The Magnificence of Menopause

Menopause is often a challenging time in a woman’s life, a time of both mental and physical change and can be dominated by weight gain, body image issues, physical health decline and mental health struggles. Menopausal symptoms are felt by over 85% of women and for some it can be so debilitating that they decide to change careers, separate from their partners, reduce their working hours or even quit their jobs. This may sound like a great result, but for those in the sweet spot of their careers it can be devastating.

The reasons as to why one woman may suffer more than another is varied, it is worth taking a look at not only her own individual thoughts and her own underlying mental and physical health surrounding menopause but also to consider the impact of the culture she lives in and the attitudes that surround ageing.

The reason that this is such a fascinating exploration is that historically menopausal symptoms in indigenous cultures such as First Nation's Australians were minimal or non-existent (only 36% of aboriginal women report symptoms). In their culture, entering into menopause was traditionally seen as a respectable experience, a time to celebrate, where a women was elevated to a higher status within the community,  a time of reverence and respect. 

She no longer had her youth and her reproductive prowess, but she had the opportunity to come into her wisdom, into her eldership. Her duties in the community would change, and her wisdom would become revered. Imagine if our youth-obsessed culture saw menopause in this way, what a difference that would make: instead of seeing it as an ageing process, a time where the skin starts to sag, the belly fat grows and looks fade, we instead would look forward to the opportunity to embrace our whole selves and share our innate wisdom for the good of the whole community.

We know high stress levels and mood issues are common around these transitional years, because of both social and physical reasons, but holding negative attitudes towards ageing, has an amplifying impact on both mental and physical parameters during this time. Even though we don’t live in a society that embraces the ageing process, we can choose to explore this philosophy for ourselves and within our individual communities of women. You may choose to review your internal belief systems that may be driving internal distress and see if you can rethink some of the unhelpful attitudes you may be harbouring consciously or unconsciously.