Shania Twain Says Menopause Was a 'Good Thing,' Talks Loving Her Body 'More Now Than Ever'

Shania Twain is feeling unapologetic about loving her body as she ages.

Shortly after celebrating her 58th birthday, the country superstar spoke to the New York Post about embracing her changes as she posed nude for the cover art of her sixth studio album, Queen of Me, earlier this year.

“Well, I’m the opposite from being an exhibitionist,” she told the outlet. “But I like to feel sexy, and I like to enjoy my body more now than ever. I used to hate my body. So when my body was young and, I guess, maybe one wouldn’t be afraid of exhibiting it, I was hiding it a lot.”

“I think I needed to capture where I am right now, because it’s a moment that I want to remember,” she continued. “So I just had to be brave about it, to own it. And I felt really good that I felt like, ‘Yeah, I’m OK with that.’ I need to be able to look at myself in the mirror every day. I’m perfectly the way I should be. This is the way I should be at my age. I’m fine with it. And I’m not afraid of it anymore. It’s all good.”

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Twain explained that her new attitude came after going through menopause.

“I think menopause was a very good thing for me because there were a lot more things changing in everything about me physically that I had to very quickly come to terms with,” the five-time GRAMMY winner said.

“Menopause taught me to quickly say, ‘You know, it may only get worse. So just love yourself now. Just get over your insecurities — they’re standing in your way. And fear is standing in your way.’ I always sing about being fearless and all of that. I go there when I write. But I’m not living it the way I’m writing it,” Twain said. “And I want to live the way I write. I’m more fierce than I ever was because I really demanded it about myself.”

Last year, the "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" singer also spoke to PEOPLE about embracing her body and its changes after posing topless for the art of her single "Waking Up Dreaming."

“This is me expressing my truth. I'm comfortable in my own skin, and this is the way I am sharing that confidence," Twain told PEOPLE in December 2022. "I think the best fashion is confidence, and whatever you wear — if you're wearing it with that, it's fashionable. I am a woman in my late 50s, and I don't need to hide behind the clothes. I can't even tell you how good it felt to do nude shooting. I was just so unashamed of my new body, you know, as a woman that is well into my menopause. I'm not even emotional about it; I just feel okay about it. It's really liberating."

She admitted to struggling with her body image since childhood, and said she had been dealing with a lot of pressure so she felt the need to cover up. However, when those thoughts started to creep in, Twain decided to be bold.

"I hit this wall and was like, 'Whoa, my confidence is regressing. My courage is dulling. Why am I allowing this? Frig that. I am not regressing.’ I am embracing my body as it changes, as I should have from my childhood to my teens, as I should be from my taut, 20s and 30-year-old self, to my menopausal body. I'm not going to be shy about it,” she said at the time. “I want to be courageous about it, and I want to share that courage in the artwork that I am directing."

Twain added that now, "I'm feeling more comfortable in my own skin than I've ever felt before."

And she hopes to inspire generations of women to embrace body confidence.

"I want other women that are aging, or any women … even if you're 12 and you're developing, you shouldn't feel like you need to hide behind your fear or your self-conscious shield," Twain told PEOPLE. "But you have to do it within your own sense of what is right and good and safe for you."