The menopause for many women is a daunting time of change, of unexpected health challenges, of rollercoaster emotions and unprecedented shifts in how we feel physically and emotionally. But we emerge wiser than before, and stronger than we know. For many, the years immediately post-menopause bring other seismic changes too, empty nests, re-evaluated careers, losses and gains as individual as we are. The decade that takes us from our early 50s to early 60s is a time for us to take stock, to power ahead, to decide who we are and how we want to live as we face the future. And the foundation for that, whatever those decisions might be? Our health, physical and mental. The years immediately after the menopause are the most important for a woman's health: the actions we take now will shape and define the rest of our lives. At the same time, we're dealing with everything from falling hormone levels to weakening bones: add in a pervading feeling that we've lost identity and we have a toxic environment in which to grow older. But this is the time to step away from the prevailing narrative of failing faculties and oncoming illness and instead power up to make the changes which will define how we age. From now, for the rest of our lives.
