While our understanding grows about the impacts of menopause in the workplace, solutions are being sought across the medical and cultural spectrum.
In the first part of a three part series, Jacqui Purdy explores a concept from eastern philosophy that she believes can help women live healthier, more rewarding lives during and beyond the menopause.
It's a truism of menopause that every woman's experience is unique. There is no 'typical' menopause.
The popular narratives tend to dwell on the extremes: women either have a nightmare or they barely notice it. The reality for most, of course, is somewhere on a convoluted line between the two.
For all but the lucky few who are unaffected (only one in four women report "very few symptoms"), menopause is typically characterised in terms of diminishment and loss. It's seen as something to be ignored or endured, and perhaps medically treated.
Many non-western cultures take a very different approach. They regard it as a time of change, for sure, but one that ultimately leads to new opportunities and rekindled energies. It's a phase of life that should be celebrated rather than lamented.
Central to this is the idea of the 'Second Spring'. Some aspects of menopause may feel a lot like autumn or winter - the waning of fertility for example - but winter is not a permanent state and not everything is irreversible.
The Second Spring symbolises a woman's re-emergence, with renewed vigour and wisdom.
Fostering a new mindset
There is an acute irony that, simply because of their age, many women attain senior roles in parallel with the onset of menopause. Just as the demands on their energy and performance are peaking, they may be undermined by menopausal symptoms.
Adopting a Second Spring mindset - and the behaviours that it promotes - can support women through this transition and set them up for a life of fulfilment in their later years.
Part of this involves acknowledging and accepting that menopause is having an impact. You can't escape your own biology. If you try to defy or ignore it - to just push on through regardless - you're inviting more severe and longer-term problems down the line.
When I first encountered the concept of Second Spring it was like my brain received a massive re-set. It instantly allowed me to be far more accepting of what I was experiencing, and at the same time it gave me a powerful sense of hope - which had been in short supply.
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Second Spring is the term used to describe the journey of menopause. In Japan they have the word konenki. Literally translated, ko means renewal and regeneration, nen means year or years, and ki means season or energy. In India, in Ayurvedic terms, menopause is the age of the wise woman.
Change is (still) the only constant
Menopause is a natural process of change, even in circumstances where its onset is uncommonly early or brought on by medical intervention. And as with all kinds of change, it may be good or bad, or neutral - but almost always it's a mix of the three.
Whether the effects are mild or severe, the physiological changes of menopause need to be respected and accommodated. Bones, brain, heart and spirit all need to be looked after.
Many symptoms tend to be transitory: hot flushes, poor sleep, brain fog and emotional swings will usually settle naturally (although some can persist for years). These can affect both home life and work life, and it's important to recognise the merits of preserving energy; to work with the body and not fight against it.
At work it can be particularly hard to carve out time to rest and recuperate. Professional responsibilities bring ever greater demands, while energy levels and mental resilience are depleted.
This is why the Second Spring is such a powerful concept. It reframes menopause from an ending to a new beginning, and draws strength from the prospect of entering a new stage of life informed by wisdom and experience.
More than a metaphor
Although the right mindset is important, you can't just think yourself through the challenges of menopause. You need to adopt new behaviours too.
Lifestyle changes are key to preserving your physical and emotional energies. Reducing stress is a priority for mental wellbeing but also for cardio health, because waning oestrogen levels leave arteries more vulnerable to build-ups of fatty plaque.
Oestrogen also contributes to maintaining brain energy, muscle mass and bone density (this remarkable hormone is active in every system in the body, not just reproduction), which is why osteoporosis is a greater risk post-menopause.
We are reasonably good at treating these conditions medically, but less diligent about reducing the risks through better nutrition, exercise or mindfulness. Lifestyle really matters.
Inspiring a cultural shift
Our belief at Strengths Unleashed is that women would be served by a cultural shift that recognises menopause as a new beginning, not as a closing chapter.
The Second Spring mindset challenges the notion that women are somehow past their peak at this stage in life, that the biology of half the workforce makes them prone to under-performance once they pass a particular age.
Yes, for most women menopause will demand adjustment and adaptation, but looking after yourself should not mean sacrificing your ambitions.
We've focused here on the individual's experience of menopause, and proposed an attitudinal shift to help them live healthier, more productive, more rewarding lives.
In part two we will look at the implications for organisations and society as a whole. And in part three we'll share a new initiative to bring Second Spring thinking into the leadership domain.
Jacqui Purdy is a Strengths Unleashed Partner, an accredited Executive Coach, and a qualified Menopause Yoga Teacher.
Photo: Wilfried Santer (via Unsplash).
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