362: Why Women Over 40 Should Pay Special Attention to Their Beliefs About Menopause w/ Susan Willson

If You Want to Change Your Beliefs Around Menopause, You Should:

1. Remember that your body is always working towards health
2. Try to understand the reasons and influences on your symptoms
3. Set boundaries, create menopause rituals, and figure out the goals of your most authentic self

 

Menopause is a time of endless possibilities once we are clear about what we want in our journey and our vision. Nature never intended for us to unravel and diminish over time. Instead, we should celebrate and thrive in this prime phase of our lives. By doing the work to inquire about who you truly are, you can be open to the transformation that is menopause.

 

Changing the Menopause Narrative with Susan Willson

Susan Willson is a Certified Nurse Midwife with 45 years of experience guiding all phases of women’s health. She has spent the last 20 years working exclusively with women in the menopausal transition, and her new book, Making Sense of Menopause: Harnessing the Power and Potency of your Wisdom Years, helps positively reframe this powerful time in a woman's life. She is passionate about exploring the falsehoods we have absorbed as women and offers a look into the deep sea change happening at this time in our lives.

 

The Many Sides of Menopause

Women have absorbed many false myths from society and the medical community about who we are and how our bodies work, impacting how we experience changes in our lives and our bodies. Often we get caught up in the physical changes of menopause but do not stop to think about the emotional, mental, and spiritual effects that this change is having on us as well. While menopause is a transition, it is also a time to review how you live your life and decide what you want to bring to this new phase of life.

 

You Are Worth the Work

Susan believes that the best tool to help you uplevel yourself during this next phase is by getting clear on what is serving you, what is meaningful to you, and what isn’t. Menopause is a great time to become yourself fully with no restrictions, but you need to ask yourself what you are really passionate about. 

Menopause is a vital gateway to a rich and fulfilling life when you can shift your mindset to embrace your full capacity. While it will take some work to get clear on who you are and what you want, you are worth it.

Are you ready to change the narrative surrounding menopause and create your new phase of life by design? Share your thoughts with me in the comments section of the episode page.

 

Quotes:

“To become really our authentic self for this time of life is the most important stepping-off point from my perspective.” (7:19)

“It feels really important to me to look at the full arc of a woman's life and where menopause fits into that, and how it builds on what came before, and how our bodies, which is always trying to move towards health, where it is trying to take us and how we can assist it.” (10:46)

“We need to say yes to menopause over and over and over. It is not going to be just one moment in time where you say, ‘okay I am going to do this or that’. It is really moving into and fully inhabiting oneself, and it is important to be very present.” (20:54)

“It is our perceptions of our environment, not what is actually happening, that create the symptoms in our bodies.” (37:15)

“I think telling our stories is so important, and I would really love to see women get together with other women that they trust and do the work in this book and the inquiry in it and tell their stories as a group of women, I think it would be very powerful.” (41:54)

 

In This Episode

• Discover the history and reasons behind the way that we view menopause as a culture (8:39)
• How to transform your mindset around transitioning from your life before menopause to during and beyond (17:52)
• Why menopause is an evolutionary movement that is opening the door for the next generation of women (21:53)
• The role menopause plays when shifting expectations around relationships and responsibilities (29:30)
• How engaging with your sisterhood can help you reflect and honor your journey (41:32)

 

Resources Mentioned:

Use Promo Code ‘podcast’ for 10% Off Your Order at the Essentially Whole Store Here

Making Sense of Menopause

Follow Susan on Facebook | Instagram

 

Other Resources:

Check out the full show notes page

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Related Episodes

Essentially You Episode #117: What It Means to Practice Your Own Self-Care and Authenticity with Elena Brower

Essentially You Episode #269: Owning the Wisdom of Menopause with Christiane Northup M.D.