As you enter your 40s, your cycle experience may start to change. You’re stepping into a new life phase (the inner autumn of your menstruating years) that will increasingly be marked by a different atmosphere and tone. It’s a deeper induction into what we at Red School call the via negativa, the energy that dominates the second half of your menstrual cycle.
You’re shifting into a new paradigm. You can think of it as a courtship for the menopause. You’re laying the ground and developing the skills you’ll need to rise to the occasion of the menopause initiation.
As you may know, we call this life phase the ‘Quickening’. We chose this word to capture the sense of animation or inner stirring—of wanting something ‘more’ for our lives—accompanied also by an increasing urgency that can kick in as we move through our 40s. Think of it as your Calling ‘quickening’ within you.
As we’ve worked with 1000s of people through their cycling lives, we’ve seen that many notice both subtle and marked changes in themselves as well as an alteration in their priorities, capacities and perspective on life, some of which may be startling or quite tricky to manage at first.
Here is some of what you may find yourself experiencing in your 40s, as well as some guidance for how to support yourself through this time of transition:
You get feedback about your physical constitution and health
Just as the premenstrual phase of the cycle gives you feedback about your overall health and wellbeing, so too the Quickening is a time of feedback. These final years of your cycling life are like a report card on the life you’ve lived thus far and the state of your health, and many people find that both physical and mental health issues surface throughout this time (we explore this in depth in chapter 10 of Wise Power, in the section ‘Reframing Perimenopause’.)
Changes in the rhythm and consistency of your cycle
Remember that the menstrual cycle is stress sensitive, and we can view these changes as early warning signs for our health. We now know that in our 40s levels of the hormone progesterone can start to lower and thus impact our cycle and wellbeing (we’re grateful for the excellent work
of Dr Jerilynn Prior for alerting us to this).
According to naturopathic doctor Lara Briden, progesterone soothes, nourishes and energises the body in wonderful ways, including buffering it against stress, settling our moods, supporting healthy sleep and protecting against autoimmune disorders. So this reduction of progesterone can go some way to explain some of the changes in your cycle.
You have less tolerance for stress
Overall, you’ll notice that you’re far more vulnerable to underlying health issues at this time, be they physical or emotional. You might also notice that you have less tolerance for stress, tire more easily, and that your trusty sleep pattern isn’t quite so trusty anymore. You no longer have a taste for pulling all‐nighters; or you discover that drinking too much alcohol isn’t such a good idea.
You may feel frayed, fractious and irritable
In the Quickening, just as with the premenstrual phase, what you experience is predicated on your overall wellbeing. And if you’re moving too fast or trying to do everything for everyone, you’re going to feel more fraying, fractiousness and irritability.
It’s time for a big gear shift
If you’re to honour what’s being asked of you – more gentleness and better self‐care – it’s important to remember that this life phase is a necessary and healthy shift in gear. Any increasing reactivity, irritability or intolerance for the status quo of your life, or change in your health, is a clear signal from your body and soul that it’s time to dive deeper, to enter a new level of self‐care and self‐inquiry.
It’s an invitation into repair, healing and nourishment
The good news is that, according to Dr Lara Briden, you can adjust to the changes you’re experiencing with appropriate self‐care. In other words, it’s not a downward slope – it’s a readjustment to a different level of operating in the world.
Many of the health challenges associated with menopause could be significantly reduced if we used our 40s for repair, healing and nourishment. One way to look at it is that in the Quickening your game is being upped. It’s time to address any symptoms now – to create the best foundation you can for menopause.
If you’re experiencing challenging or changing cycles in your 40s and you’d like to learn more about working with cycle awareness to create a stronger foundation of self-care to hold you through this transition time, we invite you to join our Cycle Power self-paced course.
You can join Cycle Power here.
