Midlife Is a Powerful Opportunity to Become the Guardian of Your Own Heart
Midlife is a powerful opportunity to become the guardian of your own heart.
And perhaps that's true in more ways than one.
Midlife is often the season when women begin listening more closely to their figurative heart. The part of us that longs for meaning, connection, purpose, playfulness, peace, and authenticity.
We ask ourselves questions like:
What do I really want?
What am I no longer willing to tolerate?
Who am I becoming?
How do I want to spend this next chapter of my life?
Our Literal Heart
At the very same time, our literal heart is asking for our attention too.
As women transition through perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause, changes in hormones can influence cardiometabolic health in ways many of us never expected.
Yet few of us were taught that heart disease remains the number one killer of women.
GASP.
As a nurse, a midlife woman, and someone currently immersed in Functional Nursing education, I find myself wondering...
Why aren't we talking about our own hearts more?
Many of Us Grew Up Believing
Many of us grew up believing heart disease was something that happened to older men who ate bacon every morning and never exercised. Yet women often experience heart disease differently, and the menopause transition can be a pivotal time for our cardiometabolic health.
It turns out estrogen wasn't just managing our menstrual cycles, or helping us with pregnancies.
She has many jobs.
Estrogen supports blood vessel flexibility, influences cholesterol patterns, supports insulin sensitivity, and helps regulate inflammation. As estrogen levels shift during midlife, we may notice changes that extend far beyond hot flashes and night sweats.
The degree of support estrogen provides is changing, influencing cardiometabolic health in ways most of us never anticipated.
This isn't meant to scare you.
In fact, I hope it does just the opposite, because awareness gives us choices.
Midlife is not the beginning of inevitable decline, it’s an invitation. An invitation to ask questions, and become curious about our health.
It’s an invitation to advocate for ourselves.
To nourish our bodies, build strength, move with intention, and prioritize rest.
And perhaps, most importantly, an invitation to listen to what we need, and desire!
Somewhere along the way, many of us learn to ignore ourselves.
We push through exhaustion and may postpone appointments. We dismiss symptoms, and we tell ourselves we'll deal with it later… there will time for us later…
Decades Caring for the Hearts of Others
We've spent decades caring for the hearts of everyone around us: our children, partners, parents, friends, patients, coworkers, and communities.
Midlife gently asks us:
Will you become the guardian of your own heart?
Not from the standpoint of fear, rather, from deep reverence. A tuned in, deep reverence, because your heart has carried you through every season of your life.
Through joy and grief. Through motherhood and caregiving. Through heartbreak. Through reinvention. Through becoming. Through to this moment. Now.
Perhaps our midlife season is about honoring our heart in a whole new way.
Cardiometabolic Health is Not Just About Numbers on a Lab Report.
Cardiometabolic health is not just about numbers on a lab report.
I think it's about preserving the ability to live the life that matters most to you- and that takes HEART! Whether that means;
Dancing barefoot in your kitchen to Madonna’s ‘Vogue’.
Lifting your grandchildren into the top bunk.
Running through the airport to catch a late flight.
Planting your favorite flowers in your garden, and lugging bags of dirt to do so.
Volunteering at your favorite non-profit.
Drumming with vigor in circle.
Laughing until you snort and your cheeks hurt with dear friends.
Tossing your carefully packed suitcase high into the luggage bin.
Maintaining 100% independent and engaged in your beautiful, messy, and meaningful life.
Midlife is Right on Time.
Midlife is right on time. It’s never too late.
Now is the powerful opportunity to become the guardian of your own heart, literally and figuratively.
Because when you tend to your heart, you create the possibility for stronger futures and possibilities.
Becoming the guardian of your own heart isn't selfish. It's sacred. Your heart has faithfully been at your side this far.
And this is the season you purposefully and lovingly champion her, too.
xo Nicole
The Nurse Says...
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death among women. The menopause transition represents an important opportunity to understand and support cardiometabolic health through awareness, prevention, and partnership with your healthcare team.
The Coach Asks...
What do you hope your future self will still be doing twenty years from now? What small step can you take today to support that vision?
Goddess Wisdom ✨
Your body has been communicating with you all along. Midlife is not a time to silence your wisdom. It’s an invitation to trust it, honor it, and remember that your heart (and ALL of you) matters too.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Women and Heart Disease. Updated May 15, 2024. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, accounting for approximately 1 in 5 female deaths annually.
El Khoudary SR, Aggarwal B, Beckie TM, et al. Menopause Transition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Implications for Timing of Early Prevention: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2020;142(25):e506-e532.
Nappi RE, Kroll R, Siddiqui E, et al. Menopause: A Cardiometabolic Transition. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. 2022;10(6):442-456.
About the Author
Nicole Vienneau MSN, RN, NC-BC is a former ICU nurse turned holistic wellbeing advocate, with 25+ years in nursing and 30 years in fitness and health coaching.
A retired Reebok-sponsored athlete and national presenter, Nicole is the founder and visionary of Tucson’s Restoration Room, where she empowers mid-life women to reclaim their joy, confidence, and ease through holistic menopause and lifestyle strategies.
Her personal journey from burnout to peace fuels her integrative approach, blending integrative health coaching, fitness, Reiki, and sound healing. Nicole is also an author, speaker, and host of the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast.
