Willpower During Menopause: How Hormones and the Nervous System Affect Motivation
If you’ve found yourself wondering lately why everything feels harder than it used to, or asking where your willpower has gone, please know this first and foremost: nothing is wrong, you are not lazy or failing, or losing your edge. You are in midlife, and midlife is a profound neurological, hormonal and energetic transition that touches every layer of who you are.
The conversation around willpower during menopause often stays on the surface. It tends to revolve around habits, discipline, motivation hacks and “getting back on track.” But what if the real story lives much deeper than that? What if your changing hormones are directly influencing your nervous system, and therefore shaping your energy, focus, mood and capacity in ways that simply can’t be overridden by trying harder?
Because this is exactly what is happening.
Willpower During Menopause Is Not a Personal Failing
Willpower is not a personality trait. It isn’t something you either have or you don’t. Willpower is a function of the brain and nervous system, particularly the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for planning, decision making, emotional regulation and impulse control. During menopause, fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone affect this area of the brain, which is why so many women experience brain fog, mental fatigue, reduced motivation, emotional sensitivity and a shorter fuse for stress.
When we talk about willpower during menopause, we are very often describing a nervous system that is working much harder than it used to. A nervous system that is processing hormonal shifts, cumulative life stress, changing identity and often years or decades of putting others first. Seen through this lens, your struggle is not a personal failing. It is biology meeting lived experience.
Hormones and Willpower: A Constant Conversation
Hormones and willpower constantly affect one another. Oestrogen plays a key role in dopamine production, which influences motivation and reward, as well as serotonin, which supports mood, and GABA, which supports calm. As oestrogen fluctuates, it is common to notice that the natural sense of drive lessens, that things which once felt easy now feel heavy, and that your tolerance for noise, pressure and demands reduces.
This can be deeply unsettling, especially for women who have always considered themselves capable, organised and high-functioning.
This can be deeply unsettling, especially for women who have always considered themselves capable, organised and high-functioning. It can feel like you’re losing yourself, when in truth you are required to meet yourself differently.
The Nervous System: The Missing Piece
One of the biggest missing pieces in the menopause and midlife conversation is the nervous system. We hear a lot about nutrition, supplements, sleep and exercise, all of which absolutely matter, but without nervous system regulation these supports won’t land as deeply as we hope. A very stressed nervous system will drain your mental energy, increase cortisol, and makes decision making far harder.
When your system is living in survival mode, your brain prioritises getting through the day, not planning meals, sticking to routines or making long-term lifestyle choices. This is why “trying harder” so often stops working in midlife.
Why Pushing Harder Stops Working in Midlife
So now you are realising why ‘pushing harder’ doesn’t work like it used to. You may have spent large portions of your life running on adrenaline, people-pleasing and sheer determination. Midlife has a way of quietly closing that chapter. What once worked no longer does, not as a punishment, but as an invitation into a more sustainable way of living.
Instead of asking, “How do I get my willpower back?” a more helpful question becomes, “How do I support my nervous system so that motivation can arise naturally?”
Instead of asking, “How do I get my willpower back?” a more helpful question becomes, “How do I support my nervous system so that motivation can arise naturally?”
How Kundalini Yoga Supports Hormones and the Nervous System
This is where Kundalini Yoga becomes such a powerful ally.
Kundalini Yoga works directly with the nervous system and the glandular system, which includes the endocrine glands responsible for hormone production. Through specific combinations of breathwork, movement, rhythm, mantra and meditation, the practice supports the body in recalibrating stress responses, improving the resillience of your nervous system and restoring the flow of prana (life force energy).
I’ve seen again and again, both in my own journey and in the women I teach, how powerful it is when we stop trying to “fix” ourselves and instead begin gently resourcing the body. This work matters so deeply to me because I know what it feels like to be capable, heart-led and exhausted all at once, and I also know how transformative it is to feel steadiness, clarity and self-trust slowly return.
Rather than pushing you to perform, Kundalini Yoga creates internal conditions of safety and steadiness. From that place, clarity begins to return. Energy becomes more available. Choices feel less forced. Many women notice that after practice they naturally want to drink more water, move more gently, eat in ways that feel supportive, or go to bed earlier, not because they “should,” but because their system is communicating more clearly.
This is regulated willpower. Not gritty, teeth-clenched discipline, but quiet inner alignment.
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Reframing Willpower During Menopause
Reframing willpower during menopause in this way can be hugely liberating. You do not need to become stricter with yourself, fix something or override your body. You are being invited into a new relationship with energy, one that values listening over pushing and nourishment over punishment.
Midlife is not a decline. It is an initiation. It is a shedding of identities built on expectation and external validation, and a soft but steady return to inner authority. As you learn to work with your nervous system and hormones rather than against them, willpower stops feeling like a constant uphill battle and begins to feel more like a gentle inner yes.
Come Practice With Me
If you are moving through this season and recognising yourself in these words, you are so welcome to join me in my Kundalini Yoga classes. They are created with women’s nervous systems, hormones and real lives in mind. You do not need experience. You do not need flexibility. You do not need motivation. You simply need to arrive as you are.
Let the practice hold you.
From there, everything else starts to reorganise.
I am an Actress, Kundalini Teacher, Children’s Yoga Teacher and Mentor. I actively take Yoga into Schools to through the Mindfulness for Children Course I ensure our next generation know how to self regulate and live in peace.
As the founder of The Full Life Principle, and The Radiant Woman, I empower women everywhere to live a beautiful peaceful life based on their uniqueness and spiritual growth.
My passion is ensuring that you are able to practice your self-care and enjoy your spiritual journey. My You Tube Channel provides free guidance and classes.
