Birthing Happiness: Menopause
Today, in the western world menopause is treated as a hormonal imbalance, which is ‘corrected’ or ‘fixed’ by the medical profession with drugs, we all know of HRT. The peri-menopause is the period of time from the first changes in a woman’s cycle to when she finishes bleeding altogether. A woman is said to be post-menopausal when she has not bled for 2 years; this journey may take up to 13 years.
When we look at the cycles of a woman’s life we see how it is mirrored in nature:
Spring
Begins at birth + journeys through the first menstrual period (Menarche)
Summer
Motherhood (Creatrix) – This can doesn’t necessarily mean birthing life
Autumn
Menopause (Crone /Elder)
Winter
The time where your body returns to the earth (Death)
In spiritual terms, some refer to menopause as a rite of passage. It is said that during the journey from Mother to ‘crone’ everything you have experienced in your life up until that point, comes to a head. A lot of women experience discomfort as this time can bring forward emotions and experiences which have not yet been dealt with throughout Motherhood. Whether you have become a Mother or not, throughout our lives we are constantly birthing whether it is creation, projects or relationships. The slow unfolding up until menopause (known as peri menopause) can be like labour in itself.
Through the labour of menopause you will go through all the emotions, stories and conditioning you have have felt, experienced and witnessed on your journey through spring + summer. At the end of this labour, the birth is the birthing of the wise women or elder version of yourself.
Everything you were putting up with before menopause lifts with the veil of oestrogen and you may find yourself stepping into your power more, where things you’d allowed to go over your head before will no longer stand. You can no longer hold onto all the threads you previously held onto; this is the initiation of birthing yourself again – the ultimate journey of woman, the lifting of oestrogen + the arrival of testosterone.
The severity of menopausal symptoms are related to the experiences had during pre-menstruation. These can be huge wake up calls for women to notice where in her life she is not fully in alignment whether that be career related, health related or daily life stress.
In native American tradition they live by + deeply know that through menarche a women meets her power; through menstruation she practices her power; and through menopause, she becomes her power. Menopause is your second spring, your spouting seeds from your OWN harvest. This is the point through menopause you get to see how nourishing the roots you’ve built for yourself over the years are when they are most needed.
During menopause, the symptoms arise due to the effects of hormonal changes in oestrogen, testosterone, progesterone, follicle stimulating hormones and luteinising hormone. At menopause, oestrogen levels are 40-60% of pre-menopausal levels and progesterone is close to zero. The adrenals take over production of oestrogen and can easily become depleted by this. Depleted adrenals often overreact which can give rise to sudden sensations of anxiety, fear and nervousness.
During menopause the follicle stimulating hormones and luteinising hormone levels rise to the levels that we experienced at ovulation and stay there. These levels are a thousand times greater than they are at any other point in your life cycle!! These hormones serve as extra neurotransmitters and the effects of this are increased creativity, intuition and visionary experiences. It’s almost like ovulating without the oestrogen. Higher rates of testosterone can mean an increase in masculine energy, your libido may drop but we have the ability to have stronger and longer orgasms! The increase in testosterone is what gives us the drive and devotion to say NO not this, I choose something else. We need to honour menopause as a culture and individually and lean into it so that we can gain the guidance and medicine we need to become that wise woman.
I have learnt a lot about this from Jane Hardwicke Collings – Find out more by visiting her website.
Article and artwork by Bec Wallis of @becwallisbirthkeeper. Bec is a registered doula with Doula UK. Click here to find her profile.
