The Odyssey of menopause: a woman's journey to her own Ithaca

Some journeys are not chosen. Some journeys begin when life forces you to change course.

Almost three thousand years ago, Homer told the story of Odysseus' voyage to Ithaca. A return that apparently had a clear destination, but ended up becoming much more: a journey full of storms, losses, temptations, uncertainties and encounters that transformed its hero.

Menopause can, in a way, resemble that journey.

Not because it is an illness, nor because all women experience the same symptoms, but because it represents a moment of deep transition, in which the body changes, certainties may waver and many women need to learn to relate differently to their body, their energy, their sexuality, their health and their own identity.

Perhaps the question is not simply reaching the other side. Perhaps it is discovering who you are while you travel the path.

Ithaca: when the destination is no longer going back to who you were

Odysseus wanted to return to Ithaca. And many women arrive at menopause trying to find again the woman they used to be.

The one who slept differently. The one who had different energy. The one who could concentrate effortlessly. The one who recognised her body. The one who had a different sexuality. The one who perhaps did not need to think constantly about her health.

But there is something important in every journey of transformation: it is not always about returning to the starting point.

Menopause does not have to be a loss of who you were. It can be an opportunity to build a different relationship with who you are now. Ithaca, then, stops being about going back. It becomes arriving at a new version of yourself.

The storm: when the body changes without asking permission

Odysseus' journey is marked by storms. In menopause, the feeling that the body has changed the rules without warning can also appear.

• Hot flushes.
• Sleep disturbances.
• Mood changes.
• Tiredness.
• Changes in body composition.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Sexual changes.
• Changes in skin and hair.
• Changes in the menstrual cycle during the menopausal transition.

Not all women experience the same thing. And there is no single way to go through this stage. But when several changes appear at once, it is easy to feel you have lost control of the helm.

And here begins one of the great lessons of the journey: we cannot always control the sea, but we can learn to sail it.

The Sirens: listening to the outside noise

In the Odyssey, the Sirens represent an irresistible temptation. In menopause there are other voices.

«It's normal, put up with it.» «It happens to all of us.» «It will pass.» «It's a matter of age.» «You have to accept that your body has changed.»

And there is also the opposite extreme: «You need this.» «If you have this symptom, you have this problem.» «This supplement will restore your balance.» «This diet is the solution.»

Between both extremes, a woman can end up hearing so many voices that she stops hearing her own. Menopause should not be approached from fear or resignation. It needs information, context and an individualised view. Because what works for one woman may not be right for another.

Polyphemus: when the problem seems to have no way out

Odysseus meets Polyphemus, a threat that seems too great to defeat. In the menopause journey, that moment can also appear:

«This is not going to change.» «My body is just like this now.» «I will never sleep well again.» «My sexuality is over.» «I will never feel like myself again.»

But one of the keys of medicine and wellbeing at this stage is precisely understanding that many of the changes associated with menopause can be addressed.

Sleep can be studied. Nutrition can be adapted. Strength can be trained. The pelvic floor can be assessed and rehabilitated. Cardiovascular and metabolic health can be cared for. Sexual health can be addressed. Symptoms can be evaluated and, when appropriate, different therapeutic strategies can be considered with healthcare professionals.

It is not about fighting your body. It is about understanding it better.

Circe: when we have to change strategy

Circe transforms Odysseus' men and represents another kind of danger: what forces us to stop and change the way we move forward. Menopause can also demand a change of strategy.

Perhaps what worked at 30 no longer works the same at 50. Sleeping five hours and functioning all day may stop being sustainable. Eating carelessly may start to have different consequences. Doing only cardiovascular exercise may not be enough to preserve muscle mass and bone health. Ignoring stress may stop being an option. And perhaps caring for everyone else before yourself no longer makes sense.

It is not failure. It is adaptation. The body changes and the way we care for it can change too.

Scylla and Charybdis: the extremes

One of the best-known passages of the Odyssey is the one that confronts Odysseus with Scylla and Charybdis. Two opposite dangers between which he must find a path. Menopause is also full of extremes.

Between medicalising absolutely everything and doing nothing. Between obsessing over weight and forgetting body composition. Between training to exhaustion and abandoning physical activity altogether. Between ignoring symptoms and turning every symptom into a disease. Between trying to stop time and assuming it is no longer worth taking care of yourself.

True navigation usually lies elsewhere: in balance.

An integrative view that takes into account hormones, metabolism, muscle, bones, sleep, nutrition, emotional health, sexuality and pelvic floor. Not as isolated pieces. As parts of the same woman.

Calypso: the temptation to stay still

Calypso offers Odysseus a life in which he could stay. No storms. No dangers. No more travelling. In real life, a form of stillness sometimes appears too: «that's it, this is how it is».

And perhaps that is one of the quietest traps of this stage: stopping moving, stopping exploring, stopping caring for your sexuality, stopping making plans, stopping learning, stopping feeling desirable, stopping asking yourself what you really need.

Menopause should not mean withdrawing from life. It can be precisely the moment to take a central place in it again.

And finally, Ithaca

When Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, he is not exactly the same man who left. He has lost things. He has learned. He has survived. He has known places and people he would never have known had he stayed home.

And perhaps that is the most powerful metaphor for menopause. Because reaching Ithaca does not mean getting back exactly the body, the energy or the life of your thirties. It means arriving at a place from which you can say:

«Now I know my body better. I know what I need. I know what I want to care for. And I know I still have a long journey ahead.»

Menopause is not the end of the story. It is one of its great chapters.

And perhaps the question is not «how do I become the woman I was again?», but «what woman do I want to become from now on?». Because Ithaca is not a place to return to. It is a place we build while we learn to sail.

At SHOMMA

At SHOMMA we understand longevity from an integrative perspective: body, mind, metabolism, hormones, movement, nutrition and wellbeing are part of the same conversation.

Menopause deserves to be accompanied with information, prevention and a personalised view. Your journey does not end here. Perhaps a new stage begins here.