For a woman reaching a certain stage of life, perimenopause and menopause; it can impact every aspect of their lives, areas of life that once thrived suddenly feel unmanageable. There are a myriad of factors that make this a challenging time for every woman so lets look a little more closely at some of these.

The time of menopause can create many unique challenges for women. A natural decline in Estrogen signals a shift in cognitive function, tasks that were once a piece of cake become difficult, memory declines, brain fog sets in and it can feel as though you are losing your mind.

So what can we learn about this stage of life, how can we navigate menopause in such a way that we come through it stronger and wiser? In many cultures post menopausal women are seen as wise, they are revered and honoured, the wise woman is the archetype of knowledge and wisdom.

This isn’t just some woo woo statement, this has some scientific basis in fact. A 2009 academic study titled “The Grandmother Effect” concluded that survival beyond fertility and longevity of life were distinctive to humans. “The robustness of ancestral human grandmothers necessarily included resistance to cognitive decline…” (James G. Herndon).

It seems that there was an evolutionary need for the older women of the tribe to be healthy post menopause so that they could still be of value to the community. This included not only being cognitively able but also physically strong. So rather than being seen as weak or a burden there was a shift in how women were valued and viewed (Watkins 2021).

So what happens to our brains when we reach menopause? It certainly does not feel robust at times, like when you enter a room and immediately forget why you were there in the first place!

Estrogen

If we take a closer look at Estrogen we can get a better understanding of why this hormone is so important to us and why the gradual decline during menopause has such an impact on our mind. There are 3 types of Estrogen all have different roles in a woman’s life course.

Estradiol, this is the most common type in women of child bearing age; Estriol the main Estrogen present during pregnancy and finally Estrone which is the Estrogen that is made in the body after menopause.

Estrogen is one of our sex hormones, it is made by our endocrine system, it’s levels change during our menstrual cycle, peaking in the middle and they are at their lowest during our period. It is the natural decline of Estrogen during menopause that impacts our cognitive function. During perimenopause the levels of Estrogen rise and fall unpredictably and this is why we experience symptoms of low Estrogen some days and high Estrogen on others.

Symptoms of low Estrogen are erratic periods, hot flashes, night sweats, trouble sleeping and vaginal dryness. High Estrogen levels can cause weight gain, especially around the waist, thighs and hips, mood swings, anxiety and depression, low libido, fatigue, heavy or light bleeding, worsening PMS symptoms, fibroids (non-cancerous tumors) and fibrocystic breasts (non-cancerous breast lumps). Is it any wonder menopause can feel completely overwhelming and create feelings of not knowing what will happen from one day to the next!

Estrogen is a neural protective hormone so many of the symptoms associated with the rise and fall of Estrogen levels during menopause have neurological symptoms. Hot flashes and night sweats are a result of thermoregulation going askew, our circadian rhythms are interrupted, sleep is affected, causing bouts of insomnia and multiple domains of cognitive function are affected.

The most frustrating thing for any woman experiencing this onset of symptoms is the unpredictability. The realisation that suddenly techniques that were once helpful no longer work, weight suddenly becomes difficult to shift in spite of our exercise and nutrition remaining the same; juggling a career can feel overwhelming, tiredness from lack of sleep or having to get up multiple times during the night to change nightwear and bedding due to night sweats begins to take it’s toll.

Is it any wonder that up to 60% of women experience memory and concentration disorders during this time. While all of this may sound very doom and gloom, lets consider ways in which this can be navigated with a different mindset.

What can we do?

None of this is inevitable, we may experience all or non of these symptoms, or we may have some and not others. Knowledge is power! If we know why this is happening to us we can eliminate that feeling of going mad, or at least join Alice, for “we are all mad here!”. Knowing you are not alone can be hugely comforting and feeling a sense of community does something else for us, it creates Oxytocin that wonderful queen of hormones that can support our sense of well-being and override some of this other stuff.

There are practices we can incorporate that can also add to our overall feeling of contentment. Mindfulness, practicing gratitude, yoga and pilates are all useful during this transitional period. They can help us achieve better sleep, reduce stress levels and help us feel we have more control at a time when it could be easy to feel the opposite.

In my coaching practice I work with women as individuals, and look at their unique journey. What triggers do they have, what areas of life are they finding particularly challenging right now, what would they like to achieve through their coaching experience? That can be support with physical health, emotional well-being, nutrition or sexual challenges.

Setting achievable goals is hugely important, to create a sense of accomplishment and to shift the paradigm that menopause is the end, for it is actually the beginning of a wonderful new chapter of our lives. To embrace our inner wise woman archetype and step into our power.

For enquiries about coaching services and availability email info@theallpowerfulfeminine.co.uk