3 Ways I Am Regulating My Rhythm in Perimenopause

The hormonal fluctuations that come with perimenopause can wreak havoc with the body’s cycles. Although most attention is paid to changes in a woman’s menstrual cycle, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, and joint pain, the impact is not limited to the physical body.

Perimenopause can feel like an assault on the mind and emotions as well. Brain fog, cognitive fatigue, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation are often part of the package for many women.

For women with ADHD or chronic condition, the effects can be even more pronounced.

The experience is like living in a stranger’s body.

A New Perspective on Perimenopause

Much attention is focused on hormone levels, but lately I’ve been thinking about the challenges of perimenopause through the lens of rhythm.

Every organ and system in your body functions in a rhythm set to time. At different times of the day, different organs and systems are more active, and at other times they’re less active.

The bladder, for example, is more active during the day and less active at night to allow you to sleep.

You have a dominant nostril, which changes every 90 minutes.

At its core, the experience of perimenopause presents as a dysregulated rhythm.

3 Ways I’m Regulating My Rhythm

If we look at the challenges through this lens of rhythm, then it makes sense that entraining to external rhythms can help us regulate.

When you put grandfather clocks in a room together, they will entrain to each other, eventually syncing to the same rhythm. Humans and animals work the same way. There’s an unconscious process by which we entrain to other humans or to nature.

Here are three things I’m doing that are helping me regulate my rhythm:

(1) Morning Routines

A good morning routine sets the tone for your day. I try to adhere to mine consistently, without much variation in time.

Crucial components of a morning routine include:

• Getting sunlight early in the day, ideally within 30 minutes of waking up. This starts your melatonin production and helps you fall asleep better.
• Doing a medium to high intensity workout within the first 2 hours after waking up. Beyond the dopamine boost that a workout gives me, I find that sweating it out early helps reduce hot flashes during the day.
• Eating a high protein breakfast that also has enough carbs. Having a good breakfast after my workout keeps me satiated for longer and can often help me avoid the mid-day crash.

Within my workouts, I have found that getting my heart rate in a consistent rhythm that varies intense effort and rest gives me a great energy boost and reduces pain. More on this another time.

(2) Following Planetary Cycles

One of the things I find most helpful about astrology is that it reminds me that everything in the universe operates on a cycle — there’s a bigger picture of life and we’re just a small part of it. Sometimes following planetary cycles can be a little esoteric, because their cycles play out more slowly. The moon is different.

In fact, my study of astrology started with following the moon’s cycles. Not just studying it in a book, but actually pausing to notice it in the sky. If you take time to look up at the moon each night, you’ll notice that it doesn’t just change its shape. It also changes position throughout the month.

At certain times of year, planets like Venus, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter are all visible with the naked eye. Using the chart of the current moment as a map, I can see how the planets are aligned in the sky.

It connects me with the bigger rhythms.

(3) Spending Time by the Water

Anything we can do to connect with nature can help us connect with the bigger rhythms, but I find water to be especially helpful for this. Visiting the same place consistently and noticing the changing landscape at different tides reminds me that nothing in nature is static.

We are all like the shoreline: a landscape that varies in subtle or obvious ways depending on the tides.