Forget Menopause – it’s your Second Spring!
Even the word feels daggy, let along the symptoms, so it’s time to rethink this stage of life. Bring on Second Spring.
There is something so off about the word “menopause”.
It’s negative word which for me stirs up traditional stereotypes and images of hot flushes, night sweats and brain fog.
So how pleasant is it that in the East the menopause is referred to as the Second Spring. Immediately you feel validated – honoured even. I want to lean into my Second Spring. Embrace it. Find a point where I’m proud to announce this is where I am in life.
The Second Spring feels like a refreshing transition into the next cycle of nature – the wisdom of experience combined with a joyful passion for life. Bring it on!
I now avoid the “M” word, instead I refer to the Second Spring. And for me, at the age of 54, I am well and truly into this season of my life.
It hasn’t been a smooth journey though. I had to navigate this without a guidebook. My mum died more than two decades ago and within a couple of years both my grandmas had passed away. Leaving me, at the tender age of 30, the matriarch of the family.
It’s only now I realise just how young that is, but I do remember Mum going through the dreaded menopause.
And I know she suffered.
I remember she’d sip strong coffee as her night had been peppered with long spells of wakefulness. She had hot flushes, bouts of anxiety and was very teary. I remember giving her a hug and just feeling her slender frame – she felt so vulnerable. It made me dread this time, though in my twenties it seemed a lifetime away.
But life has a habit of speeding up – a blur of three children later and there I was, nudging perimenopause… experiencing those same bouts of insomnia, anxiety and brain fog so dense I felt like my mind was trapped in a smoke machine at a nightclub – the lights may have been flashing but there wasn’t much clarity!
And so I dug deep into my yoga practice – I played yoga nidras on a loop, used my soothing breathing practices and mindfulness. It helped, but didn’t completely remove the symptoms. So I researched a bit more – discovered just how important oestrogen and progesterone could be and how I could assist my body to make more of these life-saving hormones. I also overcame my bias against Hormone Therapy and found a medication that suited me.
I also discovered I needed to adjust my yoga practice and my lifestyle – to add in some healthy rituals, routines and honour my energy levels and connection to nature. And this is my journey.
It’s especially hard when we are coping with this major life transition at a time when it feels we have to be everything to everyone. There are so many demands in our day and curve balls we have to dodge and negotiate.
I’m now three years post menopause and feeling more in balance, despite having to navigate massive challenges. I use a combination of traditional therapies with Eastern practices, combining yoga, relaxation techniques, pranayama, Qi Gong, and Counselling to create a healthy mindset, restful sleep, joint relief, strong bones and muscle tone.
I intend to flourish in my Second Spring and sow the seeds for my best possible life.
I’d love to share some of these practices with you in the Nourishing Rituals for your Second Spring – a nurturing retreat I run with the fabulous Robyn Lynch, incorporating a range of amazing Ayurvedic offerings.