How to support your menopause as an initiation into your deeper inner wisdom

The importance of ceremony, plant allies, journeying and journalling

Yesterday, I walked in the nearby woods, where I stumbled upon wild wood roses. The aroma emanating from the last remaining flowers was sublime. I plan to revisit the place soon to pick the flower heads and create fresh Rose hydrosol. After walking a little longer, I reached the beach, where I found an abundance of mugwort, one of my favourite herbs. I love to dry it and use it in winter foot baths to aid deep and restful sleep. The landscape was in perfect harmony, and everything seemed to be in its rightful place.

With the recent stressful weeks and more busyness ahead, I wanted to soak up this ambience to sustain me through the week. I sat in quiet awareness. In deep gratitude. The worries receded and no longer took up most of my bandwidth.

A few days ago, I talked with someone about practising gratitude, and I admitted that while I spontaneously feel the urge to express gratitude for our beautiful lives most days, I don't do it daily. I would like to. I would like to live each day soulfully, in deep connectedness and liberated from the seemingly incessant mental chatter.

My mentor Cathy Skipper said, "Life is ceremony." This means that every action could be done with soulfulness (as opposed to mindfulness), heart awareness, and connectedness.

Working with our plant allies can alchemically transform unhelpful unconscious patterns into thriving in the peri-to-post-menopause transition.

If you have been a woman who is drawn to plant medicine or natural healing throughout your life, chances are that you are a wise woman who is also a healer. This means that the initiation into your wisdom will be particularly powerful for you.

As you go through the initiation into menopause and beyond, supporting yourself through this transition with plant medicine is highly beneficial. Essential oils, hydrosols, herbs, and flower essences are all part of nature's medicine and can assist in the process. By embracing plant medicine during menopause, you embody the significance of this initiation in every way and become your own Wise Woman.

As you are entering menopause, it is essential to approach it consciously, especially if you are drawn to plant allies. This time is sacred; instead of fearing it, it's time to celebrate and honour it. Therefore, my first suggestion is to create a ritual using essential oils to release your fears about this time of transition. Secondly, use this ritual to acknowledge and respect your menopause; it is a sacred portal to the Wise Woman that you truly are.

As you begin the journey of menopause, it is essential to acknowledge and journal out all your fears and anxieties about this transition. Reflect on your past experiences and write down all your conditioned fears. Once you have identified them, turn these fears into a positive affirmation to free yourself from them.

Next, write down your vision as a Wise Woman who consciously integrates her medicinal wisdom. Imagine a menopause journey that is sacred and honoured. What would it look like for you? What wisdom would you like to share with the world? Turn this vision into a decree of who you are becoming, and embrace your journey with confidence and empowerment.

When you’ve completed this, create the following ritual blend and declare your conscious honouring and reclamation of menopause as the initiation it is.

Ritual blend: To begin with, light a charcoal disk and place some incense on it. You can use rose petals, sage or any other incense that aligns with your intentions. After that, take two of your favourite essential oils representing your initiation. I would suggest Tuberose which invites us into a powerful sensuality in our bodies, it is one of the most powerful openers of the crown chakra. It rises straight up to the sky and connects us to the divine in ourselves. A bridge that helps us to birth something new.

For the second oil, Clary Sage, It is deeply nurturing and really calls us back to its wisdom time. I love the way that it makes me feel – joyful, capable, strong, confident and creative. I also enjoy how it helps us easily contact the unconscious realms. This oil nourishes the soul and even makes one feel euphoric. It acts on the mind, the emotions and also the physical body,making you feel more alive.

The idea of the ritual is to speak out your fears and everything you want to let go of and then declare who you want to become through this journey. As you speak out what you want to release, drop a bit of Tuberose oil onto your charcoal disk and observe the smoke dissipating your fears. After that, drop a drop of Clary Sage onto your disk to speak out your decree.

The importance of not denying your experience. 

After performing the rituals, it's important to understand that our bodies may reveal areas where we have not listened to our inner wisdom. Instead of ignoring any symptoms, we should begin to acknowledge and heal them as messengers. What message do these symptoms carry, and what do they want us to know?

Experiencing menopause requires us to fully engage with it. Therefore, it is crucial to connect with the symptoms that arise during this phase, as they reveal the cultural beliefs surrounding menopause. Allow yourself to feel these symptoms and work with them in a healing way. You can use the profound wisdom of plants to aid in the process. What messages are the symptoms conveying to you? It is essential to remember this and begin the journey towards understanding and acceptance.

It is important to remember that women are the alchemical vessel, the cauldron. For more on this, I encourage you to read Barbara Walker The Crone. She explained the significance of the cauldron and how it was eradicated by patriarchy as they sought to stifle the wisdom and power of the feminine.

Menopause initiates a woman into a journey of self-discovery, where she has the opportunity to navigate all aspects of herself and transform her life experiences into wisdom.

Menopause News

Continuing this theme of plant medicine I was thrilled to talk to medical herbalist Hannah Charman on the Thriving Thru Menopause You can check the episode here. Especially if you want more insight into how herbal practitioners can help you manage menopause.

Thank you, everyone for subscribing. And I thank you so much for being here with me and engaging in this journey we call menopause.

Clarissa x