Sauna and perimenopause

When I started looking into perimenopause and sauna, I wasn’t expecting much.

I’m 47. Somewhere in that grey area where you’re not officially menopausal, but things are definitely changing. Sleep is lighter. My joints feel stiff in the morning for no obvious reason. I run warm more often than I used to. Some days I feel fine. Other days I feel like my body has quietly rewritten the rules without telling me.

I’d heard people talking about sauna helping during menopause and perimenopause. I was sceptical. Heat didn’t sound like a great idea when hot flushes were already part of life.

I ended up doing a bit of reading before I booked. I came across an article on the British Sauna Society website that talked about sauna being used by some women during perimenopause and menopause, not as a cure, but as a way to support relaxation, sleep, and overall wellbeing. That felt grounded enough for me to give it a try.

Still, I was curious.

The first sauna session during perimenopause

I expected it to be intense. Sweaty. A bit performative.

It wasn’t.

The sauna was warm, yes, but calm. No rushing. No one telling me how long to stay. I sat down, breathed, and waited to see how my body reacted. I stayed for a few minutes, stepped out, cooled down, then went back in.

That rhythm turned out to matter more than the heat itself.

How perimenopause and sauna actually felt

What surprised me most was what happened afterwards.

I didn’t feel wired or overheated. I felt quieter. My shoulders dropped. My head felt less busy. That night, I slept more deeply than I had in weeks. Not perfectly, but better.

I didn’t suddenly stop having hot flushes. That wasn’t the point. What changed was how my body handled temperature. It felt less jumpy. Less reactive.

Over the next few weeks

I went back once or twice a week.

Nothing dramatic happened. And that’s kind of the point.

My joints felt looser, especially hips and knees. I noticed I wasn’t clenching my jaw all the time. Sleep became more consistent. I felt more patient with myself on days when my energy dipped.

Sauna didn’t fix perimenopause. It gave me a place to stop fighting it.

What sauna didn’t do

It didn’t balance my hormones. It didn’t replace medical advice. It didn’t turn me into someone who suddenly loves heat.

What it did was give me a predictable pause. A place where I didn’t need to achieve anything. I could stay five minutes or fifteen. No one cared.

That lack of pressure mattered more than I expected.

Why I kept going

Perimenopause can feel like everything is slightly out of sync. Sauna didn’t make things perfect, but it made things steadier.

I stopped seeing it as a treatment and more as a practice. Like walking. Or swimming. Something I do because it helps me feel more at home in my body.

If you’re curious, my advice would be simple. Go gently. Don’t push. See how your body responds.

That’s what worked for me.

If you’d like to understand how sauna can support menopause and perimenopause in a calm, pressure-free way, you can read more on the Menopause Sauna page at Sauna Hus.

About the author
Kirsten is 47 and lives in West Norfolk. She works full-time in a people-facing role that involves long days, plenty of responsibility, and very little sitting still. Outside of work, she juggles family life, getting outdoors when she can, and trying to look after her own wellbeing in ways that actually fit into real life. Like many women, she found that perimenopause crept up quietly, showing itself through broken sleep, temperature swings, and a general sense of feeling “out of sync”. Her interest in sauna and simple wellbeing practices comes from lived experience rather than theory, and she writes with a practical, honest approach shaped by daily life rather than wellness trends.