Like most women, for most of my life I was afraid of getting older and what menopause would do to me and my body. 

I remember at age 40, training to be a mindfulness meditation practitioner and the topic of how meditation reduced hot flashes in women by 60 percent in 8 weeks with meditation and mindfulness came up.  I felt this relief that I was going to be able to control this transition and hopefully not go through what I had been conditioned to believe was a horrible experience.

After I had turned 50, I was sitting in meditation one morning and I had this strange knowing that my body was not going to have anymore cycles and I was going to be experiencing a powerful change.  Not just the change in my physical body, but the transition into the next phase of my life.  .  

I found my own physical body going through so many changes.  I had hot exteme hot flashes, weight gain and Hashimoto’s thyroid disease flare up.  My energy and libido tanked as my adrenals were put to the task of attempting to balance the fluctuations within me.  I ended up with a severe parasite infection that took me over a year to resolve. I was in some ways being forced to slow down and deeply connect and listen to my body and what it was asking and needing from me.  

I also realized that even though through over a decade of coaching women and doing my own deep healing emotional work I was once again being shown of any unhealed areas in my life.  Regrets, grief and old toxic patterns and belief systems that I was still hanging on to were being brought to the surface to be released.  I found myself isolated in the lockdowns and without the typical group connections to women that I normally had in my life that would support me through challenging transition.  

As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, I had specialized in hormones, thyroid and adrenal issues.  My tool box of wellness, herbal and detoxing practices all came out.  I was able to easily shift the severe physical symptoms I was experiencing and support my body back into it’s new balance more easily.  

Even though I felt that I was prepared for this transition time in my life, it amazed me how little awareness and support there was out there for the emotional and spiritual shifts that go along side with our menopausal journey.