Seasons of Change
If you have ever felt a hot flash rise like a summer sun or noticed your mood dip with the long winter nights, you are not imagining things and you are not alone.
Our bodies are tuned to the rhythm of nature and that ongoing dance between sunlight, temperature and hormones can make menopause feel like a moving target. For Black, Asian and other minority women, that rhythm is even more complex and revealing.
Why Seasons Matter
Here is the science in plain language.
The same part of the brain that keeps our internal clock on beat, the hypothalamus, also runs the show on hormones and body temperature. When the days stretch and the air turns thick with heat, that inner thermostat starts working overtime. Hot flashes and night sweats spike.
Come winter, when daylight fades fast, melatonin and serotonin levels drop, pulling sleep and mood down with them.
Large studies like the landmark SWAN research confirm it. Hot flashes often flare during warmer months. But that is only half the story. For women of colour, seasonal swings land on bodies already carrying a heavier menopause load. Symptoms that start earlier, last longer and hit harder.
The Deeper Layers
Think about the stress we carry just moving through the world. Researchers call it allostatic load. The wear and tear of constant vigilance against bias and inequality.
That stress disrupts hormones, making us more sensitive to triggers like extreme heat or limited winter light. Add “urban heat islands,” where concrete traps warmth and green space is scarce and summer becomes its own kind of pressure cooker.
Then there is Vitamin D. Darker skin needs more sunlight to make it, yet winter light is fleeting. Low Vitamin D can magnify mood swings and bone loss just when we need steadiness most. We cannot overlook the health-care gap. Too many of us are dismissed or under-treated, left to manage seasonal stressors without the medical support we deserve.
Workplace Performance Impacts
Seasonal symptom spikes do not just stay at home, they follow us to work. Hot summer months can blur concentration and memory, making presentations, decision-making and stakeholder conversations more challenging.
Absenteeism often climbs during heatwaves or high-stress periods. Confidence and visibility, especially in leadership or client-facing roles, can dip right when we need to stand tall.
For Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women, the hurdles rise higher. Cultural stigma can silence open conversation or delay seeking help. The chronic stress of racism and inequality only intensifies symptoms because we are underrepresented in menopause research, workplace policies often miss our realities, leaving our needs and our brilliance out of the plan.
What You Can Do
Knowledge is power and power is ours to claim.
Summer? Dress in breathable layers, stay hydrated and know your cool-down spots.
Winter? Chase every ray of daylight, consider a light-therapy lamp and ask your doctor to check your Vitamin D.Community? Speak up.
Sharing how the heat or the dark days affect you is more than personal it is advocacy and it normalises what is too often dismissed.
The seasons will keep turning. But when we understand how weather and light play with our biology and when we raise our voices together, we reclaim agency over this transition.
Have you noticed your symptoms shift with the seasons? Like this post to show your support, share your own strategies or stories in the comments and pass it on to a friend or sister who might be navigating the same ups and downs. Your voice adds strength to our circle and reminds every woman that she is never walking this path alone.
