Thriving in the Second Spring of Menopause

BY SYLVIA SUNSTRUM

Menopause can come with a shamed and unspoken experience for many generations of women who receive the messaging that it’s not possible to thrive post menopause, and that ageing is a terrible thing. While it can bring physical, mental and emotional experiences that may be unpleasant, menopause is not the end of the road. Perspective plays a huge role in how we enter peri-menopause and menopause regardless of whether it is naturally or surgically induced.

What is your perspective of menopause? Is it a time of distress and discomfort? A signal of aging? Are you of the mindset the best years are behind you? Are you hyper focused on your symptoms? Or do you see this season of life as a coming of age and a time to discover or rediscover your power, purpose, passion, and authenticity?

As we enter into Spring, it reminds me of the name given to menopause in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and that is “Second Spring”. This coming of age,in traditional Chinese family life, where the grandmother has a very important and respected place in the family. I love that the Chinese refer to this season of life as the second spring. They consider it a time to reflect on life and turn our focus inward to nurture ourselves.But more so to represent a new beginning.That rings true for me, as this season of my life already has had an ongoing theme of self-love, self-care, and self-reflection.

The secret is that for those who have chosen to embrace menopause as a force of transformation, who have really said a big YES to themselves, their post-menopause can deliver a Second Spring. A vibrancy and zest for life that is comparable to their first spring of their teens and twenties, except without the self-doubt, the lack of confidence and the desire to fit in no matter what.

Perimenopause and Menopause is natural, but the symptoms of peri/menopause can make you feel your life is on ‘hold’ and you probably miss the old you. Menopause is like the ultimate selfhelp tool. It wants us to become the woman we long to be; authentic, powerful, self-aware and confident. But how do we get there? We all know about night sweats, mood swings and loss of libido, but what is not widely understood is that alongside the physical symptoms, menopause is also a psychological process.

It is in fact a healing. We are being asked to slow down, to cultivate a deeper kindness towards ourselves.Instead of pushing through, we should tend lovingly to our exhausted selves as we would tend to a garden.

I am not saying it is easy, it can feel awful and some women suffer with symptoms during this time. But attitude changes everything. If we can greet the challenges with a curiosity, understanding that we’re being asked to heal and transform for the better. The stress and embarrassment, which makes ALL menopause symptoms worse, can be less intense or not present at all.

You’ll start to have new ideas about work, projects, adventures you might enjoy, it’s like the buds on the trees starting to swell. The trick here is not to rush out and go go go, but to receive the new energy and ideas to nourish yourself and keep growing and evolving.

Then next time you’re with a group of women, keep an eye out for the Second Springers. They’ll be the ones learning new things, cracking up laughing,making fabulous art, exploring new avenues,not caring if others approve and having the time of their lives! Let’s celebrate this season of our life! What a gift.

Attitude changes everything. If we can greet the challenges with a curiosity, understanding that we’re being asked to heal and transform for the better.