I have been in home Norway for nearly a month, and summer has been showing off.

The weather has been beautiful, the evenings have stretched on almost indefinitely, and we have already had a huge family party filled with food, laughter and people I do not see nearly often enough.

It has been wonderful.

And, naturally, there has been wine.

A glass while preparing dinner. A drink when everyone arrives. Champagne for the celebration. Something cold by the water because the sun is shining and, for once, nobody needs to rush anywhere.

None of it has felt excessive or particularly significant. That is often how alcohol creeps into a holiday. Not dramatically, but pleasantly. It becomes part of the punctuation of the day.

At home, I would rarely open a bottle on an ordinary Monday evening. On holiday, Monday does not feel like Monday. There is always a reason to raise a glass, and opting out can feel strangely antisocial when everyone else is joining in.

I do not want to write another article telling women that alcohol is bad, fun is dangerous or every glass of wine must be weighed against its calorie content.

That is not how I want to live, and it is certainly not the philosophy behind The Midlife Movement Method. But if I am truthful,I have noticed that alcohol does not land in my body quite as lightly as it once did.

Alcohol contains energy, of course, but the effect on midlife health is more layered than a simple calorie equation. Because the body cannot store alcohol, it prioritises breaking it down and removing it.

During that process, the metabolism of other fuels temporarily takes a back seat. That does not mean a single glass of wine instantly becomes body fat, nor that fat burning is switched off for the entire day. It simply means the body has another immediate job to do.

For me, the more noticeable effects often come later. I may fall asleep easily but wake during the night. I feel warmer. My sleep is lighter. The following morning, I am slightly less inclined to move and far more interested in bread or a croissant, coffee and another slow start.

Alcohol is also a recognised trigger for hot flushes and night sweats for some women, and reducing it may help improve both sleep and menopausal symptoms. That is where the real ripple effect begins.

One glass is not the problem, but when one glass quietly becomes several evenings in a row, the repeated disruption to sleep, energy and recovery can start to shape how we eat, how we move and how we feel in our bodies.

The holiday spiral

I think many women will recognise the pattern.

You stay up later because everyone is together. You have another drink because it is a special occasion. You wake feeling slightly flat, so the planned workout does not happen. Breakfast becomes less balanced. Lunch lasts longer. By the afternoon, another glass feels completely reasonable because you are already in holiday mode.

None of this is a moral failure. It is simply how routines loosen.

The danger is not the celebration itself. It is the moment we decide that, because our normal structure has slipped, we may as well abandon it completely until we get home.

That all-or-nothing thinking causes far more trouble than a glass of wine ever could.

Movement as an anchor and this is where mindful movement has become so important to me. Not as punishment, not as a way to burn off dinner or earn the next drink, and definitely not as an attempt to recreate my usual training schedule while surrounded by family and holiday plans.

Movement becomes a small anchor to the person I still am underneath the celebration and it could look as simple as a walk before everyone wakes up or just ten minutes of mobility while the coffee is brewing.

I also love a short (but seriously intentional!) Barre session using a chair in the bedroom. A swim that’s refreshing or a little easeful stretch before bed.

These things may not look like a “proper workout,” but they interrupt the holiday spiral. They remind me that I have not stopped caring for myself simply because I am enjoying myself.

Regular movement also supports sleep, mood, bone health and general wellbeing during menopause, which is why the NHS continues to recommend it as part of menopause self-care. But perhaps the biggest shift os psychological, I think it gives us something incredibly valuable: continuity. It keeps the thread intact.

The morning after our family party, I did not attempt a punishing workout. I drank water, went outside and moved gently. I chose food that made me feel nourished rather than trying to restrict myself. I let the previous evening remain what it had been: a joyful celebration with people I love.

That, to me, is the difference between discipline and self-trust. Discipline says you must make up for what you did. Self-trust says you know how to return.

There will be more dinners this summer. More sunshine. More glasses offered across the table. I will probably say yes to some of them.

But I am also paying attention and ask myself, ‘Is this glass adding to the moment, or has it simply become automatic?’

Will I genuinely enjoy it?

How do I want to feel tomorrow?

Those questions feel far more useful than rigid rules.

Midlife wellness should not require us to withdraw from the very experiences that make life rich. Family parties, holidays and long dinners are part of health too. They offer connection, pleasure and a sense of belonging—one of the central pillars of wellbeing.

The goal is not to become perfect at avoiding indulgence. It is to become skilful at staying connected to ourselves while we enjoy it.

To raise the glass when it feels worth it and to put it down when it does not.

To move the following morning, not from guilt, but from care.

And to remember that one beautiful evening does not undo our health, what matters is what we gently, consistently return to.

There was a time when an empty afternoon made me uncomfortable. If I wasn’t teaching, training, travelling, planning a retreat or squeezing in another workout, I felt as though I should be doing something productive. My days were measured by what I could tick off a list rather than how they actually felt.

Perhaps that’s why this summer has felt so different.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself slowing down in ways that once would have felt almost impossible. After the whirlwind of finishing the school term, a long journey back to Europe, unpacking into a new home, reconnecting with family and friends, and navigating another heatwave, my body wasn’t asking for more.

It was asking for space. Space to wake up without immediately reaching for my phone.

Space to sit outside with a coffee while everyone else was still asleep. Space to read another chapter of a book. Space to wander down to the water without feeling I should be doing something “more useful.” Space to simply breathe.

For someone who has spent most of her adult life working in the fitness industry, that’s quite a shift.

Recently I came across a phrase that perfectly describes this feeling.

JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out.

At first, I assumed it meant saying no to social plans or giving yourself permission to skip the occasional workout.

But I think, particularly in midlife, it means something much bigger. I think it’s about actively choosing moments of stillness, not because you’ve earned them, not because you’re exhausted but because they’re every bit as important to your health as the workout itself.

For years we’ve been sold the idea that wellness is something we have to chase. More workouts. More supplements. More discipline. More productivity. Even self-care has become another thing to optimise.

Somewhere along the way we forgot that our bodies were designed with rhythms. Yes we need periods of effort but we also need periods of recovery and importantly, periods of quiet.

The irony is that we now understand far more about women’s physiology than we did twenty years ago, and the science points us back towards something beautifully simple.

Recovery isn’t the opposite of progress, it’s where progress happens.

During exercise we create the stimulus for adaptation. During recovery we build stronger muscles, restore depleted energy stores, regulate hormones and allow the nervous system to settle. For women moving through perimenopause, when cortisol can remain elevated for longer and sleep often becomes more fragmented, those quieter moments become even more valuable.

Which makes me wonder whether we’ve been measuring wellness the wrong way all along. Maybe the healthiest women aren’t the ones doing the most? Maybe they’re the women who have learned to spend their energy wisely.

That doesn’t mean abandoning movement. Quite the opposite.

Movement will always be one of the greatest investments we can make in our long-term health. We know strength training protects our bones, preserves muscle, supports metabolic health, protects our cognitive function and helps keep us independent as we age. But equally important is knowing when not to push.

We need to know when today’s walk is enough and recognise when stretching on the living room floor (I put on a rom com and roll around…..it works!) is exactly what your body needs. Knowing when an early night is more beneficial than squeezing in another session and knowing when sitting in the garden in the sunshine with your journal is actually supporting your nervous system, even if nobody gives you a medal for it.

I’ve realised that some of my happiest moments this summer haven’t been the big adventures. They’ve been the smallest ones: watching the sunlight dance across the water, listening to the birds before the rest of the house wakes up, drinking my coffee slowly instead of between meetings, reading simply because I wanted to, walking without tracking my pace and laughing around the dinner table long after the plates had been cleared.

None of those moments looked particularly productive.

Yet every one of them left me feeling healthier.

Perhaps that’s what JOMO really is, not the joy of missing out on life but the joy of finally being present enough to notice it.

It’s a lesson I’m still learning.

As someone who naturally loves movement, goals and creating beautiful experiences for others, slowing down doesn’t always come naturally. But I’m beginning to realise that protecting my energy isn’t a sign that I’m becoming less ambitious.

It’s a sign that I’m becoming wiser.

At The Midlife Movement Method we often talk about intelligent movement. Increasingly, I think we also need to embrace intelligent rest.

The ability to recognise that wellness isn’t built through relentless effort.

• It’s built through balance.

• Through movement and recovery.

• Through strength and softness.

• Through challenge and stillness.

Perhaps that’s the real joy of missing out. Not doing less for the sake of it but making enough room in our lives to fully experience the simple things we’ve been rushing past all along.

Because one day, I suspect those quiet mornings, slow walks, long conversations and peaceful moments in nature won’t feel like the things we missed out on.

They’ll be the moments we remember most.

I love coffee.

The ritual of it. The first warm sip before the house wakes up. The pause between one part of the day and the next. It has been part of my mornings for years but somewhere during my forties, something shifted.

The same coffee that once made me feel focused suddenly left me feeling slightly anxious. Sometimes I feel wired but strangely tired at the same time. Occasionally my heart races after my second cup and I have found myself wondering whether I was imagining it. I’m not.

One of the most fascinating things I’ve learnt whilst researching perimenopause is just how much of the nutrition and exercise advice we’ve followed for decades was built using male physiology. Coffee is yet another perfect example.

Put simply, women don’t process caffeine in the same way that men do and perhaps more importantly, we don’t process it the same way throughout our own lives. Your hormones influence how your morning coffee lands.

Your liver uses an enzyme to break down caffeine. That same enzyme is also involved in processing oestrogen. During different stages of our hormonal life, particularly during pregnancy, whilst taking certain hormones, and throughout the transition into menopause, the speed at which caffeine is cleared changes dramatically.

Which means that the coffee you happily drank in your thirties may suddenly feel completely different in your forties. It isn’t because you’ve become “sensitive”, your whole physiology has changed. This explains so much.

If you’ve ever noticed that…

• one coffee suddenly feels enough

• your afternoon coffee now affects your sleep

• you feel jittery before exercise if you have a coffee

• your heart races after caffeine

• anxiety feels worse after your second cup

there is a very real physiological reason behind it.

The research increasingly shows that women experience the effects of caffeine differently from men, and those differences become even more noticeable during perimenopause.

Coffee can still be part of a healthy lifestyle. Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those articles telling you to give it up and put down your morning cappuccino. Far from it.

Coffee is associated with numerous health benefits, including improved cognitive function, lower risk of several chronic diseases and, for many women, simply making mornings feel a little brighter.

The goal isn’t elimination, it’s awareness.

Instead of asking, “Should I stop drinking coffee?”. Perhaps the better question is,

“Is my current coffee habit still working for my body?”

My own approach

These days I still enjoy coffee every morning, but I pay much closer attention to how and when I drink it.

• I drink hot water first thing and try to wait 60-90 minutes before my precious first coffee.

• I avoid relying on it instead of eating breakfast. Whilst I find eating a big breakfast challenging, I am trying hard to get some protein on board before the coffee and before I train.

• I try not to drink it late in the afternoon. (I have an iced Matcha or a Chai in the winter as an afternoon ‘treat’)

• And if I’ve had a poor night’s sleep or my nervous system already feels overloaded, I know another coffee probably isn’t the answer.

What I also know is that movement, sunlight, protein and hydration usually serve me far better than just adding more caffeine (a habit from my busy studio days!).

The Midlife Movement Method

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learnt during this stage of life is that very little is about restriction, it’s about working with your changing physiology instead of fighting against it.

That applies to movement. It applies to nutrition and it applies to recovery. And yes, even to your morning coffee.

Midlife isn’t asking us to become less, it’s simply asking us to become more informed.

Five Coffee Questions to Ask Yourself:

* Does coffee still make me feel good?

* Am I using it to replace sleep?

* Does it increase my anxiety?

* Does it affect my sleep later that night?

* Am I drinking it because I need energy or because I love the ritual?

Because in midlife, the goal isn’t to give up the things we love.

It’s to understand how our bodies have changed so we can continue enjoying them for many years to come.

One of the biggest shifts I have made over the past few years is stopping the cycle of coming home from holiday feeling exhausted.

Travel will always disrupt your routine. That is part of the joy. But I have learnt that a handful of small habits help me feel energised, sleep better and return home feeling healthier than when I left.

Here is what now makes its way into almost every trip.

1. Choose movement friendly accommodation

Before I book anywhere, I always check whether there is a gym, a small fitness studio or simply enough space to roll out a yoga mat.

Even better if the hotel already has mats, dumbbells or resistance bands I can borrow.

I rarely need much more than twenty minutes, but knowing the option is there makes all the difference.

2. Pack less clothes and more movement

I only ever pack two or three workout outfits.

They take up very little space and I simply hand wash them every few days.

It sounds incredibly simple but removing the excuse that I “didn’t bring the right clothes” (or shoes) means movement naturally becomes part of every holiday.

3. Find the morning light

This has become completely non-negotiable for me.

Whether I am walking along the beach, sitting with a coffee on the terrace or stretching on the balcony, I try to spend my first few minutes outside.

Morning sunlight is one of the simplest ways to support your circadian rhythm, energy and sleep, especially after travelling across time zones.

4. Embrace slower mornings

During term time so many of us are racing.

School runs.

Meetings.

After-school clubs

Traffic.

Summer offers a rare opportunity to slow the pace.

Rather than filling every minute with sightseeing or family activites, I try to savour longer breakfasts, slower conversations and mornings that unfold naturally.

That gentle pace is often more restorative than an expensive spa treatment (although spa time is definitely a win!).

5. Make space to think

Some of my best ideas never arrive at my desk.

They appear on a sun lounger, during a morning walk or over a quiet coffee while everyone else is still asleep.

I always pack a notebook.

Sometimes I journal.

Sometimes I revisit my vision board.

Sometimes I simply write down thoughts I have not had space to hear during everyday life. It’s surprising what surfaces when you have an idle moment.

6. Let local food nourish you

One of my favourite parts of travelling is discovering beautiful local produce. My daughter always says ‘Mummy not ANOTHER Greek salad’ but honestly its all so delicious. Fresh fruit from markets, grilled fish by the sea and seasonal vegetables. There is a reason why the mediterranean diet is linked to longevity.

I love long relaxed lunches and dinners shared with family. I never think about restriction on holiday, I think about nourishment, colour and variety.

7. Never leave your supplements behind

Supplements are one of the easiest wellness habits to maintain while travelling.

I decant everything into small travel containers or buy the sachet format before I leave and keep them beside my toothbrush so they become part of my morning routine.

Little habits are much easier to maintain than trying to start again when you return home.

8. Move whenever you can but do it joyfully

You do not have to “work out” every day on holiday. Walk to dinner or explore on foot taking the scenic route. Better yet, walk after dinner, a proven way to improve digestion and sleep.

Swimming is another summer favourite of mine. It’s such a beautiful way to move with resistance without loading the joints.

Take your mat outside and enjoy movement in nature. Our community chat is peppered with photos of mats on the terrace or lawn where SL warriors are enjoying the sunshine whilst they fit in their session.

Play with your children, it’s often the most fun workout you will ever have.

Movement woven naturally into your day often feels far more joyful than another session in the gym.

9. Protect your sleep

I travel with an eye mask, ear plugs and a magnesium supplement wherever I go.

A cooler bedroom (if available), less evening scrolling and a consistent bedtime (when possible) can make a remarkable difference, particularly during perimenopause when sleep is often more fragile.

But as we all know, holidays can involve longer evenings, the odd glass of rose so try not to get too ‘tied’ to the idea that a later night is a fail but do try protect at least 7 hours of sleep when possible and perhaps enjoy the odd nap in the shade (a delicious holiday treat!).

10. Remember the goal

The goal of a holiday is not to come home needing another holiday, it is to return feeling more like yourself.

A little stronger.

A little calmer.

A little more connected.

That is what I now call travelling well, because wellness is not something you pause for summer, it is something that quietly travels with you.

Life has felt wonderfully full, but also wonderfully chaotic.

In the space of a couple of weeks I wrapped up the end of term in Bali, squeezed in all those last minute goodbyes, boarded a long haul flight back to the UK, unpacked into a new home, reunited with family and friends, tried to keep on top of work and somehow found myself doing it all in the middle of one of the hottest British heatwaves I can remember.

It has been… a lot.

In my thirties I would probably have taken all of this in my stride. A little more coffee, a little less sleep and I’d have convinced myself I was absolutely fine. Now, in my late forties, I know better.

The first thing that disappears when life becomes busy is usually the very thing that keeps us well: our routines.

Not because we don’t value them, but because they can suddenly feel impossible. Movement becomes something that will happen tomorrow. Meals become whatever is quickest (certainly not the healthiest) and sleep becomes something we hope to catch up on next week.

Somewhere amongst unpacking boxes, catching trains, answering emails and trying to remember which time zone we’re in, we quietly lose the anchors that help our bodies feel safe.

That is something I notice much more during perimenopause.

My body is incredibly forgiving, but it is no longer indifferent. When I eat well, move consistently and prioritise recovery, I feel clear headed, energetic and optimistic.

When I don’t, my body lets me know surprisingly quickly. My sleep becomes lighter (not helped by the crazy heatwave) and my energy dips. My patience becomes thinner and recovery takes longer.

It is one of the greatest lessons midlife has taught me. Wellbeing is no longer something I can leave until life becomes less busy, because life rarely becomes less busy.

Instead, I have learnt that my habits have to become portable. They need to travel with me through airports, house moves, holidays, busy work seasons and family commitments.

Not perfectly. Simply consistently and that shift has changed everything. I no longer think of wellness as a destination I return to once life calms down.

I think of it as the quiet thread that runs through every season of life, especially the messy ones.

There is good science behind this too.

Periods of travel, disrupted sleep, heat, stress and changing routines all place additional demands on the nervous system. During perimenopause, when fluctuating hormones are already influencing temperature regulation, sleep quality and resilience to stress, those demands can feel even greater.

It is hardly surprising that so many women tell me they come back from holidays or busy periods feeling as though they need another week to recover.

I understand that feeling completely. The difference now is that I expect those busy seasons to come.

Instead of abandoning every healthy habit, I ask myself a much simpler question: what is the smallest thing I can do today that helps my future self?

Sometimes it is a twenty minute strength session. Sometimes it is getting outside first thing in the morning.

Sometimes it is choosing a nourishing breakfast before another day of unpacking boxes or jumping into work emails

Small actions. Repeated often.

Those are the habits that have carried me through these last few weeks and they are the reason I am beginning to feel like myself again.

Next week I’ll share exactly how I approach travel during midlife. The routines, rituals and small wellness essentials that come with me wherever I go, helping me arrive home feeling restored instead of depleted.

I don’t want to just a live long life, I want to live one where I am still strong, capable, curious and fully engaged in the world around me until I am very old. And I know that the foundation for that future is being built right now.

I’m in my late forties, and like many women, I have spent the past year or two diving deep into the world of perimenopause to try to understand more about what my body is going through. I have read the books, listened to the podcasts, interviewed experts, spoken to clients and friends and, perhaps most importantly, become my own experiment.

Because during perimenopause and menopause, our brains, hearts, bones, muscles and hormones are all going through profound change.

The choices we make during this chapter have consequences that stretch far beyond our current symptoms. They can shape the quality of our health for decades to come.

This is not another perimenopause scare story. In fact, this article began with something much more mundane: a blood test.

Despite the fact that I’m doing many of the things we are told to do such as exercising regularly, prioritising sleep, eating well and taking care of myself, my latest results raised a few questions. My vitamin D levels were lower than expected. My zinc levels needed attention. My DHEA levels had dropped significantly.

Suddenly, I found myself having a very different conversation. Not about losing weight.

Not about getting through menopause, but about the long term, about the next twenty, thirty or even forty years.

I found myself considering questions around hormone replacement therapy, supplementation, muscle mass, brain health and how I want to age. Those are all conversations for future articles, but they led me to a concept I had never come across before.

Peakspan.

I had heard plenty about longevity. We all have. Every week there seems to be a new supplement, protocol or biohacking trend promising to help us live longer.

But Peakspan stopped me in my tracks because it asks a different question. Not how long will you live? But how long can you stay at your best?

Researchers define Peakspan as the period of life during which we maintain at least 90 per cent of our peak physical or cognitive performance. In other words, how long can we remain strong, capable, resilient and independent?

That feels like a far more interesting goal because while women already tend to live longer than men, many of us spend a significant portion of those extra years managing chronic disease, declining mobility or reduced quality of life.

Longevity matters but healthspan matters more and perhaps Peakspan is the metric we should be paying attention to most of all.

The good news is that many of the factors that influence Peakspan are within our control. Strength training. Nutrition. Sleep. Recovery. Stress management. Connection. Purpose. The very things that sit at the heart of my Midlife Movement Method.

Perhaps the goal is not to fight ageing, perhaps the goal is to stay in our Peakspan for as long as possible. To remain strong enough to do the things we love.

Strong enough to travel. Strong enough to hike. Strong enough to play with grandchildren. Strong enough to remain independent. Strong enough for 85! And that feels like a goal worth pursuing.

Discover my Awaken Barre Programme here

A few mornings ago, I found myself standing in front of the fridge staring into space.

Not because I was hungry. Not because I was deciding what to eat. I genuinely couldn’t remember why I had opened the fridge in the first place.

I stood there with my hand on the door and laughed. At forty eight, this isn’t exactly a rare occurrence.

I walk upstairs and forget what I went for. I open my laptop and completely blank on the task I was about to do. I put my phone down and then spend ten minutes searching for it.

The irony is that I’ve spent the last year immersed in the science of perimenopause. I’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts, interviewed the experts and, perhaps most importantly, experimented on myself.

I often joke that I’ve become my own laboratory or lab rat!

The thing that struck me that morning wasn’t the forgetfulness itself. It was what happened next.

I found myself negotiating. Maybe I could skip breakfast. Maybe I could postpone my workout until tomorrow. Maybe I didn’t really need to go for my walk.

It was such an ordinary moment. The kind nobody sees. The kind that would never make it onto my Instagram. Yet those are the moments that shape our lives.

Not the dramatic decisions. Not the New Year’s resolutions. Not the grand declarations that this is the year everything changes. The tiny decisions.

The decision to move even when you don’t feel like it.

The decision to go to bed a little earlier. The decision to prioritise protein. The decision to take the walk. The decision to do twenty minutes instead of waiting for the perfect hour.

Over the last few years I have become increasingly fascinated by the idea that our lives are not really built by big moments. They are built by repeated moments.

Scientists call it adaptation.

The brain changes according to what we repeatedly ask it to do. Neuroplasticity allows us to build new pathways throughout life. Muscle responds to the demands we place upon it. Our cardiovascular system adapts to movement. Our nervous system learns from patterns.

The body is paying attention all the time. It is always collecting evidence. That is why I no longer believe ageing is synonymous with weakness.

I think ageing is synonymous with evidence.

By the time we reach midlife, our bodies begin reflecting the patterns we have repeated for years. The quality of our sleep. Our relationship with stress. How much we move. How well we recover. The food we eat. The strength we have built or neglected.

Midlife is not exposing our age.

It is exposing our systems.

And while that might sound uncomfortable, I actually find it incredibly empowering.

Because if our current reality has been shaped by repeated decisions, then our future can be shaped by new ones.

This is something I see over and over again in the women I work with.

The strongest women I know are not necessarily the most disciplined.

They are not the women with the most willpower.

They are not the women who never struggle.

In fact, many of them are navigating the same challenges as everyone else. Brain fog. Broken sleep. Stress. Hormonal fluctuations. Busy careers. Ageing parents. Teenagers. Relationships. Businesses.

The difference is that they eventually stop doing certain things.

They stop chasing the body they had at thirty and start building the body they will need at sixty, seventy and beyond.

They stop exercising harder and start moving more intelligently.

They stop treating muscle as something that is nice to have and begin treating it as one of the most valuable assets they can build for their future health.

They stop waiting for motivation and start relying on routines.

They stop wearing exhaustion as a badge of honour and start protecting their recovery.

They stop striving for perfection and start valuing consistency.

Most importantly, they stop asking, “How quickly can I change my body?” and start asking, “Who am I becoming?”

That question changes everything because every choice is a vote:

Every walk is a vote.

Every workout is a vote.

Every early bedtime is a vote.

Every nourishing meal is a vote.

Every promise you keep to yourself is a vote.

Not for the body you want but for the woman you are becoming and one day you wake up living inside the accumulated result of thousands of those tiny decisions.

The strongest women I know understand this. They do not trust motivation. They trust evidence. Evidence built quietly, patiently and consistently over time.

That is the philosophy behind everything we teach inside The Midlife Movement Method.

Not punishment.

Not perfection.

Not trying to become the woman you once were.

Simply making the next decision and voting in favour of the woman you are becoming. One vote at a time and we will be Strong Enough for 85™.

Your journey to a more confident you starts with my 4-week programme Awaken Barre The link is below and I’m always happy to answer any questions!

Awaken Barre - 4 Weeks of Midlife workouts

If I can save you six months of podcast listening, wellness experimentation, expensive supplements and endless scrolling, then the last year of my life will have been well spent.

Over the past year, I have gone deep into the world of perimenopause. I have read the books. Listened to the experts. Followed the research. Downloaded the podcasts. Tested the routines. Bought the supplements. Changed the way I train. Tweaked my nutrition. Prioritised my sleep. Questioned everything I thought I knew about health and fitness.

Most importantly, I have tried it all on myself first.

In many ways, I became my own midlife lab rat.

Partly because I was fascinated. Partly because I was struggling with some of the same symptoms my clients were describing. And partly because I wanted to separate what genuinely works from what simply sounds good on social media.

As a movement professional, I assumed I already had a pretty good understanding of health. I have spent more than twenty five years teaching movement, training instructors and helping people feel better in their bodies.

What surprised me was how much the rules seemed to change in my forties.

The things that had always worked suddenly did not.

Training harder left me feeling more exhausted. Eating less did not necessarily make me leaner. More discipline did not always equal better results.

The more I learned, the more I realised that many women are spending huge amounts of time, energy and money searching for solutions that are often hiding in plain sight.

The wellness industry is very good at selling complexity. Midlife tends to reward consistency.

After a year of learning, testing and refining, here are some of the lessons that have had the biggest impact on my own health and wellbeing.

The first is that most women do not need another diet. They need more protein.

I spent years watching women jump from one eating plan to another while consistently under eating protein. Yet protein plays a vital role in maintaining muscle, supporting recovery, balancing blood sugar and helping us feel satisfied after meals. Once I stopped chasing dietary perfection and started prioritising protein, everything felt simpler. My energy improved, my cravings reduced and my meals became far less complicated.

The second lesson is that movement beats gadgets every single time.

I love wellness products as much as anyone. I have certainly purchased my fair share over the years. But very few things have delivered the same return as simply moving my body consistently.

Twenty minutes of intentional movement most days has had a greater impact on my physical and mental wellbeing than almost any gadget, tracker or wellness trend. Movement supports our strength, our mood, our energy, our confidence and our long term health. It remains one of the most powerful tools available to us.

Another lesson that surprised me was the importance of sleep.

For a while, I found myself becoming fascinated by cortisol. Every second podcast seemed to be discussing stress hormones and nervous system regulation. While those conversations are valuable, I eventually realised that many of us are looking for advanced solutions before addressing the basics.

Sleep changes everything.

It influences our appetite, our energy levels, our recovery, our concentration and our emotional resilience. I spent a lot of time searching for clever answers when often what I needed was a slightly earlier bedtime and a more consistent evening routine.

I have also learned that starting over every Monday is not a strategy.

For years, I approached wellness in cycles. I would have a brilliant week, a busy week, then convince myself I needed a fresh start.

What actually works is having a simple plan that you can return to again and again.

The women who seem to navigate midlife most successfully are rarely the most motivated. They are rarely the most extreme. Instead, they have systems and routines that make healthy choices easier. They remove the need to negotiate with themselves every day.

Perhaps the biggest shift in my thinking has been around muscle.

So many women in midlife are still searching for the fastest way to lose weight. Yet one of the most important things we can do for our future health is build and maintain muscle.

Muscle supports metabolism, balance, strength, bone health and longevity. It helps us remain capable and independent as we age. I often say that muscle is midlife insurance because the benefits extend far beyond how we look.

And finally, I have learned that motivation is wildly overrated.

Motivation is wonderful when it appears, but it is not something we can rely on.

Routines are far more powerful.

The women who continue showing up for themselves are not necessarily more disciplined than everyone else. They have simply created routines that support them when life becomes busy, stressful or unpredictable.

That, more than anything else, has been my biggest takeaway from this year of learning.

The answer is rarely another hack.

It is rarely another supplement.

It is rarely another complicated protocol.

More often than not, it is found in the habits we repeat every day.

Enough protein.

Regular movement.

Quality sleep.

Strength training.

Simple routines.

Consistency.

None of these ideas are particularly glamorous. Yet they continue to outperform many of the trends that dominate the wellness conversation.

If I can save you six months of searching, start there.

Focus on the fundamentals.

They work.

And they keep working.

If you are looking for a simple place to begin, that is exactly why I created Awaken Barre.

Discover the 4-week Awaken Barre Programme 🤍

It is not designed to be another fitness challenge or quick fix. It is a gentle but effective movement practice created specifically for women navigating perimenopause and menopause.

Short twenty minute sessions. Minimal equipment. A structure that helps you build consistency without overwhelming your nervous system.

Because thriving in midlife is not about having more willpower.

It is about creating routines that support the woman you are becoming.

And sometimes one small daily practice is all it takes to change the trajectory of your health.

Why so many high-functioning women suddenly feel mentally “off” in perimenopause and what the science says about protecting your brain for the future.

Last night I was sitting on the sofa watching a show starring Harrison Ford. Ironically, he plays a man living with Parkinson’s disease and struggling with memory lapses. At one point I found myself wondering how old he is now.

And then something strange happened. I completely forgot his name. Not in a casual “it’s on the tip of my tongue” sort of way. I mean completely gone.

I could picture his face. I could name the films. I could hear the voice but his name had vanished. My husband had to prompt me and the truth is, this is not the first time it has happened.

So what is happening?

For many women in perimenopause, this is the part nobody prepared us for.

Not just the hot flushes or disrupted sleep but the deeply unsettling feeling that the brain you have relied upon your entire adult life suddenly feels less dependable.

You lose words halfway through sentences, you forget names you know perfectly well.

You walk into rooms and forget why you’re there. You reread the same paragraph three times because your focus simply will not hold. And because many of us are high-functioning women used to coping, organising and performing at a high level, it can feel quietly terrifying.

You start wondering: Am I exhausted? Am I stressed? Am I burnt out? Or is something actually wrong with me? Scary ideas like early onset dementia start swirling.

What fascinated me recently was discovering that scientists have been studying this exact phenomenon for years and what they found is both validating and surprisingly hopeful.

One of the largest studies on women’s cognitive health followed more than 2,300 women through the menopause transition. Researchers found measurable declines during perimenopause in two key areas: processing speed and verbal memory.

In other words, the brain became slightly slower at processing information and less efficient at recalling names, words and recently learned information. Exactly the symptoms millions of women describe every single day.

And there is a reason for it. Oestrogen receptors are heavily concentrated in areas of the brain responsible for focus, executive function and memory, particularly the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

When oestrogen begins fluctuating dramatically during perimenopause, the brain feels it directly. This is why so many women suddenly feel mentally “off.”

Perimenopause is not simply a reproductive transition. It is a neurological one.

I think that reframing matters enormously because women are so often made to feel dramatic, lazy, incapable or emotionally unstable during this period of life when in reality their brains and nervous systems are adapting to profound hormonal change.

What I found especially reassuring was this: for most women, cognitive performance improved again post-menopause. The brain recalibrated!

But the research also uncovered something incredibly important. Not every woman recovered equally. Women who entered perimenopause with stronger cardiovascular health experienced significantly better cognitive outcomes later in life.

That changes the conversation entirely because suddenly movement is no longer just about aesthetics. Sleep is no longer just about energy and muscle is no longer just about how we look.

This becomes a conversation about protecting the brain we want to live with for the next thirty or forty years!

This is exactly why I believe the midlife wellness conversation has to evolve.

The Midlife Movement Method:

Inside MMM we talk constantly about movement as support rather than punishment.

That means not punishing ourselves into smaller bodies, not exhausting ourselves chasing unrealistic ideals.

Instead, we focus on supporting the systems that matter most in midlife:

• the brain,

• the nervous system,

• the cardiovascular system,

• metabolic health,

• strength,

• sleep and recovery.

Because the truth is, many women in midlife are already carrying an extraordinary cognitive load. We are often simultaneously managing careers, ageing parents, children, relationships, homes, businesses and endless invisible labour.

Then perimenopause arrives and the very brain we have relied upon for decades suddenly feels less reliable. No wonder so many women feel overwhelmed.

But perhaps the most empowering part of the research is this: Perimenopause is not simply something to survive. It is a window (albeit a chaotic one!).

It is also powerful opportunity to support future brain health through the habits we build now. Such as:

• Consistent movement.

• Cardiovascular fitness.

• Strength training.

• Blood sugar stability.

• Sleep.

• Stress reduction.

• Connection.

• Rest and nervous system support

Not extremes. Not punishment. Not perfection.

Just intelligent, supportive practices that help the body and brain adapt beautifully through midlife.

So, if you have forgotten names recently, lost words halfway through a sentence or stood in the supermarket wondering why you walked in there in the first place, please know this: you are not broken but your brain is adapting and with the right support, it is remarkably capable of thriving on the other side.

If you are ready to start a gentle midlife movement journey join me on the mat for Awaken Barre. A 4-week intelligent transformation for mind and body.

Discover Awaken Barre 🤍

Why so many high-functioning women suddenly feel mentally “off” in perimenopause and what the science says about protecting your brain for the future.

Last night I was sitting on the sofa watching a show starring Harrison Ford. Ironically, he plays a man living with Parkinson’s disease and struggling with memory lapses. At one point I found myself wondering how old he is now.

And then something strange happened. I completely forgot his name. Not in a casual “it’s on the tip of my tongue” sort of way. I mean completely gone.

I could picture his face. I could name the films. I could hear the voice but his name had vanished. My husband had to prompt me and the truth is, this is not the first time it has happened.

So what is happening?

For many women in perimenopause, this is the part nobody prepared us for.

Not just the hot flushes or disrupted sleep but the deeply unsettling feeling that the brain you have relied upon your entire adult life suddenly feels less dependable.

You lose words halfway through sentences, you forget names you know perfectly well.

You walk into rooms and forget why you’re there. You reread the same paragraph three times because your focus simply will not hold. And because many of us are high-functioning women used to coping, organising and performing at a high level, it can feel quietly terrifying.

You start wondering: Am I exhausted? Am I stressed? Am I burnt out? Or is something actually wrong with me? Scary ideas like early onset dementia start swirling.

What fascinated me recently was discovering that scientists have been studying this exact phenomenon for years and what they found is both validating and surprisingly hopeful.

One of the largest studies on women’s cognitive health followed more than 2,300 women through the menopause transition. Researchers found measurable declines during perimenopause in two key areas: processing speed and verbal memory.

In other words, the brain became slightly slower at processing information and less efficient at recalling names, words and recently learned information. Exactly the symptoms millions of women describe every single day.

And there is a reason for it. Oestrogen receptors are heavily concentrated in areas of the brain responsible for focus, executive function and memory, particularly the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

When oestrogen begins fluctuating dramatically during perimenopause, the brain feels it directly. This is why so many women suddenly feel mentally “off.”

Perimenopause is not simply a reproductive transition. It is a neurological one.

I think that reframing matters enormously because women are so often made to feel dramatic, lazy, incapable or emotionally unstable during this period of life when in reality their brains and nervous systems are adapting to profound hormonal change.

What I found especially reassuring was this: for most women, cognitive performance improved again post-menopause. The brain recalibrated!

But the research also uncovered something incredibly important. Not every woman recovered equally. Women who entered perimenopause with stronger cardiovascular health experienced significantly better cognitive outcomes later in life.

That changes the conversation entirely because suddenly movement is no longer just about aesthetics. Sleep is no longer just about energy and muscle is no longer just about how we look.

This becomes a conversation about protecting the brain we want to live with for the next thirty or forty years!

This is exactly why I believe the midlife wellness conversation has to evolve.

The Midlife Movement Method:

Inside MMM we talk constantly about movement as support rather than punishment.

That means not punishing ourselves into smaller bodies, not exhausting ourselves chasing unrealistic ideals.

Instead, we focus on supporting the systems that matter most in midlife:

• the brain,

• the nervous system,

• the cardiovascular system,

• metabolic health,

• strength,

• sleep and recovery.

Because the truth is, many women in midlife are already carrying an extraordinary cognitive load. We are often simultaneously managing careers, ageing parents, children, relationships, homes, businesses and endless invisible labour.

Then perimenopause arrives and the very brain we have relied upon for decades suddenly feels less reliable. No wonder so many women feel overwhelmed.

But perhaps the most empowering part of the research is this: Perimenopause is not simply something to survive. It is a window (albeit a chaotic one!).

It is also powerful opportunity to support future brain health through the habits we build now. Such as:

• Consistent movement.

• Cardiovascular fitness.

• Strength training.

• Blood sugar stability.

• Sleep.

• Stress reduction.

• Connection.

• Rest and nervous system support

Not extremes. Not punishment. Not perfection.

Just intelligent, supportive practices that help the body and brain adapt beautifully through midlife.

So, if you have forgotten names recently, lost words halfway through a sentence or stood in the supermarket wondering why you walked in there in the first place, please know this: you are not broken but your brain is adapting and with the right support, it is remarkably capable of thriving on the other side.

If you are ready to start a gentle midlife movement journey join me on the mat for Awaken Barre. A 4-week intelligent transformation for mind and body.

Discover Awaken Barre 🤍

There’s a version of wellness marketed to midlife women that quietly teaches us to distrust our bodies. We are told to:

Eat less.

Work harder.

Do more cardio.

Take more supplements.

Push through exhaustion.

Shrink yourself back into who you used to be.

And then women wonder why they feel depleted despite “doing everything right.”

The truth?

Midlife is not a discipline problem. It’s a recalibration. Your body is asking for a different kind of support now, one rooted in nervous system regulation, muscle preservation, hormone stability, deep rest, and sustainable rituals instead of punishment disguised as wellness.

Here are 5 of the biggest wellness mistakes women make in midlife — and what actually works instead.

1. Treating Weight Gain Like a Calorie Problem

Most women immediately assume they need to eat less. But midlife weight gain is often more connected to:

• cortisol shifts

• insulin resistance

• declining muscle mass

• poor sleep

• chronic inflammation

• nervous system overload

Aggressive dieting can actually increase stress on the body and make fat loss harder.

Instead:

• prioritize protein and fibre at every meal (ideally eat them first!)

• strength train consistently

• stabilize blood sugar

• regulate stress before restricting calories

Your body is not broken. It’s adaptive.

2. Doing Endless Cardio Instead of Building Muscle

Muscle becomes incredibly important in midlife.

It impacts:

• metabolism

• hormone health

• bone density

• confidence

• posture

• longevity

Many women are unintentionally becoming “skinny fat” — smaller perhaps, but weaker, more inflamed, and metabolically less resilient.

Instead:

• lift weights (at least 2-3 times per week)

• walk daily (aim for 6K – 10K steps at least)

• focus on body re-composition over becoming smaller

• train for strength, not punishment

Muscle is one of the most powerful longevity tools available to women.

3. Ignoring Sleep While Trying to Optimize Everything Else

You cannot out-supplement chronic exhaustion. Poor sleep impacts:

• cravings (if you are standing in front of the fridge at midnight it’s a sign)

• cortisol

• inflammation

• skin aging

• fat loss

• mood changes

• hormone balance

Yet many women treat sleep like a luxury instead of a biological requirement.

Instead try to create evening rituals your body trusts. Think:

• dim lighting at dusk

• protein-rich dinners (and don’t forget the fibre!)

• reduced stimulation (limit screen time at least an hour before bed)

• magnesium baths

• slower evenings

• consistent sleep timing (this is crucial even on a weekend)

Midlife wellness is nervous system work.

4. Believing Wellness Has to Feel Extreme

Punishing workouts.

Restrictive detoxes.

14 supplements before breakfast.

Burnout labelled as discipline.

This isn’t wellness. It’s exhaustion with good branding.

The women thriving in midlife are usually the most consistent — not the most extreme.

Instead, build elegant, repeatable rituals:

• daily walks in nature

• strength training that’s progressive and fun (think Barre with weights!)

• mineral-rich meals

• sunlight

• hydration

• boundaries

• restorative movement

• realistic consistency

Your body responds best to safety and stability.

5. Waiting Until You “Feel Better” to Prioritize Yourself

So many women spend years putting themselves last.

Then one day they look up and wonder:

Where did my energy go?

My confidence?

My vitality?

Midlife is not the beginning of decline. It can become the beginning of reinvention.

But you have to start before you feel fully ready. Small daily decisions compound beautifully. Its all about the 1% better every day rather than wholesale change in your lifestyle. That’s not possible or sustainable.

The women aging best right now are not desperately chasing youth.

They’re intentionally building:

• strength

• energy

• confidence

• beauty

• longevity

• nervous system resilience

And perhaps most importantly: they’re learning that wellness doesn’t have to feel punishing to be transformative.

Ps. If you are ready to start working with intention and in a way that is aligned with your body’s needs right now, then try my Awaken Barre Programme:

• 4 weeks of intelligent transformation

• 20-minute sessions that are all digital and can be done to suit your schedule

• Access to our SL community of like-minded women to support you

• This is just the first step in the Midlife Movement Method.

There’s a version of wellness marketed to midlife women that quietly teaches us to distrust our bodies. We are told to:

Eat less.

Work harder.

Do more cardio.

Take more supplements.

Push through exhaustion.

Shrink yourself back into who you used to be.

And then women wonder why they feel depleted despite “doing everything right.”

The truth?

Midlife is not a discipline problem. It’s a recalibration. Your body is asking for a different kind of support now, one rooted in nervous system regulation, muscle preservation, hormone stability, deep rest, and sustainable rituals instead of punishment disguised as wellness.

Here are 5 of the biggest wellness mistakes women make in midlife — and what actually works instead.

1. Treating Weight Gain Like a Calorie Problem

Most women immediately assume they need to eat less. But midlife weight gain is often more connected to:

• cortisol shifts

• insulin resistance

• declining muscle mass

• poor sleep

• chronic inflammation

• nervous system overload

Aggressive dieting can actually increase stress on the body and make fat loss harder.

Instead:

• prioritize protein and fibre at every meal (ideally eat them first!)

• strength train consistently

• stabilize blood sugar

• regulate stress before restricting calories

Your body is not broken. It’s adaptive.

2. Doing Endless Cardio Instead of Building Muscle

Muscle becomes incredibly important in midlife.

It impacts:

• metabolism

• hormone health

• bone density

• confidence

• posture

• longevity

Many women are unintentionally becoming “skinny fat” — smaller perhaps, but weaker, more inflamed, and metabolically less resilient.

Instead:

• lift weights (at least 2-3 times per week)

• walk daily (aim for 6K – 10K steps at least)

• focus on body re-composition over becoming smaller

• train for strength, not punishment

Muscle is one of the most powerful longevity tools available to women.

3. Ignoring Sleep While Trying to Optimize Everything Else

You cannot out-supplement chronic exhaustion. Poor sleep impacts:

• cravings (if you are standing in front of the fridge at midnight it’s a sign)

• cortisol

• inflammation

• skin aging

• fat loss

• mood changes

• hormone balance

Yet many women treat sleep like a luxury instead of a biological requirement.

Instead try to create evening rituals your body trusts. Think:

• dim lighting at dusk

• protein-rich dinners (and don’t forget the fibre!)

• reduced stimulation (limit screen time at least an hour before bed)

• magnesium baths

• slower evenings

• consistent sleep timing (this is crucial even on a weekend)

Midlife wellness is nervous system work.

4. Believing Wellness Has to Feel Extreme

Punishing workouts.

Restrictive detoxes.

14 supplements before breakfast.

Burnout labelled as discipline.

This isn’t wellness. It’s exhaustion with good branding.

The women thriving in midlife are usually the most consistent — not the most extreme.

Instead, build elegant, repeatable rituals:

• daily walks in nature

• strength training that’s progressive and fun (think Barre with weights!)

• mineral-rich meals

• sunlight

• hydration

• boundaries

• restorative movement

• realistic consistency

Your body responds best to safety and stability.

5. Waiting Until You “Feel Better” to Prioritize Yourself

So many women spend years putting themselves last.

Then one day they look up and wonder:

Where did my energy go?

My confidence?

My vitality?

Midlife is not the beginning of decline. It can become the beginning of reinvention.

But you have to start before you feel fully ready. Small daily decisions compound beautifully. Its all about the 1% better every day rather than wholesale change in your lifestyle. That’s not possible or sustainable.

The women aging best right now are not desperately chasing youth.

They’re intentionally building:

• strength

• energy

• confidence

• beauty

• longevity

• nervous system resilience

And perhaps most importantly: they’re learning that wellness doesn’t have to feel punishing to be transformative.

Ps. If you are ready to start working with intention and in a way that is aligned with your body’s needs right now, then try my Awaken Barre Programme:

• 4 weeks of intelligent transformation

• 20-minute sessions that are all digital and can be done to suit your schedule

• Access to our SL community of like-minded women to support you

• This is just the first step in the Midlife Movement Method.

I had coffee recently with a friend who’s a few years ahead of me in this whole midlife thing. We talked about everything: parents, our children, hormones, stress, loss. All of it.

She’s recently lost both of her parents, and somewhere in the middle of talking about probate paperwork and family logistics, she said something that really stayed with me.

She told me she’s been making a point of talking to younger women about menopause. Not in a preachy way and not to scare them. Just honestly.

She’s been telling younger friends and colleagues not to ignore what’s happening in their bodies and to get support earlier. To find medical specialists who understand hormones before they hit crisis point. To ask questions and to stop assuming they just have to “put up with it.” And it struck me how unusual that still is.

Most of us didn’t grow up hearing women talk openly about menopause. Periods, maybe. Puberty, sometimes (although that was also a little vague), but menopause? Almost never.

A lot of our mothers, and certainly our grandmothers, just got on with it and endured it quietly.

They carried on raising families, going to work, looking after everyone else while dealing with exhaustion, anxiety, rage, brain fog, sleepless nights and bodies that suddenly didn’t feel familiar anymore. Not, because they wanted secrecy although it does remain a bit of a taboo, I honestly think many of them simply didn’t have the information, and if they didn’t have it, they couldn’t pass it down.

That’s why this conversation matters so much now because women are finally starting to speak to each other properly. Not just about hot flushes, but about confidence. Identity. Marriage. Libido. Sleep. Strength. Mental health. The strange feeling of not fully recognising yourself for a while. The more these conversations happen, the less alone women feel when it arrives for them.

That’s a huge part of why I care so deeply about the work we’re creating with The Midlife Movement Method. I don’t want women arriving at midlife already exhausted, frightened and disconnected from themselves. I want them to feel informed and empowered with tools to support their wellbeing properly during this shift.

I want them to understand what’s happening in their bodies before they start thinking they’re failing somehow.

I want movement, rest, nutrition and hormone health to become normal conversations, NOT something women desperately Google or ask Claude at 2am wondering what’s wrong with them.

And I think we also need to start talking to women who aren’t there yet. Not with fear.

Not with doom. But with honesty, because preparation changes everything.

If someone had sat many of us down ten years earlier and explained what hormonal shifts can actually feel like, how many women would have suffered less in silence?

How many would have felt less shame?

Less confusion?

Less self-blame?

Maybe our mothers didn’t have those conversations with us because nobody had them with them, but we can do differently now. We can be the generation that talks, that shares information instead of whispering it. The generation that helps other women feel less alone in their own bodies and honestly, that might be one of the most important things we pass on.

Ps. If you want to start your midlife movement journey, join me for my 4-week Awaken Barre journey designed to meet you where you are and support your wellbeing during perimenopause, menopause and beyond.

Discover Awaken Barre 🤍

Somewhere along the way, women were taught that muscle was aesthetic.

Optional, a “nice-to-have” if you wanted toned arms on holiday photos. But the older I get, the more I realise muscle is essential infrastructure.

It’s not about looking good in a bikini at 45. It’s about being able to carry your own suitcase at 75. Get yourself off the floor at 82 and ideally, scale the wall of the care home at 85 if things get too bleak.

That’s the goal now: not skinny, not shrinking…capable.

Because during perimenopause and menopause, muscle becomes one of the most protective things we can build. It supports:

• Blood sugar regulation.

• Bone density.

• Metabolic health.

• Balance.

• Cognitive resilience.

• Energy.

• Confidence.

And perhaps most importantly, your independence.

The conversation around women’s bodies has been so focused on shrinking ourselves that many women are entering midlife under-muscled, under-fuelled and exhausted.

We’ve been conditioned to chase “lighter”, when actually, we should be training for stronger and the irony is that muscle isn’t masculine. It isn’t an aesthetic we need to fear, it’s biological intelligence.

It’s your body’s reserve tank, your insurance policy in old age. It’s literally your armour for the decades ahead. And no, this doesn’t mean you need to become a bodybuilder!

It means we need to work with resistance and weights as part of your workouts several times a week. You will need to progressively challenge your body in order to maintain muscle mass. I am a huge fan of working with just body weight and gravity, but I have also now seen for myself the way that progressive functional

You will also need to eat enough protein (and fibre please!).

Walking becomes the best way to get level-2 cardio and keep your system functioning optimally.

Sleep is ‘golden’, the body’s way to heal, build and recalibrate.

Recovery, rest, bodywork or just a simple 10 minutes with your legs up the wall.

It means treating your future self like someone worth preparing for because longevity isn’t really about living longer. It’s about staying functional while you do. If we want to thrive in later life we have to make the investment now in midlife.

I want to be the woman who can still hike, travel, dance, carry shopping bags and get herself back up after life knocks her sideways. And yes, if necessary, outrun authority figures in orthopaedic footwear.

So, these days, when I strength train, I’m not thinking about aesthetics. I’m investing in future freedom.

That feels far more interesting.

The Midlife Movement Method

Strength for the long game. Start your midlife wellness journey today with my 4-week Awaken Barre programme. Just $99 gives you lifetime access!

Discover Awaken Barre 🤍

Up to 60% of women in perimenopause report significant sleep disruption.

Not occasional restlessness, but persistent, pattern-forming wakefulness.

Falling asleep without any problems, only to wake in the early hours alert, overheated, or quietly anxious but with no obvious reason why.

For many high-functioning women, this becomes one of the first signals that something deeper is shifting, and yet, the advice we are given rarely evolves to meet this moment.

We are told to improve our “sleep hygiene.” To switch off earlier. To try harder to relax before bedtime. But midlife sleep is not a discipline problem (although all of these are important to the quality of your sleep), it is a physiological transition.

It’s a few complex interplay between hormones, nervous system regulation, blood sugar stability, and how we move through the day. Which means the solution cannot be singular.

At The Midlife Movement Method, we approach sleep differently. Not as something to control, but something to rebuild intelligently.

1. Hormones Set the Stage (But They’re Not the Whole Story)

As progesterone declines, we lose one of our body’s most natural calming agents. Sleep can feel lighter, more fragile. At the same time, fluctuating oestrogen impacts temperature regulation and sleep depth. This is why so many women experience night waking, overheating, or that unsettling sense of being “on edge” at night.

For some, HRT can be transformative, particularly when both progesterone and oestrogen are balanced well (always consult a medical professional if this is a route you would like to explore). Transformational as hormone support can be, it is only one piece of the puzzle.

Sleep in midlife is also shaped by the nervous system, blood sugar stability, and how we use our bodies during the day.

2. Movement Is a Sleep Strategy (Not Just Fitness)

This is where many women underestimate the power of what we do. Mindful movement is not simply about strength or aesthetics. It is one of the most effective ways to regulate the nervous system and improve sleep.

When you move well during the day:

• You build sleep pressure more effectively

• You reduce cortisol levels

• You create a clearer transition into rest

But the nuance matters…overtraining can worsen sleep. Highly stimulating workouts late in the evening can leave the body alert rather than calm.

The MMM approach is more intelligent:

• Strength and sculpt sessions earlier in the day when your energy is high

• Lower intensity, mindful movement in the evening preparing you for sleep

• Gentle stretching or breath-led flows to signal safety to the body getting you into the ‘Rest & Restore’ mode.

This is not about doing more. It is about doing the right kind of movement at the right time.

3. The Nervous System: Your Missing Lever

Many 3am wakeups are not random. They are often driven by a subtle spike in cortisol — the body’s stress hormone — combined with a nervous system that has not fully settled.

This is why breathwork is so powerful. Here’s how:

A simple box breathing practice (slow inhale, hold, exhale, hold) can shift the body out of its alert state and back into calm remarkably quickly. I like to use a 4-count for each part of the ‘box’ and within a short time you will feel the difference in your nervous system.

It gives your body a clear signal: you are safe, you can go back to sleep.

4. Blood Sugar and the 3am Wake-Up

One of the most overlooked drivers of broken sleep in midlife is blood sugar instability.

If blood glucose drops too low during the night, the body responds by releasing cortisol to bring it back up.

The result? You wake up.

This is why a lighter, balanced dinner, earlier dinner followed by something like Greek yoghurt before bed can be surprisingly effective. The slow-digesting protein helps stabilise blood sugar through the night.

It is a small shift, but often a meaningful one.

5. My Personal “Meno Moment”

There are a few things I return to again and again, both personally and with clients.

Magnesium glycinate is one of them.

For me, it has been transformative. Not just for sleep, but for recovery, muscle relaxation, and that overall sense of calm the body seems to crave in midlife. You can take it orally and of course pop it in the bath as well!

And then there is my slightly indulgent habit…

At 3am, instead of lying there in frustration, I reach for an audiobook.

But not just any audiobook. The voice matters. Choose someone with a smooth, lyrical tone. Someone your nervous system can soften into.

It becomes less about the content, and more about the rhythm.

A gentle anchor for the mind, pulling you away from anxiety and back toward rest.

6. The Environment Still Matters

Simple, physical details often make a quiet but meaningful difference:

• Breathable cotton sheets and cotton or silk (sexier!) sleepwear

• A cool, well-ventilated room

• Consistent background sound if silence feels too sharp (back to the audio book!)

In perimenopause, the brain can become more reactive to small disturbances. Creating a soft, stable environment helps reduce unnecessary wakeups.

And so to bed….

Please be reassured that sleep in midlife is not broken. It is simply asking for a different approach.

One that respects the changing body. One that works with your physiology, not against it.

When we bring together:

• intelligent movement

• nervous system regulation

• thoughtful nutrition

• and supportive supplementation

Sleep becomes something we can gently rebuild. Not perfectly. Not every night. But consistently enough to feel like ourselves again.

Ps. If you would like to start your midlife wellness journey with me then why not explore my 4-week Awaken Barre programme designed to get you moving mindfully and sleeping deeply again.

Discover Awaken Barre 🤍

The other day my husband looked at me and said, very calmly and kindly:

“I think you need to go and work out.”

And honestly? He was right, because if I haven’t moved my body in a couple of days, I can feel it. Not just physically but emotionally. I am basically a nightmare to live with if I haven’t hit the mat!

I feel shorter tempered, less patient, less grounded and definitely more reactive. My nervous system feels louder. My thoughts feel heavier and more repetitive. Essentially everything feels slightly more difficult than it needs to and I know I’m not alone!

So many women think exercise is about weight management, about shrinking, about changing how they look from the outside but ever since I began a retreat company (over 10 years ago!) and now that I and so many clients are in midlife, movement becomes something far more important. It’s about how you feel on the inside…

It becomes regulation.

It becomes release.

It becomes therapy.

Movement Isn’t Just Fitness in Midlife

There’s a reason your body craves movement during perimenopause and menopause.

Hormonal shifts can affect mood, sleep, resilience, anxiety levels, recovery, confidence, and energy. The things that once felt easy can suddenly feel harder.

This is why the old “all or nothing” approach to exercise stops working. You do not need to punish your body, but you do need to support your nervous system.

You need to strengthen your body while softening your stress response. You need movement that meets you where you are on any given day and that can vary hugely.

My Therapy Happens on the Mat

Sometimes I go into a workout carrying tension I can’t explain. I might feel tired and wired or just fatigued despite having got to bed early.

Twenty minutes later, I feel like myself again! Not because I burned calories. Not because I punished my body. Not because I “earned” dinner or a treat after class.

I feel like myself again because I moved stagnant energy. I breathed deeply and I came back to centre. That is the power of intentional movement.

The Midlife Shift

At this stage of life, exercise is no longer about becoming someone new although we are definitely still evolving!

It is about returning to yourself.

That might look like:

• Strength training that builds confidence

• Barre that tones and steadies (and is fun!)

• Walking that clears your mind

• Mobility that relieves stiffness

• Breath-led movement that calms anxiety

• Short sessions that fit into real life

Consistency becomes easier when movement gives you something immediate: peace, clarity, energy, steadiness and joy.

If You’ve Been Feeling “Off”…

Before assuming you need more discipline… ask yourself:

Have I moved today?

How does my energy feel today?

Have I breathed deeply today?

Have I given my body what it needs to feel safe and strong?

Sometimes the answer isn’t to do more. It’s simply to move gently and that could take place on or off your yoga mat.

And… if the people around you lovingly tell you to go and work out… Take it as wisdom shared and go and roll out your mat.

Your reset might be one workout away.

Ps. If you would like to move mindfully through midlife with me, my entry-level 4-week Barre programme is available. Part of the Midlife Movement Method I’m building to suooort women in this stage of life.

Explore Awaken Barre 🤍

There is a version of midlife womanhood that rarely gets spoken about honestly enough.

She is capable, intelligent, organised and outwardly thriving. She runs a business. She looks after her family. She trains regularly. She manages a full life with moving parts most people never even see. She is the one others assume has it all together.

And yet, privately, she has started asking different questions:

Why am I so tired?

Why does everything feel heavier than it used to?

Why does my libido feel distant? And has my husband/partner noticed?

Why do I need more effort for things that once felt easy?

Why am I coping… but not quite thriving? Where is the joy?

This woman is often told she is stressed, overcommitted, ageing, or simply needs to “look after herself better.”

Sometimes those things are true, but sometimes the real story is this: she is in perimenopause but the symptoms don’t always present themselves in the way we expect.

Many of us were taught to think menopause begins with missed periods, hot flushes and night sweats. We were given a very narrow picture of what hormonal change is supposed to look like.

For many women, especially high-functioning women, the first signs are quieter and easier to dismiss.

It can look like waking up tired even after a decent night’s sleep. It can feel like a lower tolerance for noise, demands and constant decision-making. It can be needing more recovery from exercise than before. It can be feeling physically fit but mentally flatter. It can show up as a nervous system that feels less buffered. It can also mean low libido, not because love has disappeared, but because energy has.

Often, your periods are still regular. That’s why so many women miss it. They assume that because their cycle still arrives, hormones cannot be part of the conversation.

When life is full, hormonal shifts feel louder and I think this is especially true for women carrying a lot.

Women building businesses. Women parenting. Women managing households, finances, relationships, travel, ageing parents, teams, calendars, logistics, investments and emotional labour. Women who are deeply competent and used to handling complexity.

I am to some extent, this woman and at thirty-eight, the same load felt challenging but manageable. At forty-eight, it suddenly feels different.

Not because I have become weaker. Not because I am failing and not because I have lost my edge. It’s because my physiology has changed.

Perimenopause is not simply a neat, linear drop in hormones. It is often a period of fluctuation. Oestrogen can rise and fall unpredictably. Progesterone can become less reliable. Testosterone may decline quietly in the background. Those shifts can affect mood, stress tolerance, motivation, recovery, libido and capacity.

Your life may not have changed dramatically but your internal resources have and it’s important at this stage to say that it is not about doing less. It is about doing things differently.

For years, many high-performing women I know and train have been rewarded for pushing through. We override tiredness. We optimise. We become efficient. We become excellent at carrying things.

But midlife often asks for a different skillset that has to be learned:

Not more discipline.

Not more self-criticism.

Not another attempt to force yourself back into an old operating system.

It asks for support.

I am having to make myself seek out smarter recovery tools. I am actively trying to set better boundaries (not easy when you are a people pleaser!). I am trying to have more honest conversations about what I can actually manage and where I need help.

When I train I want to do sessions that build rather than deplete me and my nutrition has to match my output. In practical terms that means a lot more protein and fibre than I thought!

I am also trying to create space for pleasure and for doing things that take me out of the everyday and out of my comfort zone.

And whilst I think we all need the right medical support when that feels appropriate, we also need stop interpreting every symptom as a personal failure or something to hide.

What has helped me rethink this season

The biggest shift has been understanding that energy is not just about sleep or willpower. Capacity is influenced by physiology, mental load, environment and the season of life you are in.

Sometimes what looks like laziness is depletion.

Sometimes what looks like low motivation is hormonal change.

Sometimes what looks like “not coping well enough” is simply too much on one nervous system.

That realisation is not limiting. It is liberating. Because once you understand the real problem, you stop solving the wrong one.

What support can look like

For some women, support looks like strength training and eating enough protein. For others, it means reducing hidden stress and delegating more. For some, it means addressing sleep or nervous system regulation. For others, it means exploring HRT and other medical support with a knowledgeable practitioner.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

But there is a common thread: women need frameworks for this stage of life that are practical, intelligent and rooted in reality.

We need approaches that honour ambition rather than assume we should become smaller and quieter with age.

If this resonates with you, if you are functioning but not feeling like yourself…

If life looks good on paper but heavier in your body…

If you keep wondering why your spark feels harder to access…

Please know this: you are not broken. You are not behind.

You are not failing at life. Your operating system may simply be changing.

With the right support, this chapter can become one of the strongest, wisest and most powerful seasons of your life.

Why am I writing about this now? Because too many women are privately struggling while publicly succeeding. I think we deserve better language than its “just stress” and I don’t think we should have to figure this out alone.

I also truly believe that midlife vitality is not a myth reserved for the lucky few. It is something we can build — intelligently, compassionately and together.

Ps. If you want to explore a different way to move mindfully in midlife come and try my new 4-week Awaken Barre programme: mindful movement designed for intelligent transformation.

A lovely question came into our community this week and it sparked a real debate (which I love) and caused me to go away and really think more about my answer

A member of our community of wellness warriors asked how many calories she might burn in one of our 20-minute Awaken Barre sessions, or in a 40-minute combination of Awaken + Core (did I mention she’s a wellness warrior!)

It is such a normal question and for many women, it feels like the most logical place to begin.

How many calories did I burn?

Was it enough?

Did I earn my dinner?

Will this help me lose weight?

Most of us have been taught to view movement through this lens. Exercise becomes a transaction. Food becomes something to offset. Our bodies become maths problems to solve.

But in midlife, this approach often stops feeling helpful. Not because calories do not matter at all. They do. Energy balance is real.

But because calories are only one tiny part of a much bigger picture and if they become the only lens, we can miss what matters most.

The More Powerful Question

Instead of asking:

How many calories did I burn?

Try asking:

What is this session building?

Because a well-designed session can do far more than create a short burst of energy expenditure.

It can help you build:

• muscle mass

• strength

• bone density

• balance

• mobility

• insulin sensitivity

• posture

• confidence

• nervous system regulation

• consistency

• self-trust

These are the things that continue working for you long after the class has ended.

What the Research Is Beginning to Show

A recent study comparing premenopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women found something fascinating.

When researchers matched women for muscle mass, body composition and activity levels, many of the metabolic differences between groups became far less dramatic.

In simple terms:

It may not be menopause alone that explains everything women are experiencing.

The bigger drivers may include:

• loss of muscle over time

• reduced daily movement

• poor sleep

• stress load

• under-fuelling

• changes in recovery

• shifting appetite and energy regulation

This matters because it changes the story.

You are not powerless. Your body is not broken and the answer is not endless punishment cardio or obsessive calorie counting.

So… How Many Calories Does a Barre Class Burn?

The honest answer: it depends.

It depends on:

• your body size

• fitness level

• intensity

• muscle mass

• effort (and this is a big one)

• whether it is strength focused or cardio focused

• your heart rate response

• how conditioned you are

Two women can do the same class and have very different numbers.

But I’ll also tell you this: A number on a screen cannot measure the value of improving your posture, strengthening your glutes, loading your bones, firing up dormant muscles, calming your nervous system or creating the habit of showing up for yourself. And those returns compound.

Why This Matters So Much in Midlife

In your twenties, you may have been able to chase short-term outcomes.

In midlife, we need to think more intelligently. We are not just trying to burn energy today.

We are trying to build a body that serves us for the next twenty to thirty years.

That means movement which supports hormones, joints, metabolism, mood, confidence and longevity.

That is why inside The Midlife Movement Method we focus on five pillars:

• Sleep

• Mindful Movement

• Rest & Illumination

• Nutrition

• Connection

Because no single workout exists in isolation.

My Answer to my Client

If you love data, there is nothing wrong with curiosity but please do not let calorie burn become the main measure of whether a workout “worked”.

Your Awaken Barre session may have burned calories. Of course it did!

But more importantly, it may also have strengthened your core, challenged your balance, improved your posture, increased your lean muscle stimulus, lifted your mood and reinforced your identity as someone who looks after herself.

And that is worth far more than a number.

A Better Midlife Question

So next time you finish a workout, ask:

• What did this build?

• How do I feel now?

• What future version of me is this supporting?

• Can I do this consistently?

• Did this honour my body today?

That is the shift.

Less punishment.

More intelligence.

Less obsession.

More longevity.

Less shrinking.

More becoming.

With love,

Ps. Our 4-week Awaken Barre programme will be back on sale next week. Stay tuned or head to my Instagram @chrissysundt for all the information on how you too can become a Midlife wellness warrior

There is a very specific kind of exhaustion that arrives in midlife. Not the kind you can fix with an early night. Not the kind that disappears after a weekend away.

It is the 3am wake-up. Suddenly your eyes are open, your heart is slightly racing, and your mind is already mid-list before your feet have touched the floor so you can go to the loo (again!). And the most frustrating part?

You were fine before. You used to sleep pretty well(apart from the disrupted sleep caused by babies and the odd big night out).

It took me a while to connect my persistent waking up with perimenopause.  I had this repetitive stress dream about the roof falling down.   At the time, I lived in an old house in the UK so this wasn’t entirely inconceivable but despite the reassurance of the builder and the roofer, the dream and the anxiety when waking up in the middle of the night continued.  So, I started looking into the ‘why’.

What’s actually happening (and why no one explained it properly)

This is not just “bad sleep.” It is a physiological shift.

As we move through perimenopause, two key hormones begin to fluctuate and decline:

• Oestrogen — which helps regulate body temperature, serotonin, and sleep cycles

• Progesterone — which has a naturally calming, sedative effect on the brain

As these change, three things happen:

1. Your nervous system becomes more reactive: You are more sensitive to stress, noise, light, and internal stimulation.

2. Your temperature regulation becomes unstable: Even small shifts can wake you (with or without a full hot flush).

3. Your cortisol rhythm becomes disrupted:  Cortisol — your stress/wake-up hormone — can spike at the wrong time, often around 2–4am.

So, you wake up. Not because something is wrong with you, but because your body is recalibrating.

Why “trying harder” makes it worse.

This is where so many women get stuck. I see lots of clients pushing through. Typically, women in this stage:

• push through the fatigue

• increase caffeine (my personal go-to!)

• exercise harder

• scroll late at night to “switch off”

All of which quietly signal to your body ‘We are under pressure. Stay alert’. And so the cycle continues.

The Midlife Movement Method approach

We don’t attack disrupted sleep with hacks.Westabilise it through three layers:

1. FOUNDATIONS (non-negotiable)

These are the highest-impact changes — and often the most overlooked.

• Consistent sleep and wake time (yes, even on weekends)

• Light exposure early in the day (this anchors your circadian rhythm)

• A cool, dark sleep environment (16–19°C / 60–67°F is ideal)

• Reducing late-night stimulation (screens, work, intense conversations need to stop at least 60-minutes before your set sleep time)

Simple. But powerful.

2. NERVOUS SYSTEM SUPPORT (this is often the missing piece)

Midlife sleep is not just hormonal. It is neurological.

We need to teach the body that it is safe to switch off.

• Gentle evening movement (walking, stretching, restorative work)

• Breathwork to down-regulate before bed (a simple ‘box breath’ is perfect)

• Not overtraining late in the evening

• Creating a clear “buffer zone” between day and night

This is where we start to see real change.

3. TARGETED SUPPORT (individual, not universal)

Some women benefit from additional support — but this is where nuance matters.

• Magnesium glycinate may support relaxation and sleep quality

• Melatonin can be helpful short-term for resetting rhythms

• Glycine shows emerging evidence for improving sleep depth

And importantly:

• Hormonal support (including HRT) can be transformational for some women and is worth an informed conversation with a qualified practitioner

This is not about doing everything.

It is about doing the right things for your body.

Here’s the MMM gentle reframe:

The 3am wake-up is not your body failing, it is your body asking for a different kind of support.

One that is slower. More intelligent. More aligned with where you are now.

Where we begin…

Inside The Midlife Movement Method, we start here:

Not with intensity.

Not with restriction.

But with regulation.

Because when your sleep shifts, everything else follows:

• your energy

• your mood

• your metabolism

• your capacity to train, think, and show up

If this resonated, start tonight:

Turn the lights down earlier than usual.

Step away from your screen.

Let your body land before you ask it to sleep.

We build from there. It’s the beginning of doing it differently!

I train very differently now than I did even a few years ago.

Less cardio.

More strength training

More rest (not my forte!)

And far more intention behind the balance of techniques and outcomes that I want from my own wellness routine.

Not because I have lost motivation. But because I finally understand what my body actually needs in midlife.

For a long time, I was moving out of habit. Daily workouts with high output and a reliance on cardio as the foundation. It was what I had always known, both personally and professionally.

But as I moved through perimenopause, the results began to change. My energy levels became less predictable. My recovery took longer and my body composition shifted in ways that felt unfamiliar. I realised that continuing in the same way was no longer serving me. That was the moment everything began to evolve.

Midlife Movement Requires a Different Lens

The mistake many of us make is assuming we simply need to try harder or do more.

But midlife is not about more. It is about being more precise about the blend!

This is where a more holistic approach becomes essential. Movement can no longer exist in isolation from the rest of our lives. It must sit alongside rest, nutrition, nervous system regulation, and recovery.

This is what I think of as the midlife movement matrix. Not one method. Not one trend. But a layered, intelligent approach to wellbeing that supports the whole body.

Strength Training Became My Foundation

The most significant shift I made was prioritising strength. Not in an aggressive or extreme way, but consistently and progressively. Because in midlife (and beyond), strength underpins everything:

- It supports muscle mass, which naturally begins to decline.

- It helps regulate metabolism and blood sugar.

- It protects joints and improves stability.

And perhaps most importantly, it builds a sense of capability and resilience that carries into everyday life.

Cardio Still Matters. But the Approach Must Change

In moving away from excessive cardio, I did not remove it entirely. Cardio is still a valuable and necessary part of the picture. But the way we use it becomes more considered.

Long, draining sessions that leave you depleted can work against us, particularly when stress and hormonal fluctuations are already elevated. Shorter, lower-impact, intelligently programmed cardio, however, can be incredibly effective.

It supports heart health, boosts mood, and improves overall energy without overwhelming the system. The goal is no longer exhaustion. It is balance.

Why Barre Is So Effective in Midlife

After more than 15 years of teaching Barre, I have seen its adaptability across every stage of a woman’s life (including my own). It has seen me through my 20’s, pre- and post-natally it was amazing and now in Perimenopuse.

I will actually say that in perimenopause that it becomes particularly powerful because it allows us to bring together multiple elements of the movement matrix in one method.

We can incorporate heavier weights to build and maintain lean muscle and functional strength that’s actually supportive in real life (liftings bags, suitcases, small dogs and children!)

We spend extended time in standing sequences, which gently load the joints and support or even build bone density.

My Barre Cardio format is low impact but high intensity, raising the heart rate in a controlled and time-efficient way that avoids unnecessary stress on the body.

The core work is intelligent and supportive, focusing on the deep pelvic floor and postural muscles so that you feel stronger, more stable, and more aligned.

And importantly, the choreography requires focus. At a time when many women experience brain fog, this kind of movement helps reconnect mind and body. It brings clarity, presence, and a sense of control.

It Is Not Just About One Method

Barre is a powerful tool, but it is not the whole picture. Midlife movement works best when it is layered.

- We need to walk regularly, without pressure or intensity. That time in Zone 2 is vital.

- We stretch to maintain mobility and ease which is why we build stretch and mobility sessions into every one of our programmes.

- We need to rest properly, understanding that recovery is essential rather than optional.

- And of course, we need to nourish our bodies in a way that supports strength and energy.

- Finally, we need create space for connection, both internally and externally.

Because this phase of life asks us to think beyond exercise alone.

A More Intelligent Way Forward

If what you are currently doing no longer feels effective, there is nothing wrong with you. It is simply a sign that your approach to your fitness and general wellbeing needs to evolve. Midlife is not about restriction or pushing harder. It is about refining.

Building strength. Supporting your nervous system. Moving with intention. And creating a way of exercising that you can sustain, enjoy, and benefit from for years to come.

This is exactly the philosophy behind everything I teach inside The Midlife Movement Method.

If you are ready to move in a way that truly supports your body in midlife, our programmes are designed to meet you where you are and guide you forward with clarity and confidence.