Welcome to Your Menopause Jigsaw Guide

Contributor: Dr. Louise Oliver | GP & Buteyko Practitioner

Menopause brings change on every level — hormonal, emotional, physical. And often, the first thing that suffers is sleep. As estrogen and progesterone decline, the muscles in our airway lose tone. Breathing becomes disrupted, snoring starts, and rest becomes lighter. Without deep sleep, the body can’t fully repair or reset.

But here’s the good news: we don’t need to fix everything at once. Health is a jigsaw — and we can start with just one piece.

Try this:
When you put the kettle on or wash your hands, check your breath.
Are your lips closed? Is your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth?
Are you breathing softly, through your nose?

These small habits matter.
When we breathe gently and slowly, the brain gets the signal: you are safe.
And when the nervous system feels safe, sleep improves, stress softens, and clarity returns.

This is what I remind the women I work with — and myself:
You don’t have to do it all. You just have to start.
One breath. One pause. One piece at a time.

Contributor: Fleur Conway | Buteyko Master instructor

There’s so much noise around menopause — from symptom lists to supplement stacks to whether or not to take HRT. And while that information can be helpful, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. My advice? Keep it simple.

You don’t need to fix everything at once. Often, the most powerful shifts come from the smallest changes: one breath, one pause, one step into nature.

When you’re feeling disconnected or overloaded, try this:
Go outside — a garden, a park, a patch of sky.
Breathe in and out through your nose, soft and silent.
Feel the air on your skin. Listen to the birds, the breeze, the trees.
Let your breath bring you back to the now.

This isn’t doing — it’s being. And it matters more than you think.

Breath is the most accessible anchor we have. When we move with it — whether it’s through Low Pressure Fitness, a barefoot walk, or simply standing tall — we remind the body it’s safe. We soften. We reset. And we return to ourselves.

Want structured support? Explore our Breathing Through Menopause Course — a guided course through breath, awareness, and practical tools for hormonal balance.

Contributor: Anna Ryczek | Buteyko and Oxygen Advantage@ Master instructor & trainer

During menopause, everything can feel like it’s shifting—from your sleep and energy to your identity. But the breath offers a path back to steadiness.

In Buteyko practice, soft and quiet breathing becomes more than technique—it becomes a way to listen inward. Each gentle inhale and unforced exhale is an invitation to land more fully in your body, with kindness and curiosity. When you soften your breath, you soften your experience. You begin to sense the weight of your bones grounding downward, reconnecting with the earth, and with yourself.

This kind of grounding isn’t abstract—it’s felt, and it’s deeply healing. Even a simple practice like standing still, gently exhaling, and pressing your feet into the floor can restore a profound sense of inner support.

🎥 Grounding Practice Video

Contributor: Jennifer Blunston, PhD | MyoFunctional Fitness

In a world that asks women to perform and adapt constantly, restorative sleep becomes not a luxury, but a lifeline. During perimenopause and menopause, fluctuating hormones can weaken the muscles of the airway, leading to increased risk of sleep-disordered breathing—yet this is often overlooked in women.

As an orofacial myofunctional therapist, I help women reconnect with the foundational role of oral rest posture and airway function. When the tongue gently rests on the roof of the mouth and nasal breathing becomes the default, the airway is more supported—leading to fewer interruptions in breathing, deeper rest, and less anxiety.

Correcting daytime breathing habits isn’t just about breath—it’s about creating a ripple effect that enhances focus, energy, and emotional resilience. With awareness, screening, and supportive education, women can take back control of their airway health and thrive through every stage of menopause.

Tools that support this work:
– Myotape for promoting gentle nasal breathing at night

Contributor: Tara Bianca | BeLight Therapy

When midlife demands stack up—caregiving, work, aging parents, and changing hormones—recovery often gets left behind. But recovery isn’t a luxury. It’s a biological need. And your breath is the fastest way to access it.

Just 3–5 minutes of intentional breathwork can shift your nervous system from high alert to rest-and-repair mode. This helps balance hormones, reduce inflammation, improve heart rate variability, and regulate emotions. A simple practice like legs up the wall, combined with gentle spinal decompression and a calming 4:6 breath cadence, can soothe your entire system and restore your energy.

You don’t need to do more. You need to recover smarter. Breath gives you that access—quickly, naturally, and powerfully.

🎥 2-Minute Video Demo

Contributor: Daniela Rubino |Master Oxygen Advantage® Instructor | Yoga & Movement Teacher

One of the most empowering things we can do in midlife is reconnect with how we move and carry ourselves. As posture shifts and movement feels unfamiliar, breath becomes our foundation — supporting balance, strength, and ease from within.

Here’s a powerful truth: If breathing is dysfunctional, no movement pattern can be truly functional.

Shallow or mouth breathing disrupts core stability and makes everyday movement more effortful. But when we shift to nasal, diaphragmatic breathing and maintain good tongue posture, we support spinal alignment, engage the deep core, and release tension from the neck and shoulders.

• Breathe in and out through your nose.

• As you exhale, gently engage your core.

• Let the breath guide your posture — softly, with intention.

Over time, functional breathing builds resilience and grace — in stillness and in motion.

Tools that support this work:
– The Buteyko Belt is a simple, tactile tool that encourages diaphragmatic breathing and supports awareness of proper posture — ideal for movement practices and daily life. 

Contributor: Maria Dobos | Buteyko and Oxygen Advantage@ Master instructor

Menopause isn’t just a biological change — it’s a shift in your inner landscape. As estrogen and progesterone fluctuate, many women feel their emotions deepen, their nervous system heighten, and their breath become shallow or erratic. These aren’t flaws. They’re invitations to tune in.

Your breath is both a reflection of how you feel and a powerful tool to shift it. Shallow, fast breathing can amplify anxiety, insomnia, and restlessness. But slow, gentle nasal breathing helps calm the mind, lower cortisol, and restore inner rhythm.

Try this: Place one hand over your heart, the other on your belly. Breathe slowly through your nose. On each exhale, whisper gently to yourself: “I am safe in this moment.”

This small ritual begins the process of emotional regulation.

Breath is the bridge between thought, feeling, and hormone response. With every slow inhale and soft exhale, you’re reminding your nervous system: you’re safe, you can rest, and you don’t have to push through. Whether it’s a five-minute pause between chores, a mindful cup of tea, or a wind-down breath before sleep — these are not indulgences. They’re instructions to your body: You are healing.

 Contributor: Gaynor Morgan | Pelvic Angel

Hormonal shifts during menopause don’t just affect our cycles — they reshape how we breathe, how we hold tension, and how we recover. Many women in midlife notice rising sensitivity to discomfort, tighter muscles, more shallow breathing, and a nervous system that feels constantly “on.” Breath can be the first piece to shift that experience.

Whether you’re heading into a pelvic exam, post-HRT procedure, or experiencing painful intimacy, breath can soften the body’s guarding reflex. I teach slow, diaphragmatic inhales paired with gentle, extended exhales to ease tension, calm the pelvic floor, and restore a sense of inner safety. After clinical interventions, I use shorter, paced breathing to ease discomfort and promote healing.

• Light, nasal breathing to reset stress overload
• Recovery breathing to regulate post-exertion fatigue
• Breath holds to boost CO₂ tolerance and oxygen efficiency
• Nasal-only walking to rebuild stamina gently

The body in midlife is often navigating core retraining, pelvic changes, fatigue, or anxiety — sometimes all at once. Breath gives you a non-invasive, deeply personal way to meet those.

To explore more: Patrick McKeown’s books — including The Breathing Cure, Mouth Breather, and The Breathing Cure for Sleep — offer in-depth guidance on how functional breathing can support women’s health, sleep, and more.

Contributor: Zora Benhamou | Hack My Age

As estrogen declines in perimenopause and menopause, our mitochondria—the tiny energy factories inside every cell—start to lose their edge. Estrogen isn’t just a “female hormone.” It’s a mitochondrial ally, helping regulate oxygen use, cellular metabolism, and energy output. When levels dip, many women experience the “midlife crash”: brain fog, unexplained fatigue, slower recovery, and that persistent sense of running on low battery.

But here’s the empowering truth: we can biohack this decline. Mitochondria are responsive to the right kinds of stress — from breath and movement to temperature exposure and targeted nutrition.

Functional breathing techniques—like nasal breathing, extended exhalations, and gentle breath-holds—improve oxygen delivery to cells, reduce oxidative stress, and balance the nervous system. This helps restore energy, sharpen focus, and create internal calm — no extra espresso required.

By syncing breath, movement, and hormones, we can transform midlife from an energy dip into an energy reset. It’s not about chasing youth, but mastering the bioenergetics of aging so we move through menopause with more clarity, resilience, and power than ever before.

• Breathe Light to oxygenate cells and boost energy without stress.
• Nourish with mitochondrial-friendly foods (think polyphenols, omega-3s, and B vitamins).
• Strength train 2–3x/week to signal cellular repair and hormone production.

Menopause doesn’t mean energy collapse—it’s an invitation to recalibrate and upgrade how we fuel our cells.