Trying To Determine The Average Age Of Menopause

Menopause is a completely normal phase of life for women, and when it happens in healthy women it is accompanied by certain physical changes which could be distressing, unless the women experiencing them understand why they are occurring. Many myths and untruths have arisen around the subject of menopause, however, including the one that during menopause the ovaries will shrivel and eventually disappear.

Menopause Starts In The Thirties Or Forties

Research ahs shown that in some women menopause can begin as early as the thirties and forties, and early menopause may be a sign that those experiencing it simply have too much stress in their lives. The entire process of menopause will take at least a decade to complete, and its fully pronounced effects will be visible in most women by the time they reach their mid-fifties.

So the average age of menopause is usually between the mid-forties and the mid-fifties, but science has yet to come up with a method for pinpointing the onset of menopause. The general rule of thumb is that any woman who has not menstruated for twelve consecutive months is in menopause. Another factor used to determine the average age of menopause is the age when a womans mother reached menopause, as most women will experience menopause at around the same age as their mothers.

Ethnicity, birth control use, the number of children a woman has had, or the age at which a woman began menstruating have no effect at all on the average age of menopause. Research does indicate, however, that smoking can cause early onset menopause.

The Stages Of Menopause

Menopause occurs in three distinct stags; perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. The ages at which they occur can be a factor in the average age of menopause.

There are three types of menopause to consider which are perimenopause, menopause as well as postmenopause that can help determine the average age of menopause. But the most accurate way to gauge the average age of menopause is to keep track of when a woman first experiences changes in her menstrual periods.

If her periods become lighter and last for a shorter time, she is likely to have entered perimenopause. But some women can experience full menopause and the cessation of menstruation in their thirties, while others may continue to menstruate well into their fifties. So the average age of menopause can be difficult to estimate.

Women who begin menstruating early in life tend to have a delayed menopause. But women who have had a hysterectomy, research shows, are likely to experience menopause about four years earlier than the average,. Finally, perimenopause can affect the average age of menopause because it lasts anywhere from ten to fifteen years.

You can also find more info on diet and exercise and post menopause you. Menopausesymptomshelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Menopase Symptoms.

How to Stop Junk Mail - Eight Things You Can Do Today

Junk mail is more than a nuisance. It's harmful to the environment.

Each of us gets 40 pounds of junk mail every year. The number of trees required to produce that much mail for all of us? 100 million.

The Center for a New American Dream says that's like deforesting Rocky Mountain National Park 3 times each year - and that creating and then getting rid of all that junk mail takes more energy than 3 million cars.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that, in 2005, almost 6 million tons of direct mail and catalogs went into the garbage. That's enough to fill nearly 500,000 garbage trucks. Only 22 percent of the stuff is recycled.

These huge environmental costs come with little reward. Americans toss 44 percent of the mail without even opening it, and we respond to just 2 percent it.

You may be surprised to find how easy it is to dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. Here's what you can do today:

1. Register with the Direct Marketing Association's Opt-Out Program. The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has a Mail Preference Service, which is the closest thing to a Do Not Mail list that the country has at the moment. DMA members are required to use this opt-out program. Non-members are granted access to the list and encouraged, but not required, to use it.

Registration works only for home addresses (not business addresses) and will stop only national mailings. Still, the DMA says this will stop as much as 75 percent of the national direct mail pieces you receive.

The fastest way to get on this list is to fill out the online form at DMAConsumers.org. The form asks for your credit card number because you will be charged a $1 processing fee.

You can also request activation of the preference service via mail. Simply send your full name and address, along with a $1 check or money order, payable to DMA (no cash), to: Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 282, Carmel, NY 10512

You will need to allow about 90 days for the unwanted mail to begin to decrease (a little longer if you mail in the form instead of filling it out online.)

This should cover you for 5 years, at which point you will need to register again.

2. Stop the credit card offers. Visit OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5OptOut (1-888-567-8688). The major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion) maintain this free service, which allows you to opt out of offers for credit or insurance. The whole process takes less than one minute. You can opt out via the website for a duration of five years. If you wish to opt out permanently, you need to do it by mail. The website has instructions for doing that, as well.

3. Reduce the catalogs. There is an alliance of publishing companies and catalog companies that compile the names and addresses of those of us who like to order from mail order catalogs. Then they share the information with other companies in the alliance. You can opt out of this alliance by sending an email to optout@abacus-us.com or a letter to Abacus, Inc. PO Box 1478, Broomfield, CO 80038

Some catalog companies don't check these opt-out programs. In this case, and for any company that continues to send you direct mail advertising, find the customer service number or address and ask to be removed from the list. You can also request that they not share your information with other advertisers.

4. Contact individual senders. The three steps detailed above should dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail you receive. For the rest of it, your best bet is to contact the senders individually. These companies are required to allow you to opt out of their mailings. It may take some time to contact everyone who is sending you junk mail, but it is worth it for you and the environment. Note that if a piece of unsolicited mail is sent First Class, you can send it back. Mark off your information and write "Refused-Return to Sender."

5. Consider your phone listing. It's helpful to get an unlisted telephone number because some marketers obtain your name and address from phone listings. If you don't want to be unlisted, you can ask the phone company to not list your address with your name. Most will do this at no charge.

6. Protect your personal information. Give your personal information only to trusted companies with the specific request that they not share it or sell it. It may help to request a privacy designation with your mortgage company, cable company, bank, etcetera, as well as any magazines you subscribe to and any clubs or groups you belong to (including the loyalty program at the supermarket.) Let them know in writing that you don't want your personal information shared.

7. Think twice before sending in the product registration cards. Product registration cards and customer survey cards often put you on a mailing list, as well. If you send in the card (which you may want to do so that you will be notified in case of a recall, for example) include only the most essential information (generally, your name and address, date of purchase and the serial number of product.) And include a request that your personal information not be shared.

8. Use caution when entering sweepstakes and contests. Submit your name and address for sweepstakes only if there is an option for opting out of the resulting mailing list.

It probably isn't possible to stop all the junk mail, so for those bits of mail that seep through, make sure to recycle it. And know that you did what you could to give Mother Earth a little break.

Jamie Jefferson writes for Susies-Coupons.com and Momscape.com, where you can register to win free gift certificates for top online stores. Get the latest Office Depot Coupons too.

Should I Go On Meds?

There are many medications for anxiety and depression. Yet anxiety and depression are not caused by a lack of these medications.

There are some important things to consider regarding these medications. Here is what I tell my clients when they ask me if they should go on meds:

If your anxiety or depression feels so unmanageable that you are not able to do the inner work you need to do to heal, then meds might help you stabilize enough to give you an opportunity to heal. However, be aware that all drugs have some side effects and that long-term use might cause problems. The drug may help you, but unless there is an inherited chemical imbalance, the drug does not heal the underlying stress causing the anxiety or depression, or the stress that may be causing the chemical imbalance.

Whether or not the person decides to go on meds, he or she still needs to address the underlying cause of most anxiety and depression.

Anxiety and Self-Judgment

Imagine for a moment that you have a young child and that you are constantly saying to the child things like:

If that person doesnt like you, then you are unlovable and unworthy, so you better act right and say the right things.

If you fail at this, then you are an unworthy failure, and you will probably end up on the streets.

You are such a jerk. You always say the wrong thing. That person must think you are a real loser.

If you lose your friend, then you are a failure, a loser.

Dont make a mistake. You dont want anyone to know how stupid you are.

The child would likely be a very anxious, nervous and stressed child, always trying to do things right and always being afraid of rejection.

If you start to notice the things you tell yourself, you might discover that you are often telling yourself some version of the above statements. You might also want to notice that anytime you judge yourself, you immediately feel anxious and stressed. While meds can calm some of this anxiety, they dont heal the underlying self-judgment that is often the cause of inner stress. In fact, meds may even mask the anxiety to the point where you can continue to abuse yourself without knowing it. This is definitely not in your highest good!

Depression and Self-Neglect

Now imagine that your young child whom you have been judging and scaring is acting out with anger and some form of destructiveness toward self or others. Imagine that instead of attending to this child and finding out what the problem is, you put the child on meds or just ignore him or her. Now what happens is that the child gets depressed. He or she shuts down to avoid the pain of the judgment and the pain of being ignored and neglected.

Again, this is what happens on the inner level. If you beat yourself up with self-judgments and then ignore the stress that results from beating yourself up, your inner child will eventually feel depressed. In some cases, the depression can become so severe that you cannot function, in which case you need meds to help you move out of the depression.

I work with many clients who come to me on meds. After diligently working with the Inner Bonding healing process that I teach, many of them find that, not only do they no longer need the meds, but that the meds are now getting in the way by dulling their feelings. They find that they want to know if they are feeling anxious or depressed because these feelings are informing them that they are judging or ignoring themselves.

Once you decide to use your feelings of anxiety and depression to inform you regarding your behavior toward yourself, rather than just try to avoid or repress these feelings, you can discover what you are doing that is harming you. When you learn to treat yourself in kind and caring ways, it is likely that your anxiety and depression will gradually disappear.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You? and "Healing Your Aloneness." She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner bonding now! Visit her website for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

40 Ways to Drive Visitors to your Web Site-and Keep Them Coming Back!

In 1998, promoting your Web site was a very easy process. You placed three lines of code called meta tags on the top of your home page and submitted your site to the free search engine (Yahoo) or online directories. Fast forward to the present. Search Engine Optimization yes, it has its own name now! - has become a time consuming project; its There are software programs that reportedly help you increase your rankings and an entire new field has cropped up of practitioners who call themselves Search Engine Optimizers.

Its not enough to just drive traffic to your web site. You must make your web site trustable or all that traffic will disappear. The ideas below will show you some of the ways to help both bring traffic to your site and keep your ideal clients coming back for more of your services or products. Its also not enough to drive any old traffic to your site. You want pre-qualified potential buyers. When your ideal client (target market, niche) comes to your web site, you want them to feel special to know that they have arrived at the right place for them. So make them feel special. Target your marketing directly at them.

Before you spend lots of money on software, learning about SEO, or on specialists, see which of the following ways can help bring traffic and business to your site.

If your web site sells high-end services or products, but the site itself looks like you took MS Word and threw something up just because, people will leave your site, no matter what youre selling. There are many hosting programs out there that will help you create a first professional looking web site. Not a programmer? Look for hosting packages that include wizards or content management programs to help you create a more professional looking site. (Although I do recommend hiring a professional as your best choice.).

2. Remember that the most important part of your web site is above the fold. Its the first part of your site someone sees when they visit. So grab their attention with emotional headlines that let someone know theyve come to the right place and youre the best company to solve their problem.

3. OK. If youve created a web site and have no way for your visitors to become part of your community and learn from you, you are better off NOT creating a site. What good is traffic if all they do is come to your site and read? So place a subscription box above the fold (or very close to it) for individuals to join your newsletter. Include an offering of a free report, assessment, audio, ecourse or something else that will help them learn something new and get to know you and your company, too. Forget about providing a link on the page that makes visitors click to get to a newsletter subscription form. The more clicks someone has to make to do something, the greater the chances that they will move on.

4. Dont create an online newsletter (ezine) unless youre willing to send it out at least once a month. Never any less. Best is once a week or every other week. If youre not a writer, stick to black & white newsletters and write a short tip and use an article you obtain for free at article banks. For article banks and directories resources, visit http://www.ArticleBanks.com

5. Swap Ads: Find another ezine published who has the same ideal clients as yours and see if you can place an ad for your ezine in their ezine for free, and they would then place an ad in your ezine for free. Just make sure that the person who owns the other ezine isnt your direct competition. Instead, look for companies that compliment your service or product.

6. Ask your webmaster to name each of your pages using a keyword you have designated. The keyword is the most important word on the page. Theyre words the search engines will use to find that page. Example: www.YourDomainName/WhatIsOnThePage.html

7. Offer added values that make sense to your business and ideal client. This can include articles or tips, affiliate programs, ebooks, resources, and books. For books, be sure to choose a source company that provides you with additional income if someone purchases a book from that site.

8. Add a add to favorites or bookmark this site script to some of your pages.

9. Add a Recommend This Site on your web site. If someone visits your site and knows someone else who may appreciate it, this feature will e-mail the pages link to a recipient.

10. If you have pages on your site that you update monthly (like an articles page or recommended links page) say so on the page. Even offer an email list especially for those who want to be kept updated when you update the page.

11. Provide a subscription box to your online newsletter on all your pages, or at least your most viewed web site pages. You never know which page someone will find when they conduct a search.

12. On large Web sites, create a Whats New Page or, even better, design a Site Map (a listing of whats on the most important areas of your web site) for your visitors.

13. Make it easy for viewers to contact you. Ive seen too many web sites that have email addresses and when you click on them, they dont work! The site forces you to cut/paste the information to make further contact. These are either lazy or unknowledgeable business owners. I say that because there are ways to protect your email address from spammers and harvesters; it just takes a little more work and knowledge. I recommend that you create an email address just for your web site and have a contact form created so that potential clients can contact you. Have the form encrypted, making it harder for the harvesters to gather your email information and if you start getting spam, change your email address and the encryption on the form. Provide a contact form, but remember, dont ask for so much information that it seems like youre asking for their first born!

14. Search engines look for certain things - titles, heading, meta tags - so it is crucial to make sure your site is search-engine friendly. 1. Title tags: Title tags should be 60 or so characters and include keywords. 2. Header tags are numbered from 1 to 7: some search engines recognize header tags, so make sure you use these tags for each of the titles on your page. 3. Keyword Meta tags: Add no more than 15 to 20 keywords to keep the search engines from flagging your site for keyword spamming. Prioritize your words. The best way to submit to search engines is to submit to each engine individually. 4. Use keywords in the text area of each page. They are especially important at the beginning of sentences and closer to the top of the page. 5. To learn more about meta tags, visit http://html.about.com/cs/metatags/

15. Search engines do not find your site unless you submit your sites information to them. a. My best recommendation is that you submit to search engines individually (this is the way I do it and it works great, but is time consuming)! b. Some people prefer to use a free service to submit their sites to search engines. If you do this, I highly recommend that you open a free e-mail address to use when you do anything for free on the World Wide Web. c. You can pay for a program that will assist you to submit and critique your site. d. You can also hire a Search Engine Optimization expert to handle your search engine submission.

16. Visit these search engine information sites and learn more about search engines: www.searchenginewatch.com and http://www.searchengineguide.com

17. Find easy and secure ways for your clients to pay you. A shopping cart and a secure way to accept checks and/or credit cards is your best bet. Just using PayPal as a 3rd party merchant account is not enough. Some people want something different. Instead, look into having two 3rd party merchant account or a 3rd party merchant account and your own merchant account as alternatives.

18. Check your links regularly to make sure they all work. Use a free link checker like Xenu, which Ive been using for years. Its available at http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html.

19. Provide bulletin boards (forums) or blogs to build relationships and community.

20. Conduct periodic contests and announce the winners on your site.

21. Offer a free e-book or e-report on your site. Its size doesnt matter if youre providing it for free and its specifically for your ideal client. Provide permission for the e-book to be forwarded to others for their personal use.

22. Write articles, post them to your site, and submit them to article banks. www.ArticleBanks.com

23. Build a strong, solid business foundation. Design a business plan, marketing plan, ideal client profile, and 30-second elevator speech. Why? First and foremost, these tools will help you with your business. Secondly, youll be very clear and focused on your business and its message and your web site will reflect that. Third, the words you place on your foundation pieces could be used on your web site and youll have consistency in your message. Read articles about plans, ideal clients, and elevator speeches at www.CoachMaria.com/articles/ .

24. Design some quizzes or surveys. Statistics show that visitors love online quizzes and assessment tools. Make sure that you have a way to capture email addresses and provide the visitor with the results of the form, too.

25. Participate in online forums or bulletin boards as an expert, moderator, or member. You get to quietly promote your business in your 3 or 4 line signature. For bulletin board resources, visit www.TheResourceQueen.com

26. Place your web site address on all your printed literature business cards, brochures, newsletters, letterhead, ads - everything!! but only if you have a web site that is viewable. Dont follow this suggestion if your web site is under construction! Instead of helping your business, youll annoy folks who come to visit your site.

27. Promote your web address in your signature for e-mails and change your signature regularly to highlight something new youre promoting.

28. Teach classes or speak to groups about subjects relating to your service or products. Bring a sign-up sheet for your newsletter to the event.

29. Attend networking events locally to bring people to your site. Be careful when networking online. It can start getting addictive. Make sure that all your online marketing produces results. If not, use an idea that will leverage your time better.

30. Permission Market by gathering, in writing, the e-mail addresses of students, or an audience, as part of your evaluation forms. Create index cards so that you can invite your friends, networking partners or associates to join your list. Keep any papers involved in this process for at least a year or two so if you have to prove that you have not spammed someone, youll have the back-up.

31. When your web site is launched, updated, or you write a free e-book, send a press release to the media, your clients, friends and associates.

32. If this list of promotion ideas seems overwhelming, visit your favorite search engine to conduct a search for Search Engine Optimizers and Consultants or ask others who they use and recommend.

33. If you want people to register to gain access to free information on your site, know that freebie seekers dont like doing this, which is great for you! Who goes into business just to give away the shop? But if you do it right, your ideal client will be happy to join your newsletter. If you want to increase the odds that people register for your free content, offer valuable information and dont create a form that asks for their life story.

34. Tailor your site to the disabled and those with very slow computers. When placing a graphic on a page, Include alt image tags with a written description of what the picture represents. When possible, use keywords in the description, too.

35. Include a site map. Site maps help some search engines to find you. At the very least, they help your visitors learn more about you and your services which, in turn, means theyll stay on your site longer.

36. Scrolling: Ever gone to a website and had to scroll to the left to right because someone made the page too wide? Most likely you scrolled your way to another site. People dont mind scrolling up and down for good information or products. But they never like to scroll left and right on a page. No way, no how!

37. Pay per click (PPC) This is a whole other field of advertising on the web that is worth looking into. Google and Overture are the most well know in the PPC field.

38. Blogging. The search engines like blogs because they like pages that are updated often. To learn more about blogging, http://www.theresourcequeen.com/favorites/websitetools.html

39. Attend networking events and provide some sort of postcard advertisement that will bring others to your web site. Maybe give out a sample. Or a gift card. Or even a notice of a free audio they can download from your site.

40. Promote your newsletter or services in Craigs List under Small Biz Ads

Do I use all of the above? No. But I use many of these techniques and my sites are very highly rated and visited. The choice is yours to choose which forms of marketing online will bring your ideal clients to your website. Remember, though, that its not just traffic thats important. Its the quality of people who visit your website and the relationship you build with them (so that theyll purchase from you at some point!) that counts!

2007 A former Wall Street trader, Maria Marsala, Business Strategist and Trainer, helps women with independent micro, small to mid-size businesses and branch managers to boost profits, productivity and have more playtime faster! Subscribe to More Business Strategies Ezine to download a one-page business and marketing plan MP3 and create your business vision statement now. Visit http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com

How to Meet Single Women

If youre interested in meeting more single women, this is the article for you. Whether you are new in town or are interested in meeting a new group of women in a city youve lived all your life, our tips can help you out. It isnt always easy to know how to meet single women. Let us help you out.

One of our best tips on how to meet single women is to look for women at the places you already go. The girl at the local bar or ball game is a great option because you can already be sure you have something in common. You might not have been keeping your eyes out for women at these places, but try it and you just might be pleasantly surprised.

Another tip on how to meet single women is to check online. But youve already tried all the tired dating sites, right? The internet can be useful in meeting women beyond the usual dating sites. Have you tried craigslist.org? This website and others like it offer a more personalized experience for meeting women in your area. Host a dinner party and invite single women via one of these sites. Youll feel like The Bachelor!

When you are a woman seeking a woman, dating can be hard. Howto meet single women who are gay doesnt have to be complicated. Maybe youve tried all of the usual things-dating online, bars and clubs. But have you considered taking a girls only cruise? Lesbian cruises are a wonderful place to meet great single women. Take a friend or go alone! Either way you can ensure a lovely time with lovely ladies.

Looking for Love in Hawaii? Find the top Hawaiian matchmaking sites to locate hot singles in your area. How about finding more information on Hawaiian speed dating? There's no need to be lonely. There are plenty of local men and women just waiting to meet you. It doesn't matter if you are straight or gay. There are plenty of dating sites for lesbians and gays as well. Check out our dating sites top list for all the best rated Maui dating sites.