Trusting Yourself Again: Somatic Cues from the Feet Up

Roisin McGlynn
Oct 14
5 min read

Yay! It's World Menopause Day on Saturday, October 18th. It's also the "No Kings" rally (Free Palestine), I teach a yoga class in the morning, attend my son's soccer and/or ultimate frisbee games, AND I got tickets to see Brandi Carlile with my daughter. It's going to be a banger of a day. How can a day be so full?!!!! Will I make it? What's most important to me? Who am I letting down if something drops? Does any of it matter? Should I just stay home?

This is how my brain is working these days, and you? On a good day, meaning, when I've gotten enough sleep, have eaten well, not drinking a glass of wine in the evenings, reducing sugar intake, exercising, meditating, journaling, managing stress, spending time in nature, socializing, connecting with my loved ones, taking my meds, I can easily make supportive choices. Hahahahahahaha! No shit sherlock. A good day for a peri / menopausal person is a hard thing to land. If we are to listen to every expert out there with a degree and exaggerated opinions, we are left thinking to ourselves - am I doing this menopause thing right?

Self-Sabotage or Self Sufficiency?

But, have you actually asked yourself this question: what makes me feel well? Who cares if something works for your sister or your best friend or your colleague, do you know what works for you? Do you know what matters the most to you? What are you putting your attention on? Is it in a direction of self-sabotage or self-sufficiency?

I find these questions very timely, as the theme for World Menopause Day is "Lifestyle Medicine", an obvious pivot away from "you must take HRT or you will die early" message. As the International Menopause Society espouses lifestyle adjustments to reduce menopause symptoms and reduce chronic disease risk, they are describing so many avenues for wellbeing, including yoga.

Yoga is an evidenced based practice for supporting many symptoms of menopause including mental health and mood, concentration, focus, musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause impacting muscle and bone health and cardiovascular risk post-menopause. (See references below)

New brain! Who dis?

Because estrogen and progesterone directly influence how our brains function, menopause changes how our brains work, including parts of our brain involved in reason, memory and emotional regulation (pre-frontal cortex, hippocampus and amygdala). Identity often gets thrown into the mix and menopause can become a self-reckoning, from the blurry past into the vivid present day. I was second guessing every decision I ever made, going through all the "what if's" and "why did I" in my memory slide carousel, like a child who had just discovered a dusty trunk of photo books tucked away in the darkest corner of the attic.

We have two choices really - shoulder on by relying on the old coping mechanisms (some good, some not so good) and see what happens, or we can try something new. I think that choice comes down to whether you can trust your gut.

I decided to rely on my old coping mechanisms at first (chasing dopamine hits through binge watching TV, staying up too late on social media, eating all the ice-cream like there was a global shortage), following every menopause influencer with an option, right or wrong to give me all the answers, therapy (still in therapy).

But I wasn't getting anywhere. I seriously thought I was losing it and my life was falling apart. I was overflowing with self-doubt. I didn't realize that perimenopause was calling me in to double down on things that actually held me up AND releasing all the things that were pulling me down, moments as painful as stepping on a misplaced Lego as I was just trying to mind my own business.

Building trust through somatic practices, yoga and the four bandhas

When I doubled down on the supportive things that filled my cup, I started to feel creative and confident and paying attention to a feeling of deep trust that I hadn't noticed had left the building. I could tell you about ALL the things I did, but it really doesn't matter, because they worked for ME. But let me offer you one perspective.

In Irish, one of the words for trust is "muinin" but like so many other words in the Irish language, trust is communicated as a feeling. For example, if you want to say, "I trust you", you say: "Mo sheasamh ort la na choise tinne" meaning "You are the place where I stand on the day when my feet are sore". I heard this from the beautiful philosopher and writer, Padraig O Tuama years ago.

A truly beautiful expression, this implies a relationship of trust that exists in context of another person. But what if that person isn't your person anymore? Or what if that person is YOU? How might you start to see yourself as your own refuge before you reactively look outside of you for help when your feet are tired?

My feet are so tired, regardless of the many hours I've spent watching social media ads trying to sell me ways to fix my bunion. They are tired from walking on impossible paths meant for others. My feet are tired from trying to jam them into shoes designed for the male gaze, arching my already sore back so my butt appears lifted and large (for the record, I've become to love my large butt, in sneakers). My feet are tired from constantly trying to find the right balance between nurturing my marriage, my kids and myself. My feet are tired from jumping off boulders and not nailing the landing. My feet are tired of simply holding up the physical body. My inner arches feel like they want to collapse.

If I double down on developing this inner trust thing, from a somatic point of view, I realize and can actually sense that my foot arches (pada mula) are literally the structural foundation of my legs and my hips, that when I wake up my arches (heroes pose, tadasana, tree pose, etc.), I notice how they are talking to my root chakra (mula bandha), how it connects my pelvic floor to the energy of the ground and safety within my nervous system, anatomically housing my reproductive organs, and bladder. I feel strong again.

When I engage and listen to my mula bandha (malasana, chair pose, etc.), I am activating the uddiyana bandha, the lift of my navel, the invitation by my diaphram to allow the lungs to expand, to oxygenate the muscles of my body enveloping the trunk, a wonderful and strong embrace I can offer to myself whenever I need it. When I wake up the uddiyana bandha (warrior sequences, standing balances, etc.), I'm inviting in control and support from my breath, through my nasal passage to my throat lock (jalandara bandha), mindfully directing prana to all parts of my body and my mind, and supporting the musculature of my neck, stimulation of my thyroid and my vocal chords, inviting me to speak my truth, express my hard earned wisdom, a deeply felt sense of intuition, guidance and personal freedom. Anything is possible from here.

So yes, I am the place I stand when my feet are sore.

I am safe. I am creative. I am strong. I am loved. I am expressive. I am connected. I am free.

May you be safe. May you be creative. May you be strong. May you be loved. May you be expressive. May you be connected. May you be free.

May we all be safe. May we all be creative. May we all be strong. May we all be loved. May we all be expressive. May we all be connected. May we all be free.

References: