For this month’s column, Michelle Howard explains what being a Menopause Yoga Teacher means to her – and how it could help YOU as you approach the Second Spring
Her Time – Lang Leav
“She has been feeling it for a while now – that sense of awakening.
There is a gentle rage simmering inside her, and it’s getting stronger by the day.
She will hold it close to her – she will nurture it and let it grow.
She won’t let anyone take it away from her. It is her rocket fuel and finally, she is going places.
She can feel it in her very core – this is her time.
She will not only climb mountains- she will move them too”
Walking into a space that has 10-15 other women who are all there for the same purpose is a uniquely powerful thing (I’m using the word women; however, this goes out to any person born with a uterus who may now identify as male). Menopause yoga workshops bring people together in a safe, supportive and non-judgmental space. I see the relief, the light bulb moments, the care and understanding on the faces of each and every person attending. That ‘I thought it was ‘just me’ realisation dissolving and shoulders relaxing.
I have been practicing yoga for nearly 30 years, teaching hatha, yin and vinyasa yoga since 2019. When I became aware that the anxiety, achy joints and the emotional dips I was experiencing were probably due to perimenopause I leaned into my yoga practice more.
Like many women when the hormonal swings of perimenopause arrive, they land at a time when there are often multiple challenges: work, children, parents, partners for example. For me it’s juggling work (which I am lucky to love) with caring for and supporting my husband who has primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
The more I spoke to my yoga students and bodywork clients about their negative experiences of the menopause the more I wanted to explore ways to offer support.
After some time and research, it was the work of MY menopause yoga founder Petra Coveney that drew my attention. As a member of the British menopause society, Petra offered an evidence-based training course supported by psychologists, many members of the medical establishment, nutritionists and a whole range of other specialists in their own fields.
Combining western medical information about the menopause along with eastern wellbeing practices, I learnt so much more about the physical, emotional and psychological symptoms and impacts of the menopause. Along with that a wide range of yoga sequences, breathwork, and meditations especially tailored to support those symptoms.
Menopause yoga workshops and classes offer an understanding of the menopause, the stage of menopause you may be in and the symptoms, frame-worked around the seasons to allow for deeper understanding and connection.
Workshops and class are usually themed around phases/seasons of the menopause:
Summer to Autumn = perimenopause, the most chaotic season and often sees the most symptoms and imbalance.
Winter = menopause
Second Spring = post-menopause, renewal.
Menopause yoga combines many different styles of yoga, yin, hatha, vinyasa and restorative depending on the theme of the class. Each session includes the theme introduction, women’s circle – an invitation to share and listen to experiences; breathwork; yoga poses; and restorative poses’ meditation.
Throughout each session a toolkit of support and techniques are available which as well as the yoga itself may include advice on how to approach a medical professional to get help, nutrition, journaling and signposting to other professionals.
Menopause yoga offers a positive mindset to this transition, helping to reframe the negative connotations often associated with this time of life to feeling empowered. When women join together, magic happens. Oxytocin, one of our wellbeing chemicals, is released and a sense of connection created.
Join Michelle Howard at Yantra studio, Norwich, for her next The Wintering – A menopause workshop with Michelle Howard, on Saturday 14th December; 2-4pm followed by tea and cake. Visit Michelle Howard Yoga & Therapies.
Featured images – supplied
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