Chestnut Hypnotherapy

26/10/2025

📢 Great news from the NHS 📢

They’ve announced that routine NHS Health Checks in England will now include questions about the menopause for the first time - meaning millions of women may get earlier recognition and support of perimenopause/menopause symptoms.

It’s not yet a full screening programme, and details are still being developed (the exact questions and rollout are being worked on) but it marks a huge step forward for women’s health.

But it got me thinking … if the NHS is making progress, are workplaces doing the same?

Imagine a workplace where:

🌸 open conversations about mid-life health were the norm
🌸flexibility and tailored support were readily offered
🌸leaders truly listened, understood and acted
🌸safe spaces existed where women in perimenopause felt seen, supported, not invisible 💖

This kind of culture shift matters because our experience at work is every bit as important as what happens in the Doctor’s office.

👇 I’d love to hear from you:

What does your employer do (if anything) to support women through perimenopause/menopause?

Or what do you wish they’d do differently?

Let’s get the conversation going.


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23/10/2025

I’ve been reading Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Giuffre’s autobiography and it’s honestly not an easy read.

Her story is heartbreaking and brave. She shared her experiences hoping it might help others who’ve been through something painful.

It’s made me think about how, during midlife, old emotions can sometimes resurface - even when we thought we’d dealt with them.

Hormonal changes can heighten our stress response, and things we’ve buried for years can suddenly feel much closer to the surface.

If you’ve noticed yourself feeling more anxious, tearful, or easily overwhelmed lately, please know you’re not alone and it’s not a sign of weakness. It’s your body and mind’s way of asking for a little more care and calm.

That’s why I created my Perimenopause Anxiety Toolkit - a collection of gentle, practical tools to help you ground yourself, soothe anxious thoughts, and understand what’s really happening in your body and brain.

💗 You can download it here: https://sales.chestnuthypnotherapy.com/peri-anxiety-toolkit/

Sometimes, understanding why you feel the way you do is the first step toward feeling more in control and a lot kinder toward yourself. 🌸

15/09/2025

Anyone else lying in bed at 2am with your mind racing, even though you're exhausted? 🙋‍♀️

That "tired but wired" feeling is so common in perimenopause, and it's absolutely maddening. Your cortisol patterns are shifting, your oestrogen is fluctuating, and your nervous system is trying to keep up.

What I see with my clients is this creates a perfect storm where food becomes the go-to stress reliever - especially in those evening hours when everything feels overwhelming.

The good news? There are practical ways to calm that wired feeling and break the stress-eating cycle.

I've put together a free toolkit with simple techniques that work specifically for perimenopausal anxiety. Grab it here: https://sales.chestnuthypnotherapy.com/peri-anxiety-toolkit/

12/09/2025

The 3pm crash… is it you, or your hormones? 🕒

If you’ve ever felt your brain begging for a nap mid-afternoon while your to-do list shouts, “keep going,” this if for you. Coffee helps for about 20 minutes… then the slump hits again.

Here’s the truth: that crash isn’t about willpower. It’s your nervous system and hormones being out of sync.

The good news? There are small ways to steal back an hour of usable energy... no caffeine required:

🌸 Pause before you push
🌸 Swap the scroll for a reset
🌸Protein + water = instant stability

Tiny shifts, but together they add up to more calm and focus in your day.

05/09/2025

The Hidden Impact of Feeling Invisible

😶 When no one really sees you, it can chip away at your confidence, your motivation, and even your joy.

But feeling invisible isn’t just “in your head.” It’s a real experience with real effects — and there are ways to break free from it.

If you’re tired of fading into the background, this blog is for you

- How to start feeling visible,valued and confident again during perimenopause

30/08/2025

Here comes September… 🍂
The kids, the workload, the “back to it” energy all piling in while she’s foggy, anxious, bone-tired, and wondering how she’s meant to keep up.

If you’re her partner, it can feel frustrating or even confusing. You want to help, but you don’t always know how and saying the wrong thing can make her retreat further.

That’s why I wrote my guide for partners: simple ways to support her emotionally and practically during perimenopause. Small gestures, words, and habits that actually make a difference when life feels overwhelming.

Because yes, September will still be September… but she doesn’t have to stumble through it unsupported — and neither do you.

💛 Check out the blog here:
👉

How to support your partner going through perimenopause.

23/08/2025

Perimenopause Partner Playbook: RED FLAG vs GREEN FLAG

🚩 “It’s just stress.” → ✅ “I believe you—how can I help?”
🚩 “Are you cold/hot again?” → ✅ “Want me to grab the fan/window/water?”
🚩 “Let me fix it.” → ✅ “Want ideas or just a listen?”

More green flags inside the blog—send this to the man who gets it.
👉 Read now: https://perimenopausesupport.uk/f/the-heat-is-on-navigating-perimenopause-together-as-a-couple

28/07/2025

You’re trying to feel calmer around food… but still want to feel more in control.

Now what?

This comes up so often in conversations with the women I work with.

There’s a fear that easing up around food means giving in.

That if you stop restricting or fighting your body, it all goes off track.

But what if real change starts when you stop battling?

I help women in perimenopause who feel overwhelmed by anxiety — especially when food has become a way to soothe the stress.

Together, we untangle the habits, the guilt, and the pressure.

Inside my Midlife Food & Feelings Reset and Soothe & Settle programmes, I blend hypnotherapy, nervous system work, and practical support to help you feel calmer, clearer, and more in control — without relying on willpower.

💜 Curious how this could work for you?
Take a peek here:
👉https://perimenopausesupport.uk/feelings-and-food-reset
👉https://perimenopausesupport.uk/soothe-and-settle
I offer a Free No Obligation Consultation too! Here’s the link if you want to talk things through 👉 https://calendly.com/bonnie-01/free-initial-consultation

25/07/2025

🌪️ “Why do I wake up every morning with panic in my chest when nothing’s even happened?”
💔 “I’ve always coped… why can’t I anymore?”

If you’ve started feeling anxious, overwhelmed, teary or on edge — even though you’ve always been the strong one — it could be your hormones talking.

You’re not going mad. And you’re definitely not alone.

✨ In this blog, I break down why anxiety ramps up during perimenopause, what helped me through it (yes, even as a trained mental health nurse I was caught off guard), and the real science behind that knotted stomach, racing heart, and 3am wake-up call.

🧠 Plus: Practical tools to feel more calm, grounded, and like yourself again.

👉 Read the full blog here:
Why Anxiety Shows Up More During Perimenopause — Even If You’ve Coped for Years

https://perimenopausesupport.uk/f/why-anxiety-shows-up-more-during-perimenopause

Let’s stop suffering in silence.

...Even If You’ve Coped for Years

19/07/2025

✨ Overwhelmed at work… or is it something else?

You used to juggle meetings, deadlines, and life admin like a pro — but now even opening your inbox feels too much.
Is it burnout… or could it be perimenopause anxiety?

😩 Racing thoughts
😵 Brain fog mid-presentation
💔 Tearful in the loos (again)

If you’re thinking, “What’s wrong with me?” — please read this. You are not broken. And you’re definitely not alone.

👇 In this honest blog, I explain why work suddenly feels so hard in midlife — and what you can do to feel more like yourself again.
👉

If you’re suddenly feeling more anxious, emotionally fragile, or overwhelmed by small decisions at work, you're not alone — and you're not failing.

16/07/2025

😡Today didn’t start too well- Google decided my website was unsafe so blocked it! ….1.5 hours later after 🥱a long call with my website host - things started to improve- seems better now.