Today’s podcast is the second in a series we are doing on the subject of menopause, with the purpose of bringing fresh perspectives to this poorly understood, sacred transition in a woman’s life.

To help us understand things, I am delighted to bring you one of the most eloquent voices on the topic: Cheryl Bridges Johns, author of Seven Transforming Gifts of Menopause: An Unexpected Spiritual Journey.

Her book is a must read and this podcast is a must listen for anyone looking to embrace and find the gifts of this 20-year journey from perimenopause to post-menopause in the female experience.

Cheryl effortlessly draws from her decades of knowledge as a spiritual woman, writer and progressively theological thinker, challenging the societal problem of women looking to  forever hold onto some outdated younger version of themselves. Indeed, as Cheryl points out, it’s necessary for women to dig much deeper than that to find and claim their wise-woman and powerful, so-called “dragon self” as they enter middle age.   

It was truly an honor to speak with such an original thinker as Cheryl on this show.    

SHOW NOTES

Intro: The Lonely Planet Guide Book to Menopause

 

Opportunity to mature, not just merely age beyond an updated version of a 25-year-old self [ 03:06 ]

 

An opportunity and a crisis with inherent dangers [ 05:00 ] 

 

For Cheryl: on an intensity scale of 1 to 10, it was an 8! [ 06:05 ]

 

Her personal experience began in her late 50s [ 07:10 ]

 

Christiane Northrup: The Wisdom of Menopause [ 08:35 ]

 

Recovery of the authentic self [ 09:35 ]

 

Harriet Lerner and The Dance of Anger [ 10:00 ]

 

Getting back in touch with the “I” that got sublimated into the “we” [ 11:10 ]

 

Letting go of traditional spiritual containers and the concept of the “good girl” [ 13:35 ]

 

Beth Moore’s decision to leave the Southern Baptist Church [ 14:20 ]

 

Why was menopause an “unexpected” spiritual journey? [ 14:50 ]

 

Problem of “medicalizing” menopause as a purely physiological condition [ 15:10 ]

 

Difficulty of living in liminality, “the betwixt and between” and a feeling of homelessness [ 17:00 ]

 

“The breakdown before the breakthrough” [ 18:50 ]

 

Returning to one’s “Dragon’s Self” [ 19:25 ]

 

Overcoming avoidance issues and other coping mechanisms [ 22:05 ]

 

Recent experience of online harassment [ 23:05 ]

 

“Lean into the story and see where it carries you” [ 24:50 ] 

 

“Dropping the Weight” and Menopause [ 26:05 ]

 

Practices of foot binding and genital mutilation [ 28:05 ]

 

Don Lemon’s infamous comments about Nikki Haley being “past her prime” at age 52 [ 28:45 ]

 

A rabbit hole of medieval witch trials and even the so-called Enlightenment [ 29:35 ]

 

“The death of the woman in the woman” and “a galloping catastrophe” [ 30:00 ]

 

Old science rationale: Maybe ovaries are the problem! [ 32:05 ]

 

Meaning of Cheryl’s Twitter/X handle: “Groaning with Creation” [ 33:45 ]

 

Election 2024: Are we spiritually and politically doomed? [ 35:50 ]

 

Colleagues in Europe don’t understand the phenomenon of Trump [ 37:05 ]

 

Looking for cottages in Sweden [ 38:15 ]

 

Democracy can be scary [ 41:45 ]

 

Menopause as a Kairos moment [ 42:40 ]

 

Latest book: Re-enchanting the Text: Discovering the Bible as Sacred, Dangerous and Mysterious [ 45:30 ]

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Learn more about Cheryl Bridges Johns here:

 

Full Bio: https://united.edu/cheryl-bridges-johns/

 

Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Cheryl+Bridges+Johns&i=audible&ref=dp_byline_sr_audible_1

 

Twitter/X: https://x.com/cb_johns?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor