Are there any major misconceptions about the body/mind and menopause? Dr. Northrup: Yes—there are many misconceptions. One of the biggest is that your sex drive and sexual attractiveness plummet. In fact, the opposite can be true. The research of the late Harvard Sex Researcher Gina Ogden, PhD, showed that it was women in their 60’s and 70’s having the best sex of their lives. The other misconception is that after a certain age, disease is inevitable. But studies of healthy centenarians all over the world certainly dispel this myth. As my colleague Dr. Mario Martinez, founder of the Biocognitive Institute and the book The Mind Body Code puts it, “Geriatrics is the study of the pathology of aging.” And most doctors approach health from this pathological stance—looking for what can go wrong instead of supporting what can go right.
How do you suggest transforming your mindset about menopause and ageing so it becomes a positive, uplifting, joyous experience instead of a negative one?
supposed to be and act “at a certain age.” So—my hair dresser was told the following on her 29th birthday, “What are you going to do when you turn 30?” As though 30 were a big looming black hole. Women turning 35 who haven’t yet had a baby and want one are often told to freeze their eggs “just in case”. But the fact is that the vast majority of healthy 35-year-olds (and 36 and 37-yearolds for that matter) will have no problem getting pregnant. And 65 as the retirement age and the age when you go on Medicare is fraught with meaning about being “over the hill”, useless, out to pasture, etc. The fact is that the so-called reproductive years—let’s say 21-45—are a relatively short period of life. After menopause the brain gets rewired for wisdom. And if you do what it takes to keep your body healthy, you find that the vast creative energy that went into creating a job, a family, or a home is now available to pursue your soul’s passions. It’s important for women to remember that there is a LOT of life after menopause. And studies show that women in their 50’s and 60’s are, in fact, far happier and more fulfilled than they were in their 20’s and 30’s.
Dr. Northrup: The first thing I’d do is substitute the word “growing older” for the word “aging.” Aging begins at birth. Martinez has a wonderful phrase that addresses this: “Getting older is inevitable. Aging is optional.” The word aging has decrepitude in it. Growing older doesn’t. And there is a huge difference between chronologic and biological age. Chronological age is the age on your driver’s license. Biological age is the age of your cells. And this can be addressed. So—there are 85-year-olds going on 50. And many 50-year-olds going on 85. But in our culture, we don’t even think about “aging” and until we reach certain agree upon “cultural portals” that tell us how we’re
healthwisdommagazine.com
9