Somatic support for Perimenopause
Perimenopause, Menopause and the Nervous System
This transition can feel like a deep unravelling.
A once relatively steady nervous system begins to shift. It might be gradual or it might feel sudden and surprising. Anxiety, restless sleep, night sweats, brain fog, mood changes, and exhaustion can all be common symptoms. Your body can begin to feel unfamiliar, reactive, or even distant.
This is more than just a hormonal change. It is a significant neurological transition. As oestrogen levels fluctuate and decline, the nervous system can lose a key source of regulation and calm. Oestrogen plays a key protective role in the brain and nervous system. It helps regulate serotonin, supports GABA (our natural calming chemical), and stabilises the stress response. As these hormone levels change, many women experience a more sensitive, reactive nervous system, which can manifest as increased anxiety, mood swings, sleep disruption, and a feeling of being ‘wired but tired.’ Many women describe feeling more sensitive, easily overwhelmed, and sometimes strangely estranged from their own body during this time.
You don’t have to figure this out alone, and you don’t have to move quickly. We can begin to view perimenopause as a time when the body and nervous system are slowly recalibrating, gently guiding us into a new season of inner knowing. In many traditional cultures, this stage is honoured as the beginning of a woman’s Wisdom Years, a beautiful shift from constant doing and caring for others into a time of intuition, presence, and quiet strength. I find this perspective so much kinder than the fear-based narrative we often hear in the West.
This transition can also be a deeper homecoming to yourself.
Read more about what happens to the nervous system during perimenopause in my blog, and about the connection between frozen shoulder and perimenopause in this blog post.
Slow Medicine
A Slow Medicine approach means we don’t rush to fix or override these changes. We listen and soften, acknowledge and allow. We create the conditions for your nervous system to feel safe again, most importantly, at its own pace.
This is where Yoga Therapy and Somatic Therapy can become such powerful allies during perimenopause and menopause.
Rather than pushing the body, we work with it. Gentle movement, breath practices, and somatic awareness can teach us regulation and balance for an over-sensitive nervous system. Gentle movement practices can help release accumulated tension, and rebuild a kinder relationship with a body that is changing. Somatic practices might offer deep support to allow your system to move out of chronic “on-alert” mode and back into rest and repair.
“When we listen deeply to the body, we awaken the wisdom that has been there all along.”
Single Session: One session to begin exploring what it feels like to reconnect with your body. A gentle, no-pressure space, entirely at your own pace. Begin returning to your body, at your own pace, in your own time, no commitment.
Bundle of 3: Three sessions to settle in and go a little deeper. Many people find rhythm and familiarity start to build as they continue the process. Three sessions gives you room to explore, each session builds gently on the last.
Bundle of 8: The deeper work for those ready to commit to a longer journey. Eight sessions offer continuity and space for the kind of slower, more gradual work that many find meaningful. Real, lasting change lives in the body, and it takes time to get there.
These one-to-one sessions weave together yoga and somatic movement practices into a session shaped entirely around you, your body, your history, and what you are carrying right now.
Sessions are available in person or online.
60 minutes - $110 - A complete session in a shorter format, ideal for those with limited time or those who prefer a more contained experience. All the same care and preparation, distilled into an hour.
90 minutes - $150 - The deeper experience. More time to settle, explore, and integrate, recommended for those who are ready to explore, or anyone working with complex or longstanding patterns
