Your Second Spring: Perimenopause Myths and the Seasons of Midlife

A new season

October is Menopause Awareness Month, and Sunday 18 October is World Menopause Day. It feels like the perfect time to talk about perimenopause: something so many of us go through, often for years, and hardly any of us feel ready for.

In my last blog, The Four Seasons Within, I shared how our hormonal cycle moves through an inner winter, spring, summer and autumn each month. In our 40s, those seasons begin to change. Here, I want to explore what perimenopause can look like, clear up some common myths, and share why I think of it as the start of a second spring.

When the seasons blur

Perimenopause is the transition time leading up to menopause. Oestrogen and progesterone begin to rise and fall less predictably, and the familiar rhythm of our inner seasons starts to shift. Cycles may become shorter, longer, heavier, lighter or skip altogether. A season might linger, arrive early, or seem to disappear for a while.

Menopause itself is a single point in time: when you haven't had a period for 12 months. In the UK, the average age is 51, but perimenopause often begins in our 40s, and for some women earlier.

The words themselves tell the story. "Peri" comes from Greek, meaning "around", as in perimeter, so perimenopause literally means "around menopause". "Menopause" joins the Greek "men", meaning month, with "pausis", a pause or stop. And "men" is closely linked to "mene", the moon, so menopause is quite literally the pausing of our monthly, moon-like cycle.

If you've been tracking your inner seasons, you might notice the pattern becoming harder to read. You're not doing anything wrong. Your body is moving into a new season.

Five perimenopause myths to leave behind

Myth 1: "Perimenopause is something that happens at 50"

Menopause itself happens, on average, at 51 in the UK, but perimenopause often begins years before. Many women start noticing changes in their early to mid-40s, and some even sooner, and perimenopause can last for several years. Knowing this can help us recognise what's happening, rather than wondering what's wrong.

Myth 2: "It's all about hot flushes"

Hot flushes and night sweats are well known, but they're only part of the picture. Perimenopause can also bring anxiety, low mood, brain fog, poor sleep, aching joints, heart palpitations and changes to our periods. So many women tell me they had no idea these could be linked.

Myth 3: "If you still have periods, it can't be perimenopause"

Most women still have periods during perimenopause. They often change, becoming irregular, heavier or lighter, or with a different gap between them. Symptoms can begin while your cycle still seems fairly regular.

Myth 4: "You just have to put up with it"

You don't have to struggle in silence. There is real support available, from lifestyle changes and movement to medical options such as HRT, which you can talk through with your GP. Community helps too: sharing how we feel with other women can be a huge relief.

Myth 5: "Perimenopause is the beginning of the end"

We often talk about it as the end of fertility, of youth, even of being seen. But many traditions see it very differently, as the doorway to a wise and powerful new season. This is where the idea of a second spring comes in.

Your second spring

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, menopause is sometimes called a "second spring". Once the monthly cycle settles, the energy that went into it each month can be redirected towards ourselves: our wisdom, creativity and purpose.

Perimenopause itself can feel more like a long, unpredictable winter. But after winter comes spring. Many women describe life beyond menopause as a time of new freedom and confidence, and a chance to finally put themselves first.

If you're in the thick of it right now, this might feel a long way off. That's OK. Be patient with yourself. This season will pass too.

Practices for your second spring

So what can we do? One of the most supportive steps can be working with a yoga therapist, who can help you understand how your own unique energy is expressing itself through perimenopause.

In Ayurveda, this stage of life is linked with vata, the airy, mobile energy that can show up as anxiety, restlessness, a busy mind and disrupted sleep. So often our focus becomes calming the vata mind, while strengthening the body to build and protect muscle and bone.

We can look at our diet too. In Ayurveda, certain foods can help bring our doshas back into balance, and what helps depends on which energy is running high:

Excess pitta (fire): if you're experiencing anger, frustration, irritability or hot flushes, cooling foods can help. Think cucumber, leafy greens, coconut, mint, fennel and sweet, juicy fruits, and go easy on spicy food, alcohol and caffeine.

Excess vata (air): if you're feeling anxious, scattered, restless or struggling with sleep, focus on warm, grounding and nourishing foods. Think soups, stews, root vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats and gentle warming spices like ginger and cinnamon, with regular mealtimes to steady you.

Excess kapha (earth and water): if you're feeling sluggish, heavy or low in motivation, lighter, warming foods can help. Think plenty of vegetables, pulses and pungent spices like black pepper and ginger, with fewer heavy, sweet or fried foods.

We're each a unique blend of the doshas, and that blend can shift through perimenopause, so it's worth noticing what your body is asking for right now. Yoga can help with this. It gives us space to turn inwards, notice how we're feeling and tune into our body's inner wisdom: the quiet whispers of what we need, before they become loud roars!

Yoga won't make perimenopause disappear, but it can be a wonderful support through it. Here are some of the practices I share in my women's classes:

For calm: slow breathing with longer exhales helps soothe the nervous system when anxiety or overwhelm rise. Even a few minutes a day can make a difference.

For sleep: gentle evening practice, legs up the wall, forward folds, hamstring stretches and yoga nidra can help the body wind down. Yoga nidra, also known as yoga sleep, is a favourite in my classes for exactly this reason, and most classes finish with a short practice.

For strength: as oestrogen falls, looking after our muscles and bones becomes more important. Strong standing poses and weight-bearing movement help keep us steady and strong.

For cooling: when hot flushes strike, cooling breaths and slower, grounding practices can feel better than heated, vigorous sessions. A shift towards acceptance can be a cooling balm too: rather than fighting and pushing things away, we move towards allowing, which frees up energy for other things.

For connection: perhaps the most powerful support of all is simply being with other women who understand. The chats before and after class are often as healing as the practice itself. Sangha, the yoga community, is truly wonderful.

A gentle note

Every woman's experience of perimenopause is different, and yoga is a support, not a replacement for medical care. If your symptoms are affecting your daily life, please speak to your GP. It can help to keep a simple diary of your symptoms and cycle to take along.

If you're under 45 and noticing these changes, it's especially worth getting checked, as menopause can sometimes come earlier than expected.

And if you're approaching the perimenopausal window, consider learning about this chapter of life before it arrives. Going into perimenopause well rested, strong and feeling happy with life is a far easier place to begin than having things buried, waiting to surface.

For trusted information and support, these are good places to start:

• NHS: Menopause for clear information on symptoms, treatments and when to see your GP.

• The Menopause Charity for evidence-based information on lifestyle changes and treatment options like HRT.

• The Daisy Network for support if you're experiencing early or premature menopause.

  
  

Join me

My women's yoga classes are a warm, welcoming space for women at every stage of life, whether you're tracking your cycle, a busy mum, in perimenopause or out the other side. We move, breathe, rest and share together at 7:45pm on Mondays in Worcester and Tuesdays in Bromsgrove, or you can join online, live streamed from home.

This World Menopause Day, I'd love you to join me as we move through perimenopause together, and step gently towards your second spring.

With love, Zoe