#YogaEveryDamnDay – Day 3: Perimenopause & Insomnia

#YogaEveryDamnDay – Day 3: Perimenopause & Insomnia

Not more than three short years ago – shortly before my 40th birthday – I was diagnosed with perimenopause. It was well received news at the time: I was DONE done having babies and I was equally ready to be done with all things menstrual. It wasn’t until recently that, shall we say, more prominent symptoms of perimenopause began to emerge. And one of them kept me from cardio this morning: hormonal insomnia.

It always starts the same: I suddenly wake up after hours of what was a sound sleep. While my husband breathes deeply in blissful, sweet, uninterrupted slumber, I toss and turn, thoughts wracking my brain that have no business being in my subconscious at 3:00 am:

  • The time I spilled a martini on a colleague at an especially lively work party in 2007
  • How much the kids have grown this summer and how I’m certain their school uniforms don’t fit anymore.
  • The emotional impact of the appearance of gray hairs growing in places other than my head
  • “Did the kids turn the fan off/plug in their devices/other random task I’m sure they didn’t do?”

While I eventually drift back to sleep before the sun starts peeking through the window, I often wake up at 6am to work out. That means I only get another hour or so of sleep post-insomnia attack, leaving me too exhausted to do cardio. I still got to the mat this morning so, for that, I’m grateful.

Now, on to today’s practice:

The Instructor: Kassandra Reinhardt of Yoga With Kassandra
The Practice: Slow Flow (30 minutes)

After dragging myself out of bed after a less-than-restful sleep, I wanted to make my practice as efficient and easy as possible. I didn’t even put on my usual workout clothes, opting to practice in the burnt orange cami and camo lounge pants I’d worn to bed.

Was it efficient? Absolutely.
Was it easy? Absolutely fucking not.

I let the term ‘slow flow’ fool my sleepyhead into believing this would be a no-muss/no-fuss meeting with my mat but it turned out to be so much more than that. In less than a half hour, I left this practice sweaty and satisfied after a series of side planks, sloooooow planks, and warrior transitions that tested the limits of my balance. I didn’t get much sleep last night, but I got everything I needed this morning with this practice. Definitely saved for another go-round!

See you on the mat tomorrow!
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