“Sleep is the battery of your body.”
— Jovanka Ciares

Sooooooo, how’s that battery working for you? Fully charged, 100%, ready to take on the demands of the day? Or in-the-red, cranky, nervous, and self-medicating with caffeine?

Poor sleep and increased anxiety are two of the most frequent issues we hear about from women who are in or approaching menopause. Estrogen levels decline, but cortisol may not, putting your fight-or-flight response in high gear waaaay more often than circumstances require.

 Being amped up 24/7 makes it difficult to wind down for sleep; exhaustion and sleep-deprivation make you even more anxious, and ta da! You’re caught in a cycle of wide-eyed staring at darkness at night, and dropping off at your desk during the day.

Like so many symptoms of menopause, sleeplessness can be managed. To get some help for this thorny issue, we turned to Wellness expert Jovanka Ciares. Jovanka is a former entertainment executive turned master herbalist, detox specialist, nutrition educator, and author.  She  studied nutrition with best-selling author Dr. T. Colin Campbell at Cornell University and life/wellness coaching at the Spencer Institute.

After years of suffering from IBS, ulcers and fibroids, Jovanka embraced alternative therapies like Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and herbalism. Her journey towards self-healing, peace and happiness became her motivation to inspire and support hundreds of others to do the same. She created a series of videos for , Gennev and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring her expertise to Gennev-ers. Click the image to watch her video on herbs and sleeplessness.

Poor sleep isn’t the only issue women in midlife face in the bedroom; many women also experience a decline in sexual desire. If you’re looking for solutions to regain your libido, Jovanka offers help for that too. Download her free ebook, 12 Libido-Enhancing Herbs, and discover even more reasons to go to bed early.

Jovanka is a featured expert at People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight, Whole Foods, Veria Living, Fox News LA, NPR and CBS Radio. She’s also a regular contributor in Spanish-language media outlets like Telemundo and is a contributing guest expert at The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, BlogHer and PositivelyPositive. Jovanka gave her first TEDx talk on “Rethinking Failure” in November 2013. Want more Jovanka (and who doesn’t, frankly)? Check out her creation: the Wellness Smackdown , an online wellness & learning community for healthy living, which was featured on the first season of ABC’s “My Diet Is Better Than Yours.” Jovanka also offers lectures, workshops and wellness coaching in both English and Spanish.