Breeze Through Your Menopause With Yoga

Yoga is one useful tool women can use to deal with disorders and diseases. One of these is Menopause. It is a biological process affecting women's hormonal systems which occur for women aged 40 to 60 years old. This condition ushers in physical, hormonal and mental changes in women. Not all the obvious signs reveal themselves in all women.

The most obvious and experienced of these symptoms are hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings, changes in sex drive, and backaches. From 55 to 65% of women undergoing menopause experience these symptoms.

At menopause, the ovaries start to have lower production of the estrogen and progesterone hormones. The diminishing production is automatically sensed by the pituitary gland which makes it trigger more production. An imbalance in the body then results. The fluctuating production of hormones begins 6 years before menstrual periods end and goes on until a year after the last stage. Thereafter, the lower production of hormones gets more stable.

Yoga can help ease the pain and other symptoms felt by these menopausal women.It is not common knowledge but Yoga and menopause are linked closely. Yoga provides the mental balance that is disrupted by menopause. Blood circulation is enhanced by the stretch and relaxation of the muscles by the different poses and this causes a rise in the cells' oxygen levels.

One of the early symptoms of menopause is insomnia, which Yoga can manage. There are postures that effectively result in a state of rest.

For fatigue and body aches, Yoga supported back bends can give relief. These poses open the chest and heart.Yoga can also effectively handle mood swings and depressions. The enhancement of blood circulation and respiration resulting from the chest expansion by these poses greatly reduce these problems.

Cardiovascular health, bone strength and density, and other mid-life and menopausal concerns are also manageable through Yoga. Yoga’s long-touted stress relief powers come very handy to women at this stage. The mind and body are put or resumed balance.

The mental/emotional and physical burdens are coped with by the women when the discipline they acquire from yoga endows them with control over their mind and body, thus enabling them to control their actions.

Being able to control the mind in this situation helps women be aware of their emotions and helps them avoid doing or saying what they would otherwise have done under the conditions of menopause imbalance. The rise and fall of hormonal levels and its consequences are controllable through Yoga postures, at the same time giving women rest and serenity.

Several Yoga poses that are beneficial to menopausal women are:

- Goddess pose or Supta Baddha Konasana, for a reload of necessary energy stock

- Adho Mukha Virasana, allows one to manage emotions, to ease the mind and nerves and drop blood pressure

- Adho Mukha Svanasana, a posture that's among the most effective in increasing blood flow to the brain and counteracting a waning memory

- Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, balances blood pressure and hormonal emission in the body, thus calms the heart, mind and nervous system, and effectively controls mood swings, hot flashes and headaches

These are just among the many Yoga positions that would benefit menopausal women. It is hoped that you have seen how Yoga can affect the various manifestations of the menopause symptoms that women experience.

One of the finest health blogs I have found is Kamloops Yoga, which is an extraordinary mix of yoga and exercise.