I Tried Yoga for Perimenopause for 6 Weeks

I was standing in a yoga studio on a Tuesday evening, completely out of place, surrounded by women who seemed to know what they were doing. Most of them were probably my age or older, which was reassuring. I was 47 years old, and I had not done yoga since college. I had always been someone who worked out at a gym. I lifted weights. I ran occasionally. But yoga had always seemed too slow, too spiritual, not enough of a real workout. But my perimenopause anxiety had gotten worse over the past few months despite medication, and my doctor had suggested yoga as something that might help calm my nervous system. I was skeptical, but desperate enough to try. The instructor, whose name was Lisa, came over and introduced herself. She asked if I had done yoga before and if I had any injuries or areas of concern. I mentioned that I was going through perimenopause and that I had been dealing with some joint pain. She nodded like this was completely normal and said she had modifications for everything. I was about to embark on six weeks of yoga for perimenopause.

How I got here

The anxiety and the joint pain had been the main reasons I was willing to try yoga. The anxiety was new and scary. I had never been prone to anxiety before and now I was having moments where my heart would race and I would feel terrified for no clear reason. Nothing was helping. I had tried supplements. I had tried adjusting my sleep. I had tried therapy. The anxiety was still there. The joint pain was from the exercise I was doing at the gym. My knees hurt. My shoulders hurt. My wrists hurt. I was wondering if the exercise was actually helping or making things worse. My doctor suggested that yoga might help with both the anxiety and the joint issues because it is more gentle than high-impact exercise but still provides movement and body awareness. She mentioned that many of her perimenopausal patients found yoga particularly helpful for calming their nervous system. I was willing to try.

What I actually did

I signed up for a beginner yoga class that met three times a week. Week one, I was stiff and uncomfortable. My hamstrings were tight. My hips were tight. My shoulders were tight. Everything hurt a little bit. But Lisa was patient with me and offered modifications for every pose. She explained that flexibility develops over time and there is no competition in yoga. By the end of that first week, I felt less anxious than I had in weeks. The yoga was not intense, but the focus required and the breathing involved seemed to calm my nervous system. Week two, I was noticeably more flexible. My hamstrings still hurt in stretches, but not as much. My shoulders were loosening up. The joint pain I had from my gym workouts seemed to be settling down. I was also sleeping better. Week three, the anxiety was noticeably better. I was not having the racing heart episodes that I had been having. My mood was more stable. I was not sure if the yoga was directly causing these changes or if it was the reduced exercise intensity, but something was working. By week four, I was a different person. I was more flexible. My joints did not hurt. My anxiety was so much better. I was sleeping through the night. I was showing up to yoga because I actually wanted to, not because I was forcing myself to do something that was supposed to be good for me.

What actually changed

The anxiety decreased significantly. Within two to three weeks, I was no longer having the panic-like episodes I had been experiencing. My baseline anxiety was lower. I felt calmer and more grounded. My flexibility improved noticeably. I went from barely being able to touch my toes to touching my toes with my palms flat. My joint pain resolved. Turns out my gym routine was too intense and was actually aggravating my joints. Yoga was gentle enough not to hurt them but active enough to keep them moving. My sleep improved. I was sleeping through the night and waking up feeling rested. My mood was more stable. What did not change is that yoga alone did not make my perimenopause go away. I still have hot flashes. I still have some hormonal mood shifts. But everything is so much more manageable. What surprised me was that I actually started to love yoga. I went from being skeptical to genuinely wanting to go to class. I started noticing the meditation aspect of it and how much it calmed my mind. I started asking Lisa for harder poses because I wanted to challenge myself physically while still keeping the calming benefits.

What my routine looks like now

I still do yoga three times a week, about seven months after that first class. I have progressed significantly. I can do more challenging poses. My flexibility is so much better. I also do one or two other forms of exercise, but yoga is my main practice. I feel like it has become part of my identity. I am a person who does yoga now. That is a weird sentence for me to say because I was so resistant to it initially, but it is true. The anxiety is well-managed. My joints are healthy. My sleep is good. I feel strong and flexible and calm. I started using PeriPlan to log my yoga sessions and I can see the correlation between weeks when I do yoga consistently and weeks when my anxiety is better. That visibility has motivated me to prioritize yoga as part of my perimenopause management strategy.

If you are struggling with anxiety or joint pain during perimenopause, I would really encourage you to try yoga. Go to a class if you can so that an instructor can help you with proper form. Do not expect it to feel like exercise at first. Expect it to feel slow and potentially frustrating if you are someone who is used to high-intensity workouts. But stick with it for at least four to six weeks because that is when you will probably notice the benefits to your anxiety and your flexibility. What worked for me is not medical advice, and what your body needs may be completely different. Always talk to your healthcare provider about your specific situation before making changes. If you have any physical limitations or injuries, definitely tell your yoga instructor so they can give you modifications. Yoga is very adaptable and there is truly a version of every pose that works for every body.