Enter 40s and you have stepped into one of the most eventful phases of your life. With the arrival of 40s women have to prepare themselves for menopause. With your mind, body and soul geared in the right direction, the fourties can usher in an absolute revolution in your lives, taking your success to new heights, making sex more enjoyable, and chiseling a beautiful new women out of you. Thus with the arrival of 40s your life takes a new turn and it is a new and exciting beginning.

However for many women 40s mean end of sex life. They are worried about turning into one of those old and haggard persons with loose skin, sagging breasts and pockets of flab accumulated at wrong places and those who are miles apart from love and romance. Women are bogged down by the fear that menopause would mercilessly kill their blissful life. Thus women see menopause as a serious threat to their love life and wallow in self-pity and remain withdrawn. A significant number of women link the physical changes of old age with menopause. Menopause is accepted with great difficulty by most of the women and everyone reacts differently to it. Some women view it as normal and experience very little difference in their moods or bodies while others think that it is abnormal and feel terribly upset and disturbed.

1. Menopause……know the truth. Menopause is the turning point in a women's life. It doesn't arrive suddenly. It takes around 3-4 years beginning with peri menopause or climacteric period when the body starts running out of eggs, ovulation becomes sporadic, hormone levels fluctuate and the cycle becomes unpredictable. Gradually this drop in hormones occurs frequently and becomes permanent, leading to a complete full stop to the menstruation cycle. Apart from bringing a halt in the menstrual cycle, menopause leads to other hormonal changes in the body like baldness, vaginal dryness, sagging and shrinking of breasts etc. However experts are of the opinion that menopause is an individualized experience and not all women necessarily experience the same symptoms. With menopause there is lack of necessary and essential hormones - estrogen and progesterone - in the body as a result of which there occurs a decrease in the flow of blood in the vagina, due to which its walls become thinner and lose their elasticity.

These factors cause terrible discomfort while having sex. There may be irritation and infection too causing serious aversion to sex. However experts believe that this may not always be so. Sometimes even if you don't experience the discomfort you may just not be interested in intercourse any more. Thus menopause, all over the world, is believed to be a cause in the decrease in sexual activity. Women experience a marked decline in her sexual interest leading to a decrease in her sex drive. However according to experts although there is a drop in the level of estrogen, the testosterone convert itself into estrogen and the women still continues to have the same vigour and vitality for sex. Thus menopause in not the end of sex life.

2. Change your outlook. Menopause brings a radical change in the relationship of man and woman. Most of the women totally lack interest in sexual activities and become withdrawn. Women gradually start harbouring a feeling in their mind that with menopause she has stepped into old age and that she is no longer attractive and interesting to her man. The man might have some misconceptions too. He tends to link the lack of interest on his wife's part to menopause. However the truth is that menopause is the stage when no ovulation takes place in the woman's body and this is related to her reproductive cycle and not her sex drive. Thus it is all in the mind. Being attractive or not is also not at all related to her sex drive. Thus it is the misconception in the minds of people that menopause is the end of sex life and it has to be cleared.

3.Learn to enjoy menopause. Sex need not suffer with the onset to menopause. In fact it could be turned into a fruitful and passionate experience if both partners make efforts for the same. Post menopause could in fact be the golden years of sex. Sex after menopause can be as fulfilling, satisfying, exciting, adventurous and pleasurable as your first sex. It can be as beautiful as it was in the early years. Couples can in fact have better sex life after menopause since there is an end to menstrual cycle, which means there is no need to take birth control pills, and thus an added amount of time and attention can be diverted to this beautiful act.

An important aspect of sex during menopause if foreplay. Couples are ignorant of the role of foreplay in sex, especially during menopause since the woman experiences pain during sex due to inelastic vaginal walls. This pain can however be alleviated by keeping your sex activity regular and spending more time during foreplay. Thus spending more time in foreplay is important to arouse the women's desire, which further helps in lubricating the vaginal walls. The couples can also try out various positions that cause less pain and more pleasure.

4. Exercise for better results. To enjoy sex women should exercise to improve the flow of blood to the vagina so that you experience less vaginal discomfort. Don't ever give up on sex. Rediscover each other's body and experiment with new techniques. Increase your time in foreplay. There are exercises in Yoga, which help in contracting the P.C. muscles, which lead to more pleasurable and satisfying sex and reduce the problems of vaginal discomfort. Besides this lubricating creams are also available in the market that help decrease the vaginal dryness and enhance the act. Diet also plays an important role in menopause. There are foods that provide maximum hormones in the body and replace the deficient ones. Green vegetables, milk, soya bean are all rich in hormones. Regular exercise keeps your bones healthy and improves your body image and provides a renewed vigour.

Thus it solely depends upon the woman herself to consider menopause as an eventful phase of life and develop a positive outlook towards it, turning the occasion into a wonderful opportunity. Menopause does not signal the end of female sexuality, but it is the beginning of a woman's individual life. It is the whole new way of life. A fulfilling sexual relationship depends on how well you cope with it. A good sex life and a happy emotional partnership tend to enhance the bond between the partners and it is only you who could make it happen. You are worthy of a happy life and a great sex life only if you want one. So what are you waiting for….make this night your memorable night and all night from now on.