The average age of menopause is 51 and is defined as a full year without a period. I’m 51 now so I’ve been thinking about this transition for some time. I’m still having periods, but I can tell things are shifting, physiologically and spiritually (for lack of a better word). 2022 Update: I’m now past menopause and I can report that so far, it’s pretty awesome!
When I first started researching menopause, I felt an internal resistance. Most likely due to all the negative menopausal stereotypes, jokes, and a long list of unpleasant symptoms. Here’s the thing…menopause is not a pathology! I know plenty of women who sail through menopause without a hitch and are in a much better place while living their authentic self after menopause. This doesn’t mean a woman may not benefit from HRT, lots of women do! I’m just saying this is an opportunity to make shifts in your life, embrace your power and be your authentic self whether you do HRT or not.
Cultural attitudes get deeply ingrained so I was a bit depressed about entering this phase of my life. But still, I needed to understand what the hell was about to happen to my body. I went to the bookstore and picked up Dr. Christiane Northrup’s book, The Wisdom of Menopause. As if menopause were something to be ashamed or embarrassed by I walked up to the counter with the book held tight to my chest to hide the title. Once I got home and read a particular section of the book my whole perception magically changed and I thought, Oh hell yeah, bring on the menopause! I’m excited about this stage of my life. Dr. Northrup has a way of conveying how powerful this life stage is and it can be something to actually look forward to.
There are enough books and blogs about all the bad things that can go wrong in menopause; why not focus on the true essence of this life stage and learn to own and celebrate our power. And appreciate and honor the seeds of wisdom in the wise women amongst us.
Dr. Christiane Northrup, Margo The Wandering Womb and Barbara Horsley! Imagine my glee when I got to have lunch with Dr. Northrup!
“Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. refers to the years between the ages of forty-two and forty-nine as midlife metamorphosis, when a woman begins in earnest to create her life in such a way that her innermost values are lived out in her everyday activities. During this stage, she is more apt to tell the truth than ever before in her life and less apt to make excuses for others.” Dr. Northrup Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
Barbara Horsley, Certified IWHI Perimenopause & Menopause Certificate Program Graduate
“Menopause is an oasis of lightness wedged between the phases of fertility and wisdom. Contrasted to the negative stereotypes surrounding menopause in popular culture, the Vedic tradition honors all stages of a woman’s life” Maya Tiwari
The uterus and ovaries don’t stop working after menopause. “The uterus produces substances that affect brain function and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Additionally, it carries on a hormonal conversation with the ovaries, playing an important role in the function of these organs for as long as 25 years past menopause. Evidence of the uterus as a hormone-producing organ was published over twenty years ago but physicians continue to cling to an outdated view of the uterus as “nothing but a big, unresponsive blob”(2). Even today, “prevailing medical wisdom holds that the uterus is a disposable organ that serves no useful purpose once a woman has all the children she wants. What’s more, it is regarded as something of a nuisance” THE UTERUS: A NECESSARY LOSS? Part 1 of 2 by Janice Stensrude
By the way, just because you’re no longer bleeding doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from abdominal massage therapy. Abdominal massage or Visceral Manipulation™ can be beneficial after menopause. Remember the uterus and ovaries are still working for up to 25 years after menopause!
I asked some of my wise women friends what their favorite books on the metamorphosis of menopause are and came up with the following list to share with you.
Above: IxChel, the Maya Goddess of the Moon, Love, Gestation, and Medicine. Maiden, Mother, and Elder.
Above: The symbolism in this image is similar to the Mayan symbolism of the three phases of Ixchel and other cultural representations of the triple goddess. The maiden has the yarn for weaving. The mother has full blooms in her lap representing fertility. The wise woman (crone) is holding what I think are bay leaves representing wisdom. You may not be able to see it from this picture, but the thread the maiden is holding connects the three goddess representations.
The Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause: The Spiritual Journey to the Wise-Woman Years
Goddesses in Older Women:: Archetypes in Women Over Fifty
How to Be an Elder: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype
Resources thank you to Janice Stensrude for her research
THE UTERUS: A NECESSARY LOSS?
1. Reider, Dorothy Krasnoff. Hysterectomy & Oophorectomy. In The New Ourselves Growing Older: Women Aging with Knowledge and Power, PB Doress-Worters & DL Siegal (eds.) New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994
2. Edelstein, Barbara, The Woman Doctor’s Medical Guide for Women (New York: Wm. Morrow 1982) as quoted in Lee Rothberg, “Hysterectomy: The Shocking Truth,” The Woman’s Newspaper, 1986
3. West, Stanley with Paula Dranov, The Hysterectomy Hoax. New York: Doubleday, 1994
4. Cutler, Winnifred B., Ph.D. Hysterectomy: Before & After. New York: Harper & Row, 1988
5. Zussman L, Zussman S, Sunley R, Bjornson E. Sexual response after hysterectomy-oophorectomy: Recent studies and reconsideration of psycogenesis. Am J Obs Gyne 1981;140:725-729
6. Coffey, Nora. Hysterectomy Educational Resource Services (HERS), 422 Bryn Mawr, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Tel. 215-667-7757
That was one of the most beautiful and positive things I have ever read about menopause! Thank you so much for sharing that. I wish I had this article when I turned 50. I was kinda nervous when my cycle started skipping months. I didn’t want to be a pregnant 50 year old. Lolol