Embracing Perimenopause: A Gentle Yoga Journey

Support your hormones, calm your nervous system, and reconnect with your body through gentle, supportive yoga.

Perimenopause is a powerful transition in a woman’s life. It is a time of change, awakening, and deep inner wisdom. Yet, it can also bring symptoms such as disrupted sleep, anxiety, hot flushes, fatigue, brain fog, and emotional ups and downs.

While many women feel frustrated by these shifts, yoga offers a beautiful way to support your body through this transition rather than fight against it.

Understanding Perimenopause

During perimenopause, the nervous system often becomes more sensitive due to fluctuating hormones, particularly declining progesterone and changing oestrogen levels. Gentle yoga, breathwork, and mindful movement help regulate the nervous system, reduce cortisol (the stress hormone), and create a sense of calm and stability.

In my experience teaching many women in their 40s and 50s, the key is not more intense exercise — but more nourishing movement that supports the body and mind.

The Importance of Gentle Movement

Gentle movement is essential during this time. It helps to ease tension and promotes relaxation. Rather than pushing through discomfort, we learn to listen to our bodies. This approach fosters a deeper connection to ourselves and encourages healing.

Below are some of the most supportive yoga poses for women moving through perimenopause. These poses also work nicely if you experience period pains or any dis-ease in the body before, during, or after your monthly cycle.

1. Child’s Pose (Balasana)

Place your needs wide apart on the mat, toes together to touch, slide your hands away from your body and melt your heart and head to the floor. If your head does not reach the floor, place a block or pillow under your forehead.

Child’s Pose is one of the most grounding and soothing postures in yoga and one of my personal favourites. I often start with this every morning, which is bliss.

It gently stretches the lower back, hips, and thighs while allowing the nervous system to settle. This pose activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps shift the body out of stress mode.

Benefits for perimenopause

• Reduces stress and overwhelm

• Calms the mind and nervous system

• Relieves tension in the back and shoulders

• Encourages deep, steady breathing

  
  

Stay here for 1–3 minutes, breathing slowly into the back of your ribs.

2. Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)

Get your bottom as close to the wall as possible, heels above hips and arms above head or by your sides.

This restorative pose is incredibly supportive for fatigue, anxiety, and sleep disturbances — all common during perimenopause. It gently reverses blood flow, reduces pressure in the legs, and helps calm the mind.

Benefits for perimenopause

• Helps with insomnia

• Reduces swelling and tired legs

• Calms anxiety and racing thoughts

• Supports circulation

  
  

Stay for 5–10 minutes before bed for deep relaxation.

3. Cat–Cow (Spinal Flow)

Come to hands and knees, wrists below shoulders and knees below hips.

Inhale, drop the belly to arch the spine; exhale, round up.

Perimenopause can often bring stiffness in the body. Gentle spinal movement helps keep the body mobile while encouraging breath awareness. Cat–Cow is a beautiful way to connect movement with breath and awaken energy through the spine.

Benefits for perimenopause

• Improves spinal mobility

• Relieves tension in the neck and shoulders

• Encourages deep breathing

• Supports energy flow through the body

  
  

Move slowly between Cat and Cow for 8–10 breaths, allowing the breath to guide the movement.

4. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

Lay on your back, feet hip width apart. Inhale press lower back into the floor, exhale roll up through your spine. Keep your head above spine, chin to chest. Interlace fingers under back for a deeper stretch.

Bridge Pose gently strengthens the back body while opening the chest and heart space. It can help counteract the effects of long periods of sitting and encourages circulation to the pelvic region.

Benefits for perimenopause

• Strengthens the glutes and lower back

• Opens the chest and improves posture

• Stimulates the thyroid and endocrine system

• Builds stability and strength

  
  

Hold for 5 slow breaths, then slowly lower down on an exhale. Repeat 3–5 times.

5. Reclined Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)

Place a bolster or rolled up blanket under your spine. Same size block or book under each knee. Lay back supporting your head with your arms aligned with shoulders.

This deeply restorative pose opens the hips and heart while inviting the whole body into relaxation. Adding cushions or bolsters under the knees can make it even more supportive.

Benefits for perimenopause

• Encourages deep relaxation

• Opens the hips and pelvis

• Supports emotional release

• Helps regulate the nervous system

  
  

Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly and breathe slowly for 3–5 minutes.

A Gentle Reminder for This Season of Life

Perimenopause is not something to “fix.” It is a natural transition into a new phase of life and wisdom.

Yoga teaches us to listen inward, soften expectations, and meet our bodies with compassion. Through gentle movement, breath, and stillness, we begin to understand that this stage of life is not about pushing harder but about honouring what our body truly needs.

When we slow down and tune in, the body often responds with more balance, energy, and clarity.

✨ If you are new to yoga and would like a gentle starting point, please do get in touch to discuss further.

You can also join me in person for weekly classes or special events. The next women's circle is on Friday 24th April, and our theme next month is “Refining Your Path — Aligning Daily Rituals With Soul Desire.”

"Your body is not working against you — it is guiding you toward a new rhythm of living." 🌿