 As we settle back into September's rhythm and Menopause Awareness Month approaches in October, it's time for some honest conversations about what's happening in our workplaces. In this blog post I wanted to share both my professional experience and personal insights. I was 52, sitting in my home office trying to save my failing events business during the pandemic, when that creeping feeling of warmth, and then intense heat started. This was a recurrence that was now starting to happen more often, the dreaded hot flush. As my partner used to say when he could also feel the heat radiate off me “Has someone switched the boiler on again?” The irony wasn't lost on me. Here I was, fighting to keep my professional life intact, while my body was going through its own transition. I had been blaming my mood swings and inability to concentrate on the pandemic, when in actual fact I had two major life upheavals happening simultaneously, and I had no roadmap for navigating either. During those incredibly challenging months (and years!) I started to think not just about business resilience, but about how we fundamentally misunderstand what women need during menopause, especially in professional settings. September Reset: Time for Your Energy Audit Just as I had to completely audit my business model when everything fell apart, women navigating menopause need to audit their energy systems. We can't keep running on the same operating system when our hardware has fundamentally changed. The traditional approach of push through, work harder, ignore the symptoms just doesn't work, and eventually, something crashes. When I speak to organisations like the Metropolitan Police or BT Group about supporting women through menopause, this is where I always start: understanding that this isn't about managing inconvenient symptoms, it's about recognising that the entire energy system has changed. The Professional Energy Drain Nobody Talks About During perimenopause and menopause, your body's energy production changes at a cellular level. Declining oestrogen affects mitochondrial function - literally how your cells create energy. This isn't about being tired after a long day; this is about your body's fundamental power source operating differently. Yet most workplace wellness programmes still assume all employees have the same energy patterns throughout their careers. We offer the same stress management techniques, the same productivity advice, the same work-life balance solutions to women whose entire physiological landscape has shifted. From my work with various organisations, I see the same patterns repeatedly:
When my business collapsed, I had to honestly assess what was working and what wasn't. The same principle applies to managing your professional energy during hormonal transitions. Morning Energy Assessment: How do you feel when you wake up? During perimenopause, sleep disruption is common, but are you addressing this strategically or just drinking more coffee? Your morning energy sets the tone for your entire professional day. Peak Performance Windows: Many women discover their cognitive peak hours shift during menopause. Instead of fighting this change, map your new patterns. When is your brain sharpest? When do you feel most creative? Schedule your most demanding tasks accordingly. Physical Energy vs. Mental Energy: These become disconnected during hormonal transitions. You might have physical energy but mental fog, or sharp thinking but physical fatigue. Track both separately and plan your workday accordingly. Recovery Requirements: Your recovery time from stressful meetings, difficult decisions, or high-pressure situations may have increased. This isn't weakness - it's time for adaptation. Factor longer recovery periods into your schedule. The Strength Training Solution we should all know What I know from my own learned experience and from working with countless women is that strength training becomes non-negotiable during menopause, especially for professional sustainability. This is not because you need to look a certain way, but because building physical strength directly supports mental resilience. When I was rebuilding my career at 50+, strength training became my sanctuary - not for vanity, but for sanity. Yet during my talks, or when I work with my one-to-one clients there is a recurring pattern of women doing more ‘cardio’ exercise, yet eating less, in fact the very things that will make their situation worse. Once they realise they should be working smarter, not harder, it is a lightbulb moment of relief. Strength training:
 Working WITH Your New Operating System
The breakthrough for me came when I stopped fighting the changes and started working with them. Just as I had to pivot my business model, I had to pivot my professional energy management. Strategic Scheduling: If brain fog hits consistently in the afternoon, don't schedule important meetings then. If your energy crashes after intense social interaction, plan solo work time afterward. Hormone-Aware Planning: Track your patterns. Many women find certain times of their cycle (if still cycling) or certain times of the month offer more mental clarity and energy. Use this information strategically. I like the app Wild.AI for this, I have found it so insightful. Environment Optimisation: Temperature control isn't about being difficult - it's about maintaining professional confidence when hot flushes are unpredictable (i.e most of the time!). Advocate for what you need to perform your best. Communication Strategies: You don't owe anyone detailed explanations, but having phrases ready helps: "I work most effectively in the morning," or "I prefer to handle complex decisions when I'm fresh." What Organisations Can Do From my corporate speaking work, I see the same mistakes repeatedly. Organisations focus on awareness without action, or they offer generic wellness solutions that don't address the specific challenges of hormonal transitions. The Problem: Treating menopause as a temporary inconvenience to manage rather than a permanent life stage requiring different support strategies. The Solution: Recognising that supporting women through menopause is a long-term investment in retaining experienced talent during their peak expertise years. The companies getting this right understand that small adjustments - flexible scheduling, temperature control, understanding that "working differently" doesn't mean "working less effectively" - yield significant returns in retention and performance. Your September Action Plan
When I lost my business, I initially saw it as failure. Now I recognise it as the catalyst that led to the most meaningful work of my career - helping other women build resilience through life's inevitable transitions. Menopause in the workplace isn't a problem to solve, it should be seen as an opportunity to demonstrate that women's professional value doesn't decline with hormonal changes, it evolves. Remember: your career doesn't end at menopause. Your energy system changes, but your expertise, wisdom, and capability can actually increase when you work with your body rather than against it. Companies who recognise this will have a significant advantage in attracting and retaining experienced talent. As we approach Menopause Awareness Month in October, it's time to move beyond awareness to action. Your professional life doesn't have to become smaller because of menopause - it might just become more strategically powerful. If you're looking for practical workplace menopause strategies or want to discuss bringing this conversation to your organisation, visit my website for resources designed specifically for women navigating career and menopause simultaneously. Because your strongest professional years don't have to be behind you.
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 The water was perfect. Not pool-perfect with its chlorinated predictability, but lake-perfect - slightly cool, with that soft feeling that only natural water has. When I slipped into the French lake on holiday two weeks ago, something shifted. This wasn't training, it wasn’t about heart rate zones or proving anything. This was pure, unadulterated joy. It reminded me how rare that feeling has become in our relationship with movement. Don't get me wrong - I'm not advocating for abandoning structured training altogether. As I’m sure you know by now, I am passionate to spread the message that as women we have specific physiological needs that require smart, targeted exercise. We need strength training to maintain bone density and muscle mass, especially as we navigate hormonal changes. We need variety to prevent overuse injuries that come from repetitive cardio. But the most effective training for women isn't about grinding through workouts you hate - it's about finding sustainable ways to challenge your body that you can actually maintain for life. The Joy Robbery Somewhere along the way, fitness culture stole the joy from our bodies. Movement became medicine we had to swallow, punishment we had to endure, or currency we had to earn before we could enjoy food without guilt. Women especially have been sold this narrative: your body is a problem to be fixed, and exercise is the tool to fix it. We've been taught to approach movement with gritted teeth and grimaced faces, measuring success by how much we can endure rather than how alive we feel. The irony is that this punishment mindset is actively working against us. When we approach exercise as something we "have to" do rather than something we "get to" do, our stress hormones spike. Cortisol rises, recovery suffers, and our bodies start fighting us instead of working with us. We end up in a cycle of doing more to feel worse. Finding the Edge, Finding Joy I discovered this by accident years ago in Scottish waters, long before open water swimming became fashionable. While others were doing laps in heated indoor pools, I was drawn to lochs and coastal waters that were unpredictable, challenging, and absolutely alive. There was something about trading the contained, controlled environment of the pool for water that moved, that had currents and temperatures that changed by the day, sometimes by the hour. Each swim was different and each stroke required presence and adaptation. The cold water demanded I be fully present - there's no room for mental chatter when your nervous system is recalibrating to challenging conditions. The unpredictability meant I had to listen to my body, adapt in real-time, trust my instincts. What I learned in those waters was that challenge plus joy equals sustainable strength. When movement lights you up instead of wearing you down, everything changes. My recent trip to France reminded me that I needed to shake up my routine a bit, to run on Hampstead Heath just because it was there and close to where I was going for my beloved dip in the ponds; to reacquaint myself with paddleboarding; to have a bike ride to an ice cream shop – mostly for the ice cream! The Science of Joyful Movement The research backs this up in ways that should revolutionise how we think about exercise. When we enjoy what we're doing, our bodies respond completely differently: Hormonal harmony: Pleasurable movement supports healthy cortisol patterns rather than chronically elevating stress hormones. This is crucial for women navigating hormonal transitions. Injury prevention: Variety and playfulness prevent the overuse injuries that plague women stuck in repetitive cardio routines. When movement feels like play, we naturally mix up our patterns, challenge different systems, and give overworked areas a break. Neurological benefits: Novel movement patterns literally build new neural pathways. Your brain thrives on variety and challenge, not monotonous repetition. Sustainable motivation: Willpower can run out. But joy? Joy is renewable. When you genuinely enjoy how movement makes you feel, consistency becomes effortless.  The Permission to Play
So remember that you don't have to suffer to get stronger. You don't have to punish your body into submission. You don't have to choose between enjoying yourself and getting results. In fact, the opposite is true. Your body is designed for joyful movement. Our ancestors didn't separate "exercise" from life - they climbed, carried, swam, ran, and moved in ways that were both necessary and naturally varied. I've been creating short movement videos on my YouTube channel that capture this spirit - what I call "functional play." These aren't punishment sessions disguised as workouts. They're mini movement routines that use whatever you have around (yes, even bags of sand or compost!) and can be done in just minutes in your living room. The point isn't to make these harder than they need to be. The point is to remind your body that it's capable, strong, and designed to move in beautiful ways. To rediscover that movement can energise rather than deplete you. Your Joyful Rebellion This week, I want you to try something different: choose one form of movement purely because it sounds fun. Not because you should. Not because it burns the most calories. Not to log the miles on Strava. Because it calls to you. Maybe it's dancing in your kitchen while dinner cooks. Maybe it's trying one of those short circuits I've shared on YouTube, using whatever you find in your garage. Maybe it's a walk with no destination and no step counter. Maybe it's swimming - in a pool, a lake, the sea - just for the joy of how water holds you. And yes, for me, swims in the North sea in my home town of Aberdeen bring me joy – which hopefully is captured on the picture in this blog! Notice how your body feels during and after. Notice the difference between movement that feels like punishment and movement that feels like play. Your body is not your enemy. Your workouts don't have to be battles. Movement should be a celebration of what you're capable of, not a punishment for what you ate. When women rediscover joy in their bodies, when we stop fighting ourselves and start respecting our natural strength and resilience, everything changes. We get stronger without getting exhausted. We become more consistent without relying on willpower. We model for the next generation what it looks like to have a healthy, joyful relationship with our physical selves. What movement brings you pure joy? If you're looking for some quick, accessible movement ideas, check out my latest YouTube videos for short, equipment-optional workouts that prioritise feeling strong over feeling exhausted. |
AuthorDenise Yeats is a coach, personal trainer, endurance athlete and avid adventurer. She is passionate about supporting women to achieve their goals, working with, not against their changing physiology. Archives
November 2025
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