Menopause is a change that all women face as they age, and Rachel Weiss created the worldwide menopause movement to encourage dialogue about it.
At Blend Cafe in Perth, Scotland, the site of the first Menopause Cafe, Rachel Weiss smiles for the camera.
One British woman made the decision to start the conversation about menopause when she noticed the eerie stillness surrounding the subject.
When Rachel Weiss and her husband settled in to watch a BBC documentary about menopause in February 2017, Rachel was 50 years old. According to Weiss, a psychodynamic counselor located in Perth, Scotland, “I thought, ‘Well, it’s going to happen to me some time, so I might as well watch it.
“All these new symptoms that I had never heard of struck me as interesting. I simply thought, “Period, period, period,” then it stopped and I could experience some hot flashes. That was all I knew. The second point was, “Why doesn’t anyone discuss this? “
Weiss made the decision to carry it through. She sent a message on Facebook asking if any other local women were interested in talking more about the menopause and whether they had seen the documentary. The neighborhood Blend Coffee Lounge in Perth saw close to 30 attendees. Weiss, now 57, remembers how one local woman rushed in the car to join them after hearing about the campaign on the local news. “The buzz in the room was amazing,” he says. We were packing things when she arrived, so we stood on the sidewalk and chatted with her.
On June 12th, 2017, Rachel Weiss will host the first-ever Menopause Café event in Perth, Scotland’s Blend Coffee Lounge.
In 2017, Weiss held the inaugural Menopause Cafe in Perth, Scotland.
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Since then, the Menopause Café series of one-time gatherings has evolved into a registered charity, with an expanding group of volunteers hosting meetings all around the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Weiss gives free guidelines for anyone interested in holding their own Menopause Café. “We aren’t medical experts, but we give people a space where they can come and talk,” she adds. The mother of three claims that the top two things women say when they depart are, “Now I know I’m not alone.” And I’m sure I’m not crazy, she said.
Anyone can host a meeting (after registering online and adhering to the rules), but attendees can be men and women of any age, not simply those going through menopause. Weiss, who asserts that men are more inclined to go to a workplace café with coworkers, quipped, “It’s a brave man who would walk into a room full of menopausal women!” Because education is so important, it’s fantastic when a male CEO shows up at the café and blogs or emails his team about it.
Weiss claims the coffee get-togethers are more than just a discussion about hot flashes and night sweats because she is approaching menopause (the change is recognized after 12 months have passed without a period and can include a variety of symptoms: sleep issues, anxiety, despair, weight gain, heavy bleeding, joint pain).
“When we address menopause awareness, we are addressing gender ageism in society, which tells us that being an older woman is a negative thing and that managing several responsibilities is a bad thing. Perhaps it’s not?
The charity will hold its fifth annual #FlushFest in Edinburgh in September. The event will include workshops and panel discussions with medical professionals, such as a dietician and sleep therapist, as well as sculpture-making workshops and sing-alongs, with all proceeds benefiting the charity.
The event will be held both physically and remotely for the first time ever, with online attendees being invited to pay what they can. Weiss, whose daughter is helping out at the festival, says, “We’ve created something special and it’s really satisfying.” “It’s hard to accept that this is a transitional period and we might need to slow down or start putting ourselves first.”
