The True Meaning of Menopause

Tell me what’s the first thing that comes to you when you hear or see the word menopause?

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been through it or not, whether you’re a man or a woman, no matter your age.

The reason I ask is because people see menopause as different things depending upon their experience; so I invite you to open up your mind to the possibility that menopause can be something very different to what you think.

Literally speaking the word menopause comes from two Greek words:

“men” (a month) – related to the menstrual cycle

“pausis” (a pause or stop) – meaning cessation

So, menopause literally means “the end of the monthly cycle.”

Yessss 💪, I hear you all shout…what’s not to love about your periods ending!

I can’t deny that it’s so nice to not have to bother with the discomfort and inconvenience of your monthly bleed, especially in a society where it’s not really accommodated, a society which is geared up towards a male way of working, where a woman’s cycle is viewed as an inconvenience if it affects others.

But medically speaking, the confirmation of menopause when there has been no period for 12 consecutive months also marks the end of reproductive years which can feel like an ending for some women.  Like they have lost their purpose, because if they can no longer reproduce, what’s left for them?

And let’s face it…we live in a society that doesn’t value age…we take it as a compliment when someone tells us we look a lot younger than we are.

Why is that?

Why do we want to avoid looking our age or even older?

There’s so much emphasis built into the fabric of society that getting old is bad.  And so anything that reinforces this belief impacts the way we see ourselves.

Menopause can be a case in point.

Yet in many ancient traditions menopause was viewed as a time of wisdom, power, and inner transformation, shifting focus from outward creation (bearing children) to inner creation (nurturing one’s own purpose, intuition, and soul’s calling).

So what happened to this over the years?

They say women have it all these days…we get to work AND we can have a family.

But can we really have it all in a society that praises us for working so much in our masculine energy…that doesn’t allow us to rest and lean into the creative side of us…the beauty that is our feminine energy.

We spend years caring for others, putting their needs before ours, leaning into our nurturing side.  But what happens when those we are looking after no longer need us?

Our children have left home and we’re left without purpose, our identity having been pulled from under us.

We’re suddenly left with an emptiness and nothing to fill it.

Menopause is not just what is physically happening to your body.  Yes, your hormone levels are changing and you might be experiencing symptoms that are hard to manage.  If this is what you’re going through, there are things to help (I have some free things which you can access here).

Symbolically, on a deeper level it can be seen as a threshold over which we step into a rebirth, a shedding of old cycles, and an awakening to a new sense of self.

It’s a period (pun intended 😉) of your life where you get to make changes…make decisions about how you want to live the rest of your life…challenge the way you see aging (despite what society is telling you it should be like).

Dye your hair pink or blue, sell your house and go travelling the world in a campervan, change your job to something you’ve only ever dreamed about, leave your husband if your marriage is dead (btw I know women who have done one or more of these things).

I’m not suggesting you have to do anything so big as these, but you get to a certain age and you realise that life doesn’t last forever.  You may have less years left than those you have lived.

And if now is not the time to make changes, then when?

We deserve to live a life that brings us joy, that fulfils us…and what’s right for you will be just that…not what someone else is doing, but what you want.

So you see menopause is not just a physical ending of your reproductive years, but an invitation…

✨ to live the life you were always meant to live

✨ to step outside of the box of conformity

✨ to try the things you always wanted to

✨ to discover the real you

It’s an evolution…not the end of something, but the beginning of something profoundly new for you ☘️

With love 💫

Caroline x

#ifnotme #menopause #disruptor #anotherview #belief #trust #healer