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Sleep and Relaxation in Menopause
Sleep problems during the menopause are a common issue and for some, it starts early in perimenopause. These sleep disturbances can be impacted directly by declining levels of hormones, but also by other symptoms such as night sweats, as well as anxiety. The menopause can also affect fatigue, brain fog and mood. For more information, explore the following the topics on sleep and relaxation in menopause.
Breathwork for Relaxation
Watch Victoria Woodhall, a Senior Yoga Teacher and Wellness Journalist, as she demonstrates different breathing techniques to help relax the body. Ideal for doing at home or on the go, these are your shortcuts to feeling calm.
Managing Stress
Discover practical tips from Henny Flynn, Founder of The Compassionate Menopause, to help manage stress in menopause and learn why the humming bee breath is such a powerful relaxation tool.
Sleep Changes in Menopause
Dr. Kat Lederle explores how menopause can disrupt and alter our sleep
How Sleep Changes Affect Women
Sleep disruption is a common and difficult experience for women transitioning menopause. Between 40% to 60% of women in midlife report sleep disturbances, and many of these women struggle to stay asleep during the night. And the consequence? Feeling exhausted, tired and unable to function as you feel you should. Understandably, many women also report feelings of frustration and anxiety.
Why Does Sleep Change?
One of the hallmarks of the menopausal transition is fluctuating levels of your ovarian hormones. Not only do they fluctuate, most also decline over time, particularly oestrogen and progesterone. Both hormones affect a range of different cells in the body including areas in the brain involved in the regulation of sleep.
But when their levels fluctuate and diminish, they are sending mixed or very weak messages to the sleep regulatory system. Brain areas responsible for keeping you awake or asleep, respectively, become confused and don’t know when to promote what. The potential outcome? Sleep disruption.
Putting Sleep Changes Into Context
While sleep is a biological process, it doesn’t happen in isolation from the rest of your life. Ageing can impact our ability to sleep through the night.
Mood, and in particular depression, can also affect sleep. Not only are menopausal women at a higher risk of developing depression, there’s a bi-directional relationship between the mood disorder and poor sleep. Stress is another complex factor during the menopause. Midlife women face various physiological and social changes, and for some these can be a source of distress.
Maximising Your Sleep
There are two important sleep myths to bust: not everyone needs 8 hours of sleep. And sleeping before midnight does not necessarily give you the best sleep either. Instead, we all have our personal sleep window made up of (1) how much sleep you need and (2) when your body clock says it is time for sleep.
Your body clock, a tiny area located in the hypothalamus in your brain, sets the timing for when you sleep and when you are awake. Because this internal clock ticks slightly differently between different people, some of us like to go to bed early and wake up early, while others naturally want to go to bed later and therefore wake up later in the morning.
To give yourself the best chance of good quality sleep, allow your body to rest within the sleep window as allocated by your body clock.
Let's Get Your Sleep Sorted
GP and menopause expert, Dr. Fionnuala Barton, talks us through the biological changes in menopause that can affect sleep quality, with some great guidance on maintaining sleep hygiene and creating a relaxing space.
Sleep Chronotypes in Menopause & Midlife
Writer Louise Slyth explores the link between motivation for exercise and sleep chronotypes
What is a Chronotype?
We're all familiar with our circadian rhythm, the inner clock which regulates functions like sleep and appetite. Chronotypes work in tandem with these, but where circadian rhythms are influenced by external factors like sunlight and can even be re-trained, chronotypes are genetic and almost impossible to influence or retrain. According to Dr Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and sleep expert, scheduling your daily activities according to your chronotype "can lead to better sleep quality and overall wellbeing."
The Chronotype Categories
There are four chronotype categories: the Bear, Lion, Wolf and Dolphin. Dr Breus suggests that by leaning into the natural tendencies of our 'sleep animal', we can schedule our daily tasks to align with when we're most productive. "You get to take advantage of when your hormones are naturally on the rise or at their peak and when you need them for a particular activity."
According to the Sleep Doctor Quiz, I'm a Bear, the most common chronotype. Our sleeping patterns follow the sun's cycle and our peak productivity hours are between 10am and 2pm, which explains my 3pm energy crash and my natural aptitude for napping!
Finding Out Your Chronotype
Learning that I was a morning person was no surprise to me, but learning when to schedule in each type of exercise to best effect was transformative. I love running but had been squeezing workouts in at lunchtime or after work, when I struggled to find the motivation or energy.
According to Dr Breus "If Bears don't do their vigorous workout before noon, it's not gonna happen". In fact, the best time to schedule a run is around 7.30am. Sunset is then an ideal ‘bear time’ for yoga, and by leaning into that, I find it much easier to wind down for the evening.
Studies have suggested that the act of co-ordinating our physical activity with our chronotypes can be a significant ally in our wellness journey and further research links chronotypes, sleep quality, exercise and diet with the importance of “personalized interventions to effectively address specific health behaviors”.
Source
Michael Breus, Ph.D is a Diplomate of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and a Fellow of The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and one of only 168 psychologists to pass the Sleep Medical Specialty Board without going to medical school. He holds a BA in Psychology from Skidmore College, and PhD in Clinical Psychology from The University of Georgia. Dr. Breus has been in private practice as a sleep doctor for nearly 25 years. Dr. Breus is a sought-after lecturer and his knowledge is shared daily in major national media worldwide including Today, Dr. Oz, Oprah, and for fourteen years as the sleep expert on WebMD. Dr. Breus is also the bestselling author of The Power of When, The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan, Good Night!, and Energize.
Sleep and Nutrition
Karen Newby talks about switching up your meals and maintaining optimum nutrition in menopause, and how this can help support your symptoms and improve energy levels.
