When Hot Flushes Wake You Up
Getting hot flushes in the middle of the night? Jane Macpherson has a solution. In her new book, You: Part Two: Thriving in the Second Half of Your Life, written with her husband Campbell Macpherson, the yoga teacher and yoga therapist explains how a yoga practice can help.
Menopause can be an extraordinarily exciting time for women – a wonderful opportunity to go from being the nurturers to looking after themselves for a change. It is an opportunity to make a real shift in the way we look at ourselves, our bodies, our emotions and our minds. One of the things I encourage my yoga therapy clients to do is to “feel the way they're feeling” and to embrace these feelings.
I have been asked so many times, how can yoga help us cope with the symptoms of menopause? I know that for a lot of women it is the middle of the night when we can find ourselves bolt upright in bed with a hot flush. It may be the heat that woke us but now we are awake, our heart is racing and then our mind is also racing. We can become quite panicky and often we’re not even sure why!
How to incorporate movement-breathing techniques in the wee hours
In the middle of the night when it is dark and quiet, negative thoughts and negative feelings become heightened. My advice is, as you find yourself sitting up in bed anyway, you might as well check in with how your body is feeling. This alone will act like a circuit breaker. Notice your heart rate, notice your breathing, notice your thoughts – but do all of these in a non-judgmental way.
Remind yourself that what you are experiencing is normal and that these experiences are not you, nor do they define you. They are simply natural symptoms of menopause. As I suggest for insomnia sufferers, you may want to ease yourself out of bed and make a nice cup of herbal tea. You may want to do some simple restorative yoga poses while the tea is brewing or cooling. All the while staying in the present. Make the tea mindfully, do some poses mindfully, savour and enjoy the tea.
That is far more restful than lying awake in bed, tossing and turning, watching your mind ruminating about things that you can do nothing about.
““Don’t worry if you wake up in the middle of the night. That’s just what happens. The whole idea that you go to sleep and should sleep a solid eight hours – it’s a myth.””
And while we are on the subject of sleep, I suggest to my clients not to worry if you wake up in the middle of the night. That’s just what happens. The whole idea that you go to sleep and should sleep a solid eight hours – it’s a myth. Just accept that you may be feeling a little tired today and if you can, find a time in your day where you take some rest. Just because you’re not asleep doesn’t mean you can’t rest.
It can be incredibly restful simply lying down with your legs up the wall or lying back on some cushions with a lovely eye pillow on your eyes – focusing on your breathing, focusing on where there may be some tension in your body and just letting all that go.
On the days when I feel tired, usually about 3 or 4 pm, I’ll take 20 minutes. That’s it, 20 minutes. I just lie down and focus on my breathing. And that’s enough for a quick recharge. But I could only do that once I overcame that inbuilt guilt that I should always be on the go.
This is an edited extract from You: Part Two: Thriving in the Second Half of Your Life by Campbell Macpherson and Jane Macpherson (Hachette, $32.99).