Calm Your Nervous System During Menopause

Many successful women have spent years becoming very good at coping.

Deadlines? Handle them.

Family crisis? Sort it out.

Too much work? Work harder.

Exhausted? Keep going.

But there comes a point when the body begins asking for something different.

May Cheung’s approach to hormonal wellbeing places particular importance on the relationship between stress and the nervous system. Her work combines Traditional East Asian Medicine, breathwork, nervous-system regulation and transformational wellbeing.

And one of the simplest places to begin is with something you are already doing thousands of times every day.

Breathing.

Three Breaths Can Become a Ritual

In May’s original article, she suggests setting a gentle hourly reminder and using it as a cue to take three slow, focused breaths.

That’s it.

You don’t need special equipment. You don’t need to leave the office. And you don’t need to be good at meditation.

When the reminder appears, stop what you’re doing for a moment.

Relax your shoulders.

Take three slow breaths.

Then continue with your day.

The value is partly in creating a repeated signal that reminds you to check in with yourself rather than remaining on autopilot from morning until evening.

Try May’s Ear-Massage Technique

May also suggests a discreet technique when you begin feeling hot or anxious.

Using your thumb and forefinger, gently massage the top of both ears with small circular movements for around 30–60 seconds. May uses this as an acupressure-based calming practice within her Traditional East Asian Medicine approach.

It’s subtle enough to use at your desk or during a busy day.

Stop Fighting Your Body

Perhaps the most important part of May’s message isn’t the breathing technique or the ear massage.

It’s the philosophy underneath them.

When your body changes during midlife, the answer doesn’t always have to be to push harder.

Sometimes the more powerful response is curiosity:

What is my body asking for right now?

Rest? Food? Movement? A boundary? A few quiet minutes?

You have spent years listening to everyone else’s needs.

Perhaps menopause is also an invitation to begin listening more closely to your own.

Your body isn’t failing you. It’s asking to be heard.

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