When the Past Catches Up: Why Unresolved Issues Often Surface During Menopause and How Somatic Practices Can Help

As a somatic coach, I find many of my midlife clients are unexpectedly revisiting old emotional wounds or patterns they thought were long resolved. It can be confusing and unsettling. Life may appear stable on the surface, yet inside there’s a growing sense of unease, sadness or restlessness. This is not a sign of weakness or failure. In fact, it is a natural and important part of the body’s own intelligence calling for attention and healing.

Why Unresolved Issues Surface in Midlife

“What you bring to Menopause gets magnified” is something I heard in my Menopause Yoga Teacher Training and from my personal and professional experience it’s an accurate statement. Hormonal changes, shifting family roles, career adjustments and the loss of loved ones can all bring deep reflection. Cultural expectations, lack of support, years of caring for others and/or focusing on their career can also mean that women’s emotional needs get pushed aside. The body hold onto those unexpressed feelings and experiences, even when the mind believes they’ve been forgotten.

When the nervous system senses a change which it doesn't understand, it can trigger parts of us that bring buried emotions to the surface. Feelings of anxiety, anger or grief may arise seemingly for no reason. But they often have deep roots in the body’s memory. This is the body’s way of inviting us to process and integrate the past so that we can move forward with more freedom and authenticity.

Image: BABI

The Importance of Addressing the Past

Ignoring these signs can lead to ongoing tension, fatigue and other physical and emotional symptoms. Research increasingly shows the link between suppressed emotions and issues such as chronic pain, inflammation and stress-related illness. Unresolved emotional patterns can also limit our ability to experience joy and connection in life.

I believe that midlife offers a powerful opportunity for transformation. By addressing what has been left unresolved, we can reclaim energy, creativity and confidence. The process may not always be easy, but it is deeply rewarding. When we tend to the body and listen to its wisdom, we pave the way for greater ease and resilience in the years ahead.

How Somatic Practices Can Help

Somatic work helps bridge the gap between mind and body. Rather than analysing the past purely through thought, we learn to notice where and how emotions live in the body. This might include gentle movement, breath awareness, grounding exercises or mindful touch. These practices help regulate the nervous system and create safety for the body to release what it has been holding.

Simple practices such as noticing your breath, placing a hand on your heart or feeling your feet on the ground can begin to build awareness. Over time, this awareness helps you respond to stress and emotion with compassion rather than resistance. The body gradually learns that it is safe to relax, to feel and to let go.

Image: Betzy Arosemena

Working with Parts

Alongside somatic practices, Parts Work offers a powerful way to explore the different patterns and difficulties that emerge during midlife. Many women find that as old memories or emotions surface, so do inner voices or parts that carry beliefs formed earlier in life. These parts will normally include a critic (often more than one!) that says you should be doing better, a caretaker who puts others first and some younger parts that still carry fear or sadness from the past.

Parts Work helps you get to know these inner voices with compassion rather than judgement. When combined with somatic awareness, it allows you to feel where each part lives in the body and to bring kindness and curiosity to those sensations. This creates a bridge between emotional insight and physical release. For example, as you tune in to a protective part, you might notice tension in your shoulders or chest. By breathing into that space and listening to what the part needs, the body and mind begin to work together in healing.

Using somatic practices and Parts Work together helps you move beyond talking about your experiences and instead experience transformation directly in your body. Over time, this leads to greater integration, balance and a sense of inner harmony.

The Value of Professional Support

While self-practice is valuable, working with a trained somatic professional can make a profound difference. A skilled coach or therapist will offer guidance, safety and perspective. They can help you recognise patterns that may be difficult to see on your own and support you in navigating strong emotions as they arise. The process is not about fixing you (you’re not broken!), but about helping you reconnect with your body’s natural capacity for healing and wholeness.

A Final Thought

Midlife can be a time of deep renewal if we treat it as a healing journey as well as a physical and emotional transformation. By tending to the parts of yourself that have been waiting to be heard (and we all have them), you create space for greater vitality, clarity and peace. The body remembers what the mind forgets and through somatic practices and parts work, we can finally begin to listen.