Yoga & The Wisdom Of Menopause: A Guide to Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health at Midlife and Beyond

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31.2 million women facing menopause in America are concerned by these headlines. Most women today will live over one-third of their lives post-menopausal, but what about the age-old solution of hormone replacement therapy? In 2002 the U.S. government halted a major study of hormone therapy because it increased the risk of invasive breast cancer. Now, millions of women are left wondering whether they should approach menopause without hormones, suffering from hot flashes and low sex drive or take hormones and live in fear of being another statistic. Suza Francina has a simpler solution: Yoga. In this practical book, Francina, a leading yogi and author of The New Yoga for People Over 50, shows how yoga can be a powerful tool to help women turn menopause into a positive and empowering experience, both physically and spiritually. Included are easy-to-follow, indexed photos of yoga poses that alleviate key menopausal problems including: hormonal changes; hot flashes; irregular bleeding; fibroids; stress and anxiety, mood swings, depression and fatigue; bone loss; heart disease and cancer. Francina delivers a timely and truly heartening message to women: you don't have to get weaker or depressed when facing menopause, it can truly be an empowering, restorative time.

Review

"Among the key volumes for women seeking help from yoga in negotiating crucial life passages." -- Yoga Journal, Sept/Oct. 2003

This latest work from Suza Francina -- registered yoga therapist, certified Iyengar teacher, and author of The New Yoga for ... -- Review

About the Author

Suza Francina is the author of The New Yoga for People Over 50, which has been published in several languages and excerpted and reviewed on dozens of health-related Web sites, including WebMD.com. She is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor and registered yoga therapist with thirty years' experience in the field of yoga and exercise therapy. Francina teaches internationally and conducts workshops for the Yoga Journal Convention, the annual Prevention Magazine Walker's Rally and the Omega Institute. She has written for many publications, including Prevention, Yoga Journal and Herbs for Health. Some of her books and contributions include Women's Health Care: A Guide to Alternatives, The Holistic Health Handbook, American Yoga and Living Your Yoga. She has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including Fit TV: Healthy Living (Body by Jake Productions) and the AARP Maturity Broadcast News. Her work with older students will be featured in an upcoming issue of AARP's Modern Maturity magazine. She is based in Ojai, California.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Yoga of Menopause:
Alternatives to Hormone Therapy

Woman's lives are deeply affected by the ebb and flow of their hormones―those mysterious and miraculous molecules that deliver vital messages via the bloodstream from one part of the body to another. Indeed, our lives are patterned by the cycles of nature, whether these are the changes of puberty, the monthly rhythms of our menstrual cycle or the passages of menopause. These changes have undisputed effects on our whole being. No woman can menstruate, give birth or cross the menopausal bridge without feeling these hormonal influences on her physical, emotional and psychological state.

Yoga's Unique Benefits During the Menopausal Years

Achieving hormonal balance during the menopausal years is essential to good health. Among the many benefits that set yoga apart from other forms of physical exercise is the effect yoga postures and breathing practices have not only on the muscles and bones of your body, but also on your organs and glands. In this book we explain the effect that these postures can have on your hormonal system, and how to use yoga to work with your body as it goes through hormonal and other changes during menopause.

Practicing yoga can help prevent or reduce the common symptoms that affect women specifically during the menopausal years by providing a form of treatment directed at the root causes that result in the breakdown of the healthy functioning of the body.

It's important to bear in mind that all menopausal symptoms are related, and using yoga to ease the unpleasant effect of one symptom generally leads to better health in the rest of the body. Every yoga pose has a multitude of effects on all the systems of the body.

The experiences of longtime yoga practitioners show that certain poses and sequences of poses act as a tonic for the healthy functioning of certain body systems or organs. Equally important for your health during menopause is the overall positive effect of yoga on the body as a whole.

The regular practice of all the categories of poses―standing, sitting, lying down, backbends, forward bends, twists and inverted (upside down) poses―stimulates and activates all the glands, organs, tissues and cells of the body. Yoga's inverted poses are particularly important during menopause, as they have a powerful effect on the neuroendocrine system, allowing fresh, oxygenated blood to flow to the glands in the head and neck. In each yoga posture (asana), different organs and glands are placed in various anatomical positions and are supplied with fresh blood, gently massaged, relaxed, toned and stimulated.

Yoga's approach to health during menopause and beyond is based on the premise that the body should be allowed to function as efficiently, effectively and naturally as possible. Practicing the postures recommended for the menopause transition, in a way that is appropriate for your present physical and emotional condition, will gradually rejuvenate your body and remove the causes of unpleasant symptoms that you may be experiencing.

What Is Menopause?

A woman's life unfolds in three major physical stages that are determined by her reproductive system. In her childhood, before the onset of menses, she is in the "maiden" stage. After puberty, in her childbearing years, she is biologically in the "mother" phase of life, even if she chooses not to have children. At approximately midlife, production of estrogen and progesterone by the ovaries slows down. Menstruation becomes irregular and eventually ends. The years immediately preceding and following the last menstrual period are called the menopausal years, or climacteric or crest. A year or so after menstruation stops is the beginning of the third major stage of a woman's life―the "crone" or "Wise Woman" stage.

The word "menopause" is from the Greek words men or meno for "month" and pausis for "pause" or "stop." Simply stated, menopause is the cessation of menstrual periods, an end to the monthly cycle.

Menopause has three stages. The first stage is perimenopause, which literally means "premenopause," a change in hormonal functions leading up to menopause. Perimenopause occurs typically around age forty, but it can begin in the thirties when the menstrual cycle is still normal. It can last as long as fifteen years, but on average lasts around five years. This is the time during which women notice changes in their periods from lighter and longer to heavier and more frequent. The greatest fluctuations in hormones occur during perimenopause, and this stage is often described as puberty in reverse.

The second stage, menopause itself, is actually the cessation of menstruation (menses). Menopause is considered official twelve months after the last period. The average age of women whose menstrual periods have stopped is fifty-two. Although a woman may no longer be having any periods, her emotions can still fluctuate. Hot flashes, or "power surges" as many women prefer to call them, may still be present, and the body is still adjusting to the change in hormone levels. This period can last several more years.

The final stage, which lasts the remainder of a woman's life, is postmenopause. At this point, a woman's body is generally comfortable and has adjusted to its hormone levels.

Hormones 101

Women crossing the menopausal bridge today are living in the midst of an unprecedented, mass scale hormone experiment. Observers of the menopause industry predict we will look back on this era, when millions of women swallowed a drug derived from the urine of pregnant mares, as one of the biggest medical fiascos ever. While I was in the midst of writing this book, news was released that a branch of the Woman's Health Initiative Study had been stopped earlier than anticipated. Their research established that women taking PremPro, a combination of Premarin and Provera, were found to have increased risk of invasive breast cancer, heart attack, stroke and blood clots in the lungs.

Many experts still claim the risk is minimal. Women considering hormone replacement therapy (HRT) need to educate themselves about the different types of hormones available. There are many excellent books listed in the Resource section that provide in-depth discussions of hormones. Among the ones I recommend for their holistic approaches to women's health are: The Wisdom of Menopause, by Christiane Northrup, M.D.; Dr. Susan Love's Hormone Book, by Susan M. Love, M.D.; What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause, by John R. Lee, M.D.; Hormone Heresy, by Sherrill Sellman; and Menopause: Bridging the Gap Between Natural and Conventional Medicine, by Lorilee Schoenbeck, N.D.

Yoga poses that turn the body halfway or completely upside down, such as Standing Forward Bends, Downward-Facing Dog and various inverted poses, stimulate the endocrine system, especially the pituitary gland. This small gland in the center of the brain is involved in the regulation of blood-sugar levels and body temperature, and controls the changes in the hormone levels that occur in menopause.

Menopause as Metamorphosis

Susun Weed, in her book, The Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way, describes menopause as a metamorphosis, a complete change at the cellular level, where a woman changes from one person to another, similar to the dramatic change that occurs during puberty. Susun Weed and other holistic healers who have studied the ancient women's mysteries remind us of the power and initiation potential of these two unique life events: menstruation and menopause. She views the menopausal years as the years of transformation from a potential mother to Wise Woman elder or crone.

Forward bends also gently compress the abdomen, massaging the uterus and other abdominal organs. When we come out of the pose and release the compression, the organs are bathed in freshly oxygenated blood, and we feel refreshed and rejuvenated. This alternate squeezing and soaking enhances the functioning of the ovaries and the hormones they produce. Forward bends also soothe the nervous system and have a quieting effect on the mind.

2003. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause by Suza Francina. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442.

Review:

4.4 out of 5

87.27% of customers are satisfied

5.0 out of 5 stars Suza Francina is a great teacher

M. · June 13, 2005

As the Walking Editor for Prevention Magazine, I was priveledged to invite Suza Francina to teach yoga at our annual Walkers Rally several times. A welcoming and understanding teacher, Suza had classes attended twice a day by many of my participants, most over the age of 50, many 60 and 70 year olds. Her easy going style and attention to the way older bodies "work" (or don't) opened the door for many men and women to this wonderful body science.This book, as well as The New Yoga for People Over 50 are invaluable guides for folks who are experiencing the effects of aging that can slowly erode range of motion and the pleasure and freedom of uninhibited movement. Thank you Suza!Maggie SpilnerAuthorWalk Your Way Through MenopausePrevention's Complete Book of WalkingPrevention's Encyclopedia of Walking for Health

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully written

T.P. · April 22, 2017

Great for anyone dealing with perimenopause or menopause symptoms. Building a restorative yoga practice is helpful in relieving many of these symptoms. Author did a fantastic job explaining and showing poses to help.

3.0 out of 5 stars New to yoga

G. · July 30, 2004

I am totally new to yoga and I found this book to be helpful and confusing at the same time. The first person accounts were interesting although it seems that most, if not all, of the women had been involved with yoga for years so I couldn't relate to that part of their story. I could relate to their menopausal experiences, though.I think I will be able to do the yoga poses just from looking at the pictures and reading the explanations. I think I will be able to do many of the poses even though I have arthritis in my knees. I am glad about that because I tried to do yoga by following a yoga instructor on a video and I could not do many of the poses because of pain in my knees.Most of the above is positive, but I do have a problem with the book. The author made charts listing the best poses for different symptoms of menopause, but did not put the page number of the poses that she listed in the charts. She had poses pictured throughout the book and then a comprehensive set of pictures of all the poses at the end. The book could have been smaller and less confusing if she had just pictured the poses once and put page numbers on the charts showing where the poses could be found.I was glad the book did not go into a lot of the spiritual side of yoga but wondered why she did not go into more detail about the proper way to breathe during the poses. She talked about how important proper breathing is but I did not see a good explanation of what she means by that. ( I have not read every word of the book, so may have missed that, but it wasn't in the same place as where she talked about the importance of breathing, which would be the appropriate place.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

E.Y. · March 28, 2016

Wonderful book full of good sensible information and exercises for women at and above the age of menopause.

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty outdated

O. · December 17, 2023

I really wanted this to be a helpful book, but I found it pretty outdated. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be many other yoga resources available specifically dealing with menopause

5.0 out of 5 stars Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause

E.S. · September 17, 2007

Suza Francina, the author of Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause, dedicates this book to the Yoga Sisterhood, of which I consider myself a member. I have been practicing yoga off and on since my early 30s and have never really lost my love for this practice.In this wonderfully arranged book with lots of snapshots of many yoga poses (asanas), Suza has provided the midlife woman with "tools" to help her with the transitional period of midlife that we call menopause. Each chapter tackles a specific topic. For example, Chapter One covers alternatives to hormone therapy and Chapter Two delves into the endocrine system. (Hormones are the substances secreted by the endocrine glands. Hormones are also called "biochemical messengers".) Chapter Four is called The Power of Hot Flashes and Chapters Five, Six, and Seven deal with healthy bones, cancer, and heart disease, respectively.Each chapter is filled with stories of other women's menopausal stories and how yoga helped them through this midlife transition. In this way, the author also draws upon the wisdom of other yoga practitioners and writers in the field of yoga, putting quotes as sidebars in appropriate places in each chapter. In effect, you are getting the wisdom of many authors, not just Suza's.The book is easy to read and quite comprehensive. Each chapter has photos of poses that help women as they navigate the menopausal trail. The final chapter is a series of photos as part of Suza's Practice Guide. There is also a helpful Resources section of yoga teachers featured in the book and a Directory for finding a yoga teacher in your area. Francina also includes women's retreats that offer yoga, as well as miscellaneous websites and associations.Here are a few quotes from Francina's book that will hopefully encourage you to read the book and/or join a yoga class, if you have not already done so:"Menopause is a metamorphosis, a complete change at the cellular level." (p. xvii)"Yoga is a `unification' of physiological, psychological and spiritual therapies. It is a healing science that addresses all the concerns of women going through menopause." (p. xviii)"Yoga postures, besides providing a superior form of weight-bearing exercise that stimulates bones to retain calcium, also help to stimulate and distribute the flow of synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints between bones." (p. 105)"Yoga can help reduce the risk of breast cancer by stimulating lymph flow, strengthening the endocrine and immune systems, and helping you be more in touch with your body." (p. 127)"The feminine path to self-realization unfolds when a woman reclaims her own authority over her body and her life. She learns to honor her own needs and rhythms, and to trust her body's innate wisdom." (p. 179)This book is an excellent resource for all women. It is informative, uplifting, and powerful. Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause is published by Health Communications, Inc. in Florida and costs $12.95 (soft cover), a bargain for so much information. The publisher's website is [...]

Five Stars

d. · March 27, 2018

good book

I am so grateful for this book, every woman, whether you practice yoga or not should read it

A.S. · June 28, 2018

Every single woman should read this book, I am a yoga teacher and was still struggling with acceptance until I read this book, and it has helped me understand the intelligence of the body on a deeper level. even if you do not practice yoga but are struggling with the immense changes that happen to our bodies during the entire process of menopause from Pre to Post which is a lot longer than I thought and that most women think it is....it is the period where we need to take care of our bodies and minds and hearts more than we ever have before

Keeping fit

D.B. · February 28, 2021

Item received in time stated thank you and is as described as shown.

Its about the menopause

d. · January 17, 2021

Yogastuff about the menopause.

Five Stars

V. · November 20, 2014

I found all I needed in this nice and complete book.

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Yoga & The Wisdom Of Menopause: A Guide to Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health at Midlife and Beyond

Name: Yoga & The Wisdom Of Menopause: A Guide to Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Health at Midlife and Beyond
Brand: Health Communications, Inc
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