medically reviewed by Dr Valsala
4 mins readUpdated on January 12, 2024
How Does Yoga Benefit in Coping with Menopausal Mood Swings and Hormonal Imbalances?
Menopause is a natural transition in a woman's life that can be pretty tricky, and it takes a toll on her health due to various physical and emotional changes. The leading cause of these changes is the hormonal fluctuations in her body. The levels of estrogen and progesterone, the two primary female hormones, drop drastically, causing Mood swings and depression, affecting mental health adversely. This blog will help you explore the powerful connection between Yoga and menopausal emotional well-being, regaining hormonal harmony and helping you to deal with menopausal symptoms gracefully.
Jump to section
- Why is it Essential to Address Menopausal Hormonal Imbalance and Mood Swings?
- How Does Yoga Impact Menopausal Hormonal Balance?
- Mindfulness and Breathwork: Finding How to Live in the Moment
- Conclusion
Why is it Essential to Address Menopausal Hormonal Imbalance and Mood Swings?
Understanding Hormonal symptoms and why these occur is very important, as it plays a vital role in choosing the proper treatment for you. Before getting into the treatment strategies for hormonal imbalances and mood swings, it is essential to understand the impact of menopause on the production of female sex hormones, namely, estrogen and progesterone.
As a woman approaches middle age, there is a significant decrease in the production of oestrogen, which causes her body to undergo a lot of physical and mental changes like weight gain, irritability, mood swings, change in spacing between periods, changes in the blood flow pattern and various other changes.
Once the woman enters the transitional phase of menopause, her ovaries stop the production of eggs, and the levels of female hormones stabilise at a lower level. When her body gets adjusted to the new hormone levels, various symptoms occur, but the severity of symptoms varies from individual to individual.
The early symptoms due to oestrogen drop include hot flashes, mood swings and Mental fogginess.
As the process progresses, women will experience other menopause symptoms, which include:
- Vaginal dryness
- Painful sex
- Low libido
- Irregular periods
- Depression, sadness or anxiety
- frequent urination
- Higher risk for bone loss
- Higher risk of heart disease
Overcoming mood swings during menopause can be pretty challenging as it can adversely affect their day-to-day activities and overall quality of life. Now, let us find out how Yoga can help you balance these hormonal fluctuations.
How Does Yoga Impact Menopausal Hormonal Balance?
Yoga can help you find relief from Menopausal hormonal imbalances by positively affecting your stress responses and allowing you to deal with the symptoms with much ease and greater comfort. Yoga effectively reduces your emotional symptoms by influencing your serotonin and dopamine levels, enhancing mood and emotional stability during menopause.
Restorative Yoga, where you maintain postures for a longer time than conventional Yoga, can also help relax your nervous system and provide adequate stretch to your pelvic organs.
Practising Yoga can help you get better with menopausal hormonal balance by:
- Reducing stress
- Calming the nervous system
- Enhancing your mood
- Releasing physical stress
- Balance your emotions
- Enhancing mood
- Restoring energy
- Improving metabolism
Yoga Poses for Mood Swings and Hormonal Balance
| Yoga Pose | How Can You Perform It? | Benefits of the Pose |
|---|---|---|
| Bhujangasana/Cobra Pose | On a yoga mat, lie on your stomach by keeping your legs together and Place your palms under your shoulders. Now, push your palms into the ground and straighten your arms. Lift your torso and relax your shoulders so your elbows are placed close to your body. Breathe here for a few seconds Now, slowly lower yourself down. | Bhujangasana helps stimulate abdominal organs, relieves stress and calms the brain, uplifting mood instantly. It is also advised for women of reproductive age as it helps to stimulate ovaries. |
| Samakonasana/Straight Angle Pose | Sit down on your mat by keeping your back straightened. Now, breathe deeply. Move your legs by stretching it to each side Hold this position for a few seconds by maintaining a deep breath.
| This asana is a super stretching pose that helps in providing adequate strength to your pelvic floor muscles. It also helps to stimulate your adrenal glands and helps in relieving stress. |
| Shalabhasana/Locust Pose | Lie on your stomach by keeping your hands by your side and your forehead on the floor. Exhale and lift your head, shoulders, arms, torso, and legs off the floor by balancing on your belly, pelvis, and lower chest. By keeping your arms parallel to the floor and looking forward, hold this pose for 10-15 seconds.
| This asana helps to stretch your back muscles and stimulates your glands like adrenal, thyroid and ovaries. Practising locust pose helps to combat depression and helps to increase concentration. |
| Ustrasana/Camel Pose | By keeping your knees a fist distance apart, Kneel on your mat. Make sure that the soles of your feet face upward. Now, Inhale and align your tailbone with your pubis. Lift your chest. Now, gradually push your pelvis forward. Hold onto your ankles for support once your back is arched. Breathe in and out briefly before lifting your back to a relaxed position.
| This pose helps you to stimulate the thyroid and adrenal glands. Camel pose is also recommended to combat ovarian issues. |
| Ardha Chandrasana/ Half Moon Pose | Stand in a wide-leg stance so that your left foot should face the front and your right foot should face the side. Lifting your left leg parallel to the floor, bend over your right side. Make sure that your right hand should be placed in front of your right foot, your left hand should touch the ceiling, and your torso should be facing forward. | Half moon pose stimulates your endocrine system and calms your nervous system by relieving stress and combatting ovarian issues. |
| Setu Bandh Asana/Bridge Pose | Lie down on your back by keeping your feet hip-distance apart. Now bend your knees by keeping your feet a distance away from your buttocks. Inhale and press your feet onto the floor by pushing your pelvis to the ceiling. Hold on this position for 10 seconds Slowly lower yourself to the mat.
| Bridge pose is one of the best yoga asanas that balances hormonal fluctuations. It is highly recommended for balancing thyroid issues. |
| Chair pose/Utkatasana | Stand on your mat by stepping your feet hip distance apart. Now bend your knees and hinge forward slightly at the hips. By keeping the weight towards the heel of the foot, sweep your arms alongside the ears. Hold your arms strong Hold the chair position for 10-15 seconds with deep breathing. | Utkatasana provides stimulation to your endocrine system and is a strength pose. It also helps to increase tolerance, thereby helping with a better perception of menopausal symptoms.
|
Mindfulness and Breathwork: Finding How to Live in the Moment
Mindfulness and deep breathworks, when practised regularly, can help you improve with menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, irritability and anxiety.
Present-moment awareness plays a vital role in coping with mood swings during menopause, as increasing self-awareness can help with improving tolerance of symptoms and pain sensitivity. Practising mindfulness helps menopausal women train their bodies to live in the present moment without worrying about what happened in the past or what will happen in the future. Mindfulness practices help women to enjoy their transitional phase without any judgements or anxiety by cultivating present-moment awareness in themselves, allowing them to perceive the menopausal symptoms with greater comfort and less stress.
Meditation and deep breathing practices can help you increase focus and concentration, which can help you decrease brain fog and improve memory. Practising pranayama can help you provide stress-relieving effects and stability, contributing to relief from menopausal symptoms. Sheetali pranayama is one of the best breathing techniques to help your body cool down and improve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats.
Conclusion
Yoga is a transformative practice and a powerful tool for achieving emotional stability and hormonal balance during your menopausal journey. By embracing Yoga's mindful movement and breathwork, you can better perceive menopausal symptoms in your body. How? Yoga helps you nurture your emotional balance and mood upliftment. Yoga can help you empower your menopause when practised with consistency and patience.
We advise you to seek professional help whenever you feel stressed or uncomfortable while practising Yoga. Get connected to our Nirva Health experts for personalised tips and yoga plans according to your needs.
Dr Reshma N Babu
Dr Reshma N Babu is a passionate, young Ayurveda doctor who strongly believes in sharing the warmth of her knowledge in Ayurveda medicine in caring for people who are suffering from physical and mental imbalances. Dr. Reshma highlights Ayurveda not just as a medical science that cures disease but as a way of living.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Yoga asanas and breathworks, when practised with mindfulness, can help improve your mood and balance emotions.
Mindfulness practices can help you improve menopausal symptoms by cultivating present-moment awareness in yourself, thereby training your body to enjoy each moment without any judgment, allowing you to perceive menopausal symptoms in a better way.
Setu bandhasana, or bridge pose, is considered one of the best poses to improve thyroid imbalances during menopause.
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