Menopause as a Portal to Vitality: Where Traditional Models of Coaching Women Fail to Bring the Transformation That's Calling
Shifting our stories (how we think and talk) about menopause, midlife and aging is key to thriving in menopause and beyond!💫
I am in love with my women-centered facilitation colleague Francoise Everett’s rose analogy that mirrors a woman’s life journey with that of a rose.
From (for starters!) acknowledging that we - like the blueprint in a rose seed - have everything we need inside us from our very beginning (our own unique blueprint) to fully become who and what we are here to be.
To the phases of growth and the blossoming we share with the rose and (my favourite) to bringing attention to the phase of a rose’s unfolding that is beyond the blossoming - the release of her fragrance and full expression of beauty and rose nature into the world! 🥰👑
This analogy is all part of a new way of thinking about ourself, this powerful time of our life and our next chapter of life.
Midlife and beyond is the blossoming and the ‘fragrancing’ (!) 🙌 (made up word) —- the surrendering fully to the beauty and goodness of our very being. We’re not only invited to experience the joy of what it feels like to fully open into our true nature but to experience the joy of sharing this … of blessing the world with the heaven-on-earth gorgeous fragrance of the essence of us!
I LOVE it. 🎉
No wonder I’ve been so drawn to everything rose in the last 10 years of my own expansion, unfolding and transformation.
The rose is energetically a high vibration flower - I believe the highest! It is a space holder/expander of love and beauty and possibility. (Never without roses at our retreats!)🌹
I really love naming menopause as a time of our full blossoming and unfolding into our fullest expression … and the ripple affect on our world of us unapologetically (like the rose) sharing our beauty and full, divine expression and essence.
Our North American culture has a way that it engages and talks about midlife and menopause that is not very ‘celebratory’ (!). Also, from my perspective lacking in understanding of what all is shifting and opening and how best to support women on all levels (since it impacts all aspects of us!).
Current culture (and it is shifting 🙂) is focused on this time as being a time of decline in well-being and health and on fixing symptoms.
It’s missing what is opening up and the beauty, power and elegant design of this time and portal into our next chapters. It’s missing the understanding that symptoms are part of our body’s healing wisdom and they are at their core a communication to be present with vs something wrong that needs to be fixed.
In Japan, the word for menopause is “konenki”, meaning “renewal years” and “energy”.
Menopause is a time of thriving and growth vs decline and break down.
As Francoise brilliantly put it - it’s a time to divine vs decline.
To sense into our greater purpose and unleash our greater vitality through a connection to self that balances hormones, to a connection to life that ignites our inner knowing and intuition and ease and a connection to others that ushers in joy, play, intimacy and true purpose.
To engage this time in the way I believe it was designed to be engaged is to work in a way that is wisdom based, hormone savvy and is focused on thriving.
The approach I’ve been trained in uses the elegance and power of the gifts of the feminine way of creating to create vitality addressing the bigger picture and root causes. I want to show you the Dilt’s model to help you see how this approach is different and most effective in the realm of having healthy outcomes that stick.
The Dilt’s model (see below) is a way to look at what it takes to create something new - to change and grow and the relationship of those elements.
If you are a woman in midlife or motherhood or are creating something more or new in your life this idea is so important to understand: working to create shifts at the lower behaviour and environment levels is not enough for lasting transformation if the top levels (of vision and identity) aren’t addressed and aligned.
A shift in the higher triangles ripples down into the other aspects (which are important too.)
In the work I do I find that women find the behaviour changes simple and easy to incorporate once the identity is in line with what they are trying to create.🥳
An example: if a woman sees herself and her role as a mother as one who is there for everyone else no matter what and that everyone else’s needs come before hers it’s going to be very challenging to make a positive, lasting shift in her health. The healthy behaviours she is taking on will go out the window when these behaviours or healthy intentions bump up against someone else’s needs.
When she comes into a new identity/family story such as: a good mother is a model not a martyr, in our family everyone’s needs, feelings and desires matter the behaviours that come out of that will naturally have her on a path of vitality.✨
A shift in vision (having heart clarity about what you want) and identifying the beliefs and pattern in the way, are 2 key steps that are responsible for the accelerated success and results with this method. In the woman-centered transformation model that I learned from my mentor Dr. Claire Zammit PhD she has identified the 21 beliefs and patterns that are what’s truly in the way of a woman making a sustainable, permanent positive shift in health, love, relationships or whatever area of her life she wants something more/different in.
Having someone who can identify these patterns with you and support you to shift them is a missing piece in most traditional coaching which focusses on behaviour shifts and accountability without bringing to light and shifting the specific core pattern at play.
Is this opening something up for you? Any insights?
I see a lot of women struggling at this time (peri-menopause-post-menopause) trying to fix symptoms and giving away their power to outside interventions at a time when the body is calling them back home to a new deeply empowered relationship and the vitality that will be foundational for thriving in the potent years to come.
Have you heard that the years of greatest impact for women are the 60s, 50s and 70s? In that order ! ✨We are just getting started …. this new creating won’t come from a place of push and hustle and depletion but from a place of overflow, joy, and ease - sourced in connection.💕
I hope this helps you see this time for what it is! 👑
Reach out if you’d like naturopathic/coaching support or are interested in our women’s retreats. Much love, xo, Dr. Monika 🦋 (403) 609-8385
Are you a heart centred woman whose energy is often focussed on supporting others to thrive? Is it easier for you to care for others than yourself at the deepest level? Do you have dreams you aren’t realizing yet?
I. am . here. to. support .you! ♥️ I am a naturopathic doctor, mother, intuitive creative and midlife and motherhood health transformation life coach with training in feminine power facilitation for awakening women. I work holistically with caring, wise , successful women like yourself so you can lead your life from your most authentic self and continue to do the beautiful, important work you are here to do while feeling your absolute best physically, somatically, mentally and emotionally. Midlife and motherhood are my areas of expertise and specialty (and passion).
We can’t become our whole self by ourself . I am here to support you in recharging and reseting and fostering an unshakeable connection with your truest self so you can share your unique gifts and shine your light with joy, energy, confidence and without burning out. I work holistically at the physical, emotional, mental and soul levels of wellness as needed.
My intention is that you live with a level of health, calm, confidence and vitality that allows you to stay aligned with your true north and create a life YOU are so proud of and nourished by. Reach out if you would enjoy some support! (403) 609-8385 👑 Midlife Wellness Transformation Blueprint Group Journey - runs February 14 - June 20
