138 The Power of Art and Collective Care at Menopause

If self care has ever let you down, maybe you need 'collective care'.  

When I first heard the term 'collective care' it dawned on me, maybe that's why self care often falls short, because it doesn't quite reach the part of the nervous system that is often disregulated in menopause. 

Let me explain.

The ventral vagal branch of the para sympathetic nervous system (the part that's responsible for our sense of safety and belonging) can only be healed when we are in safe communion with others.  When we feel lost, alone and unheard, which we often do at menopause, no amount of SELF care is going to fix that. 

My guest today, Heather McKnight is a utopian scholar, an activist and a community worker with a special interested in menopause and in our conversation we talk about:

🧠 What Utopianism has got to do with menopause?
🧠 Why community healing is perhaps MORE important that self healing when it comes to menopause?
🧠 The good thing that collective care can actually lead to (that we don't always think of).
🧠 The thing that we are not told BEFORE menopause that might help so many women during it.
🧠 The sector that continues to criticise the 1 in 10 statistic. 
🧠 The powerful community practice that can help with navigating the feelings attached to your own personal menopausal experience. 
🧠 The one thing that holds people back from participating in helpful alternative practices for menopause (no it's not their mindset!).  
🧠 The marginalised group of women that Heather is trying to help.
🧠 The serious mental illness where oestrogen has a greater positive effect than drugs (no it's not depression or anxiety). 
🧠 What 'catching ants' can do for our mental health.
🧠 The challenges we face in trying to be inclusive around the menopause conversation.
🧠 How this particular type of thinking can help us feel so much better about what we're going through (hint: it has nothing to do with positive thinking).
🧠 Heather's new DIFFERENT chosen word for menopause.

So if you're ready to get a much broader perspective on the menopause, this episode is for you. 

Heather's Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/menoandmind
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menoandmind/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090222324652
Webpage: http://www.magneticideals.org/home/research/climacteric/menopause-and-mind/

Sally's Links
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How to Create Phenomenal Self Esteem [£47]:  https://www.sallygarozzo.com/selfesteem
Menopause Wellbeing Practitioner [£74.99] https://bit.ly/menowellness
Rapid Transformational Therapy [£447]: https://www.sallygarozzo.com/rtt
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