Herballove -

chencongno1_2009
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Menopause doesn’t have a face, and certainly Darcy Baird doesn’t seem like a woman ruled by her hormones. At 51 years old, she is a slim, freckle-faced mother of three about to embark on new and exciting adventures. The kids are grown and out of the house, she and her husband purchased a time share in Mexico and she opened her own textile business. “Change is good,” she says. But Darcy’s body is also changing, for she is in fact entering menopause and has the symptoms to prove it.

Menopause refers to the latter stage of life in which a woman is no longer fertile. It is marked by the absence of periods, which cease when the ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone. Those hormones regulate a woman’s reproductive cycle and maintain health of the vagina and uterus. Leading up to and during menopause, the body is in a tug-of-war with itself to end fertility.

Women will likely experience a variety of symptoms including headaches, trouble sleeping, mood swings, irritability, memory lapses, and decreased sex drive. Each of these symptoms results from declining levels of estrogen.

While Darcy occasionally suffers from headaches and mood swings, she struggles most with hot flashes. A hot flash is defined as a sudden sensation of heat that emanates from the stomach or toes. Flashes are often accompanied by perspiration, anxiety and/or heart palpitations and afflict up to 80 percent of all menopausal women. A woman may be afflicted between four years and several decades.

Doctors cannot explain why females don’t universally experience hot flashes & night sweats. Like most symptoms of menopause, they were previously attributed to fluctuations in estrogen. But a more likely culprit is internal regulation of the body’s core temperature. Each person is automatically wired with an upper and lower temperature threshold, and between these two extremes is a zone in which the body functions normally. Hot flashes may afflict women with smaller “normal” zones, meaning that a change in body temperature can quickly push their upper thresholds.

Darcy’s flashes are sometimes mere rushes of heat; other times they persist for minutes and even wake her from sleep. “Sometimes I have to get out of bed and change my nightgown,” she confesses. “Those hot flashes are so intense they soak the bedding. I also get them during the day, like when I’m grocery shopping or driving my car. It’s scary to become so hot so quickly.”

Fortunately, less severe hot flashes can be managed with yoga. When practiced regularly, yoga helps the body cool down, unwind and relax. Inverted poses are the most beneficial because they stimulate blood flow and regulate internal processes. The bridge pose helps balance hormones and reduce stress, a factor that magnifies nearly all menopausal symptoms.

Additional poses to combat hot flashes include the standing forward bend to ease stress; the downward-facing dog to promote calm; and the plow pose to reduce anxiety. Another tip is to incorporate props during yoga so the nervous system isn’t over-stimulated. Blankets, chairs and blocks help support the body and promote complete relaxation.

A quality yoga mat eases physical strain, while an eye bag eliminates visual stimuli and allows women to develop deep yoga concentration. Drinking plenty of liquids and maintaining cool room temperatures are further ways to reduce the frequency of hot flashes.

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GuideID: 60718

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