How to Navigate Menopause with Mindset, Movement & Radical Self-Care

Thriving Through Menopause: Why Your Mindset Matters Most

Menopause isn’t just a hormonal shift. It’s also a huge life shift. For many of us, it can feel confusing, overwhelming, and unpredictable. But what if we approached this transition with curiosity, not fear? As a leadership coach for midlife women, I’ve discovered that your mindset can make all the difference. I’m here to share what I’ve learned through personal experience and professional coaching: how mindset, movement, and self-care can transform the way you move through menopause.

My Journey: From Burnout to Empowerment

I’m Jo Renshaw, and my story is one of reinvention. I took up running when I turned 40 after quitting smoking and graduating from university. Around that time, I was experiencing chronic anxiety, panic attacks, financial struggles, and a toxic relationship. I felt like I had hit rock bottom. But through running, I started to care for myself in a new way. I learned how to show up for myself. I began listening to Abraham Hicks and exploring money mindset work, when something clicked: I could feel better on purpose. That was the seed that grew into my coaching practice.

Why Mindset Is the Foundation for Menopause Wellness

The Power of Thought Awareness

One of the most powerful tools I use with clients is called The Model. I’ve written a guide to using this tool that you can download here. It helps us understand how our thoughts create our feelings, our feelings drive our actions, and our actions lead to our results. So much of our suffering comes from arguing with reality. We think, "I shouldn’t be feeling this way," or "This shouldn’t be happening." But it is happening. The magic starts when we shift to thoughts that feel better and are more useful.

Reframing the Menopause Narrative

Instead of catastrophising symptoms, I invite my clients to get curious: What if this is just what we’ve got right now? There’s nothing wrong with experiencing discomfort. The real challenge is in how we interpret it. The shift happens when we stop resisting and start accepting. This is how we create space for inevitable change.

Movement as Medicine: Running and Rhythm

From Smoker to Marathoner

When I first started running, my brain had a lot to say: "You can’t run," "You’ll look ridiculous," "You’ll never get past a mile." But I ran anyway. And the first time I ran a full mile, it felt as powerful as graduating from university. Movement helped me quiet the anxious thoughts and build confidence from the inside out.

Rhythm Calms the Nervous System

Running brought me into a hypnotic, meditative state. As a former Steiner School teacher, I knew the power of rhythm for learning and calming the mind. Whether it’s running, walking, swimming, or dancing, rhythmic movement soothes the nervous system and allows clarity to emerge. It’s where my best ideas are born.

Embracing Rest as a Radical Act of Self-Care

Downtime Comes First

One of the biggest shifts I help clients make is scheduling rest before anything else. This is the opposite of how we’ve been conditioned. But if you’re constantly overwhelmed and exhausted, rest becomes essential. For me, that means silent time staring out to sea, reading in the armchair, or simply doing nothing. When I rest deeply, I show up more fully.

Rest Supports Hormonal Balance

During perimenopause, your nervous system needs soothing. Rest helps regulate progesterone, calm cortisol, and reset the body. This isn’t just about feeling relaxed but about healing and restoring hormonal balance.

Emotional Mastery: Feel It to Heal It

Learning to Feel Again

Many women don’t know how they want to feel because they haven’t learned how to feel. I teach my clients that all emotions are neutral—they’re just vibrations in the body. You can learn to feel sadness, disappointment, grief, and joy without numbing or buffering with wine, food, or overwork. This is how we build true emotional resilience.

Modeling Resilience for the Next Generation

When my daughter’s father died, I chose to feel the pain rather than avoid it. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, but it deepened my relationship with myself. I modeled emotional resilience for my daughter, and now I see her doing the same in her own life. This is the legacy we leave when we choose to feel.

Reinvention Is Possible (and Necessary)

Stop Saying “I’ve Always Been This Way”

So many of us limit ourselves by believing we can’t change. But your past doesn’t define your future. I help clients decide how they want to feel and build their lives around that feeling. That’s how real change begins, by choosing what matters most and moving toward it, even if the brain protests.

Restoring Agency in Midlife

This isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about meeting the new version of yourself with intention. The version of you who prioritises self-care, embraces change, and creates a future that feels aligned and expansive.

Mindset Is Your Superpower

Mindset is the one thing we truly control. You can choose to think anything you want. During my bankruptcy, I had 72p in my purse, and I decided to call myself a “72p-aire.” Why? Because it felt better. And because I could. That’s the power of mindset. When you shift your thoughts, you change your experience.

If something doesn’t feel good to think—don’t think it.

Watch the full episode here, or listen in here.

Want More Support?

I offer one-to-one coaching for women navigating midlife, menopause, and mindset shifts. We meet weekly over Google Meet, and I also publish a weekly blog. Want to learn how to use "The Model" to transform your thinking? Grab my free guide here.

You can also find me on Instagram here, where I share regular insights, mindset tools, and behind-the-scenes realness.

Your Next Chapter Starts Now

Uncertainty isn’t a stop sign - it’s an invitation to explore, experiment, and trust yourself in the process, even if it feels uncomfortable.

If you’ve been waiting for clarity, this is your sign to create it. You don’t need all the answers today. Just start with one small step, and watch how much more confident you feel as you move forward.

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