Welcome Back: Menopause, endings and the wisdom of change

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After a long pause, Women of the Well is back.

In this conversation, Dr Peta, Dr Thea and Sam sit together in a very real season of life transition – talking about menopause, ageing, endings and the one thing most of us are trying to avoid thinking about: death.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Sam’s real-time experience of perimenopause – still cycling at 51, noticing stronger bleeds, night waking and hot flushes that arrive like a clear “message” from her body.
• Listening instead of resisting – how tuning into symptoms (rather than fighting them) has helped Sam adjust her training, eating and lifestyle in ways that feel right for her.
• Why menopause isn’t just decline – the cultural story that says menopause “takes everything away” versus the reality of greater freedom, time, clarity and physical strength many women experience in midlife.
• Anxiety, mood shifts and the luteal phase – Peta and Thea share candidly about premenstrual anxiety, irritability and “existential dread”, and how naming these patterns with family helps.
• Ageing, fear and the medicalisation of menopause – a critical look at the booming “menopause industry”, the framing of oestrogen deficiency as a disease, and the idea that all women should be on hormones forever.
• Death as the unspoken backdrop – how our fear of mortality shows up in the obsession with trying to keep bodies the same, and why accepting change can soften this fear.
• Suffering, growth and feeling it all – the difference between caring for our bodies and micromanaging them, and why discomfort can be a portal to meaning and maturation rather than something to eliminate at all costs.
• From attraction to resource – shifting from needing to be sexually “attractive” to being valued for presence, wisdom, skills and contribution as we age.
• Competing, comparing and complaining – how these patterns keep us stuck in misery about our changing bodies, and what opens up when we practise acceptance instead.
• Soul, spirit and the unchanging self – returning to the part of us that doesn’t age, even as our bodies inevitably do.

A reflective invitation as you listen to this episode:

• Where are you feeling pain, discomfort or resistance right now?
• If you treated those sensations as messages rather than problems to fix, what might they be asking of you?
• How could you allow what is happening – rather than trying to control or outrun it – and see what unfolds next?

Resources mentioned:

• “The Thunder, Perfect Mind” – an ancient poem from the Nag Hammadi / Dead Sea Scrolls collection, often read as a voice of the divine feminine.

Stay connected – the conversation doesn’t end here.

If this episode brought up reflections, questions or stories of your own menopause experience, the Women of the Well team would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts or topic requests for future episodes via email to [e-mail] and let us know:

What are you noticing in your own season of change – and what might your body be trying to tell you?

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DISCLAIMER:

This podcast is for information and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.