Ayurveda and the Menopause

Ayurveda & the Menopause

I've long passed my menopause and the dreadful symptoms that I experienced, I started my menopause in my late 30's and I had no idea what to expect. I didn't pay much attention to my body I was too busy trying to be successful at work and transitioning through a very difficult traumatic time in my life. Little did I know that years self-neglect and the impact of stress would have such a dramatic effect on my body and mind.

Of course, it was too later to turn back the clock of years of self-neglect, but I did begin to take time to understand what was happening to me. Like many women, I was looking for a quick fix but the more I looked the further away a got from the self-care I needed. 

Most importantly I felt ashamed of my body and what it was doing and this didn't help my symptoms. We can start straight away to start a new self-care regime for our lives, the menopause is a wake-up call to those of us that didn't take time to care for us.

Ayurveda

I wish I had known about Ayurveda in those days, knowledge of the doshas helps us to chose the right food, herbs and actions to take to help us to transition through this time in our lives.

For over 5000 years, Ayurveda has acknowledged that the menopause is a natural transition for all women, not a mistake of Mother Nature's that requires hormone replacement therapy.

The Ancient Scripts of Ayurveda informs us that menopause can be a health-promoting, spiritual awakening process that can be free of many of the troublesome symptoms.

 More women are using herbal remedies to help them with menopausal problems. Ayurvedic treatments and a range of herbal medicine have a lot to offer menopausal symptoms.

We now understand that menopause is not a disease, but a normal part of life.

" Hormone "replacement" therapy (HRT) has become simply hormone "therapy" (HT) It is important to understand that replacing estrogens is not natural and brings dangerous side-effects, rather than the fountain of youth once touted’

Experts today are affirming this positive view of menopause, stating that it is not natural to get weak bones, heart disease, and rapid aging after menopause. Rather, osteoporosis, heart disease, and other chronic health problems develop over a lifetime, resulting largely from poor diet, stress, and lack of physical exercise. And hormone replacement therapy (HRT,) once heavily promoted as the medical solution to these problems is no longer recommended for their treatment or prevention.  (Nancy Lonsdorf M.D)

Uncomfortable Symptoms of Menopause are usually caused by an unbalanced life

It's time to change

Most clients know this but find it hard or can be un-willing to change their habits until things become ‘unbearable’ to live with. However once the decision has been made to start life style changes most clients feel the benefits quickly and are eager to continue.

Not only are the physical symptoms of the menopause relieved but clients look younger and feel great.

It does take time and effort though.

A good barometer for determining your overall health you and your lifestyle when you reach menopause will largely determine how smooth your transition will be. If you have been  "burning the candle at both ends" in your 30's and early 40's, you will more likely suffer from mood swings, sleep problems and hot flushes when your menopause begins and your hormones start to change.

The healthier you are the easier your menopause.

Health problems at menopause represent the imbalances in the body that were already growing in the body and they become unmasked by the stress of your changing body.

We tell our menopausal clients that the menopause and symptoms that arise from this transition are Nature's wake-up call to let you know you need to start paying more attention to your self and your health.

Ayurveda says that menopause is not a disease, but a natural transition in women that occurs at the approximate age of 40-55 years and this time is a crucial stage in learning to care for your health and wellbeing. This transition is part of the process of aging in women. And according to Ayurveda aging is a 'Vata' predominant stage of life, Vata means ‘the changing winds’

Ayurveda treats people by determining their doshas/body constitution.

There are three doshas: Vata means changeable, movement and wind, Pitta means fiery, heat and transformation, Kapha means stability, substance, and earth. And there are three basic types of imbalances relating to each of the three doshas.

In menopause we are also working with the 3 types of menopausal types, which are Vata dominated menopause, Pitta dominated menopause and Kapha dominated menopause. Each type of menopause has different symptoms.

Before you read about the different dosha menopause symptoms, make a list of your own symptoms first. Remember that Vata is like the wind, Pitta like Fire and Kapha is like the Earth.