Women's Health Series: Menopause – A Different Perspective

According to Science, menopause describes the stage of a woman’s life when her menstrual periods stop permanently, and she can no longer get pregnant. It is the final menstrual period.

The term derives from the Greek meno (month, menses) and pauses (pause).

It is in fact “the change of life” or “the change” to many women. This is because they are experiencing the shift from regular monthly cycles to the irregular periods and symptoms that are so common during the six to thirteen years leading up to the final menstrual period.

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Conventional Perspective of Menopause

The conventional medical perspective of menopause has always been that menopause is a deficiency disease and not a natural human process, that menopause is an estrogen deficiency disease, that the change in reproductive capability during menopause is linked solely to aging, that menopause is happening at a point in time rather than a transitional period of process.

The reproductive systems of menopausal women are referred to as functional failure or decline as they are no longer directed towards childbearing and the breasts and other genital organs are described with the terms “atrophy”, “wither”, “senile”.

In this perspective, menopause is seen by the conventional medical world as the “ultimate failed production” or “system shutdown” of women.

Viewed as a disease rather than a life process, the conventional profession aims to “manage” menopause and perimenopause. Conventional hormone replacement is worshipped as a necessity to prevent and treat everything and that without them, deep cultural fears of losing attractiveness and stereotypes with regard to menopause and aging such as swiveling to become dry and haggard are manipulated by media and pharmaceutical companies to haunt the women in concern.

Above are all biased contemplations of non-scientific and prejudicial thinking by the conventional medical field and society about menopause.

Holistic Perspective of Menopause

Instead of all the negative connotations given to menopause by the conventional side of the world, menopause is in fact a stage in the life of a woman when she possesses the greatest potential to understand and tap into her own power.

Metamorphosis

The years surrounding menopause are a time of crossroads and transformations as the worthless parts in the first half of their lives break off so that they may emerge reborn and more fully themselves ultimately.

Menopause is likened to adolescence in reverse. The same emotional upheavals we experienced puberty often return during menopause, in a way to urge us to complete the unfinished business of our early years. But the difference is when we were adolescents, we did not have the resources, power or freedom to live according to what our souls called out for. But by the time we are near to menopause, we have skills, life experiences and the freedom to create the life of our dreams. The real power within us is revealed at key transitional periods of our lives that women often deny, suppressed, reject. These wake-up call periods that signal us to clean up everything that is not working in our lives include the menstrual cycle, labor and menopause. The menstrual cycle being the wake-up call of the monthly cycle and menopause being the wake-up call of the entire life cycle.

If we have been pressing the snooze button on any parts of our lives that need attention such as a job or a marriage that is not working, the period surrounding menopause will urge us to revisit these areas of our lives in ways that we cannot avoid if we are truly looking to flourish in second half of our lives.

This is a time when many women begin to be more aggressive in self-expression, being more authentic and less about making excuses for others and herself, have a deep earnest to create her life in a way that is truly aligned to her innermost values, source her life from her soul instead of the external world and people.

This is a time when women are at a turning point of their lives. It is either to continue in relationships, jobs and situations that we have outgrown which may lead to increasing the rate of aging and disease development or to relook at life and work on themselves from a physiological, mental, emotional and soul level.

Wisdom

According to Science, the neurotransmitters follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) are high at ovulation in which the women are maximally fertile. This is also when they are maximally open to new ideas and cross interaction with others, hence wiser in a way.

After menopause, it is said that these neurotransmitter levels stay permanently high in the ovulation range for the rest of our lives. Therefore the years after menopause are sometimes referred to as the wisdom years due to the presence of the neurotransmitters still in the system which renders us more open to a continual flow of wisdom.

According to native cultures, menopausal women were seen as to retain their “wise blood”, rather than shed it cyclically. They were therefore considered more powerful and wiser than menstruating women. Also a woman could not be a shaman or wise woman until she was past menopause in these cultures.

Conclusion

The true essence of menopause is transformation and wisdom.

Yet this critical period of life for a woman has been inverted, degraded and even suppressed much by conventions, just like many other life processes of her body.

It is therefore of utmost importance that a woman can have the wisdom and tenacity to reverse this societal programming, recognize and rediscover her true power and strength within to make her way through the rest of the second part of her life with clarity, purpose, insight and pleasure.

Read more on Women’s Health: How Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture treat Infertility, Premenstrual Syndrome, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Endometriosis, Fibroids, Recurrent Miscarriages, Irregular Period, Menopause and Adrenal Fatigue here.