The spiritual path of menopause is the one that is least considered by women prior to the event. By spiritual, I don’t mean religion: it is the process of finding an inner connection – a deep feeling within that creates a calm, balanced sense of self.
If women allow this process to come to fruition, they find themselves with a new-found self-confidence and understanding of their connection in this world. It is hard to put into words and is a little different for every woman. For me, part of it was an understanding of the things that had happened in my life, and a realization of how this has led me to the path I am currently on. I have always had a sense of inner knowledge that my connection with the natural world was important, but during the transition to menopause, I was awakened to this in specific detail and has given me an insight into what I was put on this planet to do.
In saying that, not all women choose to take on this route, there is a real sense of fear to letting go of what we know and allowing something new to flourish where we are not at all sure of the end result. When our society only values women for their youth and beauty, it is no wonder women feel a sense of fear of the unknown as they move beyond the well recognzsed youth and motherhood phases of life. This is one of the reasons many women try desperately to hold onto their youth. We don’t have a pin-up girl for what life looks like during the transition and post- menopause.
I have recently pondered why women who successfully go through this transformative process, haven’t had more of the spotlight shining on them. There were two things that stood out for me:
- With a society that does only value youth and beauty, why would anyone in the media want to report on someone that didn’t really fit into that category. Even if a journalist did find this a good news story – it would never get past the editorial team (the thought process being something like this: “why would anyone be interested – people don’t want to see a wrinkly woman on the cover of their magazines”; and
- Unlike the masculine way, which is all about puffing out chests and telling the world about their achievements, women who have transformed through the process of menopause just quietly get on with it. They know they are making a difference and do not need the recognition of others to feel good about what they do.
So assuming a woman is up for the challenge, how does a woman fulfill the spiritual awakening of menopause? This is not a process that can be described in a few short sentences, but suffice to say she first of all has to let go of her youth. Women can be beautiful in their later years, it is just not something our society has ever really known how to deal with. Once a woman owns up to the fact she is in perimenopause, she can start to investigate what that means to her and reflect on how everything that has happened in her life to this point will help her move into the next phase.
This is part of what we work through in the Transition to Menopause workshop series. Women who have finished this program have said that they were simply unaware of how this can be the beginning of a new awareness and an exciting phase of their life.
I really believe that for women who chose to take on this transformation process wholeheartedly, it is a huge turning point in their lives but only if they consciously take on the challenge. It is through the process of undoing themselves and reassembling that women connects with thier spirituality – only then can the caterpillar become the butterfly,
I will be opening the doors to my next workshop series early next year. If this is something you are interested in or just want to find out more, click on the contact tab above and send me a message.