Second Spring Wonderland

How do you see life as a post-menopause woman?

Close your eyes. Let your imagination show you what it sees, hears and feels about this time.

If you’re already way past your last period, then you’ll know, physically, change is going on and that may be hard for you, or perhaps manageable or even very easy.

Your physical symptoms may have been mild. But as you travel through post menopause world you’ll notice changes. Certainly in your skin. Maybe in your hair. Possibly in the type of irritating infections you’re prone to.

All that aside, for our minds and our emotions there are big changes going on too. And if you’re interested in yoga then you’ll know the mind, body, emotional experience – it is all very much connected.

What’s the picture for you?

This?

Or more… this?

Other cultures are much better at handling ageing than ours.

In Menopause Yoga the post-menopause space is the second Spring. The time when we have more freedom. More space. More time to consider the real work we want to bring into our lives. Where we of service to the people who matter to us most.

In Menopause Yoga we see childhood as Spring. Summer as the mother-becoming years. Autumn is the perimenopause space and then Winter is pretty short. The ahh… big changes happening. Pause. Consider and then move on… to the second Spring.

In Japan the post menopause years is the wisdom time. Elders are respected and revered. And Japan is not alone. Native American-Mexican Spanish heritage writer and analyst, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, writes extensively in this area, quoting the South and Central American traditions and stories.

And of course in yoga and Ayurveda there is this tradition too. It’s just that in our gym culture, western interpretation of yoga it’s dominated by the asana-driven elements of an extraordinarily wide-ranging and rich potential experience.

Yes, in the West we are seeing change. The pro-ageing, post 50 years movement is gather pace and connecting and championing each others’ rights to be seen and valued.

But how do we grow in this space with powerful confidence? Here’s three powerful steps:

1. Spend time considering what your big work will be for this time.
   Do you want to be an environmental crusader like the designer Vivienne Westwood? Do you want to write a book? Do you want to work on that invention you put to one side in your Thirties when the kids came along and it felt silly or self-indulgent.
   If you don’t know yet, try this;
2. Reconnect with a hobby you loved as a child. Writing, drawing, riding your bike, making clay pots… whatever it is see if it still gives you joy. And if it does, is that a clue?
3. Spend time recalling what you were instinctively drawn to as a small kid. Recall how you spent your time before you got caught up in the external world. What was your inner world connected to?

I offer .3. because that’s a path towards your inner guide. Your intuitive ‘yes, this is me’ teacher. Before you felt judged. Before you felt victimised. Before you experienced shame. Before you started pleasing others and thinking their praise was enough.

Letting go of judgement and victim personas are routes to self-love and embracing post menopause has to be the only way – because unless you’re planning on getting off the bus, your life journey is taking you there.

And whether it’s Spring while you are there. Or eternal Winter. That is up to you.

What do you think? Are you ready for Spring? Are you skipping through puddles and dancing through the cherry blossom? Let me know your thoughts and feelings on this one. I’d love to know.