Yoga for Menopause

If you are a menopausal women--fully or still on your way to that point via a trying peri-menopausal transition--consider doing yoga as a way to hang on to your sanity as well as maintaining a healthy body during this phase of your life. The benefits to doing yoga are tremendous and you even get to do most of the postures while sitting or lying down.

Benefits

• According to Suza Francina, certified Iyengar yoga instructor, practicing yoga helps women and men cope better with stress and anxiety and helps relieve physical symptoms if a woman is still in the peri-menopausal stage. In addition to the physical exercise, yoga practitioners learn how to breathe and relax, which is an invaluable lesson to learn if you are struggling with physical and emotional issues. Yoga techniques teach an individual how to concentrate, focus and slow down.

Upside Down

• When you do inverted postures in yoga, which means that your head is lower than your heart, this will help stimulate the pituitary gland. This gland controls sugar levels and body temperature. Many menopausal women struggle with hot flashes, night sweats and some develop insulin resistance, which is a whole other set of problems to deal with. Doing yoga regularly may help ward off these issues.

More Reasons to Invert

• Postures such as downward-facing dog, the headstand and shoulder stand are inverted postures. When you execute these poses you are reversing the blood flow, which has an effect (a good one) on the endocrine system that produces hormones. When the body is inverted, this helps prevent fluid retention. Furthermore, yogis believe that inverted postures benefit the immune system.

Twist

• Twisting postures are believed to increase estrogen levels. If your estrogen has gone kaput, which happens during menopause, doing yoga may jump-start it.

Banish Bloating and Fatigue

• If you are experiencing bloating and fatigue, inverted postures will boost the blood flow to your brain, combating fuzzy brain syndrome and improve your circulation. When you turn upside down, this massages your pelvic area and abdomen and lessens bloat.

Rest Your Legs

• Many yoga postures are done lying down. This allows your legs to relax and will help you overcome any fatigue you are experiencing.

Age Does Not Matter

• Consider joining a yoga class. If you have physical limitations, such as arthritis, tell your instructor and she will tell you how to accommodate and work around these infirmities (and, hopefully, the pains you are suffering will decrease as you practice yoga). Do keep in mind, however, that your age and your menopausal condition, which is a normal phase in every woman's life, should not preclude you from doing yoga. In fact, your age is all the more reason why you should be doing it.