Remember the two ugly sisters in Cinderella? Well, they are still very much alive and kicking but now go by the names of Perimenopause and Menopause. When these two ‘charmers’ enter your life, you know that trouble is brewing: be prepared.
Perimenopause can drop by to say hello from as early as our mid-40’s – a time when many of us are just starting to finally get our lives together. The children are growing, we tend to be stronger financially, and we are more confident in our own skin. Unfortunately, it can arrive even earlier for some.
This unwelcome visitor brings profound physical, mental, and emotional changes that can wreak havoc on our lives. These changes can be categorized into 34 official symptoms – hot flashes, anxiety, brain fog, poor sleep, joint pain, and fatigue, to name just a few.
The only good news about perimenopause is that it heralds a farewell to the female cycle that has dogged us from our early teens, if not sooner. The bad news is that perimenopause can last anywhere between 4-10 years! It’s not uncommon for some women to still have a cycle in their mid 50’s.
We only become officially menopausal when the second ugly sister steps in after 12 months of no cycle. Even then, many of us are left with annoying symptoms and mourning the loss of the person we used to be. Combined with empty nest syndrome and caring for elderly parents, the timing could not be much worse.
Managing Menopause Symptoms
Thankfully, there is much more help at hand these days with many high-profile names speaking out about their own menopause experiences. However, just like a fingerprint, menopause is unique to each one of us and solutions that work for some, may not work for others. Being prepared and seeking help and information are the keys to successfully managing this stage of our life.
However, whilst there is information widely available for hormone replacement treatments, there is much less available on the range of ancient holistic practices such as yoga, meditation and mindset-management that can significantly help alleviate symptoms.
My world dramatically changed in my early 50’s when I began practicing yoga and meditation. I had crippling joint pain and was prepared to accept that this would be with me for the rest of my life. Anxiety was off the scale, fatigue was debilitating, and brain fog had me convinced it was the onset of Alzheimers.
The magic of practicing regular short yoga sequences – I didn’t have the energy for a full class – saw the joint pain in my hips and feet completely disappear, my anxiety lifted, and my mind stopped spinning. By adding a 5-minute meditation and some simple positive affirmations to the end of my practice, I began to feel calmer and less reactive to all the things that would normally trigger me.
Yoga For Menopause
At first, I thought it was all a coincidence, but then, when I connected the dots after doing my own research, the facts were evident. Yoga can significantly aid our wellbeing in menopause with some poses even targeting specific symptoms. Yoga can alleviate anxiety and overwhelm. It can restore our fatigue and re-energize us when the tank is empty. It can lubricate our joints so that we can sit and stand up without grunting. It can release heat from the body so that we can say goodbye to those pesky hot flashes and night sweats. It can help insomnia and improve the quality of our sleep, too, and it can renew our self-esteem by giving us back the confidence we lose at this stage of life.
However, my joyful discovery soon turned to frustration when I realized that so little of this was common knowledge. Why aren’t women given this vital information instead of pills and potions? Why is an ancient holistic practice not given the airtime it deserves, yet hormone replacement solutions are common knowledge?
Spreading The Word
So, I began my own crusade. At the age of 53, I trained to become a yoga teacher and went on to take multiple certifications including a Menopause Yoga teaching qualification launched in London. Today, I educate and teach yoga, meditation, and mindset to thousands of peri/menopausal women around the world.
These are women who are looking for a natural solution to manage menopause and rediscover the person they used to be. Most are complete beginners, they are not acrobats, and they follow a simple plan to incorporate these holistic solutions into their daily lives. Just like I was, they too are staggered by the results in their overall wellbeing.
Yoga offers a holistic approach that can offer relief to everyone – regardless of age or fitness level. It’s open to those who are stepping onto a yoga mat for the very first time, and when combined with meditation, mindset, healthy nutrition and self-care, yoga can become a guiding light leading you out of a long dark tunnel.
If you want to know more about how yoga can help you in menopause, download my e-book: Beat Menopause With Yoga: how to get incredible results on the mat. It will tell you all you need to know to get started and how to succeed in your home practice.
Have you tried holistic solutions for menopause symptoms? Share with us in the comments!
About Julie Ann Garrido
Julie Ann Garrido is founder of Yourself Yoga – a company that helps women navigate their menopause journey with the help of yoga. Having spent several years suffering with crippling anxiety, loss of confidence and painful joints, Julie knows only too well how menopause can wreak havoc on the quality of your life.
But then she discovered yoga and was astounded at the positive difference it made to her symptoms. Now fully qualified in Yoga for Menopause and passionate about health and wellbeing, Julie shares her knowledge, experience and expertise with thousands of women around the world so that she can help them make that same transformation.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.yourselfyoga.com
Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/yogaforperiandmenopause
Book: Beat Menopause With Yoga
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