Yoga for menopause

Perimenopause brings a whole new set of surprises, from midnight sweats to mood swings and insomnia. Yoga's ancient practices provide gentle but powerful tools to help you navigate this journey and find steadier ground.

- Rachael Coopes

In recent years, it feels like the lid has been lifted on what was once a taboo topic, and now it's the word on everyone's lips... menopause. Instagram, TikTok and our bookshelves are full of it, and it seems impossible as a woman in her 40s to catch up with friends without it stealthily entering the conversation at some point. Growing up, I had no idea of what menopause was and certainly wasn't interested in what it meant for those experiencing it, until I was well into my late 30s, headed towards the inevitable, myself. By my mid-40s, for the first time outside of puberty and pregnancy, my hormones were running wild, playing havoc with my body and mind. This was when I was introduced to the phenomenon known as “perimenopause”, the tricky time when your reproductive hormones including oestrogen are plummeting and the body is realigning itself to a new norm. Now it seems “peri”, as we call it, is the hot topic of every catch-up I have with my girlfriends, enthusiastically discussing the latest herbal supplements we are guzzling to prevent our disintegrating hair or get more sleep. The good news is that yoga can help us move through one of the most formative transitions of our lives.

What is menopause?

Menopause comes from the Greek word mens for months and