There is a lot of talk about HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) on TV, in magazines and all over social media. And we regularly receive questions about it. So we felt it was time to write an article to address it.
Menopause is an immense transformation on all levels of your being—physically, psychologically and spiritually. It’s an initiation that is meant to be undergone in retreat from the world. Having sat with thousands of you at different phases of your menopause journey, we’ve seen firsthand the suffering that can happen as we face this initiation amidst ‘normal life’, while upholding a myriad of responsibilities and without the right kind of education and support.
So could HRT be the answer?
Here are a few of our thoughts about why so many suffer and what we think the ‘medicine’ could be.
Your symptoms are not a sign of failure
We want to start by sharing a note for you especially if you’re suffering right now. Whatever your symptoms and however extreme, it’s crucial to remember it is not a judgement on you. Your symptoms are categorically not a sign of failure. There’s no pass or fail in this menopause game – there’s only the experience you have.
Some of us have been dealt much easier genetic‐and‐life‐circumstance cards than others. Your experience of menopause is your particular initiatory adventure, serving you to come into a new place of self‐recognition and acceptance.
If you find you’re inflicting harshness on yourself for not handling it well, drop the judgement right now (we mean it). This is your first ‘medicine’.
You are the canary in the coal mine
We believe that the extreme state of suffering in menopause today is a state-of-the-world 'report card'. In other words, our suffering is a statement about the condition of the planet we inhabit right now. Your hormonal system is like the canary in the mine shaft – detecting the levels of pressure, stress and toxicity (environmental and emotional), along with the lack of care for the sacred that’s rife in the world today. This is feedback for us all. We are all at the effects of these problems and your body/being is highlighting it now.
In our book Wise Power and on our Menopause: The Great Awakener course (you can find out more here) we explore what you can do to address this.
What you do to heal during menopause is a remedy for us all.
You’ve been gaslit by a culture that denies cyclicity
Whether you’re menstruating, in menopause or postmenopause, if you’ve missed out on knowing about or being supported to live your menstruality, on some level you’ve been suffering a persistent, subtle gaslighting.
We’re all suffering with this fallout that comes from living in a culture that denies cyclicity. The persistent stress of working against your body's rhythms may show up for you as hormonal health problems, anxiety, grief, rage or an indignation of soul – an outrage at having to go against your own nature. And many of the symptoms at menopause are the repercussions of this loss too.
Like all trauma that remains untended, it drains your energy and prevents you from accessing more wellbeing.
If you still have a menstrual cycle, start to practise menstrual cycle awareness today. As you begin to honour your changing mood and energy it will help you create a more rhythmic life for yourself overall. Rhythmic life is soothing and healing. And it’s profound preparation for menopause.
If you no longer have a cycle, create a more rhythmic life for yourself in other ways—regular bedtimes, mealtimes and build into your day or week a regular moment for yourself where you step away from all responsibilities (and technologies)…however brief. And remember to find some way to honour menopause as an inner winter phase of your life—setting you up for your second spring post menopause.
Menopause is being treated as a health disorder
But you are not suffering from a health ‘condition’—even as you may be experiencing some unpleasant, perhaps very distressing symptoms. Menopause is not a design flaw. It is a normal organic process of change and maturation.
We believe what you’re really suffering from is a huge lack of recognition of and respect for the spiritual process you’re undergoing.
You’re suffering from a lack of time, space and support to acknowledge and follow your inner imperative to tend to your own needs. And from the absence of a dignified framing and language to name the power that’s erupting inside you and the enormity of what it demands.
Your inner holy self is calling, and you aren’t being sufficiently supported or resourced to follow that call. It’s both a call Home to yourself and a call from the future, the yearning of Life, for you to bring your unique contribution in service of all. It’s the call of Love.
Seek allies that are with you in holding this dignifying understanding of menopause. Allies that will remind you you’re not going mad. That will meet you in your deep feelings and not judge you.
So, in conclusion, should you take HRT or not?
We aren’t going to give you our opinion on whether you should take HRT or not. It’s not actually any of our business! This is your body and your life, and it’s vital that you listen to yourself and do whatever you feel is right for you, rather than outsourcing decisions, the consequences of which you’ll be living with.
We see menopause as an initiation into your authority and believe that your menopause experience is ultimately about you being the final arbiter.
The focus of our work is on giving you an empowering new story of menopause and supporting you to connect with your own knowing of what you need and when you need it.
