Becoming a certified menopause yoga teacher while going through perimenopause myself has been a confounding AND enlightening experience. On the one hand, I find myself diving into the rabbit hole of “why do doctors not know how to help people in menopause” and astonishment at how little I knew about my own body parts, my hormones, and my reproductive cycle.
In my case, when I had my first period, my Mum gave me a big hug and welcomed me to womanhood and then I went off to my Monday to Friday boarding school dorm on a frigid winter night in Montreal feeling completely lost. I had no idea what that meant nor was I ready for that responsibility at the age of thirteen.
Now in late-stage perimenopause at the age of fifty, I am educating myself deeply on what, how and WHY? Why do we know so little? Why don’t we teach young people how to listen to their bodies and their beautiful mimicry of the seasons of nature? Why is the female body not important to research? Why do most women have to continue to suffer at a time in life when we have already faced so many battles of our postmodern, late-stage capitalistic society driven by the interests and perspectives of legacy patriarchal institutions? (Wow, what a mouthful. I am convinced that truth serum replaces estrogen).
What yoga has taught me over the past twenty years has been profound.
Yoga through the lens of menopause care for women and individuals with female sex hormones is a love letter to what we never got when we were younger – that your beauty is internal, your power is abundant and your ability to morph and grow through the ups and downs of our reproductive cycles is a testament to what is really means to change with intention and evolve into the people we are truly meant to be.

Yoga for menopause is not an inclusive approach for supporting women’s health because it does not offer the kind of cardiovascular fitness that women need, it is not a bone building muscle building program, it is not a nutritional plan or the answer to all of your menopausal problems.
A menopause teacher who understands the stages and symptoms of the menopause transition can pinpoint areas of support that women are in most need of to navigate the challenges of menopause – physical health, brain health and social-emotional health and help women implement life skills and bite sized yoga snacks offering that can be used for just five to ten minutes a day.
An informed teacher can sign-post students to other resources and medical experts, whether it be for cognitive behavioral therapy to help address unresolved emotions and trauma, or a physical therapist for pelvic floor health or a menopause certified doctor to discuss their options for hormone replacement therapy.
Unique to a yoga for menopause class, brain sensitive, trauma-informed somatic practices are offered to help a person alleviate the chronic stress of menopause and connect to the sensations of their internal mind and body, (interoception) especially important for people who are overwhelmed with the menopause transition related to a changing physical body, changing brain chemistry and challenging perceptions of societal value and self-worth.
Active range of motion, balance, flexibility, positive stress, and strength building in poses (with and without resistance bands & light weights) are explored to maintain muscle strength, positively impact bone density and pelvic floor support.
Pranayama (accessible breathing practices) and restorative supported yoga for nervous system regulation and overall sense of mental well-being can remind a person that pleasure is accessible, their power is important, and their beauty, hard earned wisdom and resolve for enduring change are needed in this world.
A yoga for menopause class at the root is empowering women on their journey through and beyond menopause. According to The Lancet, the empowerment model counteracts the over-medicalization and disease-based responses to menopause care and symptom management – and gives women agency, choice, and an ability to make evidence-based decisions for their care that is informed by their own unique experiences in partnership with their care providers. Yoga offers a lens through which a women can become empowered because yoga is a very direct and personal experience of being alive – mentally, spiritually, energetically, and physically.
I am offering a 3-week Yoga for Menopause workshop at Wallingford Yoga Studio in Seattle starting October 13. You can sign up for the series on the “Workshop” page or email me directly for more information info@meant-to-pause.com. This workshop is ideal for women and non-binary individuals with female sex hormones between the ages of 40-55 who are in the late reproductive stage, early or late perimenopause or recently in menopause.
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