Yoga, the positive impact, especially for women and how it helps to improve overall wellbeing

Guest Author: Juliana Portolesi, Director of Centred Ground

What got you to yoga?

Sometimes life’s greatest learning and joy comes from our biggest pain. And that was certainly the case for me with Yoga. I entered the world of yoga initially when I was 23 and newly practicing as a Physiotherapist. It started as simply a once a week stretch session in order to MEAN it when I’d say to clients – you need to stretch & lengthen your tissues. Like they say- “Practice what you preach”. My true love of yoga and fuller understanding of its benefits didn’t come until 6 years later, when my once a week had become more sporadic- I was working full time, studying full time, and maintaining a long-distance relationship and as a result my mental health suffered. I fell into a black whole of anxiety; my menstrual cycle was all over the place or at times non-existent. I returned to yoga as a daily practice and that’s what slowly got me back on track. That’s when I realised there was more to yoga than just ‘stretching’.

Those early days of my yoga practice introduced me to a whole new world of what it is to be a woman. It taught me to feel fully our cyclical nature- to observe and honour the emotional, physical, and mental ebbs and flows throughout the month, instead of just barrelling through and ‘getting on with it’. It’s where I learned that extreme period pain wasn’t ‘normal’ and that my mood swings or low moments weren’t me ‘going crazy’. And I also learned that my yoga practice could help to address some of these concerns. Practicing with women of all different ages and stages of life opened up a forum for sharing and discussion around menarche, menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause. I was also fortunate to be taught by two passionate, feminine, and wise women Wendy Samek and Jacqueline Illes who sought to empower women to have greater control and compassion for themselves.

What’s the style of yoga that you practice and teach?

I’ve practiced many styles of yoga, however, the closest to my heart, and that which I teach is Iyengar yoga. I have a fondness towards this style of yoga which incorporates the use of props to make poses more accessible or to feel something differently. There is much more focus on ‘correct’ alignment, mindful and aware movement, self-learning, and consideration for the effect on the organic, energetic, and deeper layers of the body (beyond the physical). Iyengar yoga can be a strong practice- we often practice many inversions (upside down poses), that can be daunting, however, they have a lot of benefit, and it is said that they may have influence on our hormonal systems.

How could this practice improve the experience of perimenopause and menopause for women?

“Perimenopause is the wakeup call of the entire life cycle. If we’ve been pressing snooze on any parts of our lives that need attention…. The years surrounding menopause will bring them to our attention in ways we can no longer avoid if we are to truly flourish in the second half of our lives… once a woman understands that the true meaning…she can make her way through the rest of her life fortified with purpose, insight, and pleasure”

Dr Northrup in Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom 2010.

It doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom and while most women may experience discomfort and troublesome symptoms during perimenopause, there are ways to create better health during this transition.

Yoga has been shown to have many health benefits on people’s physical and mental wellbeing. And it can have particular benefit for women in their perimenopausal and menopausal stages of life.

While a majority of changes can be attributed to fluctuating hormone levels and the slowing down of ovarian function, there’s more to it than just a drop in estrogen. Stress hormones also have a major impact. Stress could be in the form of emotional stress- worry, anger, guilt, fear, depression or anxiety or environmental and physical stress- excessive exercise, late hours, overwork etc. Yoga can be used as a tool to reduce stress levels, improve mood and increase awareness of what’s going on in our internal world. It encourages self-acceptance and coming to terms with a different body.

Yoga provides a gentle form of exercise that can ease joint pains, improve, and maintain mobility. Our connective tissue does become stiffer at this stage of life, so care needs to be taken with some exercise and poses to avoid injury.

Bone density also reduces significantly at this stage of life and yoga has been shown to significantly increase bone density when practiced regularly. It may also help to reduce sleep disturbances.

Particular poses in yoga may also reduce vasomotor symptoms helping with hot flushes. Others include activation of the pelvic floor muscles which can improve circulation in the pelvic region and may stimulate lubrication and increased libido.

“Yoga is a gift for old age. One who takes to Yoga … gains not only health and happiness but also freshness of mind, since Yoga gives one a bright outlook on life and one can look forward to a happier future rather than looking back into the past which has already entered into darkness. The loneliness and the nervousness which create sadness and sorrow are destroyed by yoga as a new life begins.”

Gita Iyengar

What is the best yoga sequence that you recommend we could do at home?

1. Uttanasana (intense forward stretch):

  • creates compression around the abdomen and pelvic organs.
  • relieves abdominal tension, backache, constipations, stiffness in spine, neck, and shoulders.
  • calms the brain/nervous system.

From standing (in Tadasana) raise your arms toward the ceiling, palms facing forward. Lengthen your whole body. Exhale and fold forward from your waist, keeping your legs straight, weight even on both feet. Place your palms flat on the floor in front of your feet (or onto height if required). Press the heels down and actively lift up through the legs. Let your head release downwards.

2. Pada Padangustasana:

Begin as above. This time as you fold forward, take hold around your big toes with the index, middle finger, and thumb. Pull upwards on your big toes as you push downwards through your feet, look upwards and concave your upper back.

3. Adhomukha Svanasana (Downward Dog):

  • Strong weightbearing through the arms.
  • Improves flexibility of shoulders and hips.
  • Rests the heart and restores energy.
  • Increases circulation around breasts and abdomen.

From uttanasana above, bend your knees and take your hands flat onto the floor out in front of you. Step your feet back one at a time as if making an upside-down V shape with your body, your tailbone being the tip of the V, your arms wide and in line with your feet. Raise your heels, lift your hips up high & tighten the thigh muscles. Pull your arms up from the elbows to the shoulders and move your torso toward your legs.

4. Prasarita padottanasana (Intense leg stretch):

  • Improves circulation to thyroid and pelvic organs.
  • Relieves tension in back, neck, jaw.
  • Soothes nervous system.

Stand in tadasana, step your feet out wide and place your hands on your hips. See that your feet are parallel and toes pointing forward. Press the outer edges of your feet to the floor. Exhale, lift up the kneecaps and bend forward bringing your torso toward the floor. Place your hands on the floor, palms flat with the fingers spread out. If able to go further, bend your elbows and release your head towards the floor.

5. Marichyasana 1:

  • Soothes the nervous system and calms the mind.
  • Relieves tension in the upper back and neck.
  • Strengthens the abdominal area.

Sit tall, with your legs outstretched. Bend up one leg and bring your heel toward the buttock. Bring the bent leg arm on the inside of that knee. Take the other arm back behind you and turn your body toward the straight leg side.

6. Setubandha Sarvangasana (Bridge):

  • Stabilise emotions and settle anxiety.
  • Calming.
  • Tones.
  • May stabilise the thyroid, parathyroid and the adrenal glands.

Variation 1: Lay on your back with your knees bent up and feet flat on the floor. Bring your heels in closer toward your buttocks and lengthen your arms alongside you. Press into your feet and lift your buttocks up high- come onto the tops of your shoulders. Hold.

Variation 2: with bolster and bench, sit with your legs outstretched along a bench & a bolster behind. Lower your back toward the bolster & then slide back until your head and shoulders rest onto the bolster. Straighten your legs, keeping your feet together.

I am a student of Juliana Portolesi, she has helped me stay flexible both in body and spirit as I navigate my Peri Meno experience and I am thrilled to have her support by collaborating with me on this important topic, and to raise awareness about the Meno change. You can see the professionals I have engaged with on my journey at the Meno reference page here. 

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