September is Menopause Awareness Month

Every woman having hot flashes or mood swings as part of her menopause transition is very aware of menopause. But the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) puts a positive spin on awareness by celebrating Menopause Awareness Month.

Think about it: Menopause is the other parenthesis around our fertility, the first being puberty. We should find a way to mark the occasion for ourselves and our friends. It’s a biological and developmental rite of passage, so let’s get creative about how to celebrate September. You could:

• Have a “Take a Meno- Pause” party, pausing in your hectic life with some of your women friends. Go out after work, have an afternoon party at your home, or invite fellow "flashers" to sit around the back yard with your feet up, sharing menopause remedies.
• Get together with women who are past menopause and with some who are not yet there. Share what fertility means to you, or what you like (hate?) about menopause and this time of life.
• Go to a museum, art gallery or movie that celebrates something about being a woman.
• Write a letter to your daughter about what you hope she will experience when she goes through menopause and then tuck it away where you can give it to her later. (Or send it.)
• Sit down with your partner or spouse and make a “beyond menopause” plan for the next 10 years – hopes, dreams, and how to get there.
• Get tickets for Menopause the Musical and plan on an evening of pure hilarity
• Schedule a spa day – alone or with female buddies

Whatever you do, pause this month to mark your transition to the next phase of your life. Share your ideas about the best thing about menopause in the forum. Do you have more ideas about how to celebrate? Share them here.

Menopause is a perfect time to think about what's ahead and make it exactly what you want it to be. Use September to mark the transition. Cheers!

(Photo: Barry Austin Photography/Getty Images)