Four million Canadian women and more than ten times as many
American women are dealing with menopausal issues. Perimenopause, which is the
build-up to menopause, begins as early as 35 years of age. What if the combined
voices of this legion of women led to a profound change in the way our society
views menopause? That is my dream.
Our culture is both youth and action oriented. Every day we are
bombarded with messages telling us to wake up, shape up, speed up and be happy!
How often does anyone recommend that we slow down, ground ourselves and
acknowledge the full range of emotions? Yet slowing down and paying attention to
our internal yearnings is exactly what feeds us, particularly as women in the
menopausal years.
The hormonal changes that begin in a woman’s 30s or 40s have a
profound impact on a woman’s body and, in turn, on her whole being…physically,
emotionally and spiritually. Dr. Christiane Northrup describes this as a whole
body “circuitry update,” which affects our nervous system and our brains in
particular.
When women feel the early stirrings of the Change, they often
don’t realize what’s happening. They may experience such intense mood changes,
irritability and anxiety that some women actually question their sanity. But
there are biological explanations for all of this. For example, hormone
fluctuations affect the hypothalmic part of the brain, which mediates strong
emotions such as anger.
The menopausal years are a time when old emotional wounds
surface. Northrup tells us that the hormonal changes facilitate the strong
emotional reactions often experienced by women. It is the body-mind’s way of
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