Perimenopause support: when you don’t feel like yourself anymore
Perimenopause is the transition before your periods stop, usually in your 40s and sometimes from your mid-30s. One of the first things women tell me is simply “I don’t feel like myself.” Sleep falls apart, periods change, hot flashes start, patience runs short, and the pelvis can start to feel heavy or leaky, often while lab results come back normal. I’m Chaya Leia Aronson, RN, BSN, a registered nurse and pelvic health practitioner in Haydenville, Western Massachusetts, near Northampton. I offer holistic perimenopause support that works alongside your doctor’s care, including if you take hormone therapy.
What perimenopause can feel like
- “I just don’t feel like myself.”
- “I wake at night with hot flashes and my sleep has tanked.”
- “I’m tired all the time.”
- “Small things make me snap at my kids and my husband.”
- “My periods are irregular.”
- “My pelvis feels heavy, and sometimes I feel something pressing down when I walk.”
- “I leak when I sneeze.”
Why does my pelvis feel heavy?
A heavy, dragging or pressing feeling, or a bulge you can feel, can be a sign of pelvic organ prolapse, when the bladder, uterus or rectum sits lower than it used to. It is common after childbirth and as estrogen drops. Please see your doctor to have it assessed. Alongside that care, gentle abdominal and pelvic bodywork, breath and posture practices can support your pelvic floor. You can also read my post on healing a cystocele naturally.
Hormone therapy and holistic care
Hormone therapy (HRT or MHT) helps many women, and it isn’t the whole picture for everyone. My work fits alongside it: pelvic health, sleep, nervous system support, herbs and nutrition, and space for what this transition brings up. I don’t prescribe, and decisions about medication stay with your prescribing physician. What I can offer is time to talk through your questions, feelings and desires about whether it is the right option for you. I always ask you to tell your prescriber about any herbs you take.
Perimenopause is also a time when older pain, overgiving and grief can come up to be tended, so that you can step into the next phase of your life with more power, not less.
How I work with women in perimenopause
- Womb Sanctum Immersions over 3 or 6 months, with bodywork, herbal and lifestyle support, and coaching between sessions
- Private sessions in Haydenville, MA or on Zoom
- Rooted in Rhythm, a weekly online movement class for pelvic health (relaunching soon)
How do you want to live into your next phase of life?
This work is for you if:
- You're navigating pelvic pain, hormonal change, or nervous system overload
- You're in midlife, or any transition - and done being told you're broken
- You want care that works in real life, not just on Instagram
- You're ready to come back into your body - without pressure to fix yourself
- You've tried the clinical route and the "woo" route and felt unseen by both
Book your free clarity call to begin the shift from dis-ease and discomfort to empowered health, vitality and pleasure in your body.
Claim Your Body, Claim Your Power
Questions women ask me
Can you help if my labs are normal? Yes. Many women I work with have normal labs and still don’t feel like themselves. We work with what your body is telling you.
Do I have to stop hormone therapy? No. My work fits alongside it. Decisions about medication stay with your prescribing physician, and we can take time to talk through your feelings and desires about whether it is the best option for you.
Do you work virtually? Yes, on Zoom. Bodywork sessions are in person in Haydenville, MA.
Start here: get my free Perimenopause Guide, three emails on metabolism, sleep and skin, or book a free clarity call.
Related questions: Why am I leaking when I sneeze, laugh or jump? · Why does sex hurt, and what can help? · Why are my periods so painful, and what can help?