Yoga for Menopause: 5 Poses to Soothe Symptoms

The 18th of October is World Menopause Day: a day where businesses, organisations and individuals try to bring awareness to the issues women face when they approach and experience menopause. We loved seeing all of the initiatives taken this year to end the stigma around menopause and bring a better understanding of what it is. Many yoga enthusiasts often take to incorporating exercise into their routine to help alleviate and soothe menopausal symptoms. From supportive poses to help improve undesirable side effects to relaxing routines designed to instil a sense of calm, our blog walks you through the benefits of yoga for menopause, shining light on ways you too can create a routine designed to provide menopausal relief. Can yoga help menopause symptoms? When women approach and go through menopause, they can often experience a range of symptoms from depression, hot flashes, anxiety and fatigue, and many feel that they are alone with this, even though it’s something about half of the population goes through. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of perimenopause or menopause, certain yoga poses and practices can be wonderful tools. Cooling and restorative poses can help hot flashes and anxiety; forward bends can help you turn inwards and soothe stress and irritability; reclining and restorative poses can aid in fighting fatigue and insomnia; inversions will increase circulation and stimulate hormonal glands, while gentle backbends and heart-opening poses can help respiration and produce feelings of positivity and light. Looking to create your own yoga routine to help fight menopausal symptoms? Take a look at our favourite poses to help soothe the nervous system and balance hormones. Best yoga poses for menopause Reclining Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) This pose opens up the whole front body and frees the belly, chest and pelvic area of constriction. It will allow blood to flow to these areas and help ease feelings of discomfort and stress. It is especially helpful in soothing and calming the body, so it can be helpful when experiencing hot flashes and stress. Use props and deep breaths to find comfort and stability in this pose for a moment of self-soothing and calm when you need it. Sitting in the middle of your mat, bend your knees and place the feet flat. Lie down on your back either on the mat or over a bolster lengthways from your tailbone for a gentle heart opener. From here, slowly let your knees fall out to either side and press the soles of your feet together. Find a point in the pose where you feel comfortable by moving the heels either closer or further from your sitting bones. Let your arms rest by your sides with the palms facing up. To really feel the benefit of this pose, we recommend investing in a buckwheat bolster. Not only are they a sustainable alternative to a traditional bolster, our collection of bolsters help to mold around your body’s natural support – helping yogis to perfect the reclining bound angle pose. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana) Similar to Supta Baddha Konasana, this pose opens up the front body and allows blood to flow freely to the reproductive organs and glands. Additionally, the head being below the heart and hips can help increase circulation and stimulate the hormonal glands. This will in turn help balance the hormonal fluctuations caused by menopause. Opening up the chest and front body will encourage deeper breathing and allow the abdomen to soften, which will improve respiration and circulation and can help your feel uplifted and energised. You can support this uplifting pose by placing a yoga brick under the sacrum or practice a restorative version propped up on a yoga bolsters or folded blanket, if you feel that the pose is too strenuous for your current symptoms. Lying on your back, bend your knees and place your feet on the mat with your heels close to the sitting bones. With your arms along your sides, press your palms into the mat and keeping your knees over your feet and legs engaged, start to lift your hips up. Interlace your fingers under you and keeping your arms strong and straight, roll your shoulders back and open up your chest. Keep lifting through the hips and sternum until your thighs are parallel to the mat and ground. Keep the neck soft and gaze straight. A foam Yoga Brick is perfect for Bridge Pose as it is soft but sturdy and allows you to place it at whichever height feels good for you. Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani) This pose will help relieve stress and calm the nervous system, increase circulation and bring a sense of calm to the body. If you are struggling with insomnia or fatigue, this pose will help you fall into a restful headspace. This pose can be practised in bed with a lavender eye pillow if you are struggling to get to sleep at night. Support the pose with a couple of folded blankets or a rectangular bolster under the hips against the wall. Sit with your side to the wall with your blankets or bolster behind your tailbone. In one movement, lie down with your head and shoulders on the ground, hips on the bolster or blankets and swing your legs up against the wall. Your sitting bones do not need to be all the way up against the wall, so if the pose feels tight and uncomfortable, try moving further from the wall before you swing your legs up. Once you feel comfortable, tuck your chin slightly towards the chest and let your arms rest by your sides with the palms facing up. Looking to improve your Viparita Karani? We would recommend investing in a longer, rectangular bolster. Placing a rectangular bolster beneath your hips as you ease into your pose will help the pose feel more natural, placing additional support to areas where it may need additional assistance. Plough Pose (Halasana) Although plough pose can be a strenuous pose if practised with a mindset of performance and perfection, it can also be soothing and calming, if we allow ourselves to use props and instead relax into the pose. This gentle yoga pose will require focus and can help you shut out stress and external stimuli, and once you are in the pose, it can help stimulate the hormonal glands to help balance out moods and feelings of stress and depression. Support the pose with a couple of folded yoga blankets placed in the middle of your mat. Lay down with your shoulders supported by the blankets, head resting on the mat and arms flat alongside your body. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. With your palms either pressing into the mat or hands gripping the edges of the mat on both sides, lift your feet off the mat rolling onto your shoulders and draw your thighs in towards your chest. Bend your elbows and bring your hands to support your back, with your fingers pointing in towards your spine, and walk your hands up your back towards your shoulders, without letting your elbows slide out wider. Lift your legs and feet up to make a straight line from your shoulders to your feet to come into a full shoulder stand. From here, bend from the hips and slowly lower your toes to the floor behind your head. Place your feet on a block, bolster or chair instead of the floor if the pose is too intense. Keep your gaze straight, your hips above your shoulders and legs straight. As the restorative version of this pose can help to alleviate menopausal symptoms, we would recommend enhancing this restful experience with a folded yoga blanket. With a dual purpose, yoga blankets can bring relief to specific areas such as your lower back, as well as doubling up as a comfortable layer to achieve a state of mindfulness. To help improve focus, we would also recommend carving out your very own sacred space to carry out a new yoga routine. At Yogamatters, our Sacred Space collection holds everything you need to help create a calming environment. From invigorating essential oils and incense burners to soothe the senses, to calming candles and eye pillows designed to help set the tone, our sacred collection has everything you need to switch off and reset your focus. Browse our selection of yoga blankets for Plough Pose here. Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) This pose will help ease tightness and stiffness in the whole back body and also increase blood flow to the brain. A staple for a gentle yoga practice designed to help provide relief to menopausal symptoms, a standing forward bend is a universal stretch, as it works many areas that many people find tight and achy, like the upper and lower back and the back of the legs and hips. This pose is especially good to soothe symptoms of menopause like stress, irritability and tension as it allows you to shut out distractions and stimuli from your surroundings, and instead tune in and soothe the sympathetic nervous system. Standing tall in Tadasana, start folding slowly from the hips keeping both the legs and torso straight. If you feel your spine rounding, try putting a small bend in the knees. Bend down to touch your fingertips or palms to the ground in front of your feet, or use a couple of bricks to give yourself some extra length. Let your head drop and neck relax, but try to keep the spine neutral and chest open. Yoga Props for a Gentle Practice Whilst these gentle yoga poses are designed to help alleviate menopausal symptoms, incorporating a number of yoga props and accessories into your routine will allow you to delve deeper into a further state of relaxation. From natural yoga blankets to provide support to troublesome areas, or to relax after a gentle practice, to bricks that are designed to help you stretch further into poses, our bespoke collection of yoga accessories are built to support you as you please. Take a look at our full range of yoga props and accessories online today.

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