{"id":930,"date":"2024-03-31T22:39:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-31T22:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/?p=930"},"modified":"2024-04-01T21:13:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T21:13:17","slug":"circadian-rhythms-menopause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/31\/circadian-rhythms-menopause\/","title":{"rendered":"Circadian rhythms + Menopause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Here in California, we have just reset our clocks to Pacific Daylight Time. I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve noticed this yet, but as we age &#8211; that timeshift gets harder!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I recently shared a post in my Substack newsletter about circadian rhythm &amp; why it matters so much for our health &#8211; particularly in menopause. You can read it here: <a href=\"https:\/\/karenfriendsmith.substack.com\/p\/when-time-changes\">When time changes, do you?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, if you are trying to optimize your health, learning to support your circadian rhythms is key. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The change in hormones as estrogen &amp; progesterone decrease can lead to a disruption in your circadian rhythm &#8211; add something like a time change to that equation &amp; you&#8217;ve got yourself in a pickle!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Circadian rhythm helps keep cortisol &amp; melatonin in balance. If we want to manage stress &amp; sleep better, we need to do what we can to regulate &amp; support that rhythm &amp; balance. We can reduce a lot of our menopause symptoms when we do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few things that can help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Create a consistent sleeping schedule\/pattern. <\/strong>Go to bed &amp; wake up at the same time daily.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improve your sleeping environment.<\/strong> Think &#8211; Dark. Cool. Quiet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limit screen time on your devices<\/strong> &#8211; especially in the hours before bedtime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Get sunlight during the day. <\/strong>Get outside for some morning &amp; afternoon sun.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Avoid caffeine &amp; alcohol.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Eat a healthy diet. <\/strong>Avoid eating a few hours before bedtime.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Exercise regularly.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Practice relaxation techniques.<\/strong> One of my personal favorites &#8211; grounding. Take off your shoes &amp; find some dirt, grass or sand to walk around in for a bit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If your circadian rhythm has gotten a little off, a time change is the perfect time to recommit to supporting this important part of your health. I know I&#8217;ll be fine-tuning my own schedule to maximize the daylight hours &amp; use the dark hours to my advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you enjoyed this post, check out the full post <a href=\"https:\/\/karenfriendsmith.substack.com\/p\/when-time-changes\">on Substack<\/a> along with some great resources.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here in California, we have just reset our clocks to Pacific Daylight Time. I don&#8217;t know if you&#8217;ve noticed this yet, but as we age &#8211; that timeshift gets harder! I recently shared a post in my Substack newsletter about circadian rhythm &amp; why it matters so much for our health &#8211; particularly in menopause.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-930","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"category-lifestyle","9":"entry","10":"one-third"},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sunrise-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sunrise-600x480.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Karen Smith","author_link":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/author\/karen-friend-smith\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/sunrise.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1027,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions\/1027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itmaybemenopause.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}