Yoga’s contribution to menopause

Menopause is that phase in a woman’s life when she stops to menstruate. It is a normal thing and is not considered a disease.

Though it’s a natural process that all women pass by at a certain age from 45 Years to 55 Years. At that phase, every female faces a drastic change. These changes led to severe symptoms

Let’s look upon some of them.

Menopause symptoms

1. Irregularity in Periods: Any change in the menstrual cycle of a woman is the first symptom of menopause. Some may get a period every 2 to 3 weeks; some may not get it even once in a month.
2. Lower fertility: Before menopause, a female goes through 3 to 5 years of perimenopause. During this phase, the estrogen levels in women drop significantly, reducing the chance of any further pregnancy.
3. Dryness in Vagina: During the perimenopause, women face dryness and discomfort in her vagina. As the estrogen level drops, women suffer from pain during sex called Dyspareunia.
4. Hot flashes: It is a sensation of hotness in the upper part of the body. It may start from the face then neck then chest and proceed further. skin becomes red and the women will start to sweat.
5. Night Sweats: This is a special term given to the hot flashes which occur at night. It is believed through different studies that night sweats and hot flashes may cause a problem for around 2 years.

Menopause body changes

Changes in women’s body during menopause

• Mood swings:   Lucy Puryear, medical director of The women’s place – Center for reproductive psychiatry at Texas children’s pavilion says that “women feel irritable, sensitive and more emotional during their menopause”.
• Adjustment in their age: During this phase, women start to feel that they are aging. Thus, sex drive reduces. Many relationship problems may erupt during this phase.
• Depression and anxiety: Researchers have proved that as the estrogen level drops, the brain receptors are affected. This led to severe depression and anxiety.
• The loss in bone: A research conducted by the Tokyo Medical and dental university dated March 22, 2019, stated that as there is a drop in the level of estrogen during menopause, there is a high chance of osteoporosis in them. Also, another study by the University of California – Los Angeles health science dated March 21, 2019, stated that menopause led to the gain of fat and loss of lean body mass. Thus, it’s very much important to take care of their health.

Let’s look at how to maintain a healthy weight.

How to lose weight during menopause

• Give yourself quality sleep: Giving rest to yourself and sleeping effectively is a good way to maintain a healthy weight. People who take less rest has got a high amount of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) in them and a low level of leptin (fullness hormone) in them and this causes overweight.
• Psychotherapy: The level of estrogen drops during menopause and this may cause Insomnia in the woman. Psychotherapy reduces insomnia in the woman. Also, many studies suggest that acupuncture helps in increasing the estrogen level in women to reduce their symptoms.
• Eat foods rich in protein: Protein-rich food helps in increasing metabolic rate and reduces the loss of muscle during weight loss.
• Get rid of stress: Getting rid of stress during menopause helps to reduce any heart disease. As well as, it maintains abdominal fat. Several studies suggest that yoga is the best practice by women during menopause.

Yoga for menopause

Let’s look upon some of the benefits of it😊.

• Helps in lowering stress:

Yoga helps in controlling your breathing. As a result, you will be able to get rid of any kind of depression or anxiety. It also fills your head with positivity.

• Reduction of pain all over the body:

During menopause, you may get many pains in your neck or back. Doing yoga regularly helps in reducing it. the sun salutation is the most famous yoga done to increase flexibility in your joints and make every muscle active in your body.

• The decrease in hot flashes:

Several yoga postures like seated half-bound lotus pose, half lord of the fishes pose and reclined lotus pose helps in reducing hot flashes.

• Reduction in blood pressure:

One of the common symptoms during menopause is night sweats. Doing regular yoga helps in reducing high blood pressure and helps in the circulation of blood throughout the body. Thus, helps in reducing night sweats.

• Helpful for joints:

A research paper published in the Journal of Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine stated that hatha yoga helps to get relief from joint pain and fatigue.

Thus, although some people may see yoga as a sarcastic activity. However, it has different health benefits more than you expect, especially for women. So, if you are a menopausal woman, start practicing yoga and see the huge difference that is waiting for you.