18. PMS and Menopause as Sacred Transitions: Reframing the Female Cycle

When most of us hear the words PMS or menopause, we think of struggle, discomfort, or even loss. But what if these phases of life were actually sacred transitions, times of heightened perception, honesty, and wisdom?

In this episode of Nourished, Dr. Anikó invites you to see PMS and menopause through a radically different lens. Drawing from cultural traditions, ancestral wisdom, and her own integrative practice, she reframes these experiences not as deficits but as doorways into deeper truth and power.

Key Takeaways

• Why PMS can be seen as a time of heightened sensitivity and honesty rather than weakness.
• How cultures around the world valued women in their cycle as truth-tellers and leaders.
• The transition into menopause as a sacred shift into wisdom, authority, and spiritual power.
• The “wise blood” and why many traditions see menopause as an opening to new levels of healing and leadership.
• Practical encouragement for seeing every life stage from menstruation to perimenopause to menopause as valuable and necessary.

Episode Highlights

 1:00 The surprising story that reframed PMS as perceptiveness instead of “too emotional.”

 2:00 Why cultures once invited women in their cycle to lead councils and speak truth.

 4:00 Menopause as a powerful transition into clarity and confidence.

 7:00 Indigenous traditions that honor menopause as the gateway to becoming a spiritual elder.

 10:00 How reclaiming these narratives nourishes both individuals and communities.

Whether you’re navigating PMS, perimenopause, or menopause yourself, or walking alongside someone you love, this episode will help you shift the narrative.

Come back next week for another in-depth episode as Dr. Anikó continues to explore this sacred topic and offers practical ways to integrate these insights into your own life.

Connect with Dr. Anikó:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.aniko/

Website: https://www.draniko.com/

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Disclaimer:
The content of this podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The views expressed are those of the host and guests and do not substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast.

Transcript

Dr. Anikó: [00:00:00] Hi, you are listening to Nourished with Dr. Anikó. This podcast is all about the many, many ways you can support your health and your family's health. I'm an integrative physician and I am. So passionate about helping people find their pathway to their very best life. I hope you enjoy.

 Hey y'all. Welcome back to Nourished with Dr. Aniko. Today I wanted to talk about PMS, so Premenstrual syndrome and reframing that a little bit because. I had a teacher, my botanical medicine teacher, who is amazing, and I remember her saying something that really changed how I thought of PMS and I wonder [00:01:00] if it will do that for y'all as well.

And what she said was that she was asking her grandmother about. PMS and if she ever had it, and you know what it was like, and her grandmother thought for a second and was like, you know, no, I never really had PMS. That's not really a thing I've ever experienced. And then she stopped for a moment and she said, well, but you know, before my cycle, I was always really honest with your grandpa.

That was such a like, like brain explosion moment for me because I was like, yeah, what if instead of calling this a period of hyper emotionality in a negative way, what if we recognized it for what it was, which is a time of deep. Perceptiveness, right? Because when I think, and it is, I mean, if anybody [00:02:00] listening has ever asked somebody if they are getting their period soon, like, don't ever do that again.

So unless, unless you mean it in an appreciative and like complimentary way, like, ooh, you're so perceptive. Are you getting your period soon? Because. This idea that when people have PMS, that they're too emotional, too sensitive, is just a fabrication, because the reality is, or at least a different version of the story, let's say, because there's lots of equally real realities, right?

Equally real versions of reality. But what I prefer to see it as, and when I began to think of it this way, this really landed in my body as the truth. It is a time that you are just more aware of the world. You can pick up on other people's emotions, on other people's [00:03:00] subtext much more easily. You are more in tune with your body, right?

The fact that you cry more easily before your cycle. Just means that you're more in touch and in tune with both the beauty and the suffering in this world. And isn't that a superpower? Right? And actually there are cultures where cultures that are very communal maybe are as reflected in our society as it stands today, but really there's so much room for us to move in this direction.

So. They would actually, you know, form a council and have women specifically in this time, in their cycle on the council because they knew those women would tell it like it is, right? Or those people would tell it like it is. And that's another reframe, right? That this is not just a valued, but a deeply [00:04:00] necessary time and point of view because it reflects.

In a way that sometimes we aren't able to see more than that. I think that. Yet another sacred transitional time, which is the time of menopause and becoming the crone, which I know that not everybody likes the word, the crone. I happen to love it. But I did say that to one of my dear friends and she was like, don't ever say that word to me again.

So if you don't like the word crone. Substitute it for something else, right? That time into menopause perimenopause is also a sacred time of transition, right? And a lot of people who are going through perimenopause or maybe already went through perimenopause and are known menopause. One of the things that's a really common experience is this clear sidedness, right?

Because one of the things many of us lose in perimenopause and menopause that I. [00:05:00] Personally was very happy to lose was this preoccupation with how we're perceived and this preoccupation with how what we say will affect what people think of us. Because one thing that I have really gained through my ride in perimenopause is I just speak my truth.

More easily, more confidently. It's sort of not even a question anymore, like things that in my twenties, I would've been afraid to say because I would think like, well, what are they gonna think of me? Or Maybe this isn't how they think and I really wanna be accepted by this group. All of that's gone. I'm just out here speaking my truth.

It's not that I don't care what other people think. I care. I'm interested, but I'm interested as more of a sociological, like, what do you think about this? How do you think I'm just as interested in the other people? It's not like I've become myopic, I'm not disinterested in other people's opinions. I'm [00:06:00] very interested in other people's viewpoints and thoughts.

I'm very interested in caring for other folks. It's just that I'm not trying to. Present myself in a way that is more palatable to other people so that they accept me. I am interested in presenting the truth of who I am in that moment because I know that that changes right? There isn't one fixed truth of me.

Otherwise, I would still be exactly how I was in my twenties and I loved who I was in my twenties, but I'm happy that I'm not there anymore. And so just like PMS can be a time of a real. Honesty, so can perimenopause and menopause. And in many indigenous cultures, post-menopausal women are community leaders and they have quite a bit of power and status.

And in these cultures, menopause itself is the transition between being a [00:07:00] member of the general community and becoming a spiritual elder. Right? So. Talk about valuable and powerful, and additionally, there are shamanic cultures where women must be in menopause. They must enter menopause to access their shamonic and healing powers.

Some cultures believe that menstrual blood or what in my family we call the moon cycle. So moon cycle blood creates life in the womb when women reach the age of menopause. They retain their wise blood and then they become wise women because they're keeping their wise blood inside them. And at that point they can become healers and priestesses and shamans and spiritual leaders of communities.

So all this to say, not to say that [00:08:00] now you need to go be a shaman or now. You need to necessarily believe these particular spiritual practices, but just offering a different version of the story that we're often told both about PMS and about the journey into menopause, which is perimenopause. One, that it is sort of a devaluing and a losing of power, a losing of status.

And two, that it's sort of. The end of something instead of the transition into something just as sacred, just as beautiful, just as powerful. And again, you don't need to call it crone. Pick the image. It could be priestess, it could be shaman, it could be elder, it could be healer, it could be wise woman. It could be whatever resonates with you.

And I really like this image of this energy. In this case, we're [00:09:00] talking about menstrual blood, but this energy. That's being kind of sent out into the world. And when we think about our reproductive years, it's like you're building a family or a partnership or a career or whatever it is, right? It doesn't mean that you have to have children or a partner to have this experience, but your energy is really going out, out, out.

And I love this idea of the transition where that energy stays in. And it takes you to a new level of wisdom and development and power, and you are able to share that with the world, and many of us do. Many of us find that it's in menopause that we find. Some different interest or some different reserve that allows us to have a wider lens of what we consider our world.

A lot of older women, for example, become activists, you know, that maybe weren't as active in that world before, but now they're starting to wanna care for the world, right? In a. [00:10:00] Wise, powerful, grandmotherly way, and I don't say grandmother, like old, frail lady. I say grandmother like woman who is deeply rooted in her power.

And so I think this image is a really lovely one where we see how that power that we've shared with the world and that energy that we've shared with the world now gets to nourish us in a different way. And because we are nourished in a different way, we get to nourish the world in a different way.

Today, I just wanted to offer this different version of reality, this different truth that for me feels much, much closer to the actual truth that I'm living in my body. And if you've been. Living with kind of a negative story about PMS or perimenopause or menopause, or really any, any cycle of life. I hope that this serves as an [00:11:00] invitation for you to maybe start thinking about it a little differently, maybe having some different conversations about it, maybe educating some folks in your life who may not be thinking about it in this sacred and beautiful and ultimately.

Deeply, deeply valuable way. So take good care y'all, no matter what phase in life you're at, no matter what part of the cycle that you're in, and I'll see y'all next time. Thank you so much for listening to Nourish Today. Your presence is truly felt and so deeply appreciated. I hope today's episode brought you some insight and also some inspiration to create an even better life and world.

For yourself and for your community. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to follow the podcast and leave a review and please share Nourish with a friend. It helps more people discover the power of [00:12:00] true nourishment. Until next time, take good care of yourself and your people and stay nourished.