Hormones, Breath & Balance: How Hypopressives Support Menopause and Beyond
A New Approach to Menopause Support
Beyond Hot Flushes – Finding Calm, Strength and Connection
Menopause isn’t an ending—it’s a recalibration. A change in rhythm, chemistry, and connection. Yet for many women, it arrives with a sense of disorientation: the fatigue, the mood swings, the pelvic pressure, heart palpitations and the disconcerting anxiety that wasn’t there before.
The truth is, your body is doing something remarkable—it’s reorganising. The decline in oestrogen and progesterone isn’t a sign of failure; it’s your system shifting to a new hormonal balance. But when these changes collide with modern stress, lack of rest, and shallow breathing, they can feel overwhelming.
Hypopressives offer a different route through.
With our Menopause Support program, we offer a way to work with your body, not against it—through breath, posture and nervous-system awareness. The practice is gentle yet deeply effective, helping to regulate hormones, reduce pressure on the pelvic floor, and calm the body from the inside out.
The Science of Menopause and the Nervous System
Why Hormone Balance Starts with the Breath
As oestrogen levels fall, the body’s stress response naturally becomes more sensitive. Research shows that low oestrogen increases cortisol activity—the stress hormone—and changes how the brain regulates the autonomic nervous system. This can make women more prone to anxiety, hot flushes, disturbed sleep, and tension-related symptoms.
At the same time, studies have found that breathing patterns often shift during menopause. Shallow, upper-chest breathing can keep the body stuck in a state of alert. This ongoing stress loop affects hormone production, digestion, and the pelvic floor—especially when the diaphragm (your main breathing muscle) becomes tight or restricted.
Restoring deep, balanced breathing helps to regulate the vagus nerve—the communication highway between your brain, heart, gut, and reproductive organs. When this nerve is stimulated through calm, expansive breathwork (like Hypopressives), cortisol levels drop, heart rate stabilises, and your nervous system moves from “fight or flight” into “rest and digest” and social engagement.
This isn’t theory alone. A 2020 systematic review in the International Urogynecology Journal found that Hypopressive techniques improve pelvic-floor muscle tone, posture, and respiratory efficiency, while lowering intra-abdominal pressure. By reducing this internal pressure, the diaphragm and pelvic floor can move together more freely—supporting circulation and hormone flow throughout the core.
How Hypopressives Help During Menopause
Breath, Posture and Pressure – The Core of Hormone Support
Let’s break down how this breath-led practice works:
1. Breath Regulation
The Hypopressive breath combines a long exhale with a gentle breath pause (apnoea) that encourages the rib cage to expand laterally. This creates a natural vacuum effect, drawing the pelvic organs slightly upwards without strain. It’s not about sucking in your stomach—it’s about freeing space.
That movement helps improve oxygen uptake and carbon-dioxide tolerance, which both stabilise the nervous system and reduce cortisol. Over time, this helps restore the hormonal rhythm between the brain, adrenals, and reproductive system.
2. Postural Alignment
As posture changes through menopause, the diaphragm can lose mobility. Rounded shoulders and a collapsed ribcage reduce the space available for the lungs, and the abdominal cavity becomes more compressed. Hypopressives re-educate the body’s natural alignment. The poses lengthen the spine, lift the sternum, and restore the rib-to-pelvis connection—improving circulation and lymphatic flow, which are essential for hormone transport and detoxification.
3. Pelvic-Floor Lift
A 2021 clinical trial published in Women and Health demonstrated that women practising Hypopressives for eight weeks showed significant reductions in urinary incontinence and prolapse symptoms. The researchers noted improved tone and reflex activation of the pelvic floor without over-tightening—precisely what we aim for in menopause, when tissues may lose elasticity but still need responsive strength.
4. Nervous-System Calm
Each breath sequence gently coaxes the body out of chronic tension. By engaging both the diaphragm and the deep stabilising muscles, Hypopressives influence the parasympathetic system—the body’s natural relaxation network. This steadies mood, supports digestion, and improves sleep quality.
Ten minutes of focused practice can begin to lower stress hormones and regulate blood pressure—vital foundations for balanced hormone health.
Reclaiming Confidence in Your Body
Why Strength Isn’t Just Physical
Through Hypopressives, women begin to feel strong from the inside out—not because they’re “doing more,” but because they’re reconnecting.
When you realign your breath, posture, and pressure systems, you start to feel lighter, calmer, more energised. Posture improves, digestion settles, and your pelvic floor feels more responsive instead of heavy. Many clients describe it as a rediscovery—a return to ease in their own skin.
This kind of strength is quiet, but it’s transformative. It’s what allows you to walk taller, laugh freely, and trust that your body is working with you again.
Complementary Tools for Hormone Health
Movement, Mindfulness and Nervous-System Care
In my work with women, Hypopressives are often the foundation—but the full picture includes gentle, integrated tools that help your system thrive:
TRE® (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises) – Helps the body discharge long-held stress patterns and reset the nervous system, complementing Hypopressives beautifully for emotional and hormonal regulation.
Strength and Mobility Training – Builds bone density and joint resilience, particularly important as oestrogen declines.
Nutrition, Hydration and Rest – Supporting liver detoxification, hydration and sleep all play a vital role in hormone balance.
When these layers come together—breath, movement, nourishment, rest—you build true resilience. Your body remembers how to self-regulate, your energy steadies, and your mood stabilises.
Real Stories, Real Results
“After starting Hypopressives, my mood and energy completely changed. I slept through the night for the first time in years.”
“I’d been told I had to accept prolapse as part of menopause. Within weeks of learning to breathe differently, I felt lifted—literally and emotionally.”
“The apnoea breathwork has become my daily reset. When I feel anxious or overheated, I use it to calm my whole system.”
Working with Abby
Personalised Menopause and Hormone Coaching
If you’re searching for a menopause specialist who understands the whole system—breath, body, and hormones—I’d love to help.
Through 1-to-1 sessions, small group classes, or online programmes, I guide women in using Hypopressives, TRE®, and functional movement to restore balance and confidence.
Whether you’re dealing with prolapse, leaking, fatigue, or simply a feeling of being “off,” we start from where you are—and move forward together.
Book a consultation or explore Hypopressives for hormone health to find what fits your needs best.
Breath Is the Bridge
Your body already knows how to heal—it just needs space to breathe.
When you soften into that rhythm, pressure redistributes, hormones regulate, and strength returns.
Menopause is not a decline. It’s a new beginning and a time to explore, realign, re-energise, and reconnect with the power that’s been there all along.
