On 18 October each year people all around the world mark World Menopause Day to raise awareness for menopause, normalise conversations on the topic, and encourage those impacted to access support.
In preparation for marking World Menopause Day, DWF engaged with members of their Menopause Group who provided feedback that they would like to hear from experts on wellbeing for those experiencing menopause symptoms.
As a result, a week of menopause awareness activities was kicked off with a 'Yoga for Menopause' event.
In this virtual event accessible to all colleagues, allies and clients, personal trainer, yoga teacher and nutritionist, Gayna Altreed, shared her expertise on how yoga can be used a tool to help manage menopause symptoms.
Gayna led the virtual audience through a yoga practice aimed at common menopause complaints, focussing on belly fat, muscle strengthening, and flexibility, along with breath work, stress management and mindfulness. The session was received well with attendees saying it brought a great deal of enthusiasm and energy to their day.
Alongside this event the DWF Menopause Group held one of their regular Menopause Coffee and Chat sessions. These are held every six weeks at varying times to enable global colleagues to participate and provide a safe space in which to share experiences, questions and advice.
To raise further awareness of this important workplace issue, members of the group shared their perspectives on menopause through a series of blogs on the DWF intranet. Topics addressed included the symptoms experienced, accessing healthcare support, nutrition, exercise, and how emotional the transition process can be. DWF encourages colleagues to share experiences like this via blogs to show case diverse role models and normalise conversations of challenging topics.
DWF also took the opportunity to promote their Menopause Policy and Line Manager Guidance, and encourage colleagues and allies to access their Menopause Resource Hub and become members of their Menopause Group.
Jewels Chamberlain, Partner and Senior Lead for the DWF Menopause Group says, "At DWF we are passionate about maintaining a menopause friendly workplace where impacted colleagues can access the support that is right for them and where all colleagues are empowered to develop their confidence in understanding and discussing menopause. We are proud of the great work of our Menopause Group, particularly the role models that have shared their personal experiences in support of highlighting menopause as a workplace priority".