Episode 3: Heightened Intuition During Perimenopause & Beyond - Part 1 of 2

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Keywords

intuition, perimenopause, menopause, heightened awareness, brain changes, estrogen decline, right brain activity, default mode network, gut instinct, inner guidance, dreamwork, ancestral healing, spiritual awakening, indigenous wisdom, crone archetype, sage archetype, authenticity, energy sensitivity, emotional insight, nervous system, gut-brain connection, hormonal shifts, holistic menopause support, women’s wisdom, menopause transformation, natural transitions, feminine power, neuroplasticity, spiritual initiation, menopause and intuition, subconscious processing, midlife awakening, menopause empowerment

Summary

In this episode of The Way Home to Yourself, we explore a powerful and often overlooked aspect of perimenopause and menopause: intuition. As estrogen and other hormones shift, many women experience a heightened sense of awareness, sensitivity, and inner knowing. We begin by looking at the neuroscience behind these changes—how the brain recalibrates, how right-brain activity increases, and how the gut-brain connection deepens during this time. From there, we explore how indigenous cultures and spiritual traditions have long honored menopause as a time of awakening and transformation. Together, we reflect on how intuition may be showing up in your life—through stronger gut instincts, vivid dreams, ancestral connection, or a growing desire for solitude and authenticity. This episode is an invitation to view menopause not as a loss, but as a return—to your voice, your wisdom, and your truth.

Takeaways

• Hormonal shifts during perimenopause and menopause—especially the decline in estrogen—can lead to profound changes in brain chemistry, enhancing creativity, emotional depth, and intuitive awareness.

• The right hemisphere of the brain becomes more active, supporting inner knowing, gut instincts, and a heightened sensitivity to people and environments.

• The default mode network, associated with introspection and self-awareness, becomes more engaged in midlife, drawing women naturally toward reflection and deeper meaning.

• Reduced oxytocin levels may lower our tolerance for social conditioning, making it easier to speak our truth, prioritize authenticity, and release the need for external validation.

• Indigenous and ancestral perspectives view menopause as a sacred initiation, a transition into the role of the wise woman, spiritual guide, or crone—rich in insight and power.

• Intuition may surface in everyday life as discomfort in social settings, changes in relationships, or strong emotional responses—signs that your inner guidance is becoming louder.

• Dreams often intensify during this time, offering a powerful (though sometimes overwhelming) window into your unconscious mind and unresolved stories.

• This is a time to trust yourself deeply—to honor what you feel, what you know, and what you're being called toward, whether it’s nature, rest, creativity, or healing work.

• Perimenopause and menopause are not just physical transitions, but emotional and spiritual awakenings—an opportunity to reclaim your voice, your truth, and your inner wisdom.

Chapters | Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome & Introduction
Setting the tone for the episode and introducing the theme of intuition during perimenopause and menopause.

01:40 – Why Intuition Rises in Midlife
Discussing the common but overlooked shift in awareness many women experience and why it's often misunderstood.

03:20 – The Science of Menopause and Intuition
Exploring brain changes, estrogen decline, the right brain, default mode network, and gut-brain connection.

09:00 – HRT and Its Impact on Intuitive Shifts
A brief discussion on how hormone replacement therapy may affect natural brain recalibration and introspection.

10:10 – Indigenous and Ancestral Wisdom
Insights from Native American, Chinese, African, and South American traditions that reframe menopause as a spiritual initiation.

16:10 – Archetypes: Crone, Sage & the Power of This Stage
How ancient goddess-centered models view menopause as a time of deep power, inner knowing, and transformation.

18:20 – How Intuition May Be Showing Up in Your Life
Examples of increased sensitivity, emotional shifts, changing relationships, and stronger gut instincts.

22:30 – The Role of Dreams and Ancestral Healing
Discussing how dreamwork and ancestral connection become more prominent, and what they might be revealing.

24:10 – Nature, Sensitivity & Moving Through Overwhelm
How increased connection to nature and emotional openness can feel overwhelming—and why that’s okay.

25:50 – Final Reflections & Next Episode Preview
Encouragement to trust your intuition, embody your truth, and a look ahead to Part Two of this series.

Full Transcript

Hello, and welcome to The Way Home to Yourself—a space for women navigating perimenopause, menopause, and midlife with clarity, calm, and ease. I'm Françoise, a menopause coach and holistic guide. I’m also a clinical aromatherapist, herbalist, and Reiki practitioner.

As the founder of The Way Apothecary, I see this transition not as something to fix, but as a profound homecoming. Through a mind-body-spirit perspective, we explore menopause as an opportunity for empowerment. Each podcast episode offers gentle guidance, reflections, and practical tools to support your journey.

I truly believe that this phase of life is about returning home to yourself. So let’s begin.

Today’s topic is one I find incredibly soulful and exciting: intuition and the heightened inner awareness many women experience during perimenopause and beyond. There’s so much to cover, we’ll be breaking it up into two episodes.

We’ll begin by exploring what science has to say about the connection between menopause and intuition. Then we’ll turn to the indigenous and spiritual perspectives that have honored this phase of life for centuries. Finally, we’ll look at how all of this might be showing up in your own life.

The Science Behind Menopause and Intuition

During perimenopause and menopause, estrogen and progesterone levels decline, triggering changes in brain chemistry. Estrogen, in particular, affects neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which influence cognition, mood, and perception.

Some researchers propose that as estrogen declines, the brain recalibrates, giving us greater access to deeper layers of consciousness and intuition. How incredible is that?

Menopause may also enhance right-brain activity—the part of the brain associated with creativity, emotion, and intuition. This can lead to stronger gut feelings and more frequent synchronicities—those moments when everything just seems to align.

Another fascinating shift involves increased activity in the default mode network—a network of brain regions associated with introspection, memory, and self-awareness. This may explain why many women in midlife feel a natural pull toward deeper contemplation and inner guidance.

And then there’s the decline in oxytocin—the hormone linked to bonding and caregiving. As oxytocin levels decrease, we often feel less driven by societal expectations and more inclined to trust our own truth. This is one of my favorite parts of this transition: the increased authenticity, the clarity about what really matters.

So yes—these intuitive shifts are real, and they’re rooted in our physiology.

A Note on HRT and Intuition

Before we move on, I want to touch briefly on the role of HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in this context.

While HRT can help ease symptoms like brain fog, it may also maintain premenopausal patterns of cognition—possibly delaying or dampening the natural shift toward deeper intuition and introspection. That’s not to say it’s right or wrong—but it's worth considering. Do we want to suppress the very transformation that offers so much potential for insight and inner power?

Indigenous and Ancestral Views of Menopause

In many indigenous cultures, menopause is seen not as a decline but as a spiritual initiation.

Some Native American traditions view post-menopausal women as entering the wise woman stage, no longer bound by physical cycles and seen as spiritual guides, healers, and medicine women. In Chinese medicine, menopause is considered an alchemical transformation—a shift from yang (active, outward energy) to yin (inward, intuitive wisdom).

In African and South American indigenous traditions, elder women are often seen as oracles, midwives, and spiritual advisors. Their role expands beyond caregiving into one of ancestral wisdom and community guidance.

In modern holistic and spiritual communities, menopause is also seen as a spiritual awakening. I once heard a Native American elder say that during perimenopause, the veil between the seen and unseen world becomes the thinnest it will ever be. That imagery has always stayed with me.

There’s also the archetype of the Crone in European traditions—part of the Maiden, Mother, Crone trinity. While I personally prefer the word “Sage,” the crone represents wisdom, mystery, and inner power. In many goddess-centered traditions, this is considered the most powerful stage of a woman’s life. Imagine waking up each day with that belief—how different would the world be?

How Intuition May Be Showing Up in Your Life

Now let’s talk about how all of this might be unfolding in your own experience—especially if you’re not used to tuning into your intuition.

Heightened sensitivity may feel overwhelming or confusing. For instance, people or environments you once tolerated might now feel unbearable. You may feel more sensitive to energy or more aware of your gut instincts. That’s your body speaking to you—listen.

Some researchers believe the drop in estrogen impacts the gut-brain connection via the enteric nervous system. The gut actually sends more messages to the brain than the brain sends to the gut. So when you get a strong gut feeling—it’s real. It matters.

Dreams may also become more vivid, even intense. This is your subconscious processing what you’re ready to face. Dreamwork can be powerful—especially if you have unresolved trauma—and we’ll talk more about that in the next episode.

You might feel called to explore ancestral healing. That’s not random. In fact, one of the purposes of this stage, according to many traditions, is to heal the mother line—the lineage from which you came.

Many women also report feeling more connected to nature. If you feel drawn to the ocean, the forest, the earth—go. Trust that pull. Nature has always been a guide through transition.

Final Thoughts for This Episode

Sometimes this new level of awareness can feel like too much—your system feels overstimulated, emotions are amplified, everything feels louder. That’s normal. Your energetic field may be more porous. But in our next episode, I’ll be sharing practical tools to help you manage and harness this heightened intuition so it becomes your ally, not a burden.

In the meantime, I want to leave you with this:

If people in your life seem surprised by how you’re changing, simply say: “I’m changing.” Because you are. Your brain is changing. Your body is changing. Your way of being in the world is changing. And that’s okay. That’s more than okay—it’s powerful.

So for the next two weeks, try this: listen to your intuition. Trust it. If someone doesn’t feel right, or a situation feels off—don’t override it. Follow your inner knowing and see how your life begins to shift.

Thank you so much for joining me on The Way Home to Yourself. I hope this episode offered a moment of insight, calm, reflection, and support.

If you’d like to explore a holistic approach to menopause and discover botanically active self-care designed for this unique time in life, visit me at thewayapothecary.com.

I’ll see you in two weeks for part two of this conversation, where we’ll dive into tools and practices to work with your intuition in everyday life. Until then, take good care and remember—your inner wisdom is real, and it’s rising.