Yoga For Menopause

You are not considered to be in menopause until you have missed your period for more than a year. Perimenopause, which can begin as early as age 40, is, in my opinion, a defining period. Perimenopause is a transitional stage before menopause, with symptoms similar to those of the start of puberty, such as changing bodies, fluctuating moods, and even pimples. Your body is going through a major transition, but like everything else in life, it will pass.

On the internet, there is a wealth of information about menopause. You can learn how to manage symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, weight gain, and others. They can't, however, tell you how it feels to be menopausal.

My own emotional journey has been about coming to terms with the fact that I am getting older. It's triggered feelings of fear and insecurity, as well as a sense that if I don't do things now, when will I do them?

As a yoga practitioner and teacher for over three years, I've learned to remain calm in the face of change. When I'm feeling overwhelmed by hot flashes and irrational emotions, I go back to basics. In yoga, this is referred to as "beginner's mind," and it refers to the concept of abandoning what I believe I know and surrendering to my body's natural wisdom.

The goal of menopause yoga is to stay cool, calm, and collected. You want to keep your nervous system balanced and use the practice to keep your body strong without overheating it.

The five yoga poses listed below are some of my favorite ways to approach menopause with grace and acceptance.

This combination of poses moves your spine through a range of motion, affecting both the front and back of your spine. When you open your chest in the cow position, you stretch the area of your body that corresponds to your sympathetic nervous system (what produces the fight-or-flight response). When you round your back in the cat position, you stretch the part of your body associated with the parasympathetic nervous system (the relaxed part of your nervous system). Your joints begin to dry out during menopause. Moving fluidly between these two positions massages the joints and tissues around the spine, keeping them soft, supple, and youthful.

The lunge stretch stretches the hip flexors and psoas muscles. The psoas muscles run from the lower back to the upper thighs. If you spend most of your day sitting, the psoas can become tight. When you are stressed, it also constricts. Menopause and its fluctuating symptoms can result in shallow breathing. Stretching the psoas releases tension and frees up your breath.

The fan posture has numerous advantages. Muscles shorten and tighten as you get older. The hamstrings and inner thighs are the two most affected muscle groups. Both are targeted by fan posture. Stretching is one way to have a direct impact on the nervous system. That's why stretching makes us feel so good. The fan posture is an inversion as well. When the head is lower than the heart, receptors that lower blood pressure, heart rate, and mental activity are activated.

Postures that open the chest stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, which helps to alleviate sluggishness and depression. Stimulating poses, such as the sphinx, are both energizing and rejuvenating. The Sphinx pose is a simple alternative to more difficult backbends.

This is my absolute favorite menopause pose, and it's probably the only one I'd do if I had to pick just one. It stretches the inner thighs, stimulates the front of the thighs, stretches the spine, and calms and cools the nervous system because the head is lower than the heart. It also revitalizes the pelvic region directly. If your thighs are tight or you have knee problems, place a rolled-up blanket behind your knees.