Mood Management for Menopausal Mayhem: What I Learned from a Mirror, a Neuroscientist & a Soft-Spoken Legend

👋 The Rage is Real. So I Investigated.

Lately, the comments on our Facebook Page and in the group have been loud. Not just the actual comments, but the vibe:

“I’m snapping at everyone.”
“Everything feels like a crisis.”
“Is it just me or am I vibrating with rage over socks?”

You’re not broken. You’re not dramatic. And you’re definitely not alone.
You’re just emotionally full – and possibly hormonally hijacked. And frankly? It makes sense.

So I started listening. And researching.
And I found three powerful voices – wildly different, weirdly connected – that helped me put together something useful.

Ready? Here’s your non-cheesy, neuro-backed, menopause-modified emotional rescue kit featuring:

1. Mel Robbins and her mirror slapping breakthrough
2. Dr. Ethan Kross and his emotion-flipping mental jujitsu
3. Dr. Claire Weekes and her radical approach to calm

Let’s go.

🖐️ MEL ROBBINS – HIGH-FIVE YOUR REFLECTION (YES, REALLY)

You’ve seen her. Or read her. Or rage-scrolled past her in a moment of hormonal skepticism.
Mel Robbins built a brand on getting unstuck … and her now-famous High Five Habit started in the bathroom mirror during a particularly why-is-everything-awful phase.

She was brushing her teeth. Feeling depleted. Staring into the mirror like it owed her reparations.
And out of nowhere… she high-fived herself.

That’s it. No pep talk. No vision board. Just one ridiculous gesture.
And it worked.

🧠 Why? Because your brain loves pattern recognition.

High-fives are loaded with subconscious meaning: celebration, trust, team energy.

Brain associates the action of the high-five with all the meaning it had collected over the years:

👏 I see you.
👏 I’ve got your back.
👏 You’re trying, and that counts.

When you give yourself one – even in a tired bra with your mouthguard still in – your brain goes:

“Oh. We’re being supported now. Cool.”

It isn’t just affirmation. It is association. Neural patterning. Emotional anchoring. Brain ninja stuff.

And yes – science backs it up.

Researchers have found that physical gestures like a high five can trigger emotional uplift, activate dopamine pathways, and reinforce trust, even when aimed at yourself in your underwear with morning breath.

🛠️ How to steal this for menopause:

Start the High-Five Challenge today in the mirror.
Don’t say anything. Just do it.

Because if there’s one time in life where you don’t feel like high-fiving yourself, it’s when your hormones have turned you into an emotional demolition derby.

When your inner voice isn’t just critical, it’s narrating a Lifetime movie starring your worst fears.

And that’s exactly why you do it.

Because it’s a micro-act of defiance. A sneaky way to rewire your brain from “I’m falling apart” to “I’m still showing up.” Even if you’re showing up slightly crooked and mildly puffy.

🧠 ETHAN KROSS – HOW TO SHUT UP THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD

Dr. Ethan Kross is a neuroscience professor and expert in emotional regulation.
Translation: he’s a professional overthinker who figured out how to make that less painful.

He says that voice in your head? It’s not the enemy. It’s just unsupervised.
And when it spirals … which it will, especially when estrogen is AWOL – we need tools to “shift” the perspective.

🔁 His best emotional shifters:

• Distanced Self-Talk:
  Talk to yourself like you’re someone else.“Sarah, this is just a Tuesday. Your uterus isn’t trying to ruin your career.”
• Mental Time Travel:
  Ask: “Will this matter in 5 days?” (If yes: hydrate and deal. If no: scream into a pillow and move on.)
• Ritual Interrupts:
  Create a tiny action that grounds you. Cold water. Stretch. Throw a tea bag like a stress dart. Listen to your favorite playlist.

“You don’t experience life,” he says.
“You experience your thoughts about life.”

So change the commentary. Not the life.

Here I recommend going straight to the mood shifters solutions: 50:26 – Sensory Shifters

💛 CLAIRE WEEKES – FLOAT, ACCEPT, LET TIME PASS

If Mel gives you a high five and Ethan gives you tools, Claire Weekes gives you the pause.
She was a doctor in the 1960s who understood panic, anxiety, and nerves long before it was mainstream.
Her method? Almost too simple:

“Face. Accept. Float. Let time pass.”

That’s it. No fighting. No pushing. No spiraling.
Just allowing the emotion – the panic, the anger, the spiral -to exist without needing to fix it right now.

🧘‍♀️ What it looks like:

• You feel the panic start rising.
• Instead of bracing or “snapping out of it,” you float.
• You tell yourself, “This is just a feeling. It’s uncomfortable, not dangerous.”
• You let it wash over you and move through.

It’s not avoidance. It’s emotional aikido. You lean with it, not against it.

This video is her narrating her book. It is amazing, her voice is incredibly soothing.

🧠 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: THE MIDLIFE EMOTION RESCUE KIT

Let’s drop the theory. Here’s what this looks like when your day is going sideways:

💣 SCENARIO: You just yelled at your partner for breathing too loud.

• 🖐️ You pause. Walk to the mirror. High five your reflection like it’s the only person who gets it.
• 🧠 Then say: “Okay [insert your name], you’re overloaded. Let’s not create emotional arson.”
• 🛁 Claire says: “Float. It’s a hot flash, not a full personality collapse.”
• 🍵 You make tea. Turn on your comfort playlist. No solving, just moving through.

💣 SCENARIO: You’re spiraling in the middle of Target, trying to remember what you came in for.

• 🧠 Kross voice: “This won’t matter in five hours. You’ll survive without remembering the damn paper towels.”
• 🖐️ Mirror section optional – unless you hit the makeup aisle, then go off, queen.
• 🧘‍♀️ Weekes whispers: “Let it pass. There’s no emergency. Just a moment.”

💣 SCENARIO: You’re weepy, anxious, overstimulated, and unsure if you’re hungry or existentially undone.

• 🖐️ High five.
• 🧠 “Okay, Sarah. You need hydration, protein, and a dark room. Not a personality reboot.”
• 🛁 Float. Nothing to fix. Just hold the discomfort like a fussy toddler. With snacks.

🎉 TODAY’S CHALLENGE: Join the High-Five Habit

Starting today, we’re launching the Elistocrat High-Five Challenge in the Facebook group and on the Page.

👉 Every morning, high five your reflection.
👉 No affirmations required. Just show up.
👉 Bonus if you post about it in the group. Extra bonus if your dog witnesses it.

You don’t have to feel good before you start.
You just have to start – so you can feel a little more you again.

💬 Elistocrat Take

The combined message of Mel Robbins, Ethan Kross, and Claire Weekes is this:

✨ You are not your worst moment.
✨ You are not your hot flash.
✨ You are not your overreaction to someone chewing too loud.
✨ You are not your underreaction to someone forgetting your birthday.
✨ You are not your brain’s current playlist.
✨ You are not your panic, your spiral, or your cortisol tsunami.

You are a living, shifting, hormone-recalibrating masterpiece in progress.

And guess what?
Your brain – bossy as it is – works for you.
So take the mic back. Narrate your life with humor. Choose your shifters wisely.
Float through the hard moments. Let time pass.
And for the love of your nervous system, high five yourself like you mean it.

And the next time your inner voice whispers, “You’re falling apart,” – whisper back:

“Maybe. But I’m doing it like a queen with probiotics, perspective, and excellent lighting.”