When we talk about menopause and pelvic health, we often focus on symptoms.
Leaks. Heaviness. Discomfort. Changes we didn’t ask for.
But what I’ve been thinking about this week isn’t just symptoms.
It’s sidelines.
The Moment I Nearly Stepped Back
I want to share something that’s been sitting with me all week.
Last weekend, I went snowboarding.
Now before you think I’ve completely lost the plot, let me explain. My son wanted to try it. Years ago, children ago, as I like to say, I had snowboarded a little. So I booked us both into a beginner’s lesson. Two hours. Tiny slope. Learning how to stop and how to fall safely.
When we arrived, something interesting happened.
More than once, people assumed the lesson was for him. They assumed I was there to drop him off. Not to join in.
Nobody was unkind. It wasn’t overt. But there was this subtle expectation that I was the mum. I was there to watch.
And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t wobble me.
It made me suddenly aware of my age. Of being peri-menopausal. Of being “the mum.”
Am I supposed to be on the sidelines now?
Is this slightly ridiculous?
Am I going to embarrass myself?
Underneath all of that was something deeper.
How easy it is, especially during menopause, to quietly step back.
Not because we want to.
But because somewhere along the way, we start believing we should.
Menopause and Pelvic Health: The Quiet Ways Women Shrink Their World
I’ve always been the mum who joined in. Crawling through soft play. Bouncing on trampolines. Inventing games that worked around whatever was going on in my body at the time.
When I was diagnosed with prolapse, there was absolutely a moment of freezing. A moment of thinking, what now? What can I not do?
But even then, I found a way to stay involved.
Sometimes that meant changing the rules.
Sometimes it meant doing a smaller version of the thing.
But it never meant disappearing from my own life.
And this is what I see so often with women navigating menopause and pelvic health challenges.
Maybe you’ve stopped running.
Maybe intimacy feels complicated.
Maybe you avoid long walks because you’re worried about weeing.
Maybe you don’t get on the floor with your grandchildren anymore.
Sometimes we tell ourselves it’s practical.
But sometimes it’s fear.
And sometimes it’s a story we’ve absorbed about what women of a certain age, or women with pelvic floor issues, are supposed to do.
You Are Not Too Old to Improve Your Pelvic Health
In that snowboarding lesson, I fell over. A lot.
I couldn’t manage the rope pulley that pulled you up the slope. I kept slipping off it. For a split second I thought, see, this is silly.
And then I realised something important.
I wasn’t there to master the rope.
I was there to learn. To move. To be with my son.
So I walked up the slope instead.
It wasn’t even really a slope.
I didn’t let one awkward bit define the whole experience.
And that’s what I want you to hear today about menopause and pelvic health.
Your pelvic floor is not a reason to opt out.
It may mean you have to be thoughtful.
It may mean you prepare differently.
It may mean you strengthen, release, adapt and build gradually.
I still support my body every single day. This isn’t something I “fixed” ten years ago and forgot about. It’s an ongoing relationship.
But we know so much now about:
- Neuroplasticity
- Tissue adaptation
- Strength response to load
- Improvement across the lifespan
So when women ask me:
“Am I too old to make a difference?”
The answer is no.
When they ask:
“Is this just my lot now?”
The answer is no.
Small Yeses Change Everything in Menopause and Pelvic Health
The better question might be:
What are you saying no to that could become a small yes?
Not the whole thing.
Not the most extreme version.
Just the next step.
If a five-mile charity walk feels daunting because of your bladder, could you take wipes and a zip bag and remove the barrier?
If jumping feels too much, could you start with walking faster?
If a class feels intimidating, could you begin at home?
Sometimes just having a plan changes everything.
I’ve seen women carry their little “just in case” kit and never even need it. The confidence alone shifts something.
And that’s the heart of this work around menopause and pelvic health.
Not just managing symptoms.
But participating.
You Do Not Belong on the Sidelines
What I don’t want for you is to slowly shrink your world.
I don’t want you sitting on the sidelines of your own life because of an assumption, whether it’s yours or society’s, about what your body can and can’t do.
You do not need to be perfect.
You do not need to master every rope pulley.
You just need to stay in the game.
You are not broken.
You are not behind.
And you absolutely do not belong on the sidelines.
There is hope for your pelvic floor, especially during menopause.
Not just so you can manage symptoms.
But so you can laugh. Fall over. Try something new. Say yes.
And if this resonates, I’d love you to listen to the full episode of the podcast. It’s a slightly different one. A bit more personal. A bit more reflective.
Perhaps exactly the conversation someone needed to hear.
With warmth,
Claire
With warmth and hope,
Claire x
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