[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Menopause, the cessation of menses for one full year, is commonly referred to as
the change. In a culture that prizes youth and productivity,
menopause and the changes that come with it can bring up a fear of becoming invisible and irrelevant. Navigating this time of life can be challenging but it can also be a midlife passage to a new beginning—a chance to realign with your values and prioritize your own well-being.
Still, menopause gets a bad rap, conjuring visions of hot flashes, dizzying
mood swings and long nights lying awake. By the year 2025, increases in
longevity mean that 1.1 billion women will be menopausal. The average woman can expect to spend 40 percent of her life in post-menopause. While many women have come to embrace the change, a significant portion still struggle with both the physiological discomfort of hot flashes and the psychological significance of no longer being fertile.
For many women, what makes menopause so encumbering are the
hot flashes, which can last between three to five years. Up to 75 percent of American women experience hot flashes and approximately 10-15 percent of women have them frequently. Furthermore, 15 percent of women experiencing severe hot flashes and 25 percent have very uncomfortable hot flashes.
Ayurveda for menopause
Ayurveda is great way to not only to manage menopause symptoms holistically, but it also offers a different paradigm for understanding the “change”—and welcoming it. Rather than seeing the experience as debilitating, Ayurveda recognizes the peri and post-menopausal years as a time for wisdom, intuition, and inner strength to shine.
In Ayurveda, there are three life stages: childhood, adulthood and elderhood. Each stage is associated with one of the three doshas, which means constitutional type.
- Childhood is generally viewed as a time full of growth, building, and learning. This stage of life is linked to kapha, the dosha of earth and water.
- Adulthood is considered the time of forming an identity and developing skills and talents. It is associated with pitta, the dosha of fire and water.
- Elderhood traditionally has been viewed as a period of letting go of the need to achieve. It is associated with vata, the dosha of air and ether.
So how do you move from grouchy to graceful, lament to luminous, as you make the transition to elderhood? The following Ayurvedic principles can help you access the potential of menopause.
Stay even-keeled
During menopause, emotions that have been stored in the energetic body such as anger, resentment, hostility and frustration may rise to the surface and demand attention. Acknowledging the emotions, staying present and naming them can help the energy they hold resolve and slowly dissolve.
When it comes to hot flashes, some women find relief through
yoga, meditation, relaxation or other stress-reducing techniques. Even if these approaches don't eliminate your hot flashes, they may provide other benefits, such as easing the sleep disturbances that tend to occur with menopause.
Eat a balancing diet
In the Ayurvedic paradigm, night sweats, hot flashes, intense bleeding and
inflammation are all signs of excess pitta (fire). Increasing cooling foods such as fruits, raw vegetables, and peppermint tea while cutting intake of heating ones such as caffeine, alcohol and spicy peppers, will effectively cool internal heat. In general, eating warm, light, cooked and fresh food and
avoiding refined sugar and red meats will reduce heat as well as hot flash triggers.
Develop a consistent sleep routine
In Ayurveda,
sleep is considered the cornerstone of health. In the Ayurvedic system, it’s best to wake up before sunrise and sleep before 10 p.m., when the kapha period has induced dullness in the body. It's also important to wait at least two hours after dinner before going to bed. Try for 7-8 hours of sleep a night. Although you may have burned the candles at both ends in the past, you will age in a healthier way by getting more restorative sleep.
For uninterrupted and easier sleep, reduce caffeine and alcohol intake, try breathing exercises before bed, soothing music, calming teas such as
chamomile and
valerian, or essential oils such as
lavender and
sandalwood. Or experiment with supplements such as ashwagandha, an Ayurvedic adaptogen, which can help the body adapt to various kinds of stress as well as sleep issues. (Note: You may not see the effects of
ashwagandha for several weeks.)
Keep moving
Gentle but
regular exercise can do wonders easing the transition to menopause. Ayurveda does not encourage extreme exercise but does put a critical emphasis on the importance of daily movement. Several studies support exercise reduces symptoms and increased wellbeing. In one study, menopausal
women who exercised for a year experienced significant improvement in their mental and physical health, while symptoms worsened for women who did not exercise. The exercise program in the study consisted of cardiovascular, stretching, muscle strengthening and relaxation techniques.
Maintain bone health
During menopause, the vata dosha becomes predominant. Lightness, a signature of vata, contributes to loss of structure including osteoporosis, weakness, and frailty. To counteract that tendency, begin to do some weight training and weight-bearing exercise to build up muscle and bone mass.
From an Ayurvedic perspective, by living in accordance with the prevalent dosha, learning to attune to its gifts and keep its qualities in balance, allows you to move though life’s natural phases with grace.
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