I am delighted to be able to share Cinthya’s story and journey with you which I know you will find inspiring.
Who is Cinthya?
Cinthya is a younger woman and the youngest in the group on the Phoenix Rising Mastermind at 39 years of age. She is married and works fulltime as a communications specialist, but is also an actor. Alongside her fulltime role, her acting, and in her spare time, Cinthya also grows an Arbonne business, a health and wellness brand – nutrition and wellbeing are very close to Cinthya’s heart. She’s a very busy woman so it was great she was able to set aside some time for her own development.
She came to the Phoenix Rising Mastermind initially to learn as much as she could about menopause. She suspected she could be experiencing early menopause.
For Cinthya this presented some very real and pressing concerns as she battled with fertility issues and was now undergoing fertility treatment to become a mum.
Cinthya completed our Menopause Wellbeing Quiz, which indicated she was not experiencing menopause, but the results were very close so it wasn’t that simple.
Through our early conversations, Cinthya shared her concerns with me around her desire to become a mum and the threat that early menopause could have for her plans. Whilst there was nothing clear from the Wellbeing Quiz results or her fertility tests that pointed unequivocally to early menopause, Cinthya was nevertheless experiencing symptoms that could indicate otherwise.
Menopause, if in fact that was what Cinthya was experiencing, would be a big risk to her plans to become a mum. Again, being in the early stages of perimenopause, didn’t mean that having a baby was off the cards, and I was pleased to be able to explain this to Cinthya when we looked at the myths around menopause.
In our initial conversations Cinthya talked about gaining knowledge and understanding around menopause; she wanted to know about the stages of menopause and the symptoms, so she could be better prepared. Alongside her concerns about how menopause might impact the possibility of her becoming a mum, Cinthya was open about wanting to overcome her fears around menopause, especially that it meant you were getting old! I knew that the Phoenix Rising Mastermind would definitely be able to help her.
Cinthya threw herself into all aspects of the programme, even though her day job was very demanding and busy during this period. She openly acknowledged that she didn’t always have the time to focus on the homework or come up with ideas for the action learning coaching sessions. However, she did participate fully in the all aspects of the programme and got the results she was seeking:
“I have gained the knowledge I needed around my body and what I can possibly expect going through peri to post menopause. It was great to see all the different things but also understand that each experience is unique and that fear comes from the fact we are always led to believe that once menopause comes you are old, when in fact it can come earlier or later and that really doesn´t matter in the greater scheme of life.“
One of the most emotional aspects of Cinthya’s story was around her fears about menopause, not only that it might make it harder for her to become a mum which she desperately wants, but more the potential impact on her relationship should she experience a loss of sex drive. This was a deeply personal discussion and everyone involved, including me and the other ladies, were supportive, empathetic and sensitive during the discussion.
This was a great discussion and it was in this session that the Mastermind fully came to life. All of the ladies on the programme listened to Cinthya’s concerns and then shared their own experiences. We took time to understand what our relationships with our partners meant, and talked about how we can create intimacy even if sex starts to diminish over time. We talked about the nature of relationships and how they change and adapt over time, but most of all, how they deepen.
“From the action learning, I love the fact we could deep dive into personal topics and as we grew more in confidence as a group we explored even deeper things that were on our minds. I also got to help others which I love.”
How did the Phoenix Rising Mastermind help Cinthya?
Over the course of the six weeks every client is encouraged to be open and honest in the sessions with the aim of helping each other. This was one of the many aspects that Cinthya really valued. Whilst she got the most from the first few sessions which totally focused on what menopause is and isn’t, Cinthya was pleasantly surprised by what she learnt through the rest of the sessions which are more future focused:
“I really enjoyed the first few sessions the most. Mainly because they were the points I really needed the most, the lies about menopause and what is it! However, I do think we all got tons of value in the self-love week because no matter where you are in life this is a great reminder and sometimes a good way to check if you are doing everything you need to do to take care of you first and set healthy boundaries”.
Cinthya goes on to say:
“I loved it. I found the homework valuable and to get the value out of it you did need to set time for it.”
Whilst gaining knowledge was a reason for Cinthya joining the programme, and as we have seen she achieved that goal; but she also gained a lot more than that through her participation.
Early on we talked during the session on Honouring Yourself, about the importance of self-care and setting boundaries for ourselves and others. This was something that Cinthya recognised she didn’t always do that well – she talked about how she felt she tended to drop everything to help when a friend was in need, often disregarding her own needs.
We talked about how Cinthya could support her friends but set sensible boundaries to safe guard her own wellbeing. After the action learning coaching session Cinthya went away to try out some new techniques.
At the end of the programme we came back to this issue and Cinthya was able to say she had started holding better boundaries and was able to negotiate when she was available for her friends. This was making her feel much calmer and giving her some time back to prioritise her own self-care and downtime.
What now for Cinthya?
I am looking forward to catching up with Cinthya in 3-months’ time – this final touch point is part of the programme to check in and see if everyone has taken action as a result of the programme – not least because I want to see how her journey to becoming a mum progresses. Cinthya now understands how a premature menopause may impact her ability to become a mum, but she also knows now that, until she is 100% menopausal that she still can carry a baby.
For more Information
If you would like to learn more about the Phoenix Rising Mastermind, you can do so direct from my website. Alternatively why not consider joining the next cohort that will start in early May, with a free three day Phoenix Rising Retreat at the end of April. You could also consider joining me for a connection call, where we can discuss your goals and think about how the Mastermind programme may help you. Please email me to book a call – links to the programme and other resources we provide can be found in the link below, together with how to contact me.
https://linktr.ee/phoenixwellness