Midlife Awakening: Why Menopause is a Revolution, Not a Decline

Introduction to Men of Power 0:00

I call these group of episodes Men of Power, because we are reclaiming the power on this transition in life. I am doctor the Doctor Paula Daily Mantra Board certified, a Latina in perimenopause and a big believer that authenticity has to be part of your life and that your best investment. It's in your self-care. So let's get start with today's episode about midlife, and how midlife is not just something that should be seen as a decline and more seen as a transition, and even better, us a blossoming in life.

To understand better why society sees midlife and menopause as a decline, we have to go a little bit back in history. So what's the role of us as a women through history? Right? We can go back all the way to hunters and gatherers where we actually were very important. We will stay behind taking care of the community and the children, giving education while men were hunting and that being the food providers. Welcome to doctor Talks, the podcast where every episode leads to a healthier you. Join us as we navigate the world of optimal health, uncovering groundbreaking strategies to conquer chronic disease.

Midlife as Transition, Not Decline 1:24

In each episode, we'll bring you the latest insights from leading health experts, medical innovators, and wellness warriors. If you are seeking to transform your health journey, or if you're looking for answers to burning questions, you've come to the right place. Get ready to unlock the secrets of lifelong health and vitality. This is Doctor Talks, real talk from real doctors on the issues that matter to you most. Hello everybody, and welcome to my first episode of my newly created podcast, Double Down with doctor D.

Our first episode is going to be part of a series of talks about midlife and menopause. I called this group of episodes Men of Power because we are reclaiming the power on this transition in life. I am doctor D doctor Paola Dahlman, triple board certified a Latina in perimenopause and a big believer. The authenticity. It has to be part of your life and that your best investment. It's your self-care. So let's just start with today's episode about midlife and how midlife is not just something that is should be seen as a decline and more seen as a transition, and even better, us a blossoming in life.

To understand better why society sees midlife

Womenu2019s Roles Through History 2:56

and menopause as a decline, we have to go a little bit back in history. So what's the role of women through history? Right. We can go back all the way to hunters and gatherers, where we actually were very important. We will stay behind taking care of the community and the children, giving education while men were hunting, and that being the food providers through the years, with the militarization of different empires due to lack of physical strength, women were just relegated to mainly home tasks, which kind of made sense at that point.

But when in time we were just losing more and more and in authenticity, our creativity and our freedom goes through the periods where paternalistic type of societies took over. And it was towards the Renaissance, and you would see some of the women figures getting a lot of attention. But most of these women were monarchy and high society. So they were recognized for their art. But it was a very specific period of of blossoming for women after World Wars. Again, militarization women. We started losing our freedom again or our importance in society.

And it's not until the big feminism movements that we were shown that again on how important we were for society and that the latest one, which is the second big feminist movement, falls into the 70s, 80s, coincides with how society started seeing menopause

How Menopause Became Medicalized 4:46

and perimenopause and the, the, the industry that it has a lot to say on that was the pharmaceutical industry, which is very interesting. So they were the one who started giving them the foundation of how menopause should be seen. Now that to say that depends on the culture in different cultures, menopause, it's in different. And let's just bring up the Japanese culture, where menopause is considered a period of transition towards wisdom, which I love, that thought and that concept. So the Japanese kohonen key concept of women being very wise, and a lot of other eastern cultures that will create these space for more of a matriarchal kind of society and it was mainly given to the aging women, those women that already didn't need to be worried about the offspring or raising children, but instead it will be the persons to go to for a any type of of advice, which it was very important role.

But everything shifts, especially with this industrialization and especially in the Western side. Right. Our countries, what most of us we are right now and with some of unfortunately very intellectual but maybe misleading type of scientist, Sigmund Freud, start defining hysteria as a women's mood, fluctuating and not being themselves. There was a physician called Charles de la Pierre de la Garzon, which totally considered menopause as a deficiency on some things. So it was already creating that world of menopause is a disease.

And Freud reinforced that concept of menopause being part of neuroses and emotional decline. And slowly, towards the 60s and 70s,

Midlife Enlightenment and Renewal 6:56

the pharmaceutical company jumped in and said menopause is a disease that is a deficiency of something, so let's replace it, because we do have the fixing problem for these neurotic or hysterical women. So this is how we all finish 40 years later here and 40, 50 years later, we are trying to make a shift again and start understanding that this is not a decline, it is a revolution. And there is a lot of positive, empowering reasons to go through this transition. So giving you that background on menopause, then the next is like taking advantage where we are right now in this specific time.

You know what midlife. And instead of being a midlife crisis, maybe we can see it as a midlife enlightenment on what I can use those past experience as a reason today for transformation and continuing life and creating. Because I can use a totally new episode podcast showing you how your brain can be rewire and even your right brain can be wake up again, because our right brain is pretty alert and conscious during our childhood because we love to imagine and create. But unfortunately, society and other responsibilities makes that half part of the brain to go dormant during our adult years.

But then, now it's time to go back, to create and be playful and tap into that right brain. So that transformation, that change your hormones is not the word decline. So diminishing that I would love to take it out of the vocabulary when we're talking about menopause, pretty menopause and transition through midlife. And I'm here to empower you because there is ways to create and there is ways to tap into our new imagination and our new ways to see things. And this is it should be also like a community work, like a teamwork between all of us together, being on the same place at the same time, the same boat.

We are all going to move forward. And in this process, all these new skills

Creativity, Purpose, and Self-Care 9:20

that many coaches are trying to teach someone who is in the process of achieving and a specific goal, they need support, are easier to apply when we are in this moment in our lives, because we don't care as much as before what other people things we already kind of pass that moment. So that's a pro from our side because we'll be able to act without thinking, what's the other person judging me? Or was the other person I want to do against? Or what if something is going to be wrong? So that's a skill that we already gaining.

Just tapping into these Kohonen qi Japanese concept of renewal years. The next step is just like proactively, let's get creative. Let's say creative outlets learn a new skill and your mindset right? You are less in that moment. In this moment in age we are less, let's say hyperactive. Our mind is not like jumping into different ideas all the time, like it was more prominent during our youth years. We are more settled, our our brain matures or we don't. We don't have that need to be moving physically, but also psychologically from one thought to another thought as much as when we were younger.

So we can use that as let's create a mindset and having extra time. Hopefully we do all can finance the time. Hopefully we're in a moment in our age that we might want to be more in control of our time and what we can do with it. We create the mindset and with that mindset, a goal in mind and clear goals that we can start working towards. All these is giving us a purpose and with a purpose and something fun in mind. We started writing our names decades, which I call it now that I'm 51. My second half century coming up because I want to see it as an opportunity and I want to see it as something fun, like the trip of your life is coming.

So let let go of societal expectations and embrace what we are right now. Let go of those negative narratives are all around midlife and menopause, positive menopause and deficiency decline. And let's put let's put some time and energy. Prioritize self-care, mental wellness. Let's forget about the taboos. We don't care. We don't care anymore. Remember, we don't care. And let's

Closing Thoughts and Call to Action 12:00

also create a community helping each other, each other. Know I'm here to help. You know I'm here to help each other and revolutionize. It's little sand. It's a little grain of sand. But together we'll make a awesome beach and continue listening to my episodes and see you next. Thank you for tuning in to Doctor Talks. We hope today's episode has enlightened and inspired you on your path to optimal health. Each day is a new opportunity to make choices that empower your well-being. For more insights and strategies, subscribe to our podcast and visit our website w ww di doctor talks.com.

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