you’re not the problem and your hormones are betraying you, you can approach these challenges with more insight and patience, and make some key changes to suit this latest version of you. After all, sometimes a little rage is a valid and necessary thing. People pleasing is so last decade. Anyway, this is me signing off because my socks are driving me nuts…

    I am a holistic life coach and wellness coach, with a special interest in relationships and woman empowerment.
    T/DR Candice Baker
    00013133614
    You can book a session with me on WhatsApp
    +0027833613255

    “Your most aligned life is crafted—element by element.”

  • Did You Move To Trigger Town?

    DID YOU JUST MOVE TO TRIGGER TOWN?

    We’ve all been there. You asked your partner if the pool will be blue for the weekend and he lost his shit.
    He tapped you on the butt in the kitchen and you bit his head off.
    This is because without regulating our nervous systems, we’re all basically one eye roll away from a major tantrum.

    So why does something seemingly simple spike your anger like a rocket? Afterall, most of us are self-aware enough to know the argument wasn’t actually about stepping into the cat puke this morning.

    Firstly, when our nervous systems are overwhelmed we tend to run on survival mode. Your vagus nerve is stuck on fight/flight mode. Secondly, you have a ticking time bomb in your stomach and a vice grip around your heart, which is amplifying your anxiety. This is because the vagus nerve connects your body to your brain, so you feel your stress quite viscerally. In medical terms, you’re operating in sympathetic mode, your body is flooding with adrenaline and your heart rate is elevated.

    Then along comes a minor irritation and you find yourself on your broomstick before they could blink twice for help.
    This is where trigger stacking comes in. It’s an accumulation of both large and small stressors, which build up into a big reaction. One that leaves people wondering why you burst into tears over the order mix up at Micky D’s. Or a major tantrum in the parking lot sending the car guard scurrying off to safety.

    There are some useful tools you can put to work here. The first being to take a big breath and a slow exhale when something is really pissing you off. This pause will gift you (and everyone else in the room) the opportunity to choose how to respond. And it can make all the difference. Some words will stay with people long after you regret has faded.

    Before you go on the war path, there are some more nervous system techniques you can learn to keep things from overwhelming you.
    -You can cultuivate a sense of detachment where you can observe that thought. ‘Oops, there I go again’, let me change tack before the wrecking ball is unleashed.
    -That pause and exhale, will give you the opportunity for mindfulness, to assess whether your emotion was justified, or the result of trigger stacking.
    -Remove yourself from the situation and sit calmly till the visceral feelings in your body calm down. Notice your heart rate and breath, and start to slow it down.
    -Once your body and mind are feeling calmer, you can think more clearly and decide whether to return to the room. ‘Was it me?’ ‘Did I deserve that?’ ‘Were they out of line?’ ‘Unnecessarily rude to me?’ ‘Who needs to apologise?’ ‘Can I re-frame this and empathise with the other person?’
    Most importantly, if the conflict was justified … ‘Is it safe to go back?’

    If you’re feeling that your entire life has turned into a shit show, you are the victim of trigger stacking and you should take a look at ways to flip your script. Yoga and meditation are great ways to bring your nervous system into parasympathetic mode. Your body will soften, the intrusive thoughts will fade, and your muscles will relax. This is the rest and digest phase. During yoga your brainwaves will shift from the usual Beta to the slower Alpha wave, which promotes relaxation. Meditation will take you into Theta waves, which reduce anxiety, and a deeper practice like Yoga Nidra will shift you into the Delta waves, similar to a deep sleep.

    There are small things you can do daily, at home too, to take your power back. Like making sure you get enough sleep. Better nutrition and fewer stimulants.
    Grounding yourself by putting your bare feet on the floor and saying a simple affirmation like ‘You’ve got this, babe ‘
    Take time to stretch in bed, and set some intentions for your day before you become a slave to your phone.
    Work on a gratitude journal, just a few thoughts before bed or first thing in the morning to get into a good head space…And finally, add some self-care rituals so you’re not pouring from an empty cup.

    You’ve got this, boo.
    So don’t become one of those bad things that happen to good people! At the end of the day, you are responsible for your own triggers and people shouldn’t have to tiptoe around you.

    And lastly, before you diagnose yourself with depression, make sure you are not in fact surrounded by arseholes. Sometimes, the ultimate solution is to move forward, onwards and upwards. We were never meant to be stagnant or paralysed by stress.

    I am a holistic life coach and wellness coach, with a special interest in relationships and woman empowerment.
    T/DR Candice Baker
    00013133614
    You can book a session with me on WhatsApp
    +0027833613255

    “Your most aligned life is crafted-element by element.”

  • Heart Beats & Drum Beats

    HEART BEATS & DRUM BEATS

    Our neighbours called it mindless noise.

    We called it drumming, healing, celebrating and creating ❤️

    Drumming has many medicinal qualities, just not for the neighbours, apparently 🤣

    It releases dopamine, one of the happy hormones in your body.
    It’s a better anti-depressant than anything you can buy over the counter.
    It synchronises heartbeats and minds, creates a sense of community.
    The drumming and dance is a creative process and good for the soul.
    It releases endorphins, another happy hormone.
    Creating music and dance stimulates the body and mind.
    Earthing with your feet absorbs the energies of the Earth and has many health benefits.
    And finally, both drumming and dance can lead to ecstatic states that transcend the human condition ❤️

    It’s what your neighbours used to do before they became couch potatoes. It’s what your tribe did before the warehouses and factories sucked them into the industrial revolution. It’s a reclamation of our ancestral roots.

    I am a holistic life coach and wellness coach, with a special interest in relationships and woman empowerment.
    T/DR Candice Baker
    00013133614
    You can book a session with me on WhatsApp
    +0027833613255

  • When Menopause Hijacked My Body

    WHEN MENOPAUSE HIJACKED MY BODY

    Menopause. We’ve heard about it, whispered conversations amongst women of a certain age, secret conversations between friends. It’s the thing no woman talks openly about, because she doesn’t want to feel old or admit her age.

    Or perhaps she is dreading the middle aged spread, in denial about the rage, and blaming the world for her mood swings. (Yes, it’s still your fault, but she may have overreacted a tad). And when it hits, it takes no prisoners. Your partner will fear you, your kids will think mom’s gone off the reservation and your GP wont know what to do with you.

    So here’s what I have worked out along the way. It can be a good thing, giving less fucks and speaking your mind more. Creating better boundaries and stepping out of your mother role and into a new journey as a wild woman. Wise, independent, free.

    But the downside is real too, menopause is associated with increased inflammation in the body, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “inflammopause”.
    This is primarily due to declining estrogen and progesterone levels, which have anti-inflammatory effects. The shift towards a pro-inflammatory state can contribute to various menopausal symptoms and increase the risk of certain health conditions.

    As a result you may experience:

    1. Hormonal Changes:
      Estrogen and progesterone, which decline during menopause, have anti-inflammatory properties.
      Their reduction leads to an imbalance in cytokines, shifting the body towards a more inflammatory state.
    2. Inflammation and Menopause Symptoms:
      -Joint pain:
      Reduced estrogen can affect joint health, leading to pain, stiffness, and increased risk ofosteoarthritis.
      -Fatigue:
      Increased inflammation can contribute to lower energy levels.
      -Weight gain:
      Menopause can lead to weight gain, which can further exacerbate inflammation.
      -Mood changes and depression:
      Inflammation has been linked to mood changes and an increased risk of depression.
    3. Increased Risk of Chronic Diseases:

    I can help you with managing Inflammation During Menopause:
    -Diet:
    Eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce inflammation.
    -Exercise:
    Regular physical activity can help lower inflammation and manage weight gain.
    -Stress management:
    Stress-reducing activities like yoga, meditation and spending time in nature can help lower inflammation.
    -Prioritize sleep:
    Poor sleep can increase inflammation, so establishing a regular sleep routine is important.

    *I offer yoga and aerial classes in Benoni and Bedfordview 💓

    *I offer meditation

    *I can help with anti-inflammatory diet tips

    *I have designed a beautiful range of holistic supplements to support you on your menopause journey.


    I am a wellness coach, and have spent the last 3 years figuring out menopause and it’s effects on the body.
    Send me a message to arrange a wellness consultation with me.
    I can help.
    WhatsApp 0833613255