Bring on the menopause sherpas!

Women have their mothers, aunts or older sisters to guide them through puberty and first periods but are often left at the edge of the cliff when it comes to navigating menopause, a monumentally important time in their lives. And, despite the fact that women are the communicators and sharers of all things in their lives, they don’t seem to want to talk with each other about the end of this period – the end of the period! – of their lives.

Many women see menopause as a set of physical symptoms to just “get through,” and quietly, at that. If there is any exploration done about what this phase of life signifies (beyond the merciful lack of tampons in the bathroom) it seems to be focused on what new diet to go on to ensure we don’t put on too much weight. Or what type of anti-depressants to take for the bad moods.

Tackling menopause isn’t just about keeping women in their skinny jeans and off questionably-effective SSRI’s, it’s about helping women thrive despite the changes and enter what can be the most powerful time of their lives and feeling their best.

Why is it that menopause is a dirty word in our culture? While we’ve made progress on helping young women not be embarrassed about their periods we say nothing about the literal end of those cycles. There aren’t many people to help us through this phase – even doctors – and what’s worse, women are scared to admit they are experiencing symptoms of it because it’s still a huge glaring sign that advertises: ‘I’m old’.”