Though a bugbear for almost every woman, this ticklish phase is actually a bewitching transition moment. And, through yoga, it becomes the opportunity to rediscover our body. We asked Barbara Woehler to take us through that step by step by Sara Ficocelli.
A tragedy, a threat, a hellish tunnel made of irregular periods, migraines, irritability, insomnia and hot flashes. Our cultural background, when dealing with menopause, does not give room to imagination and hope. But we’d rather see it as an evolutionary transition of our body, a growth momentum fully endowed with meaning to (re)discover. In a word, we would better put the devastating factor back in its right perspective and transform it into an opportunity to try out new relaxation and self-control therapies, for our own sake, and for the sake of those near us. And this is actually achievable simply by changing our perspective.
The menopause can become the opportunity to make friends with ourselves, in a new and different way, starting listening to our body to enter a phase which, as unknown, is also very likely to be full of surprises. There exist a number of techniques which, being as old as the world, thus of proven effectiveness, can help us in this phase. Among them, the yoga, whose benefits to women in menopause are recognized by many studies.
For instance, according to a research study of the Mind/Body Institute at Harvard University, the yoga practice can reduce the intensity and the frequency of hot flashes and the subsequent psychological unease, conclusions which have also been confirmed by the University of California, San Francisco, which has also registered a raise of the good cholesterol levels and sleep recuperation in the women under this therapy.
Barbara Woehler, from the Centro Studi Yoga Roma, explains, «To cope with the transformations of the menopause we need to take a step back and understand what, for nearly 40 years, has been regularly happening every month in our body. Few days before, or during, the menstrual cycle, there occurs a meditation phase when body and mind connect to each other and the subconscious barrier gets thinner. In such days the progesterone prevails and women are more self-oriented. If a woman listens to herself, she can well perceive any sign sent by her inner self about all what is working and what is not in her life. These are days of deep inner wisdom. On the contrary, before ovulation, it is the oestrogen to prevail and women are fired up. Thus, their emotions and behaviour are oriented towards the external world and they feel gratified by their relationships».
The transition which characterizes the start of menopause, that is the so called pre-menopause, is a natural and gradual process, time limited, and it is not an illness. The release of the reproductive hormones (FSH and LH) which stimulated ovulation stops undergoing monthly peaks and falls but becomes constant. Thus, women go through an actual «emotional turmoil» which is somewhat like the one of adolescence, when the difficulty to bear the hormonal balances produces mood swings. The hot flashes, for instance, are just a sign that our body sends us asking to change rhythm, to slow down the pace and steal a few minutes’ peace, and their intensity is directly proportional to our accumulated stress.
«The transformation, first of all» Woehler continues, «entails a lower wilfulness to satisfy other people’s needs and a greater attention to our own selves. Many unsolved personal experiences and emotions re-emerge pushing us into a period of meditation, challenging our certainties. Everything we have been postponing in our life comes up again: passions, interests and creativity. Now that the perennial concern for contraception has passed, a new path displays to us. We can dismiss our reproductive centres (from the lowest to the highest chakras) or see them springing up again and more vigorous, towards a personal growth and an unconditioned creativity».
The female intuition and overall view, once accessible to us only during the few days of the menstrual cycle, become constant with the menopause and take a brand new emotional stability. As Woehler says, «Here the importance of yoga arises, to achieve the Pratyahara state, the withdrawal of the senses. Menopause provides us with all conditions for a perfect self-transformation».
In order to cope with such transformations with yoga, it is necessary to understand that this discipline cannot be used as a remedy to cure a symptomatology. We need to know symptoms not to eliminate them, but rather to use them as a means to realize the general frame, increasing the awareness about our own reactions and trying to better identify our ideas, our experiences, our conditionings and attitudes. «Once you have examined these elements» says Woehler, «you can eliminate all what is useless, old or unhealthy within you, and let it die. How to do that? Let’s take a growing plant: it can survive with reduced water and nourishment, but it will surely die if deprived of light. In the same way, our thoughts live because we feed them with our vital energy and attention. Otherwise, they’ll die. Educating our mind is up to us».
The right path starts with the classical yoga. Asana and Pranayama are purifying practices which, in virtue of their intensity, burn impurities. The passage from the dynamic sequences of Asana to the static ones becomes not only necessary to slow down the body but also to quiet our mind. «Let’s take, by way of an example» Woehler adds, «the sequence of Sun Salutation with the repetition of the 12 mantras. It is indispensable to work on the balance among the two brain hemispheres, the two energy tones (male and female) and the central nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic)».
The expert goes on explaining that pain can be used to develop an inner strength. Difficulties can be seen as a stress, otherwise as a challenge: in the first case, the woman in menopause will look for a solution out of herself, in the second she will try to change her attitude. Anyway, both directions can enjoy great help from yoga.
«One of the most common mental attitudes among women in menopause» Woehler further explains, «is that of resignation, scepticism, self-devaluation and resistance to change. An attitude which is perfectly summed up into the sentence «I can’t» (take care of myself, live serenely, feel good) with anything it entails. Just as if a woman could do no other than undergo all changes taken by the menopause without controlling them». A pleasant state of mind, in peace and serene, is thus the first step of the path, the first moment of passage from the «I can’t» to the «I can» (listen to myself, trust myself, respect myself, accept changes).
So, practicing yoga becomes an inner cleansing activity through which we can change our emotions and conditionings, transforming any stressful condition into a challenge which becomes then an opportunity to learn further. Living in the here and now, moment after moment, we can cope with the menopause with great awareness. «Meditation allows us to realize our actual nature» Woehler concludes «identifying not ourselves only with our external wrapping and the egoic self but rather with the very source of life, abandoning ourselves to its stream. Only in this way can we make the menopause an actual resource for our body and our mind».
Of course, women in menopause should avoid the too vigorous sequences of Asana because these could have an effect opposite to the one desired and give rise to hot flashes. In particular, they should avoid those sequences which entail chest rotations and abdominal muscle contractions. Particularly in case of osteoporosis, it is better to avoid positions that put stress on joints, vertebral contractions and precarious balance sequences.
Paola Campanini from the Centro Yoga Millepiedi of Parma, co-author with Tiziana Pinelli of the book «Yoga e menopausa» (“Yoga and menopause” – Promolibri Magnanelli, 63 Pages, 7 euros), explains, «The necessary precaution to take is being sure to be followed by a competent and reliable yoga teacher, able to propose the best type of yoga for this phase of life. In fact, this discipline features plenty of types and practice ways, and they are not all suited to menopause. Thus, I would suggest a yoga type which respects body limits. My Centre offers group lessons, once per week, but I always try to teach simple exercises to be also repeated at home, everyday, because to benefit from it, yoga must be practiced daily, working on the posture and the breath. It is enough to learn few simple things and practice them as much as possible in the daily life. Benefits are granted». (d.repubblica.it 29 ottobre 2012)
