Second Puberty... the joys of womanhood.

My son is in his first year of high school. Eeek, how the time has flown.
This is the beginning of a new phase of his life and the dynamics of our relationship will continue to change and he slowly grows into a man. 

As I’m sure many of you know, the journey of parenting certainly gives you the gamut of the emotional roller coaster! 

Lately I’ve been becoming more aware of the need for honouring myself. 

Honouring my need for rest, honouring the fact that my body requires different things from me now that its in peri-menopause and learning what I need to do to help my body as it's going this this time of transition.

I have started Reading to  Age Like a Girl -  https://www.drmindypelz.com/books my Dr Mindy Pelz and this book has been an eye opener helping me to understand what is actually happening my body and the different ways that I can support myself through diet, changing what I eat and when I eat. I’m currently exploring fasting for longer periods of time in the morning and not eating too late in the evening and its helped my mental health, as well as with my sugar cravings.

I’m also exploring grounding my self before bed, just walking barefoot on the grass in my back yard), and making sure I get early morning (pre 10am sunlight) on my face with out sunglasses every day. 

All these little things can add up to help our bodies to make the required hormones that can fill in for what oestrogen used to provide in my body.

As uncomfortable as it is this transition is, it is happening whether I like it or not! But arming myself with information has helped me to not be so hard on myself as I ride this roller coaster. It’s sad to for me to think about how my mother and grandmother and the female line backwards have gone through this right of passage so alone. With them having to put on a brave face and just get through it. The beauty of this new information coming to light is we have more options now than Drs throwing hormones at us or just telling us to suck it up. 

It means that we can learn to embrace the power that is the feminine who has finished her child bearing contract with the tribe. The wise woman, the crone - (which translates to crown) it is women coming into their majesty and power to lead the next generation. 

I see that no matter where we are in our feminine journey, the more we are able to embrace who we are and our truth, the more we can then share that with the younger generations. 

That fact that any woman manages to run a household, show up for work, have a family (for some), possibly have a partner and still have meaningful interactions with the people around her, all while juggling an ever changing hormonal cascade, is a miracle. 

We literally wake up and experience a different version of ourselves every day. 

That is something to be commended for and recognise that it does bring wisdom. 

Even if you don’t think you're very wise!

I think the biggest gift of menopause is the letting go of the people pleaseing identity that guides so much of a woman’s fertile life. 

And it takes time for us to reconcile who we truly are on the inside vs who we have been and the life we have built. 

Divorce, changing careers, changing friend groups, moving house, these are just some of the things that feel entirely necessary through this time. 

So when I look at the changes that happen to women mentally, emotionally as well as physically, nature was pretty smart to have the transition take anywhere from 2-10 years. 

So if you are in this transition please be gentle with yourself, and if you are in your Wise Woman era, please share your stories with the younger generation. It's such an undervalued role in our society. 

I love this topic so much you will likely get more emails about it and I do talk more extensively in my podcast. Wise-ish and you can listen on any podcast platform the links are here 

❤️

Catherine