Why Home Yoga Works Best In Autumn / Winter

Ever booked a yoga class for the morning and then when it rolls around, all you want to do is stay tucked up at home? When the dark mornings roll in and energy dips, even the best intentions start to fade. That’s exactly why home yoga is a game-changer - especially during menopause.

When you practice at home, you can adapt to how you actually feel, not how you think you should feel. Some days that might mean a few stretches in pyjamas with the dog watching, other days it might be a full flow. And when the seasons change - colder mornings, shorter days, restless nights - you can adjust your practice on the spot without pressure, guilt, or judgment.

Menopause already brings enough unpredictability: poor sleep, joint pain, fluctuating moods, and energy that changes by the hour. Add seasonal shifts to that mix, and it’s no wonder consistency feels impossible. But home yoga gives you something most women don’t realise they’re missing - control. The ability to move, rest, or restore based on what your body needs right now.

Why Autumn / Winter Affect Us More in Menopause

Our bodies naturally respond to changes in light and temperature, but sadly seasonal changes can worsen our menopause symptoms. Hormonal fluctuations make your internal thermostat less stable, your mood more sensitive, and your sleep more fragile. In autumn and winter, you might notice:

• Increased perimenopause fatigue - darker days mean lower energy and slower motivation.
• Increased joint stiffness - the cold can exaggerate menopause joint pain and make mornings tougher.
• Disrupted sleep - changes in daylight can throw off your sleep rhythm, and can exacerbate sleep problems with perimenopause insomnia becoming more common.
• Low mood and irritability - reduced sunlight affects serotonin, making you more prone to mood dips.

These shifts are completely normal - but they can leave you feeling frustrated, unmotivated, or even like your body’s working against you. That’s where a home yoga practice really helps.

Why A Home Yoga Practice Works Better

When you practise at home, you remove all the barriers that stop you from showing up - travel, timetables, self-consciousness, or cold studios. You can wear what you like, stop when you need to, and build consistency one short session at a time.

You don’t need to power through; you just need to keep going in a way that feels doable. Home yoga meets you where you are.

Here’s how you can adjust your yoga with the seasons:

Autumn and Winter: Slow, Soft, and Supportive

This is your time to turn inward. Your body wants warmth, stillness, and recovery - not intensity or endless flows. Menopause Yoga encompasses a range of styles that enable you to do just that.

Yin Yoga: Relieves joint stiffness and releases fascia tension caused by the cold. By holding poses for longer in Yin Yoga, it encourages flexibility and calm, perfect when you wake up tight or sluggish.

Restorative Yoga: When fatigue or anxiety hits, Restorative Yoga is like pressing pause. Supported by cushions and blankets, you rest in each pose long enough to truly switch off your stress response and calm the nervous system.

Yoga Nidra: If you struggle with menopause sleep problems, Yoga Nidra is the fix. Twenty minutes of guided relaxation can feel like hours of deep rest. Ideal for those nights when your mind won’t switch off.

Gentle Flow Yoga: for the days when your body craves movement, this is the time practice gentle and slow Vinyasa yoga to help build strength and stamina, and to blow away those cobwebs.

The beauty of practicing yoga for menopause at home? You can decide in the moment. If you’re exhausted, roll out your mat and do Yoga Nidra instead of a flow. If you’re aching, choose Yin Yoga. If you just need peace, Restorative yoga will hold you. No guilt, no missing classes - just flexibility that works with your energy instead of against it.

Creating a Home Space That Works

You don’t need a dedicated yoga room or expensive equipment. A mat, a blanket, and a warm corner are enough. Add soft light, calming music, or a candle, and you’ll naturally start to feel more grounded.

The key is to remove obstacles: keep your mat rolled out if you can, schedule your practice for the time of day you feel most alert, and remind yourself that five minutes is better than none. Once you’re on the mat, your body will tell you what it needs.

The Real Reason Home Yoga Works in Menopause

Menopause teaches you that your energy isn’t constant - and that’s not failure, that’s feedback. Practicing yoga for menopause at home gives you the space to respond to that feedback with compassion instead of criticism.

So many women in menopause struggle to stay consistent with studio classes - that's because life, hormones, and seasons don’t run on a schedule. But when yoga becomes something you can do at home, in your own time, it stops being another task and starts becoming a lifeline.

So, as the days grow shorter and your motivation wavers, don’t give up - adapt.

Practicing menopause yoga at home will meet you exactly where you are and carry you through every season - of the year, and of your life.

Discover yoga for menopause in our online yoga studio, where you’ll find a wide selection of classes, yoga sequences, and tutorials to suit all needs and styles. Whether you prefer gentle flows, energising vinyasa, or calming restorative sessions, there’s something for everyone. You can also follow our weekly calendars through our highly-successful Radiant Reset programme, designed to help you stay consistent, reconnect with your body, boost your energy, and find balance - all from the comfort of home. 

New to yoga? Download our FREE Beginners Bundle for Yoga for beginners at home and let us guide you to take your first steps on the mat.  

About Julie Ann Garrido:

After menopause symptoms disrupted her life, Julie Ann Garrido turned to yoga and found a natural solution that restored her energy, confidence, and wellbeing - a solution that she'd been searching for over many years.

After certifying as one of only 700 menopause yoga teachers worldwide, Julie embarked on helping other women and founded an online yoga for menopause studio that brings affordable, beginner-friendly yoga directly to their home.

Julie's mission is clear: to help women navigate menopause with yoga and other natural solutions and to help them feel better FAST.