Why Menopause Feels E-motional

Have you ever felt as a woman that you’re labelled as emotional?  How did it make you feel?

I’ve had this over the years and I can tell you it’s left me feeling ‘less than’.  And that’s because I’ve always tried to fit myself into a man’s world, a man’s way of living, holding in all emotions and not showing my true feelings.  I didn’t want to stand out, so I hid my real emotions.

I look back now and don’t regret this because of the experience of life it gave me and the fact that it made me into the woman I am today and I’m really proud of that, but it was a huge eye-opener when I learnt that emotions can get stuck in your body if you don’t acknowledge and feel into them.

My journey through menopause has taught me to really lean into and embrace my feminine side more which has meant acknowledging the emotions that have come up for me.  And I’ve cried and cried some days…releasing bucket loads of emotions…not deliberately knowing I needed to release them, but because I believe your body takes over in menopause and does this for your own good.  It’s a time when our body catches up with us and we have to start listening to what it’s telling us.  Because if we don’t, life gets harder.

So what are emotions exactly?

Emotions are actual energy that moves through the body…”energy in motion”, hence e-motion.

When we feel emotions, what we’re actually experiencing are shifts in our energetic state, and if we don’t let them move through us, they can become stuck in the body, leading to tension, stress, and even physical symptoms.

Here’s how it works:

1. The Physical

• Emotions create physical sensations in your body.
• When you feel anger, your body might heat up and your muscles tense.
• When you feel grief, your chest might feel heavy, and you may want to cry.
• This is your body processing the emotion.

2. The Blockage

• If emotions are ignored, they don’t just disappear, they stay in the body.
• Over time, this can look like fatigue, anxiety, physical pain, or even illness.
• For example, sadness might sit in the lungs, contributing to shallow breathing or tightness in the chest.

3. The Release

• When you allow yourself to fully feel an emotion – by crying, journaling, talking etc – it  moves through you instead of getting stuck.
• Practices like breathwork, Reiki, movement, and guided visualisations can help emotions to flow.
• Once the energy moves, you often feel lighter and clearer.

4. The Message

• Instead of seeing emotions as problems, see them as guides; with each one trying to tell you something.
• Anger – maybe a boundary has been crossed.
• Sadness – maybe something needs to be released.
• Fear – maybe you’re stepping into the unknown, and your body is preparing you.
• When you acknowledge and work with emotions, you allow energy to keep moving rather than staying stuck.

So in menopause it can naturally feel overwhelming because the body is naturally clearing out old emotional energy that may have been buried for years, particularly if like me you’ve spent decades suppressing emotions.  Menopause may feel like they are suddenly surfacing all at once.  So instead of resisting them, allowing emotions to flow can lead to deep healing and transformation.

Emotions aren’t meant to be held onto – they’re just energy that needs to move.  When you honour them, listen to them, and let them pass through, they don’t control you.  Instead, they guide you.

And remember it’s not just the bad emotions you should acknowledge and process…do it with the good emotions too.  How often have you felt joy only to dismiss it and get on with your life instead of sitting with it and really feeling into it.  The good emotions need your attention too 😉

With love 💫

Caroline x

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