What Is Yoga Nidra — And Why Every Woman in Menopause Needs It

It's 3am. Your eyes are open. Your body is exhausted — bone-tired, the kind of tired that should mean instant sleep — but your mind will not switch off. You lie there, heart slightly racing, replaying the day, worrying about tomorrow, wondering why a body that used to sleep so easily now fights you every single night.

If this is familiar, I want to tell you about a practice that changed this for me, and for almost every woman I have worked with since: Yoga Nidra.

What Is Yoga Nidra, Really?

Despite the name, this has nothing to do with stretching, poses, or anything athletic. You lie down, completely still, eyes closed. I guide you with my voice. You simply listen and follow — there is nothing to get right and nothing to perform.

It is sometimes called 'yogic sleep,' but that is a little misleading. You are not asleep. You are somewhere in between — deeply relaxed, fully aware, resting in a state your nervous system rarely gets to visit anymore.

Twenty minutes of Yoga Nidra is often described by my clients as feeling like two or three hours of deep sleep.

No equipment.

No mat required, even.

Just you, lying down, and permission to stop doing.

Why This Matters So Much in Menopause

During perimenopause and menopause, your nervous system is already working overtime. Falling estrogen affects how your body regulates stress hormones like cortisol. This is part of why so many of us feel wired but tired — anxious, on edge, unable to switch off, even when we are utterly depleted.

Hot flashes, night sweats, racing thoughts at 3am, that low-grade hum of anxiety that never fully goes away — these are not 'just in your head.' They are your nervous system stuck in a state of high alert.

Yoga Nidra works directly on this. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the 'rest and digest' state — which is the exact opposite of the fight-or-flight mode so many of us live in during this stage of life. Brainwave patterns shift toward the slower frequencies associated with deep rest. Your body gets the message: it is safe to stop bracing.

A Real Example

One of my clients, Georgia, came to me with headaches almost every single day. Within a few weeks of adding short guided rest practices into her week, the headaches became lighter and far less frequent. She told me once, that simply hearing my voice guide her through the practice was enough to start calming her whole system before we had even finished the session.

That is the quiet power of this work. It is not about pushing harder. It is about finally letting your body and mind stop fighting each other.

How to Start

You do not need an hour. You do not need a teacher training. You need ten to twenty minutes, a quiet space, and permission to lie down in the middle of your day without guilt.

If you have never tried a guided rest practice before, start small. Notice how your body feels before and after. Most women feel a difference the very first time.

I include short guided rest and nervous-system practices like this in every session I offer — alongside gentle movement, breathwork and other tools from my training. If your mind has been racing and your sleep has been suffering, this is exactly the kind of support I'd love to offer you.

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Despoina Samaltani is a Menopause Movement Coach with multiple trainings, who helps women in perimenopause and menopause ease pains and aches, calm anxiety and regain energy with short online sessions.