Menopause

Menopause has a reason. It’s not just nature’s cruel joke to all women. It’s actually a jaw dropping evolutionary advantage given only to women. It is our brain evolving us for our next stage of life. We are women transforming from creating family and prioritizing others to women that serve society as wise teachers and guides.

This is not a theory, it’s a fact. Thanks to Dr. Lisa Mosconi and her team at the Female Brain Initiative we have the brain scans and scientific findings to prove that menopause is the female brain restructuring. Perminenopause is an incredibly unstable and uncomfortable time where we “just don’t feel life ourselves”

For me, I knew I was in perimenopause when (at 42) my periods had become more irregular and I started feeling incredibly anxious, exhausted and depressed. I sat on my kitchen floor sobbing as I told my husband “This is not me”. That is what brought me to see 3 different doctors until I was given the support I desperately needed.

Every women has her own unique symptoms of perimenopause, from itchy skin to frozen shoulder to achy joints, broken sleep, feeling overwhelmed, weight gain, acne, depression, mounting self doubt, forgetfulness, brain fog and more ( There are over 55 symptoms of perimenopause)

Turns out these struggles are for a reason and it’s not just because your body is done being reproductive. It’s actually because your brain and body need to become MORE productive. What you’re about to read is true and super empowering. I encourage you to make sure you tap into the resources at the end of this post once you have read everything below

All of the below info is from the work and research of Dr. Lisa Mosconi, who discovered that most of Alzheimer’s patients are women. In keeping to her mission of reducing alzheimer’s she discovered that estrogen is in the brain as well as other hormones that are also found in our ovaries. ( CLICK HERE for her brain scan imagery). Estrogen is also neuro protective, so as it decreases in the brain we are more susceptible to alzheimers (we will come back to this).

This discovery of “neuro endocrine” hormones led her to discover that the female body does an insane amount of work in the reproductive years.

During a woman’s reproductive years her body maintains a super expensive pathway. Her brain and ovaries are constantly communicating to each other. CONSTANTLY to make her body able to go through puberty, dating, periods, pregnancy, family building etc..

This is a tremendous amount of work and energy. It is indeed expensive for the body to do this.The female body even needs a hefty dose of progesterone ( the people pleasing hormone) so she can put her own needs on the back burner. She has to prioritize the needs of others to serve her biological role of life bringer and nurturer.

In perimenopause, reproduction is closing shop. Therefore, it is not efficient for the body to keep this pathway of hormone signalling from the brain to the ovaries. So it starts to shut things down. This is a woman’s body being amazingly intelligent. It is her body being efficient.

It is for this reason that our brains start “pruning neurons” to get rid of old connections. We are closing shop on our past role of reproduction.

This is perimenopause. As our periods become more irregular, everything goes haywire and we start losing our sharp executive function because our brains are going through a dramatic transformation. We are living in a construction zone of neurons being pruned and pathways being changed.

The good news is that this construction project does end. Menopause is one year from the date of our last period. Typically within 2-6 years our brain healthier and more stable than ever before. This is a long time.. from perimenopause to post menopausal transformed brain, on average this is 13-16 years. We need to stay knowing that we do emerge stronger and better, so long as we give our bodies what they need during this transition ( sleep, nutrition, stress reduction, strength training,community, HRT )

Our brains are cleaning out the past and elevating us to a new and more powerful role in society.

We have a lot of things to look forward to with our post menopausal brains. CLICK HERE for Dr. Mosconi’s brain scans and here for her in depth scans and research finding

The Post Menopausal Brain is much less reactive. The Brain becomes less frenetic and more calm. Post menopausal women more easily find and maintain “me-time” Turns out this is not just because the kids are grown and they are working less.

Older women who are post menopausal have more empathy. Sadness and anger don’t hold the same charge for as long, they don’t brood over bad experiences, mistakes and blunders. The Post menopausal woman has more capacity for joy, wonder and gratitude.
This is not just life experience, this is the neurological transformation.

Oprah Winfrey said “ So many women I talk to see menopause as a blessing, I’ve discovered that this is your moment to reinvent yourself after years of focusing on the needs of everyone else.”

How do we know that older women have a hugely beneficial role to society? It’s called the “Grandmother Theory” : Basically in human history it was the grandmothers that provided roughly 65% of the caloric needs to human villages. This enabled us all to stay alive and continue to reproduce, grow and evolve. These “grandmothers” (women over 35) lifted, walked for miles, shared stories, brought lessons nourishment and wisdom to the rest of the tribe.

From Dr. Mosconi’s book The Menopause Brain “Dr. Kristen Hawkes at University of Utah found a modern day tribe of hunter gatherers, The Hadzas, that still existed and lived in Northern Tanzania for Thousands of years. Dr. Hawkes got a time machine peek into into how our early ancestors lived ( without modern conveniences ) . Her research started with food.. not menopause.

What she found was remarkable. She observed that it these women went out in groups everyday and collected vegetables. The older women in the tribe became the reason for the tribes survival. The men could not always guarantee a “Big Kill”. That happened 3% of the time

But the women could guarantee they could come home with berries, wild fruit, nutritious tubers . These female foragers were responsible for the majority of the nutrition and calories in the tribe. It was not the men brining home the bacon.. it was the grandmothers.

They also thrived off of sharing and relating stories. They were physically very active. They walked miles, dug hard, carried heavy loads back a great distance.Even though these women were no longer reproductive they were intensely productive in keeping the tribe alive, maximizing reproductive potential and passing of genes to human evolution.

These grandmothers were not little old ladies wasting away, they were strong, pivotal and hugely impactful to the tribe.

Evidence of just how much impact the grandmothers contribution had, led Dr. Hawkes to study menopause and human evolution. Her grandmother hypothesis proposes that ceasing reproduction and living to tell the tale, allowed older women to devote care and resources to their children’s children, rather than birthing and nurturing new ones. If it weren’t for menopause such contributions would be impossible. This is nature’s wisdom.

On Alzheimer’s:

There is the indisputable fact that 2/3 of people that develop Alzheimer’s are women. Currently Dr. Lisa Mosconi is working with a $50,000 grant to end Alzheimer’s under her Women’s Brain Initiative.

This is what we know so far can prevent Alzheimers

Alzheimer’s STARTS in our mid 40’s. With symptoms SHOWING in older years. Midlife is THE TIME to take actin with consistent health habits that protect the brain, create brain cells and grow neuropathways.

CLICK HERE for my upcoming 6 week coaching program that gets you to start taking action

These are the habits you must keep in place to reduce Alzheimers:

• Sleep ( 8 hours consistently. Overall brain health)
• Nutrition : Reduction in pro inflammatory foods and beverages.
• Increase Omega 3’s, Protein, Antioxidants and Fiber
• Stress Reduction (time in nature, connection with others..)
• Exercise ( blood flow to the brain )
• Strength Training (literally create BDNF when we lift heavy. Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor. We GROW new neurons and decrease inflammation)

To best empower you, you need clarity then the tools to take action with. I highly encourage you to listen to the TWO below podcasts. Below each podcast find support tools to help you feel more capable and support your body. Also CLICK HERE to book a Free 20 min Consult with me, I will do my best to connect you with resources you need.

1. Dr. Lisa Mosconi on UnPaused with Dr. Mary Clare Haver. “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Plan. Hormones, Sleep and Nutrition with Dr. Lisa Mosconi”

2. Dr. Mindy Pelz on “Know Thyself” Podcast : Why Midlife Feels So Disorienting ( and what it’s trying to tell you)

If you are needing coaching with putting any of these above elements in your life (community, better sleep, foods, movement, health habits .. set up a Free 20 min consult with me . CLICK HERE.

Also Check out my upcoming “Evolve You” 6 Week Group Coaching for women over 40. Starts July 24th in Renton (In – Person and Online Hybrid)

A small group course, for women over 40 who want to put themselves first on a daily basis, so they can feel more capable and age powerfully.

High Achieving women know what they need to do. The one thing that will get us to do what we know what we need to do is to understand and work with our subconscious mind.

This program empowers you with science, specific quick daily practices that calm your nervous system and get you to create a new operating system to work off of daily. With in person gatherings and weekly high accountability, you can finally take better care of yourself on a daily basis.

CLICK HERE for details and pricing