What Your Body Really Needs in Perimenopause
What Your Body Really Needs in Perimenopause
There’s a moment — often quiet and almost imperceptible — when something begins to change. The rhythms that once felt steady start to fluctuate. Sleep becomes elusive. Your patience shortens. Your digestion feels off. The body you’ve known begins to feel unfamiliar.
These are signs that you may have begun the sacred shift of perimenopause — the threshold before menopause, a transition that can last 4 to 10 years and begins as early as your late 30s.
And yet, most women are left entirely unprepared and unsure how to support themselves during this time.
In a culture that reveres youth and treats aging as something to fear or fix, this transformational season is often met with shame, confusion, or silence. But perimenopause is not a problem to be solved. It is a rite of passage — one that holds within it profound potential for awakening, wisdom, and reclamation.
What’s Happening in the Body?
During perimenopause, the body begins its natural hormonal recalibration. Estrogen and progesterone — the key players in our menstrual cycle and reproductive years — start to fluctuate in unpredictable ways. These shifts can bring:
Irregular periods
Mood swings, anxiety, or low motivation
Sleep disturbances and night sweats
Weight gain, especially around the belly
Changes in libido or vaginal dryness
Increased sensitivity to stress
Cortisol, our primary stress hormone, now has a bigger impact than ever. And when stress isn’t managed, it can throw your blood sugar, sleep, mood, and weight regulation out of balance. Add in a culture that tells women to push harder, eat less, and "keep up," and we’re left feeling overwhelmed and unsupported during one of the most sacred transitions of our lives.
Supporting the Body During This Transition
Here’s what your body is truly asking for in this season — and it’s likely not what you’ve been told:
1. Nourishment, not restriction
Forget crash diets. Your body needs stable blood sugar, mineral-rich meals, and consistent nourishment to support hormone production and nervous system regulation. Focus on:
Protein at every meal
Healthy fats (like avocado, olive oil, nuts, and seeds)
Cooked, grounding vegetables
Herbs that support the liver and digestion (like dandelion, ginger, and fennel)
2. Nervous system support
Stress hits differently now. Breathwork, meditation, somatic movement, and time in nature help regulate cortisol and create resilience. This is not a luxury — it’s medicine.
3. Herbal allies & supplementation
Adaptogenic herbs (such as ashwagandha, holy basil, and rhodiola), magnesium, B vitamins, and medicinal mushrooms like Reishi and Lion’s Mane can support both your stress response and your hormonal balance.
4. Honoring your sensuality
Perimenopause invites you deeper into your body — into pleasure, presence, and emotional truth. Daily self-massage with natural oils, sensual rituals, and joyful movement practices can help you reconnect with your innate vitality and aliveness.
5. Rest and rhythm
This is the time to slow down, say no more often, and honor the natural ebb and flow of your energy. You’re not meant to be consistent every day of the month. You’re cyclical. Sacred. Rhythmic.
Reframing the Narrative
We’ve been sold a story that aging is something to dread. That this transition is about decline, invisibility, or “drying up.” But here’s what’s really happening:
You’re being invited to return home to yourself.
To let go of the roles that no longer fit.
To soften into a deeper truth.
To reclaim your rhythm, your needs, your voice.
This is not the end. It’s a beginning.
A chance to live more fully in your body — with wisdom, wildness, and radical self-respect.
Want Support?
Inside The Threshold, you’ll find resources to support your perimenopausal journey — including the Hormonal Cycling Guide for Women: A Whole Body Approach to Thriving Through Perimenopause
This is where we walk together. Where your sacred shift is honoured, not feared.