Menopause: Passion, Pleasure and Poise
Menopause marks a significant change in a woman's life. This is the Ascension to your next level of Goddess and should be a liberating level up. However, often times it can be a challenging crash with changes affecting every facet of your life.
Let's talk about how we can use intention, movement, and breath work to bring back passion, pleasure and poise and how yoga can help in your menopause Journey.
What is menopause?
A natural part of the feminine Journey. This is the path passed the fertile phase of life, when women stop experiencing the monthly menstrual cycle. This is diagnosed by 12 consecutive months without a menstrual bleed and commonly occurs somewhere between 45 and 55 years of age. Perimenopause, the crazy ride on the way to menopause where hormones fluctuate drastically can last up to 10 years. Meaning a woman who will be menopausal when she's 45 is potentially going to be experiencing irregularities in her body as young as 35 years old.
These symptoms could look like:
Hot flashes and night sweats
Vaginal dryness
Muscle weakness
Fatigue
Mental fog
Memory challenges
Decreased libido
Dysregulated mood
Anxiety or depression
Decreased bone density
Urinary incontinence
Changes and difficulty with sleep
Honestly, the list goes on…
This can get pretty overwhelming when you start considering all the factors. But one way to look at it is an opportunity to reconnect with our bodies which we so often disengage and disconnect from.
Our pelvises can be especially susceptible to the symptoms of these changes.
Decreased circulation, muscle weakness, vaginal dryness, all of these things and more can significantly affect our quality of life and absolutely affect not just our passion but our pleasure within our own skin.
How can yoga help?
So many of the symptoms that we are subject to in this stage of life are interconnected. That interconnectivity makes yoga not just an incredible tool to support menopause but one of the best tools. Yoga is itself interconnected, we combine intention, breath work, and movement which allows us to not just alleviate symptoms in our bodies but also in our minds and our energy.
Regular practice of yoga which can look like just 10 to 15 minutes a day is going to support:
Muscle mass keeping our muscles strong healthy and supportive to the structures of our body
Circulation keeps blood freely flowing with all the juicy nutrients our cells need to stay properly hydrated lubricated and mobile
Bone density by doing strength poses and stability stances is going to help create the resistance to keep bones at a healthy density preventing osteopenia and osteoporosis
Reduces stress helping mitigate and alleviate the symptoms of anxiety
Produces feel good hormones to help reduce symptoms of depression
Creates gratitude which also supports and alleviates symptoms of anxiety and depression
Build better breathing practices which helps with digestion, and circulation throughout the body, and reduces anxiety
Supports pelvic floor health keeping our pelvic floor healthy helps support our pelvic organs preventing prolapse and also supports pelvic continence preventing urinary incontinence
Good sleep hygiene helps with consistent and quality sleep
And that is just the general benefits of a regular practice in alignment with menopause and perimenopause symptoms.
When we dive deeper into the sister science of Ayurveda we can even consider how we would customize our practice to support our individual symptoms and needs.
For example, those struggling with hot flashes and night sweats could try some cooling yoga poses such as:
Seated wide-legged forward fold
Legs up the wall
Add additional cooling benefits by doing a cooling pranayama
Shitali:
Inhale through the mouth either through a folded tongue, pursed lips like you're sucking in a straw, or gently clenched teeth. Exhale out the nose.
Struggling with constipation from your menopause?
Include yoga poses to help with gut motility such as:
Supine twist
Deep Yogi squat
And add in calming relaxing breath that helps stimulate the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic nervous system also known as the rest and digest to get gut motility going
Bhramari:
With your lips sealed and your tongue gently placed to the roof of the mouth take a deep full breath in and hum as you exhale
Do you struggle with sleep dysregulation? Take time for grounding and restorative postures
Child's pose
Incorporate breath work that extends the exhale creating more quietness in the mind.
And perhaps even incorporate a yoga nidra practice.
Reclaiming your passion, pleasure, and poise in menopause.
This is often a negatively framed phase of life or just a completely ignored or even completely misunderstood phase.
But this truly is your Ascension to the next level of goddess. A time of profound discovery and connection. You can take back the power of your own body and the power of the inherent interconnectedness within you through supportive tools like yoga.
Yoga can help you
Rekindle your passion for life and your body
Rediscover pleasure in movement
Connect with the Poise you have to carry you through this new Journey
Menopause tool kit setting yourself up for success with yoga
Prioritize taking the time to move in the ways that feel good for you- this could look like a traditional yoga practice or bringing in your own flair combining it with fluid dance, adding in some wrist weights or ankle weights for stronger stability, this could look like adding an extra mat for a little bit of extra cushion and comfort
Use all the tools you need to make it comfortable. These tools could be cushions blocks straps or even chairs to give you more support, this could also look like using weighted vests wrist weights, ankle weights to bring more of a muscular challenge to keep your muscles strong
Take time for breath work- start your practice by connecting with your breath connecting with what it feels like to be with your breath and feel it flow in and out of your body. Hold this connection throughout your practice connecting breath and body movement allowing you to stay present in the moment and on the mat
Meditation mindful moments- give yourself time either at the beginning or the end of your practice to be mindful and meditate in that moment be with your breath be with the sensations in your own body and allow yourself to find stillness to sit in whatever that looks like for you.
Gratitude practice whether this is done on the mat or off the mat in the morning or before you go to bed take time to be grateful for your body as it continues to carry you, grateful for your mind as it continues to support you the best it can, grateful for your passions and curiosities, grateful for the things that bring you pleasure
Yoga Nidra: a powerful meditation style to help with sleep and rest Nidra literally translates to mean rest this will help with sleep support, anxiety, depression, brain fog, fatigue and so many menopausal symptoms
Ayurvedic eating. Consider looking into understanding eating balanced with Ayurveda and your body. Key things to always consider at this stage of life is making sure you're getting enough protein vitamins and minerals
Menopause is not an end but a beginning on a New Journey. Yoga can be a lamp light to help you illuminate the way down this journey as you reclaim and reconnect to your body's profound wisdom and take back control of your own Wellness.