Reclaiming your roar in perimenopause
Perimenopause can come with a massive side helping of shame. Suddenly I went from a vibrant, youngish woman who relied on my wits to being an old, dried up, rapidly aging shell who couldn’t remember where I kept the toothpaste. And I couldn’t stop crying for no reason.
Worst of all, I was so embarrassed about my symptoms (bloating and gas are common in peri, but I just thought my ass was broken) that I didn’t know who with or how to talk about what was happening to me.
Enter Emily, the Peri-Godmother.
Emily Barclay started experiencing perimenopause symptoms at just 39, and, after over 3 years of trying to understand what was “wrong” she decided to bring together experts from around the world to help other women with the goal of ensuring nobody felt as lost as she had.
To that end, she launched perimenopausehub.com in 2019, along with its associated Facebook group, which now has over 57,000 members.
Emily lives in South Norfolk with her partner and their 5 dogs.
This episode uncovers so much Sh*t We Do for Love I can’t put it into one title:
Shut up and push through even though we’re exhausted
Suffer under the weight of being “Ladylike” when there’s nothing polite about perimenopause
Stuff our negative experiences down hoping they will go away
Emily and I bond over discovering how conditional our self love was before we literally couldn’t get off the sofa. Is your self worth dependent on your accomplishments? Perimenopause will bring you to a whole new level of self love.
We have a giggle about our worst symptoms including adrenal fatigue and emotions that refuse to be controlled. There are positives to be found in peri and we get into those too:
Loving your body with real compassion
Finally embracing your own quirk - pink hair and all
Having boundaries becomes easier because there’s not much bs you can handle
If you’ve been wondering what’s “wrong| with you, you could be in perimenopause. Come and have a laugh about it with us and get some solid advice about how to support yourself.
I encourage you to get into Emily’s space to understand what you’re going through or, if you’re in your 30s, to know what’s coming and get a jump start on preparing yourself.