It is very common for your sleep to become disrupted during the stages of Menopause, especially during Perimenopause. Waking in the night, struggling to settle to sleep and waking up really early are all too common. What changes have you noticed in your sleep patterns?
If it’s not your hot flushes or night sweats waking you, it’s your racing thoughts stopping you from getting to sleep or your heart palpitations waking you up with a start first thing in the morning. Missing sleep impacts all areas of your body and your life. The struggle of heavy fatigue in the body the day after a poor nights sleep affects your food choices, your performance at work, your mood with your kids and one it goes.
Why is good quality sleep important?
- It when the body detoxifies.
- It reduces inflammation in the body.
- It helps to soothe the nervous system.
- It’s when the lymphatic system cleans out the brain.
- It’s when the body build muscle and bone.
READ HERE about our NEW Self-Paced Flow into Second Spring Menopause Yoga Classes
Menopause Sleep Support Tips
Make sure your sleeping space is nice and cool. You could try using a fan in very warm weather. Consider separate duvets if you are sharing your space with somebody else.
Try and stay away from screens at least 1 hour before bed.
Be mindful of what you watch on TV before bed, avoiding the news and gruesome thrillers.
Try to get exposure to light as early in the day as possible. Take a cuppa outside shortly after waking if
the sun is up.
Limit alcohol and caffeine especially later in the day.
Practice Yoga Nidra during the daytime instead of taking a nap if you are fatigued.
SIGN UP to our Newsletter and Receive a FREE 10 Page Booklet + Video Practices “Yoga, breath & mindful rituals to support your menopause journey”How can Yoga help to improve your Sleep during Menopause?
Yoga can support you in many ways on your Menopause sleep journey. Yoga is known to reduce stress in both body and mind, so a regular yoga practice can help to keep your stress levels in check, helping to quieten your anxious mind come bedtime and ease out tension making you feel more at ease in the body.
You can use yoga to help you wind down in the evening before bed, you can use yoga to energize the body in the morning after a poor sleep and the two superpowers of Yoga Nidra and Restorative Yoga can help to reduce heavy fatigue in the body and can also be used to help you settle to sleep as well.
Yoga Nidra for Menopause Fatigue
Yoga Nidra works by systematically inducing a state of deep relaxation in the body and mind, promoting stress reduction, emotional balance, and inner peace.
It’s like take a supercharged nap without waking up with the groggy feeling after taking a nap.
Yoga Nidra can be a lifesaver if you have not slept well and need to find some energy in the afternoon to go and collect the kids or finish off your work at the end of the day.
You might be thinking I can’t take 15 minutes to lie down and rest when I have so much to do!?! But just try it and you will soon see that this 15 minute rest will make your more able to cope with the rest of your day.
You can read more about the benefits of Yoga Nidra in this post.
Restorative Yoga for Deep Rest & Relaxation
During Restorative Yoga a variety of props are used to support the body, so that you can rest in these postures for longer and therefore receive deeper benefits from them.
Benefits of Restorative Yoga Include:
- Deeply relaxing for the body.
- Soothing for the mind and the nervous system.
- Releases tension from the body helping to improve flexibility.
- Time and space for you to connect to the inner messages that your body is trying to tell you.
- Reduces fatigue and helps to improve quality of sleep.
Best Restorative Yoga Poses for Menopause Sleep Support
- Face Down Relaxation Pose
- Reclined Cobbler
- Supported Child’s Pose
- Supported Bridge Pode
- Savasana
You can read more about each of these poses and now to set them up in this blog pose: Restorative Yoga Poses for Deep Relaxation
Flow into your Second Spring
Get started with Menopause Yoga with these short videos over on my YouTube Channel Sunflower Yoga.
Go deeper with our 8 Week Self-Paced Menopause Yoga Classes: Flow into Second Spring. Read more about these classes here.
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