While Menopause and Perimenopause are often Perfectly Natural Phases in A Women’s Life, It Can Be A Challenging Time. Yoga Home Sligo Offers Yoga And Ayurveda Support in A Variety Of Ways.

What Is menopause and perimenopause?

You might have a clear idea about what menopause means, what it involves and when it happens. At the same time, you might be surprised at what you don’t yet know. The question and answer section below gives you some general information, but you can also skip ahead to the information about the Yoga Home Sligo menopause supports.

  • Technically, perimenopause (or the menopause transition) is a time of hormonal fluctuations characterised by irregular periods and assorted other symptoms (listed in the next question and answer section) that occurs in the time leading up to the final menstrual period (FMP). This FMP marks medical menopause and it means your ovaries no longer have eggs to release and this leads to a dramatic reduction in the hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Menopause is the event of this FMP. Everything after this FMP is, strictly speaking, post menopause.

    However, the FMP in not considered to be final until twelve months have passed with out any further menstruation. This means the FMP and therefore the fact of medical menopause can only be known in retrospect, so you could be postmenopause or perimenopause and know be clear as to which—there is no test!

    For simplicity sake, many doctors like Dr Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN, use the umberella term “menopause” to refer to the whole continuum of experience beginning with the hormone fuctuations, up to and for some years beyond FMP because the experiences and medical implications of menopause do not start or stop with the FMP.

  • It’s a long list but the main ones are; hot flushes, fatigue, insomnia, night sweats, anxiety, depression, irritiability, sense of overwhelm, loss of confidence/sense of self, brain fog, memory loss, cardiovascular problems such as heart palpitations and/or high blood pressure, constipation, dry skin, vaginal dryness, hair loss, low libido, blurred vision, loss of muscle tone, lowered immunity and increased inflammatory issues. And there are more. Not everyone gets all of these and they impact people to different degrees depending on a variety of factors. The important thing to note is that there is a wide range of effects from hormonal flucuations and many women are experiencing menopausal symptoms and do not recognise it as such. Too often women are suffering in silence, not even aware that there is something that can be done to help. Alternatively, some women are treated for things like depression and/or anxiety and this is ineffective because the underlying cause is not being addressed.

  • It is important to know that the hormone fluctuations that signal perimenopause can begin as early as late 30s and for some, the FMP can be 56 or later. The average age is 51. Menopause before 45 is referred to as premature menopause, while menopause before 40 is know as Premature Ovarian Insufficiency (POI). Women can also experience surgical menopause if they have their ovaries removed before their naturally occurring FMP; this procedure might be recommended for a variety of serious medical conditions.

    The take away here is that the timing of menopause can vary a lot from one woman to another, and while the average age for FMP is 51, the “bridge” from the start of fluctuation into poast menopause can be about 10 +/- years and it is a journey with a lot of challenges and important implications for overall wellbeing.

    The sooner we get informed and take appropriate actions to prepare for our journey, the better.

    And at the same time, it’s never too late! So if you are anywhere in the 35+ age range, menopause education and action is important for you.

Menopause has a bad rap!

Even though Menopause is a natural part of any woman’s life and it can be viewed as a move from the constraints of our fertile years to the freedom of our wisdom years, that can seem ridiculous and naive when we find ourselves besieged by an array of unpleasant experiences: fatigue, weight gain, forgetfulness and general brain fog, hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia and unfortunately the list goes on.

But it doesn’t have to be this way!

Yoga, especially when applied in the context of an Ayurvedic perspective, offers a host of tools and techniques to alleviate the discomforts of menopause. More importantly, it gives us a framework to approach what is happening to our physical bodies with a different mindset.

At here first period, a girl meets her wisdom, through her menstruating years she practices her wisdom, and at menopause she becomes her wisdom

This Native American Saying is quoted By Dr. Claudia Welch, MSOM in her book Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness Through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and Western Science.

In her book, Dr Welch provides a perspective on menopause that is informed by both Western and Eastern Medicine.

She offers a succinct and easy to grasp presentation of the relationship between our sex hormones and our stress hormones and what this means for women’s wellness in general and for a range of health concerns, including menopause, in particular.

She’s especially clear that with regard to menopause, we need not despair, but rather take this opportunity to care for ourselves in a new way and lean in to the possibilities for becoming the women we truly are;

A woman is born with a certain amount of “life essence” and as she ages it transforms into wisdom. That is to say, her life culminates in wisdom not emptiness"

While Yoga and Ayurveda alone cannot make every problematic menopausal experience and impact magically disappear, they most certainly help. The kind of everyday adjustments around diet and lifestyle that Ayurveda recommends, coupled with a yoga practice that is informed by your individual Ayurvedic type in conjunction with the particular needs of all women in menopause, can bring tremendous physical and energetic support during menopause and can also assist us in re-framing this time of our lives from one of loss and difficulty to one with enormous potential for enrichment and freedom.

Yoga Home Sligo wants to make clear that Yoga and Ayurveda for Menopause Support is in no way a replacement for visiting with your medical doctor regarding menopause. On the contrary, it is essential that you consult with your GP regarding menopause and perimenopause as there are particular health issues that pertain to this span of your life that your doctor is best equipped to check on and explore with you in the context of your overall health history.

According to Dr Louise Newsom MD, it is essential that you have a doctor with whom you have a good relationship, one who happily listens to your questions and concerns and is willing to explain their recommendations in the context of evolving information in the field of women’s health and hormones. Knowledge is power and it is recommended that you get as much information as you can from many reliable sources so that you can make informed decisions with regard to all the options available.

To that end, in addition to recommending learning about the Yoga and Ayurvedic perspective through the lens of Dr. Claudia Welch’s work, I recommend you get the perspective from the leading western medical doctors in this field. Two sources whose voices I find trustworthy and valuable are:

Dr Louise Newsom

Author of The Definitive Guide to The Perimenopause and Menopause

You can read Dr Newsom’s books catch her on the her youtube channel, and visit her Balance Menopause website

Dr. Jen Gunter

Author Of the menopause Manifesto: Own Your Health With Facts And Feminism

You can learn about Dr Gunter’s work through her website and substack