Crushing Menopause | January 6 & 8, 2026 @Kiln Boulder
What if the most confusing chapter of your life came with a cheat sheet — written by the women and providers who've actually lived it?
Crushing Menopause brought together a powerhouse panel of local medical experts and a room full of women at Kiln Boulder ready to stop guessing and start understanding. Over two electric evenings, attendees dove headfirst into the science, the solutions, and the straight talk that every woman in perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause deserves — but rarely gets.
Night 1 opened with a snapshot of the rapidly shifting menopause landscape: a $17 billion industry projected to hit $24 billion by 2030, 18 states advancing menopause-related legislation, and a landmark FDA decision to remove the black box warning on estrogen therapy. Then the real work began. Our expert panel unpacked the complexity of over 50 hormones at play during the menopausal transition, why lab results alone never tell the whole story, and how to start tracking symptoms in ways that actually lead somewhere. The conversation moved into the gut microbiome — how declining microbial diversity after 40 disrupts estrogen balance and fuels inflammation — and the autoimmune conditions that menopause can unmask. The evening closed with a deep dive into GLP-1 medications, the realities of weight management in midlife, and a frank, myth-busting conversation about sexual health, orgasm, and vaginal estrogen that had the room leaning in and nodding along.
Night 2 picked up where we left off — with libido front and center. The panel tackled the difference between responsive and spontaneous drive (spoiler: 85% of women experience responsive drive, and that's completely normal), testosterone therapy options, and FDA-approved non-hormonal alternatives. From there, the group walked through hormone therapy protocols step by step — how to start, how to titrate, when to adjust, and what labs to ask for — giving every attendee a framework to bring to their next provider appointment. A guided mindfulness and self-compassion practice reminded everyone that this journey isn't just physical, it's deeply emotional. The evening wrapped with practical guidance on lab testing, bone density scans, body composition tools, and continuous glucose monitoring — equipping women with the knowledge to become their own best advocates.
What Attendees Walked Away With
Real talk on hormones — not the oversimplified version, but the full picture of how estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone interact, fluctuate, and impact everything from mood to metabolism.
Actionable tools — from symptom tracking frameworks to the five simple steps for confidence in menopause management: mirror, squat, DEXA, vulva, community.
Expert-led sexual health education — normalizing conversations about orgasm, libido, and vaginal health that too many women have never been invited to have.
Self-compassion practices — because managing menopause requires tending to your emotional well-being alongside the physical.
A community of women — who showed up, spoke up, and reminded each other that they're not alone in this.
Featured Experts
The panel included specialists in internal medicine and endocrinology, integrative health coaching, functional medicine, autoimmune disease, and mental health — each bringing years of clinical experience and a shared commitment to evidence-based, patient-centered menopause care.
