Episode 79: How Hormones, Stress, and the Nervous System Shape Sleep in Midlife

Living a Nutritious Life Podcast

In this exciting episode of Living a Nutritious Life Podcast, we are thrilled to welcome Sarah Petroski, a sleep expert, yoga instructor, and personal trainer.

About Our Guest:

Sarah Petroski is a Personal Trainer, Kundalini Yoga teacher, and Sleep Performance Coach specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the gold standard treatment for insomnia. She holds a postgraduate degree in Sleep Medicine from the University of Oxford and has spent the past 20 years teaching movement and mindfulness practices.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

- The real science behind why women in midlife often struggle with sleep, including the profound impact of hormonal changes and hidden factors like sleep apnea.

- Practical, actionable tools for improving your sleep (beyond good sleep hygiene) from developing a morning routine to leveraging powerful meditation techniques and exercise.

- Why managing stress and nurturing your nervous system throughout the day may be as important as what you do in the hours immediately before bed.

- The latest on sleep tracking, supplements, and the surprising role of ritual and mindset in rewiring lifelong sleep patterns.

Episode Highlights:

- Sarah shares her unconventional journey from sports TV producer to sleep expert and why her own lifelong battle with insomnia fuels her passion for helping others.

- A deep dive into how perimenopause and menopause affect women’s sleep physiology, the increase in sleep apnea risk, and why most symptoms go undiagnosed.