Menopause And Meaning: Finding Your Ikigai After 50
Part 1 - The Beginning of Ikigai 2.0—and the Catalyst to Your Most Powerful, True Self
There’s a quiet shift that happens somewhere around menopause. One morning you wake up, and what once felt urgent or meaningful suddenly… doesn’t. The to-do list doesn’t motivate. The title on your business card feels a little hollow. The roles you’ve played—mother, partner, career woman, caregiver—don’t quite fit the way they used to.
If you’ve felt this unease, you’re not alone.
What if I told you that this space you’re in isn’t the end of something, but the beginning of something deeper?
This is where ikigai comes in.
What Is Ikigai?
Ikigai (ee-kee-guy) is a Japanese word often translated as “a reason for being.” It’s that deep-down sense that your life has meaning, that you have something to offer, and that there’s something worth getting out of bed for each day.
But here’s what I love most about ikigai: it’s not rigid. It’s not a single “calling” you have to discover and stick with for life. It’s a living, breathing relationship with meaning that grows as you grow. That’s why it speaks so beautifully to the menopause journey.
According to Japanese author and neuroscientist Ken Mogi, you can experience ikigai whether you're a sushi chef or a bullet train cleaner, a grandmother or a startup founder. It's about engaging with life in a way that brings you joy, meaning, and presence—regardless of your resume or reproductive status.
My Menopause Moment: When the Longing Got Louder
In my own life, I felt the pull to re-evaluate everything around my mid-50s. Yes, my hormones were shifting—but something deeper was stirring too. It was a quiet discomfort at first, a low hum of misalignment I couldn't quite name. On paper, my life looked successful: I’d built a thriving career in the technology industry, I was accomplished, respected, and constantly achieving. But inside, a question kept echoing: Is this really it?
There had always been another part of me—a part that longed to work more intimately with people, to help them heal, grow, reconnect to their bodies and their deeper truths. I used to silence that voice. It didn’t “fit” in the world I had built. But as menopause came into view, something shifted. The longing got louder. My body was changing, yes—but so was my identity. What once fueled me now felt distant and shallow.
I began exploring the world of health coaching with a functional medicine lens when I turned 50, almost as a side curiosity and a side hustle. I started getting formal training knowing it might become a second, retirement-era career. But it wasn’t long before I realized this wasn’t a detour—it was a return. A return to something more aligned with who I truly was.
And then came the call toward somatic sex and relationship coaching—a path that terrified and thrilled me in equal measure. It asked me to step into deeper intimacy with myself, my story, and my purpose so that I could guide my clients into somatic experiential experiences for them to do explore the same. Eventually, I would also step into the realm of spiritual life coaching, bringing full circle the connection between body, mind, and soul that I had always yearned to explore.
I have always had a spiritual pull, even from a very young age. I’ve experienced mystic states earlier in life with no plant medicine involved. But I quickly squashed and ignored this highten sense of spiritual awareness because it made people around me uncomfortable—and truthfully, my spiritual awakenings didn’t fit in the trajectory I was trying so hard to stay on.
Unknowingly, that whole season of questioning and pivoting—especially during the stillness of the Pandemic—was my first real encounter with ikigai. Not as a tidy Venn diagram or productivity buzzword—but as a gentle compass. A reminder that I could choose joy. That I could follow what felt life-giving. That I didn’t need to stay in the roles I had carefully curated but quietly outgrown.
Midlife gave me permission to listen. Ikigai gave me permission to change—and to allow the parts of myself I had kept dormant to finally emerge and come into view. I had finally reached a stage in life where all aspects of myself that make me ‘uniquely me’ began to 'fit.' I could finally exhale, unhindered.
Christina’s Story: From Executive Burnout to Soulful Reinvention
One of my clients, whom I’ll call Christina, came to me in her early 50s after spending decades climbing the ladder in a fast-paced healthcare administration role. She was sharp, respected, and always “on.” But beneath the polished surface, she was exhausted. Her youngest had just left for college, she was battling perimenopausal symptoms, and for the first time in her life, the goals she had worked so hard for no longer lit her up.
“I don’t know what I want,” she told me in our first session. “But I know it’s not this anymore.”
Through coaching, journaling, and body-based practices, we began uncovering what she had buried beneath the years of performance and productivity. A long-lost love of writing re-emerged. She began exploring nature more often, taking solo hikes that gave her room to breathe. And slowly, she started envisioning a version of herself that wasn’t tied to productivity—but to presence, creativity, and connection.
Her ikigai didn’t arrive in one big “aha.” It came in small, quiet moments. Morning tea with her journal. Volunteering at a local women’s center. Saying yes to a memoir writing group she once felt too intimidated to join. Eventually, Christina left her executive role—not with a dramatic exit, but with a deep knowing that her purpose was shifting.
Today, she’s writing essays, mentoring younger women, and finally listening to her inner voice. She says she feels more alive than she has in decades.
Christina’s story reminds me that menopause isn’t about burning it all down—it’s about letting what no longer serves us gently fall away, so that what wants to emerge has room to grow.
What’s Coming Next in This Series
Over the upcoming weeks, we’ll dive deeper into the themes of ikigai, reinvention, and meaning in menopause. Each week’s article will be available to paid subscribers only and will include new stories, reflections, and prompts to help you explore your own evolving purpose.
Here’s what’s coming:
Part 2: Who Am I Now? Navigating the ‘Messy Middle’ of Menopause With Ikigai
Part 3: Reclaiming Joy: How to Rebuild Your Ikigai After 45
Part 4: The Second Bloom: Everyday Purpose and Ikigai in Post-Menopause Life
Part 5: Purpose Across Cultures: Global Wisdom for Navigating Menopause
Journal Prompt for This Week
What still brings you joy? What no longer does? Let yourself be honest. No judgment. This is your space to begin exploring.
Want to Keep Going?’
This is the free introductory article in the five-part series. The next 4 articles will be available exclusively to paid subscribers.
If you’re feeling that little flutter in your chest right now—that curiosity, that longing—I invite you to come along. The conversations we’ll have are rooted in wisdom, wellness, and womanhood. And I think you’re going to feel seen.