When Your Body Says Enough: A Woman’s Reclamation

There comes a point in a woman’s life—often during peri-menopause and menopause—where everything begins to shift.

The energy isn’t the same.
 The capacity changes.
 And the version of you who could do it all… can’t anymore.

In this episode, we explore the deeper meaning of exhaustion—not just physical, but emotional and soul-level. The kind that forces you into the bare minimum. The kind that makes you question who you are when you can no longer show up the way you used to.

But what if this isn’t burnout?
 What if this is a turning point?

This conversation reframes exhaustion as a sacred transition—a shedding of old identities and a return to something deeper.

Through reflection, lived experience, and historical insight—including the role of elder women in cultures like the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—this episode invites you to see midlife not as a loss, but as a reclamation of wisdom, truth, and inner authority.

If you’ve spent years being everything for everyone…
 and now you can’t anymore—

this episode is for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:40

Hello, friends. Welcome back. Thank you for being here. So there comes a season in a woman's life where something begins to change. It's not typically what we expect. There's not much clarity with it. No message that's super clear that says this is what's happening right now, you know. It typically comes with a feeling or as a feeling, as a heaviness, maybe like slowing down of some sort. And maybe an exhaustion that is kind of quiet, that doesn't fully go away, even when you're resting. And if you've been someone who has spent years doing, holding, managing, showing up for everyone and everything around you, this can feel super confusing. Because that version that you've known, the one that could handle everything, the one who could push through it all, who could carry it all, she doesn't show up the same anymore. And for a lot of women, this begins to surface in midlife. During perimenopause, into menopause, there are real changes happening in the body, hormone shifting, the nervous system recalibrating, energy moving differently. But here's the thing what often gets missed is that it's not just physical, it's emotional, it's psychological. And for many women, it's actually pretty spiritual. It's very deeply spiritual. Because this is the season where you can no longer be who you've always been. It's not because you don't want to be. Actually, sometimes there's a lot of pouting that goes along with that. Like, no, I want to be the person that I was, right? I don't want to change. But it's because you can't. And it's super frustrating. Because everything around you may still expect you to be that version, your family, you know, your work, your roles, even you, maybe. There's a part of you that might still be reaching back, trying to function that same way, trying to keep this up the same pace, but your body just won't let you. And sometimes it can feel like something's wrong, like you're losing something, like you're becoming less. You know, typically it comes with grief. But here's the deal: what if this is not necessarily loss? What if this is release? So a friend sent me a song recently. It's and it had some beautiful, beautiful lyrics in it. The this the artist was, I believe, Emery Hall. It kind of felt like a fit in this moment, so I wanted to read them to you, the lyrics to you, and just let them land where they land. Okay, meet you where you're at. So the lyrics are make peace with all the woman you once were, lay flowers at their feet, offer them incense and honey and forgiveness, honor them and give them your silence. Listen, bless them, and let them be. For they are the bones of the temple you sit in now, for they are the rivers of wisdom leading you toward the sea. I have been a thousand different women. I don't know about you, but that feels really, really deep for me. You know? It's been in your bones, right? You know? They're the they're the bones of the temple you sit in now. It feels kind of like the season because the exhaustion is not just about being tired. It's about carrying all the versions of yourself for years. The one who kept everything together, the one who stayed when it was hard, the one who gave more than she had, the one who pushed through when her body said stop. And now maybe your body is saying, we're done carrying all of that. And when that exhaustion comes, most people see it as something negative, something to fix, something to push through, something to get past. There's something wrong with me, right? But here's what I've come to understand about this. This moment, it's actually a gift. Because when you reach the point where there's nothing left to give, you're no longer able to leave yourself behind. Your body will not let you. You can't keep overextending, you can't keep saying yes when it costs you too much. You can't keep being everything for everyone else. Not because you don't care, but because there's nothing left to pull from. This is where it kind of gets hard because the people around you, they're used to a certain version of you. The one who could, the one who did, the one who held it all. Maybe you helped create that. Maybe you were the one who stepped in, the one who made sure everything was okay. So when that version of you begins to fall away, it can feel kind of disorienting for you, for them. But under all of that, there's something deeper that's happening. Because when you can no longer be everything for everyone else, guess what your only option becomes? Being with yourself. And there's something else there, something that hasn't just been overlooked, it's been forgotten. Because there was a time across many, many cultures where this season of a woman's life, this transition, this turning inward, this shift in energy, was not seen as a problem. It was seen as power. Because this isn't just an idea. We have real examples of this. So the I don't I can't say the the original name, I'm gonna butcher it. But it's known as the Iroquois Confederacy, almost butchered that too. I apologize. But these women held significant authority within their communities. Clan mothers, who were often older women, were responsible for choosing and removing male chiefs. They weren't in the background. They were decision makers. They were trusted for their judgment, their life experience, their ability to see beyond immediate emotion into long-term impact. Their role wasn't based on productivity. It was based on wisdom. I say productivity, but it wasn't based on productivity or looks or youth. It was based on wisdom. On having lived enough life to understand people, patterns, and consequences. And that kind of authority, it wasn't rushed, it was earned. And even biologically, there's something happening there. As hormones shift, many women notice something else showing up for them. Less tolerance for what does not align. Less tolerance for what does not align. More directness, more clarity. I mean, it comes at a cost. It's really hard to get there, you know. There's a lot of shedding that happens. But there's less filtering, there's more truth. But in our modern world, we don't necessarily frame it that way, and it's a shame. We call it mood swings, irritability, loss. There's not a lot of attention given to it. It's kind of dismissed. We focus on what's changing instead of what's emerging, and slowly women start to ask or question themselves, right? What can't I do? Why can't I do what I used to do? Why don't I have the same energy? Why do I feel different? Instead of asking the more important question, what is my body trying to show me now? Imagine if we just listened to our bodies. Imagine if we honored our bodies for what they've been through and for the future that they're bringing. What if this exhaustion isn't depletion? What if it's discernment? What if, right? What if it's your body no longer willing to spend energy on what isn't true? What if that shift is actually wisdom rising? Maybe not like a loud bang, right? But maybe super steady. Slowly, like wisdom does. A quiet knowing that says, this matters, this doesn't, this is where I stand. And maybe if you allow that, you begin to reclaim something. Your authority, not over others, but within yourself. There's something really, really special about that. Because this stage of life, it's not about becoming smaller, it's about becoming more precise, more intentional, more rooted in truth. And maybe what society has labeled as a loss is actually a return. You know, during this period in women's life, in history, they would call women hysterical, right? They would call it hysteria. They would see it as a disease, as a problem. But it's it's not. We can look at it differently. We can look at it as this is where I've been waiting to get to. You know, and I know a lot of you women out there that that are going through this are probably like, shut up, no, this is terrible. You know, I don't like it. Yes, yes. And when you slow yourself down to see what it's actually revealing for you, maybe, maybe you'll start thinking differently. You know, there's a space here between who you were and who you are becoming. It's a breath where things don't quite fit the way they used to, where the old ways no longer work, which can be frustrating. But the new way hasn't fully formed yet, but it's there, it's waiting. And this space can feel uncertain, unsteady, but it's not empty. It's a threshold. A place where something deeper is reorganizing. This is where your body is recalibrating, what it's available for, what it's no longer willing to hold, what it actually needs. This part requires a different kind of trust. It's not the trust that comes from knowing the outcome, but the kind that comes from staying with yourself. And this part, this is where it becomes really, really special. Where you let things wait, where you stop fixing what you normally would, which again can be uncomfortable when you're used to doing all of the fixing, where you sit in the discomfort of not being who everyone expects, and slowly you realize you're not falling apart, you're slowing into alignment. And over time you begin to build a different relationship with yourself. It's not based on how much you can carry, but on how honestly you respond to what you feel. And maybe this version of you, the one who can't do it all anymore, isn't less. Maybe she's closer, closer to a life that doesn't require you to override yourself, closer to truth. Because even here, in the exhaustion, in the slowing, in the uncertainty, you are still whole. You are still here, and that is enough to begin again. So maybe this season isn't asking you to do more, or saying that you're not competent or that you're not good enough anymore, right? Because you can't do all the things that you used to that you used to be able to do. Maybe it's asking you to become more honest, more rooted, more aligned, more you. You are important, you matter. And maybe the exhaustion isn't the end of your capacity, it's the beginning of your truth. So let that sink in for everybody. And I hope this was valuable. I know this has been a journey for me. I mean, I've just started my journey with it, but it's been tremendously difficult, and it has also been tremendously rewarding when I allow it to be, when I reframe the pain and the struggles as I'm not failing anybody. I am becoming who I was meant to be in the first place, and now is the time to do that, and I'm ready. Right? And it feels powerful, and it feels like I can be the person for my kids to come to or for others to come to when I go through all of this. In the end, it's worth it. You know? Sometimes we just gotta reframe and think about things in a different light and see the opportunities and things. So hang in there, regardless of what is going on in your life. You are worthy, you are important, you matter, and it's okay, it's okay that things change. It really is. Something better can come of it. Something more magnificent that you've never imagined. So sending you all my love, and I guess I will talk to you next time. Have a wonderful week.