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If you are lucky to live long enough, you will experience perimenopause and menopause. Have no fear! This is all a part of nature's plan. Each woman has an experience that is as individual as she is. Physically, some women have an easy time and some women endure terrible symptoms and must seek medical treatment. Psychologically, some women sail on through, while some women struggle with depression and additional issues. There is never any shame in seeking help when you need it.
When I went into instant menopause after being on the pill, from age 38-50, I woke up one morning, looked at my family and said to myself, "Who are these people?" I did not want to do anything anymore for anyone. The mommy and wife switches were turned off simultaneously. I didn't even want to be in my own life!
Hormones are POWERFUL substances produced by a complicated series of processes in our own bodies, with an equally powerful effect when their production is waning. When you add the physical experience of menopause and midlife to the social and cultural pressure in the U.S. to be young, firm, sexy, and beautiful until the day you die, you begin to create the conditions for a perfect storm of fear, panic, and denial.
There has been so much written about this stage of women's lives it is hard to sift through it all. It's important to me to help women separate fact from fiction while encouraging them to see through the marketing and hype. I help women see and plan for the real and unique opportunities that we each have in the new stage of life that beckons beyond menopause and midlife. I call this new stage of women's life Regency and the women who are living fully in it, on their own terms, Regent Women.
We have two transformations to go through at this time of life, one is menopause and one is midlife. Though they can overlap (and often do) they are not the same thing. However, they each present challenges and opportunities for women. Not only do women have their own physical and personal challenges at this time of life, but culturally in the U.S. women experience ageism and wage discrimination in the workplace. Socially women are considered to be old and of little value by age 50! This is a time when our career and life experience are rich and full. This is the time when we have the most to offer from our expertise and wisdom!
We are among the first generations to live beyond menopause. At the turn of the century, most women were dead by age 50! Regency is the years from 45-70+ when women have, for the first time in history, the opportunity to create an entirely new life in the 20-30 years or more that follow menopause and midlife!
We are living in exciting times. I encourage each an every one of you to get the best information you can to make your journey through this hugely transformative time of your life. Claim the next stage of your life, your Regency years, for you. Become who you are meant to be. Do what you are meant to do. Rediscover your passion. Rediscover you.
Cheers!
xxoo
Dr. A.