Menopause can be really, really hard. We may move from a sense of calm to murderous rage in the blink of an eye. Perhaps, we feel suddenly anxious or depressed with absolutely no idea why. Or maybe, despite any manner of loving relationships in our lives, we find ourselves feeling isolated, alone, and utterly devoid of joy.

We might even feel invisible – or wish that we actually were invisible.

Menopause can impact us on so many levels:

-          Physically

-          Cognitively

-          Emotionally

-          Energetically

-          Sexually

-          Spiritually

-          Financially

-          Personally

-          Professionally

 

And Menopause can bring with it shame, grief, or guilt – and often all three. And as a result we shroud our suffering in silence making us feel ever more alone.

 

But Menopause is not a disease. It is a natural stage in a woman’s development. It is also about so much more than that one day 12 months after our last menstrual cycle.

In her book, ‘Hagitude’, Sharon Blackie quotes a Lakota elder, Paula Gunn Allen who says of Menopause:

‘as the bleeding stops, the fire goes within,’

She goes on to explain how ‘in her tradition medicine women do not practice until they have reached their menopausal years. Because, then, the menstrual blood remains inside us, and so does the creative fire’.

Yes, we are women of a certain age – but that is part of the gift and opportunity inherent in this stage of life. An opportunity to shed what is no longer working for us, an opportunity to find our own unique voice, an opportunity to discover the gift in our anger, an opportunity to discover a new way of listening to the magic of our body as we finally come home to who we really are.

No matter what symptoms we are wrestling with, we are not our symptoms. We are not menopausal women. We are simply women stepping into the next chapter of our lives. Each of us will experience that menopausal journey in a unique and deeply personal way and each of us will, if we are willing, find commonalities as we travel this road together. Our bodies are not the enemy we may think they are. They hold a wisdom and creative fire we have not even begun to tap into.

 

Whether you feel more comfortable working with me in an individual capacity or sharing your experience in the healing company of other women, I am here to help you navigate your way through this challenging and rewarding transition as you come home to who you are now and embrace who you are becoming.

  • “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”


    Ursula K. Le Guin

  • "I wish we were more open about the menopause - I've been in absolute bits at times."

    Amanda Redman

  • “Getting older means paring yourself down to an essential version of yourself.”

    Jamie Lee Curtis

  • "Any time women come together with a collective intention, it's a powerful thing. Whether it's sitting down making a quilt, in a kitchen preparing a meal, in a club reading the same book, or around the table playing cards, or planning a birthday party, when women come together with a collective intention, magic happens."

    Phylicia Rashad

  • "Be on the alert to recognize your prime at whatever time of your life it may occur."

    Muriel Spark

  • "The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball."

    Doug Larson

  • "Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art."

    Stanislaw Jerzy Lec

  • “When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.”


    Ursula K. Le Guin

  • “Reenvisioned, anger can be the most feminine of virtues: compassionate, fierce, wise, and powerful. The women I admire most... have all found ways to transform their anger into meaningful change. In them, anger has moved from deliberation to liberation.”

    Soraya Chemaly

  • "Right now I'm not involved with anybody, but I hope by 75 I will be again."

    Stevie Nicks

  • "I didn't want to go anywhere because I hated being a woman during my menopause. I was like 'why am I a woman?' I couldn't bear it."

    Kathy Burke

  • "I look at myself in the mirror and think I'm gorgeous."

    Kathy Burke