Yoga is a holistic approach to our wellbeing. It affects the body as a whole, meaning that every system of the body is positively affected at the same time.
We tend to think of yoga as just physical movements, but yoga is so much more than that. It’s centred around breathing and focus. This combination affects all the systems of the body: the brain, the nervous system, the digestive system, the immune system, to name a few. And they are all affected at once.
Meanwhile, women going through menopause usually experience a number of symptoms at the same time. In order to ease the symptoms simultaneously, what’s needed is a form of movement that affects every system of the body at the same time. Yoga can help with this.
For example, a common symptom of menopause is hot flushes. Hot flushes can make women feel stressed, as their temperature rises, their cheeks flush and they start sweating. This stress exacerbates the hot flush and prolongs it.
In yoga, there is a breathing technique that instantly cools down the body and calms the nervous system. A few breaths is all it takes to feel cooler, calmer and collected: restoring you back to you.
The breathing, meditation and the physical movements of yoga affect all parts of the body at the same time. And this is exactly what we need in menopause because we feel all the symptoms at the same time. Give it a try and see if it improves any of your symptoms.