There is something quite remarkable happening right now.
For the first time in history, women are beginning to speak openly about midlife and menopause. What was once whispered about, (or endured silently) is finally being named, explored, and understood in new ways.
And the conversation is expanding.
Yes, we’re learning more about the endless physical symptoms, hormonal shifts, the sleep changes, the hot flashes, and the brain fog. But many women are discovering that something else is happening too.
Something deeper.
Many women enter midlife expecting physical symptoms, but what often surprises them are the emotional and psychological shifts that come along with this stage of life.
Patience becomes shorter.
Tolerance for things that once seemed manageable begins to fade.
The ability - or willingness - to keep carrying everything for everyone else starts to feel different.
At first, this can feel confusing. Even unsettling.
But what if these changes are not simply disruptions?
What if they are signals?
For decades, many women have been living inside roles that required enormous strength and responsibility.
We became the ones who kept things running.
The planners.
The emotional caretakers.
The reliable ones.
We anticipated needs. We managed logistics. We held families, relationships, and communities together in countless visible and invisible ways.
And for a long time, many of us did this without question.
But somewhere along the way, many women began carrying more than was ever meant to be theirs alone.
Midlife has a way of bringing that truth to the surface.
Hormonal changes can make the nervous system more sensitive. Emotions may feel closer to the surface.
The body may no longer tolerate constant pushing, and over-functioning in the way it once did.
And while this can feel disorienting at first, it may actually be something extremely important.
It may be the body’s way of asking us to reconsider how we have been living.
Not because the woman we have been is wrong.
But because she may have been carrying far too much.
Many women reach this stage of life and begin asking questions like:
What expectations have I been living under for decades?
Where in my life have I been over-functioning for far too long?
What am I tired of carrying that I once believed was simply my responsibility?
This stage of life is often described as a hormonal transition.
But it is also a major life transition.
It can be a threshold - a moment where we begin releasing the patterns, roles, and expectations that shaped earlier chapters of our lives.
Not with resentment. But with clarity.
Because the woman you had to be in your 20s, 30s and 40s is most likely not the woman your body and spirit are asking you to be now.
And that realization can be both confronting and incredibly liberating.
Over the past year, I've had so many conversations with women who are sensing this shift within themselves.
Women who are realizing that the way they have carried life for decades is no longer sustainable.
Women who are beginning to feel a quiet but powerful desire to live differently.
This spring, I will be offering a workshop called:
The Shift: Letting Go of the Woman You Had to Be
It will be a space for women navigating this chapter of life to come together and explore the deeper emotional, physical, and nervous system changes that often accompany midlife.
Together we’ll talk about the patterns many women have carried for decades - the constant holding together of everyone and everything - and what it might look like to begin softening those patterns. This is a gathering for reflection, conversation, gentle practices to support the nervous system, and space to explore what this next chapter of life might be asking of you.
We’ll also spend some time sharing information and support around the health and wellness side of perimenopause and menopause. Many women discover their healthcare providers haven't been fully trained in this area, (or trained at all) which is why spaces like this - where women can exchange knowledge, experiences, and resources - can be so valuable.
More details will be shared soon.
For now, I simply wanted to name this shift that so many women are experiencing.
Because if you have been feeling it too, please know:
You are not alone.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.
Sometimes the body is simply wise enough to know when it is time to begin living differently.
It’s up to us to break the pattern of over riding these signals.