Our newest series, Break The Silence, is dedicated to highlighting the amazing women of our community, and the inspiring work they’re doing surrounding menopause and aging. Introducing our first muse, Omisade Burney-Scott.

Omisade Burney-Scott is a mother, feminist, creative, healer, activist, and the creator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause. It’s a multimedia project curating the experiences of Black women and femmes related to aging, intimacy, spirituality, and change through storytelling.

Omi answers your questions about the menopause journey and imparts a few words of wisdom on the Kindra community below.

What is your age and menopause phase?

53, post-menopause.

What is the biggest thing your menopause journey taught you so far?

To be kind to myself as I continue to grow and change

If you could tell someone feeling anxious at the beginning of their journey one thing, what would that be?

You are not alone, you are not wrong about how you are experiencing changes to your body and you deserve to been seen as a whole person throughout your journey with menopause.

What are the top 3 things you wish you knew when you started your menopause journey?

That menopause is not an illness to be feared. That are new parts of myself that will emerge that will surprise me. That I still need to center my own personhood and around all my needs—physical, mental and emotional.

Anything else you wish to share with the Kindra community?

Menopause is like any other lived reality in our society that has been shrouded in shame and misconceptions around who’s experiencing it and how it impacts our lives. We have to normalize the conversation and share the diversity of experiences to disrupt the narrative that menopause is an illness. Menopause exists at the intersections of our all identities and relationships whether it’s happening to you or to someone you know. With all the negative stereotypes and tropes around what it means to be older in a society and culture that centers being young, being a certain size, looking a certain way and living/loving inside contrived “standards” or constructs, there will likely be some unlearning and reclaiming along the way. Do that. Claim that. Your journey with menopause is an extension of your personhood that deserves respect and exquisite care.

What are your favorite Kindra products and why?

The Sleep Supplement and Focus Supplement featured in the Day-to-Night Booster Bundle. I have been taking them for the past month and I am feeling SO much sharper, more energetic, and overall, more rested. I've noticed that the Sleep Supplement helps me fall asleep and stay asleep, without feeling groggy, and thanks to the ingredients in the Focus Supplement, brain fog passes and allows for better mental clarity.

The Day to Night Booster Bundle

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Want to learn more about Omi? Follow @blackgirlsguidetomenopause.

Not sure what Kindra products are right for you? Take our quiz.

The Menopause Quiz

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Tags: Community Featured menopause 101 Personal Stories Real Talk speak up talking about menopause