How is yoga for the female middle age different from than before? How might we tailor our practice to ensure that we support our wellbeing at this powerful transition in a woman’s life, when we might be feeling emotionally sensitive, physically achy or perhaps generally off balance?
Indicators of peri-menopause are varied; brain fog, lack of libido, hot flushes, night sweats, general anxiety, aches and pains in the body and joints, weight gain, slower physical recovery, a shorter emotional fuse and perhaps feelings of overwhelm and depression, of having a lack of purpose as our roles at work and home change. Can yoga really help? The evidence is that it is a very supportive tool in helping you navigate this path.
Yoga will help you to lower stress in your mind and body, it will keep you moving, your joints strong and mobile and will provide you with precious space in your day to drop inward, establish your own needs and practice placing yourself at the centre of your existence. In this way it becomes an exciting time of cultivating and growing our feminine wisdom and exploring the mysterious and unknown aspects of yourself.
Cultivating discriminating awareness of how we feel and having a clear structure of supportive measures we can utilise helps to bring us emotional balance and mental clarity. Yoga supports a new archetype whereby older women are viewed as wise, strong, healthy and intuitive. As the dictates of family ease, we feel a natural longing to turn inwards and listen to what is really important to us at the level of our soul. Yoga gives us this precious space to find and tap into more psychic energy, uncover and lovingly put down past self-destructive beliefs.
Stress, mental and physical is the single most aggravating factor in negative peri-menopausal experiences. It disrupts further our hormonal balance, causes widespread inflammation throughout the body and weakens our immune system. It is little surprise that more women are reporting these symptoms during 2020 & 2021. Yoga is an effective somatic tool for easing stress in the body and toning the vagal nerve to bring balance to the nervous system.
So what might this yoga elixir of wellbeing look like. Some days it looks like supported, constructive rest and yoga nidra, some days it might be quiet, meditative and intuitive, other times we might need the social dynamic of a class and to be challenged to up-level our current expectation of our capacity. Functional movement is vital for women to keep their bone density strong, their fascia healthy, balanced and toxin free and a regular, consistent practice will support this self-care. Yoga at any age is to give space for the wonder and awe of existence and by doing so, it seems only right and appropriate to lovingly support the body as best we can. In this way, yoga is a catalyst for a holistic healthy way of life that encompasses diet, exercise and mental self care.
We teach a regular yoga practice designed around the needs of the midlife woman. Our three month programme Radiance uses yoga as the thread that weaves through a wide portfolio of work for exploring menopause and our life beyond; creative arts, clinical psychology, sexuality, pelvic floor work, story telling, the divine feminine, meditation, HRT or HRT free and finally nutrition. We begin in September and places are very limited to ensure that we can offer a bespoke, personal experience. Please email us to arrange a call around your needs.