The 7 Types of Rest Women in Menopause Actually Need

Why exhaustion in midlife isn’t just about sleep—and how to restore your energy

Most of us were taught that rest means sleep—that if you’re exhausted, you just need to go to bed earlier.

But if you’re in perimenopause or postmenopause, you know it’s not that simple. Even with 8 hours of sleep, you can still wake up feeling wired, foggy, or completely drained.

That’s because sleep is only part of the story. In midlife, shifting hormones, heightened stress, and nervous system changes mean your body and mind are craving different kinds of rest—rest that goes beyond closing your eyes.

Rest that looks like stepping away from overstimulation.
Rest that feels like finally letting your guard down.
Rest that helps your hormones, nervous system, and energy actually reset.

If you’ve been feeling worn out no matter how early you go to bed, maybe what you need isn’t more sleep—but a different kind of pause.

Based on the framework from Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, here’s how the 7 types of rest can restore balance during menopause.

1. Physical Rest

Not just sleep, but movement that restores instead of depletes. Gentle stretching, yoga, walks, or simply lying still can calm cortisol and reduce the joint pain and fatigue many women feel in midlife.

2. Mental Rest

If brain fog has you spinning through endless to-dos, mental rest is what you need. Short pauses, journaling, or even a “brain dump” before bed can ease racing thoughts that are so common in menopause.

3. Sensory Rest

Screens, notifications, and constant noise make your nervous system even more reactive when estrogen is lower. Closing your eyes, dimming lights, or unplugging from technology restores calm and reduces anxiety.

4. Creative Rest

When you’re always problem-solving, even joy can feel out of reach. Creative rest looks like listening to music, reading poetry, or spending time in nature—activities that reawaken inspiration and soften the weight of stress.

5. Emotional Rest

Holding it all together for everyone else is exhausting. In menopause, when mood swings and irritability are amplified, emotional rest might mean confiding in a trusted friend, journaling honestly, or letting yourself not be okay for once.

6. Social Rest

Not every relationship fills you up. Social rest means spending time with people who restore you—and setting boundaries with those who drain you. In menopause, this can be one of the most powerful stress-relievers of all.

7. Spiritual Rest

When midlife feels hollow or directionless, spiritual rest reconnects you to meaning. Whether through prayer, meditation, time in nature, or simple reflection, this kind of rest grounds you beyond symptoms and circumstances.

Final Thought

You don’t need to chase all seven kinds of rest at once. You don’t need to overhaul your life to begin feeling better.

You just need to notice:
Where are you most depleted?
Which kind of rest does your body—and your hormones—long for?

When you start meeting your body’s true need for rest, exhaustion softens, symptoms calm, and you finally begin to feel like yourself again.

👉 Want more strategies to calm stress and support your hormones in menopause? Join me and 10 experts at the free Menopause Reimagined summit (Available week of 10/6/25 ONLY): menopausereimagined.co