20 Books You Need to Read If You’re Going Through Perimenopause or Menopause
How to Create Your Ultimate Menopause Care Team
Last week, I met Flow Space Advisory Council member Stacy London for breakfast, so we could catch up on all the exciting new projects — her new fashion-focused television show for Prime Video! a clothing line for QVC! — she has going on. When I asked her where this burst of inspiration and productivity was coming from, she said, “I feel like I’m in an age of discovery.”
I’ve been thinking about that phrase — age of discovery — a lot as we’ve been putting together this special issue, timed to Menopause Awareness Month. As the leader of a digital media brand dedicated to women’s whole life health, I know we have an important role to play in advancing the conversation around menopause, a condition that every single woman, if she lives long enough, will experience.
That’s why this issue is packed with stories to inform and empower you during this period. But it’s also filled with inspiration, thanks to cover star Marcia Gay Harden, who is downright joyful when thinking about what the next chapter of her life might look like. “Now it’s about me, and what do I want the next 10 years to look like, the next 20 years,” she told us.
In other words, she, like London, is in an age of discovery — and I hope after reading this issue, you will be, too.
How Marcia Gay Harden Flipped the Midlife Script
on the cover
Having come through a checklist of many of the most challenging women's health experiences — a midlife pregnancy with twins via egg donation from one of her sisters; a 15-year marriage that ended in divorce, leaving Harden struggling to feel "sane"; and caregiving for a mother with Alzheimer’s — the Oscar-winning actress is embracing her "fabulous" next chapter.
read the cover story
letter from the editor
The Next Chapter
Issue
starring
Marcia Gay Harden
read the cover story
How Women Talk About Menopause Around the World
Editorial
Editor-in-Chief GALINA ESPINOZA
Art Director
SASHA PURDY
Design Director JENNIFER CIMINILLO
Health Editor Emily Cegielski
Health Writer SANDRA ROSE SALATHE
Social Media Editor
Jennifer Shanker
SHE Media
Chief Marketing Officer
JEN DENTON
Chief Content Officer CRISTINA VELOCCI
VP, Video RESHMA GOPALDAS
Senior Video Editor ALLISON O’CONNELL
Director, Live Media CAITLIN CORKERY
Video Editor SARAH WALLACE
return to flow space
Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s Smoothie Recipe (and 3 Other Food Recs for Fighting Belly Fat)
photograph by John russo
What is the most surprising or unexpected advice you’ve received or given on menopause?
flow forum
click on each photo to read their answers!
Sherri Shepherd
TV Personality, Comedian, Author, Podcaster
Halle Berry
Actress, Menopause Advocate
Niecy Nash
Actress
Hilarie Burton
Actress, Menopause Advocate
Dr. Jen Ashton
Board-Certified OB-GYN, Former ABC Chief Med Correspondent, Founder
of AJenda
Sherri Shepherd
First, that a hot flash can happen at any moment, at any time. It can be cold outside, and you will be burning up. Secondly, I always need to know where there's a bathroom, because I never know when I'm sweating, so I must find a bathroom just to refresh. But also, it's just like, this is the time of my life. I love the light. I love how I'm living.
Halle Berry
The most surprising advice I received was to be my own advocate! By doing so I realized I could discover ways to thrive during these years!
Hilarie Burton
Understanding that perimenopause, menopause, the entire process is a spectrum, and what you're going to experience at 40 is very different than what your friend, or your neighbor, or someone else in your family is going to experience. That's an important thing to know. So many women feel like there's something broken in them, and instead of feeling that, if you just accept the fact that it's coming, then you're going to get through it. Anticipating it so that you can surround yourself with support and the right tools to make you feel better is incredibly important. And do not compare yourself to anybody else.
Dr. Jen Ashton
Most surprising for me personally is I did not realize, as a board-certified OB-GYN, that I had almost literally every single perimenopausal symptom there was, until two years into it. I was either too busy or too stoic or just too distracted to connect the dots, and I know all the information, so I think that really tells you just how common these symptoms are.
Niecy Nash
I tell them to go to Versalie.com—a digital platform offering virtual care from menopause-trained clinicians, expert-reviewed content and a curated product storefront for holistic menopause symptom relief, all in one place. I wish somebody had told me where to go! Learning about your body is the responsible thing to do, and I now see how little I knew about what was happening to me when I was going through menopause.
Niecy Nash & Her Wife Jessica Betts Are ‘Laughing’ Their Way Through Menopause
5 Biggest Breakthroughs in Menopause This Year
Dr. Jessica Shepherd Explains How Estrogen Allows Us to Live Our Best Life
Niecy Nash
Actress
Dr. Jen Ashton
Board-Certified OB-GYN, Former ABC Chief Med Correspondent, Founder
of AJenda
Sherri Shepherd
TV Personality, Comedian, Author, Podcaster
Hilarie Burton
Actress, Menopause Advocate
Halle Berry
Actress, Menopause Advocate