Effective Mind and Body Therapies To Help With Menopause and Sleep

Menopause can mark a major change in any woman’s life and while a lot of women know about side effects like swelling, mood swings and hot flashes—there are other side effects that aren’t as well known. This includes issues with sleep. There are many women who find it difficult to sleep during menopause, in part related to all of the hormonal changes going on in the body. There are also many women who struggle to get sleep during menopause because of all of the uncomfortable side effects that come with this change.

However, sleep is very important during menopause. It is essential for women to get sleep, exercise and eat right as they transition through menopause. It can help them feel more like themselves, help lessen the severity of menopausal symptoms and help them maintain proper health as their bodies go through some serious changes. The more you understand about the relationship between sleep and menopause and about some of the natural, yet effective mind body therapies that can help with both of these issues—the better prepared you will be to handle “the change” as it comes.

Why is Insomnia Such a Problem for Women?

While anyone can suffer from insomnia, it tends to be more common in women then men—but why? A lot of it comes down to hormones. Women are twice as likely as men to have insomnia because of the specific hormones that women have. Add in the fact that your hormones change drastically during menopause only makes sleep more difficult and the feeling of tired all the time. Research has also found that women sleep better at different times of the month all based on their menstrual cycles. The hormones that the body releases in order to go through these menstrual cycles can impact sleep—and when the body stops going through these cycles in the same way when menopause hits, it can really mess up sleep patterns.

There are three major hormone-related milestones that cause the most issues with women and sleep. They are pregnancy, the postpartum period, and of course, menopause. This is why it is so important to start taking action to help with these menopause-related sleep issues when they come.

Basics To Contribute To Healthy Living

One of the most important things you can do for yourself during menopause is to take the time to start living a healthier life. Even if you haven’t been taking care of yourself as well as you should be, when you hit menopause, you should really start taking the steps to being healthier and more balanced. When your mind and body are as healthy as they should be, it will help you during the transition—and your menopausal symptoms are less likely to be as severe.

This includes doing the following:

• Exercising regularly

• Managing stress

• Staying intellectually challenged

• Maintaining a healthy sex life

• Eating a healthy diet

• Keeping an active social life and strong personal connections

And of course, there is getting more sleep.

The great thing about all of these other steps towards healthy living is that they will all make it easier for you to get more sleep—which of course is essential during this time in your life. Of course, getting enough sleep and reducing the feeling of tired all the time can often be easier said than done. So many women today live such busy lives, that sleep becomes one of the first things that they sacrifice. Also the decline in estrogen and hormonal imbalances associated with menopause are known to be linked with insomnia. This means there are many women just aren’t getting any sleep at all.

There are also many women who many not necessarily suffer from insomnia, but who still struggle to get quality rest at night. The unfortunate thing about sleep in relation to menopause is that the two often aggravate each other. Menopause symptoms can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep—while poor sleep can make menopause symptoms seem worse as you are more sensitive to things like stress, mood swings and discomfort.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been around for hundreds of years and is a popular, natural and holistic treatment that people from all walks of life rely on. There are also many Western medicine doctors who recommend this classic form of Eastern medicine for everything from injuries to depression. However, this form of Chinese traditional medicine can actually help with both sleep issues and unwanted menopause symptoms. While the idea of having dozens of needles put in your body can seem a bit daunting to some—this treatment is relatively painless and can deliver some pretty impressive results. This is because acupuncture stimulates blood flow throughout the body and works to restore what acupuncturists call “Qi “ or the body’s energy.

There has been a great deal of research on acupuncture and the different conditions that it can treat. Many of these conditions are also side effects of menopause, perimenopause and postmenopause. This includes issues like relieving pain, helping with depression and anxiety and even treating high blood pressure. Research has also found that acupuncture can help specifically in treating sleep issues in women with menopausal symptoms. This is primarily due to the fact that acupuncture can increase estrogen levels in the blood—which can help balance out the hormonal issues related to menopause as well as the associated sleep issues. Low estrogen levels are known to contribute to disrupted sleep.

Acupuncture continues to be a very popular holistic treatment and there are acupuncturists all over the country—making it easy for many people to find a practitioner in their area.

Mind-Body Therapies

Acupuncture is a popular mind-body therapy for insomnia and sleeplessness—but it isn’t the only one. Tai Chi, Yoga and Qigong are other popular mind-body therapies that can help improve physical and mental health and have been proven to help women in menopause with their sleep issues. Some of the benefits of these therapies include:

• Improving cardiovascular responses to stress

• Calming down the nervous system for better nervous system function

• Strengthening the body and building muscle balance and strength

• Helping with swelling and joint pain and stiffness

• Managing stress, restlessness and anxiety

• Improving sleep quality

These three types of exercise are all similar in style and have similar benefits. Plus, they are all easy for any person, no matter what their fitness level may be to try. Yoga specifically is a popular option for many menopausal women. Plus, yoga classes can be found at most gyms around the country. There have been so many studies specifically on menopause symptoms and yoga—which found that women saw their symptoms improved by as much as 80% with regular yoga practice.

Plus, yoga has been shown to help with cognitive function, memory and attention—which are all mental side effects that commonly come with menopause. Pair this with the fact that yoga is a common and popular solution for those with sleep issues and you will see why so many women facing menopause choose yoga, and similar exercises to stay possible during this transition.

Massage

There are so many proven benefits of massage—and many people rely on this form of hands-on therapy for everything from stress relief to treating headaches and injuries. However, what many people don’t realize about massage is that it can actually be used to help with both sleep and menopausal symptoms.

Here are some of the most common benefits of massage, all of which can help with menopausal symptoms:

• Improved flexibility

• Reduced pain

• Stimulating blood circulation

• Activating the lymphatic system

• Reducing fluid retention and swelling

• Improving muscle and joint function

• Calming the nervous system

• Reducing stress and anxiety

There have even been studies specifically on how massage impacts sleep in women going through menopause. This study found that massage helped improve sleep quality, and shortened the amount of time it takes women to fall asleep. The study even found that postmenopausal women who receive regular massages also get into the restorative REM sleep cycle more quickly.

Simply put, if you want to start getting better sleep during menopause—start booking more massages.  

CBT Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is another common solution for people with sleep issues, particularly sleep issues related to menopause. As most women going through menopause know, along with sleep issues, depression, anxiety and mood swings are quite common during this transition. After all, estrogen and progesterone are responsible for stabilizing mood and stress. When these hormones fluctuate during menopause, and there is less estrogen and less progesterone in the body, it can be difficult to stabilize mood and stress.

This is where cognitive behavioral therapy comes in.

This type of therapy helps bring awareness and change to your thoughts, feelings, habits and actions—and there is a specific type of this therapy that is specifically used by psychologists to treat insomnia. Research shows that this treatment works as well as or better than sleep medication when it comes to treating insomnia. Plus, there are no medication side effects to worry about.

This type of therapy can deliver the following benefits:

• Improve sleep in women with menopausal symptoms

• Relieve depression-like symptoms in women going through menopause

• Reduce discomfort of night sweats and hot flashes

• Improve and stabilize mood

• Treat chronic pain, specifically pain that causes sleep issues and insomnia

• Helps with muscle, joint pain and swelling

There are group and individual CBT counseling sessions available at clinics and practices around the country, and there are also online versions of this therapy—making it an easily accessible treatment for any woman to try.

Healthy Proven Mind Body Therapies To Improve Your Sleep and Menopause

While sleep problems are unfortunately common for menopausal women—it doesn’t mean there aren’t solutions available that can help. While there is nothing you can do to prevent menopause from happening (and nothing you can do to flip a switch and magically get better sleep and reduce the feeling of being tired all the time). However, there are a few healthy, proven mind and body therapies that you can try which will not only help to improve your sleep, but your menopausal symptoms as well, so you can stay as healthy as possible during this important time in your life.

Rebekah Pierce is a professional social blogger and has worked on several online publications including Citrus Sleep. Rebekah is an experienced content writer and copyeditor. You will find many of her works throughout CitrusSleep.com that cover a wide array of subjects including sleep education, natural, sleep products, electronics, fashion and many more. She is passionate about her work and family.

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