Katherine Heigl is Opening Up About Perimenopause: "You Just Have to Embrace It"

Katherine Heigl wants women to feel less ashamed about getting older—particularly when it comes to the realities of perimenopause.

In an exclusive new interview with PEOPLE, the actress opened up about the often under-discussed time period in a woman's life, in a frank and refreshing chat about the hormonal and physical changes that take place.

"I will happily get loud about this if it will help other women feel comfortable," Heigl explained in her chat with the magazine, adding that she is "not okay with anybody out there feeling any kind of shame or embarrassment around this because it is such a natural progression of female existence."

It's all part of Heigl's new role as a brand ambassador for Poise, a line of products that helps keep people protected when experiencing bladder and incontinence issues related to various stages in life.

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Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause in the life of anyone with internal reproductive organs. Lasting as long as 10 years, the period of time in a person's life can be rife with shame and misinformation, given the lack of clarity, public discussion, and medical information available.

"You're kind of alone in it," the Firefly Lane and former Grey's Anatomy star noted. "You're like, 'What's going on with me? What's going on with my body?' And the response is to it like, 'Oh, this is just what it is to get older." Your body is suddenly completely a stranger to you and you don't know what it's doing or why."

Heigl's right to speak out about it, too. As Millennial women, in particular, are starting to transition to this physical stage of life, the realization that nobody talks about something that's happening to roughly half the population is a wild and maddening one.

"It's kind of universal," she added, "which is why I feel strongly that there should be more proactive help for all of us women going through this."

The discussion around perimenopause has jumped into a slightly higher gear over the last year thanks to discussions like this and the release of Miranda July's critically acclaimed novel, All Fours. Confronting this often shame-filled time in a person's life is vital to reclaiming and educating everyone around it, so it's a breath of fresh air to see people like July and Heigl speak about it so frankly.

"I just want to have my energy back and my clarity," Heigl explained, "and you're trying to kind of hide it because you don't want everyone to see you as this overly exhausted moody bitch."