Sleeping well is important for our mental and physical wellbeing, you feel so wonderfully refreshed and energised when you’ve had a good night’s sleep. However, when you haven’t slept well, it can be a slog to perform even simple tasks.

Since going through my perimenopause, I started experiencing sleep problems more frequently. Sometimes, I find it difficult to fall asleep at night and other times wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep. I noticed that lots of people (regardless of gender or age) were having similar issues, so I thought it might be helpful to share some of my experiences and some natural tips on how to get a better night sleep.

I began researching sleep because of the impact it was having on my life. One of the sleep experts that I heard pointed out how important it is for us to feel safe before we can fall asleep. This makes complete sense as it’s essential to stay awake if you’re in danger. But nowadays most of our worries and anxieties are not physical threats but more often stem from mental or emotional causes. We can even become distressed over lack of sleep, which really compounds the problem.

Relaxation is fundamental for letting go of our worries and helping us to get better sleep. As usual, I suggest that you take a holistic approach and experiment and see what works for you. Here’s things you can explore and see what makes you feel most relaxed and calm:

Breathing

Connecting to your breath and slowing down you’re breathing. It might be helpful to place your hands on your chest and belly to feel the breath more easily. Check out my previous blogs on breathing for more tips.

Eye Mask

This was one of the most effective tools to help me to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night. I recommend that you buy something breathable and ultra-comfortable like this one. I’ve tried different masks and this was by far the best because you can make adjustments to fit your face well and it felt comfortable and natural.

Visualising

Using visualisation techniques can be helpful when our minds are racing and won’t stop. Involving your senses is often very effective way to help your mind towards sleep. Perhaps remember a familiar place that you’ve visited and walk through the entire place, room by room slowly remembering all the structures, furniture, and objects in the building. I would recommend choosing somewhere neutral that doesn’t have too much emotion attached.

Palming eyes and ears

It can be incredibly soothing to place your palms over your eyes and ears before bedtime. You can read how to palm your eyes on my previous blogs. For palming your ears, simply cup them like you would for your eyes and hear sound of your breathing. It’s said to be healing for your eyes and your ears, and it’s very relaxing.

Gentle movement

Gentle non-stimulating movement can do wonders to relax the body and mind. I recommend doing some down to earth practice such as Pawanmuktasana (joint releasing movement), Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra (yogic sleep). You can get many different recordings to guide you through Yoga Nidra on the internet.

Warming up and cooling down your body

My favourite way to prepare for bed is to take a bath, you can also take a shower or a lovely foot bath. I also love a warming herbal tea, camomile and lavender are both excellent natural sleep aids. Wearing socks in bed can also help if they’re cold in the winter, as the body has difficulty in sleeping when the extremities are cold.

Read a book

Reading a book is far better than using any devices before you your sleep. Try reading easy-going books to relax the mind. Sometimes reading a very absorbing book can be helpful to shift your focus away from anxiety and worries.

Journal

Keeping a journal or a diary can help you to digest and let go of your worries. It will also help you to connect to your feelings and emotions better. Some people find it useful to have a notepad and pen near bed side table.

Circadian rhythm

To regulate your circadian rhythm, try to go outside in the morning to get some sunlight and use low lighting at night to experience darkness. If you need to use device in the evening, you can use an app to filter out the blue light. You can also install black out curtains which are very useful in the summer.

Holding your thumbs

One of my vision improvement teachers who specialises in Jin Shin Jutsu, taught me this technique that’s surprisingly very effective. You simply hold your thumb with your other hand and connect with your breathing. If you’re still awake, do the same thing on the other thumb. You can also go through all your fingers as well. Incorporating slow, relaxed breathing will double the effects.

There will be times when you simply won’t be able to get to sleep. In those times, take naps and Savasana (full relaxation) during the day. Meditation is also a wonderful way to connect with what’s going on in your life, helping you digest and let go of your experience. These practices will help with your energy levels and mental clarity.

There are further things that you can do such as drinking less alcohol and to stop taking caffeine in the afternoon and evening. Before bedtime, try to do less activities that stimulate you and instead find relaxing things to unwind.

Ironically, we often experience these problems when we need our sleep the most, but hopefully these tips will help you on the path to a better night’s rest.

I can’t believe that I’d never come across the perimenopause until this year. I’d obviously heard about menopause, but I didn’t think that much about it. Several years ago, in my mid-forties, I mentioned to my friends that I thought I may be menopausal, they said I was far too young – it’s something you go through in your fifties. Whilst this might be technically true (the average age of menopause is 51), there is a whole stage on the lead up to the menopause, called the perimenopause. Most people start to experience perimenopause from the age of 41 to 45 but some women can go through it much earlier.

When I started researching, I found out that menopause technically only lasts one day! It is the day 12 months after your last period. The perimenopause can last anywhere from 2-12 years. The symptoms can hugely vary from people and it’s not just about hot flushes. It really saddened me that I’d never came across this information before.

I read Maisie Hill’s book, Perimenopause Power, and the symptoms I’d been experiencing started to make some sense. Better still, I began developing the tools I needed to support myself through this journey.

I started to keep a diary of my menstrual cycle, writing down my symptoms and how I’m feeling. I also kept a note of any lifestyle changes that I’d made so I could try to see what worked and what didn’t. I enjoyed experimenting with my yoga and introduced more therapeutic practices such as somatic movement, tapping and TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercise). A regular meditation and relaxation practice has been hugely beneficial, especially to alleviate brain fog, irritability, and low mood.

One of the symptoms was cramps in the night-time, so I started self-massage and gentle movement before going to bed. This reduced the cramps and relaxed me before bed, leading to a better night’s sleep. It also relieved other common symptoms such as sleep disturbance and fatigue.

Recently I began having digestive issues, so I did some research into diet and became more attentive to what kind of things I eat and drink. I also started taking some vitamins and supplements.

But it’s not all been bad. It’s made me much more aware and mindful. I’ve learnt how to adapt and look after myself in a more holistic way. It has taught me to be kind and compassionate towards myself. With my new understanding of perimenopause and menopause, I feel more confident navigating through these natural changes.

I decided to offer Yoga for Perimenopause workshop at Bristol Yoga Centre, as I feel that it’s important for perimenopause and menopause to be more widely known. Every woman will go through this transitional phase, and I believe it’s important for us to be able to share and support each other through the experience.