People entering perimenopause don’t know what’s wrong with themselves and start to develop a LOT of fear and anxiety about their health all of a sudden. Often the very first thought that enters a person's head is - why don't I feel like myself anymore?
Because women are having babies into their late 30s and early 40s, some people are going right from post-partum to perimenopause! No wonder my post-partum depression was so difficult! And when estrogen starts marching out the door (she’s had enough!), it can really unravel you. Who am I, where has my motivation gone, why am I in pain everywhere, why don’t I seem to care about myself or my loved ones the way I used to, do I need to quit my job, can people tell that I’m losing it?
All the ghosts come flying out of the closet. Women want to put down the emotional and physical weight of caretaking their entire lives, roles women are expected to play by society, repeatedly, without the respect and societal support and it deserves. For many women, this is the first time they ask themselves –Who am I if I’m not taking care of other people? What do I NEED?
While all of this hormonal nonsense starts in the brain (not the ovaries!), we adapt because our brains adapt. In fact, it’s like a massive operating system reset so what you do and the attitudes towards menopause can determine your health for the rest of your beautiful life.
Think about it. We have yoga classes for teens going through puberty to help them discover the connection between minds and bodies, to help them listen to their inside voices and offer them some sense of agency in complicated world. We have yoga classes for pregnant and post-partum people to help them develop inner strength, physical strength and breath practices to support their birth plans and early days as parents. We have very few options for people going through another massive hormonal lifecycle, perimenopause to menopause. Much like Western medical approaches to female health (bikini medicine), the yoga world of peak poses has very little to offer people who are floundering and questioning everything that is seemingly uprooting their lives all over again. This time, like me, you might not have a Mom to hold your hand, or a needy baby depending on you to literally keep them alive. Nope, it's just the sound of your silent screams wondering just WTF is going on and the horrific realization that this time, only YOU can save YOU from yourself. LOL now. But it wasn't LOL when it first all started going down for me.
I came back to yoga because of my constantly erupting, annoying and life altering perimenopause symptoms. I wasn't able to find a yoga class that could uniquely support my needs, so I trained for eighty hours in 2024 to receive two certificates in teaching yoga for the stages of menopause to be able to offer people meaningful support and connection. And boy, am I ready to share it all, support and advocate for people in this tumultuous lifestage.
After what I learned as a certified yoga for menopause teacher, I realized that I’ve been in perimenopause since my mid-40s, when I was up to my ears with young twins. All of a sudden, the sense that I was emotionally out of control, that I couldn’t parent the way I wanted to, that I was never able to be enough was made worse because of the ups and downs of my female sex hormones, but mostly because of estrogen.
I was furious at first. Why didn’t I know what menopause was all about? Why are doctors not up to speed? Why did I have to figure it out for my own, or turn to social media? My friends, my sisters and I were talking about it nonstop. Passing around books, lists of supplements. We have all been in shock. For me, that shock and rage has turned into action and community building and advocating for myself and others.
Sure, menopause is a natural part of the aging process and can be medically induced. But its more complex than hot flashes (even those can be absolutely debilitating). Women (including trans men, non-binary people with female sex hormones) who go through menopause are facing as big a life transition as puberty and pregnancy, if not bigger. It’s a massive biological, neurological, endocrinological and psycho-social change representing about 1/3 of a person’s lifespan.
Menopause isn’t happening in a vacuum meaning so many other things impact our health including medical history, genetics, age and what postal code you were born into. Black women and Hispanic women experience more frequent and more intense symptoms of menopause than White women). Also, if you’ve experienced any adverse childhood trauma, your menopause is expected to be more difficult and more complicated.
I’ve designed a 3-hour workshop for women to gather, to share, to breath, to move, and to rest. This isn’t your standard yoga class – there are no peak poses, no rigid alignment cues, and you don’t even need to wear yoga pants. Don’t want to do any yoga? That’s okay too. We talk about the myths & facts of menopause, I provide helpful resources for when the workshop is over, journaling prompts to help REFRAME AND RECLAIM identity, and how to use breath and movement practices & bite sized snacks for symptom relief, stress reduction, anxiety and depression management. This is peer support. This is community. Everyone’s lived experiences of menopause are honored. While for some people the idea of leaving their reproductive years behind can bring up grief, we do not center the conversation around our reproductive status or abilities.
Women need to know:
1) Menopause is a deeply personal experience as well as a collective experience – your menopause is your menopause. Period.
2) You aren’t alone.
3) You aren’t going crazy.
4) Like everything else in life, this too shall pass.
5) Not only will it pass, but the next phase of their life is also for your own taking.
For more information on upcoming workshops in Seattle and Tacoma, see Workshops on my website.
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