India's favourite VJ Mini Mathur turns women's health coach, advocates for menopause awareness

Hindustan Times

9 hours ago

Mini Mathur has always been more than just a vibrant face on Indian television. As one of the country's most popular former video jockeys and reality TV hosts, she has spent three decades of entertaining India. In her 40s, behind her infectious energy, she was undergoing quiet but significant physical, mental and emotional changes that come with perimenopause. Now, she is channeling that lived experience into something transformative for others. Mini Mathur has officially taken on a new role as a certified women's health coach focused on one of the most overlooked yet impactful phases in a woman's life: menopause. Mini Mathur is now a certified health coach and will be sharing her wisdom around menopause management.(Instagram/Mini Mathur)
Mini Mathur launches Pausitive, a community for menopause awareness
She has recently announced her own Instagram community Pauseitive, to guide women in their 40s and beyond for a smooth transition. The idea for the health advocacy platform began with her own experiences.
"My own health journey started when I started feeling symptoms that didn't feel like the old me. I started getting hot flashes, I was sweating at night, I couldn't sleep very well, my joints ached, I had brain fog, I had a little bit of memory loss which you can understand for a television presenter can be very debilitating. Every doctor I went to treated my symptoms and not the root cause. I knew there was a deeper answer lying beneath and that's when I started asking questions," Mini says in a video posted to her Instagram page.
When she discovered she was in perimenopause, she wanted to reclaim control of her health. She enrolled in the Integrative Women's Health Institute in the US, a globally respected program, and emerged not only with a certification, but a clear mission: to support other women in navigating midlife with power. And as she says, men don't have to stay away from this conversation.
According to the World Health Organization, menopause is the permanent cessation of menstruation, resulting from the loss of ovarian follicular activity without an obvious intervening cause. It is confirmed only after 12 consecutive months of experiencing no periods or amenorrhoea. Menopause typically occurs in women between the age group of 45 and 55 years. But as per reports, in India, the average age at menopause is said to be between 41.9 and 49.42, per the Indian Journal of Medical Research.
Still, discussions about this phase in a woman's life are brushed under the carpet mostly because it is linked to a woman's fertility window.
Mini Mathur on why she became a certified health coach
Mini Mathur's Pauseitive aims to create a safe, inclusive space, especially for Indian women, to talk about the changes they experience before, during and after menopause, without shame or stigma. She says her project is rooted in community and backed by science, given that she has spent over a year immersed in books, courses, retreats, seminars, exams, coaching calls and interviews.
'It was important for me to acquire skills before I guide others… not just be an aggregator of referred information,' she wrote in a previous social media post regarding her latest qualification, which she described as her 'most valuable degree'.
'I didn't want to guide women loosely based on personal experience.. There are enough gyaan gurus on Instagram giving out health advice that can be potentially dangerous to that section of women who are already baffled, vulnerable, foggy and looking for answers and solutions. It needs time, space, knowledge and skill as no womans menopause is the same. Exploiting their transition is unfair and unethical. So, I did what any responsible person who wants to work in health should do- study and certify,' added Mini.
Over time, she hopes to do her bit to normalize the conversation around menopause. 'In a country like ours, where we don't even talk openly about periods, menopause is still a big deal," she says.
Mini Mathur believes that thriving post-40 requires more than diet plans and multivitamins.
"Post-40 requires a lot of different lifestyle changes. It requires you to rethink the way you've been living your life. There are habits that you need to break, there are lifestyle patterns that you need to change," asserts the mother of two.
Also read: Mini Mathur on perimenopause: Fight it with your fittest foot forward