I feel very fortunate that the women I work with every day are exceptional: they *know* they can have a more meaningful and fulfilling life if only they can just keep themselves balanced.
And yet, how easy is it nowadays to get pulled away from your sense of purpose?
To complicate things, there’s an internal conflict that can develop because, as we age, external messages from culture can give women the outdated impression they are valued less and less, whereas internally, their lives are becoming very rich: this time of life is exactly when many women are finally stepping into internal greater confidence, sensual expression, and comfort in their own skin than ever before.
I have had so many deeply meaningful heart-to-heart conversations with the women I help overcome symptoms of menopause. I can see the friction and sometimes even a crisis of identity that this internal-external conflict creates in them. Women are developing a greater sense of purpose, a desire to contribute generously and show up as their best selves for their children, at work, in their relationships, and in their spiritual lives. Their capacity to understand, embrace their unique skills and purpose increases. They develop a burning desire to make more impact (which btw is often deeply hidden in the form of self-criticism and despair that life isn’t what they wish it could be).
Many develop a desire to infuse purpose into every area of life, which leads to a sometimes-healthy, often-uncomfortable friction that drives them to take the actions necessary align their lives with how they really want to feel, and what they believe they’re capable of. If there is friction here, or in other words, if you aren’t able to live aligned with your true purpose, or even know in your heart what that is, it can be really difficult to maintain satisfaction in the day-to-day, and life starts to feel like a grind rather than pleasant maintenance.
Your joy gets buried, and you can even lose faith in your own expression of creativity and joyful maintenance.
Viktor Frankl wrote extensively on our sense of purpose being a basic human survival drive. If your ability to see meaning in your daily life starts slipping away from you, it causes conflict not just in your emotional wellbeing but also strongly contributes to physical imbalances. The endocrine system (hormones) are particularly sensitive to this due to the fact that they are basically substances in your body whose primary function is to respond to and balance conflicting physiological states. Meanwhile, the internal crisis chasm can deepen because wherever there is a lack of meaning, the human tendency is to seek out pleasure, which will never fully satisfy.
A big problem with getting mixed up and distracted running after short-lived comforts over the human survival need of purpose is how diluted it makes our efforts to change. We waste a lot of time and energy because you can chase superficial pleasures for a long time, but ultimately it is a purpose that satisfies our soul.
Ayurveda considers the wellbeing of the mind, senses, and soul whenever we approach a physical problem. It’s written into our definition of health.
As a practitioner, in the programs I sculpt like the Vitality Recharge, I guide healing on all layers of human existence, not just treating symptoms, but also treating the soul, so you come home to yourself and reconnect with your purpose alongside learning the body habits that promote you to thrive.
