22/03/2024
The menopause-big scary changes?!
Being 48 and a half I’m perimenopausal. It’s a thing! We talk a lot about menopause and in generally blanket negative terms. Hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, sagging skin, low libido, hair loss, weight gain….Argh!!!!
You get the drift. It’s bad and wrong and must be either fought against or succumbed to. We are old, invisible, grey haired and wrinkly.
Maybe we are embracing our inner crone, wise woman, Baba Yaga. Or maybe we wish to return to our youth through Botox, fillers, punishing exercise regimes and high heels.
What cruelty has life thrown at women in their mid life? After years of sacrificing themselves as the good girl, the virgin bride and the w***e in the bedroom, the mother martyr, the punchbag, the cleaner, cook, carer. The everything to everyone and the nothing left for ourselves archetype.
When can we catch a break? When is it our time? Is death the only respite?!
Some may well choose illness as a way to get a break. Autoimmune disease is much higher in woman. Our body starts forcing us to take notice. Louder and louder. We listen or die.
So all rather bleak. Is there another way? Can we choose something greater or are we destined for a life controlled by patriarchy, capitalism, hormones, family obligations, bills and all the other demands placed on us?
What if we have chosen all of it so far? What if we can choose something different now?
Are you willing to give up people pleasing, martyrdom, putting yourself last, feeding the beasts of our modern world and staying caught in a trap?
Are you willing to step outside the box that’s been created for you? What creative projects have you put on the back burner? What were your childhood dreams? Where can you reach out to for support? What would putting yourself at the top of the list look like?
20 minutes a day for a walk or meditation, one hour for a bath with essential oil, a massage a month, a swim, a journal, nourishing food…the list goes on.
Rather than resenting those not considering you or putting you first how about you model that to the world. How about you choose you?
This doesn’t mean choosing against others. Your burnout helps noone. Your resentment isn’t kind. You resourced, happy and healthy creating greater in the world changes everything for the better!
Yes you have that much power. Yes you’ve been using it for everyone else. Stop doing more and waiting for gratitude and start being grateful for free will.
We can all focus on lack and what we don’t have. Start off where you’re at and what you would like to create more of and build on that.
I started off talking about perimenopause as to me the transitions are usually the hard stuff in life-moving home, new school, divorce, death of a loved one, puberty, pregnancy and yes menopause.
Yet once you’re in menopause a lot of the symptoms can stop. It’s the projections of society telling us who we are now we are middle age that can affect us if we allow them.
Chronic pain, hair and vision loss, weight gain etc are all manageable and often curable without surgery or medication. Those are options to you. Just like putting castor oil on thinning hair is an option that works for many. Just like intermittent fasting allows many people to lose weight around the belly. There are so many options for you in the next half of your life.
What will you choose?
If you’d like to choose vibrant health, more balanced emotions, trauma release through meditation and visualisation, goal setting, lifestyle advice and ongoing support get in touch. I’d be happy to help.