Non-Hormonal Menopause Care: the wisdom of Ayurveda

Abhyanga Massage Oil

There is a plethora of information circling the internet and on social media espousing and promoting the benefits of HRT (or more accurately called MHT now, for Menopause Hormonal Therapy). And for good reason! In the early 2000s, the largest study on female health known as the Women's Health Initiative (or WHI) put fear into the hearts of a generation of women who were already on HRT after it prematurely and incorrectly announced that estrogen and HRT increased breast cancer incidence in midlife women.

This has since been debunked (thank the gods) but the damage done was deep. The pendulum from "don't take HRT it will give you breast cancer" has swung equally very far to "take HRT for all the menopause symptoms AND it will decrease your risk of breast cancer, prevent against dementia and heart disease". The truth is somewhere in the middle, and most importantly is in the hands of people and their informed and menopause certified (ahem: read that again, MENOPAUSE CERTIFIED) doctors to determine what is right for them, and no, unlike the marketing we are bombarded by, MHT is not the elixir of life.

Hormone Therapy - Not the Elixir of Life

Even on MHT, people going through the menopause transition, whether it be prematurely before 45 or are already post-menopause, will also need to support themselves with lifestyle changes and preventative, evidence-based tools to continue to thrive for the remaining 1/3 of their lives. You've probably heard it all at this stage: invest in good sleep, eat the rainbow, move your body, lift weights, take care of your mind AND your spirit. All of this makes complete sense because menopause is a bio-psycho-social transformation that can unearth some big "ah ha's" for people, some good and of course, some less than desirable issues pertaining to self-image, relationships, childhood, etc. It's a bit of a pandora's box.

Non Hormonal Menopause Care

Which is why I'm writing this blog about non hormonal menopause care for reintegrating your mind with your body and your spirit, through the ancient Indian practices of Ayurveda, the life science aspect of yoga, with some parallels to the ancient wisdoms of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which I am also trained on how to apply to menopause yoga. You see, during the menopause transition, the brain changes in many ways. You can think of this an upgrade in the operating system from "what does everyone need from me" to "how can I honor my own needs first and live according to my hard-earned wisdom". Getting from A to B takes years and ayurveda can help make the path a little smoother.

This is far from an exhaustive lesson as I'm not a licensed Ayurvedic doctor, but my 200-hour yoga teacher & ayurvedic training was led by certified practitioners and yoga teachers, Tami Hafzala and Jodi Boone. They taught me about Ayurveda's role in preventing illness and maintaining wellbeing through deep knowledge of the self. Ayurvedic MDs can refer out care to the appropriate Western medical doctors as they are not licensed to diagnose disease, they have plenty of clinical training, practice preventative healthcare with deep training in pathology and disease management through diet and lifestyle.

What is a Dosha?

I also learned how to teach a yoga class according to one's "dosha" or "naturally born constitution", for there are asana and pranayama that can soothe someone's nervous system, digestive system, Nadis (akin to energy meridians), vital organs and spirit when out of alignment. For example, if you tend to be fast thinking and moving, determined, focused, but don't take care of your basic needs, you will quickly burn out. Ayurveda sees this as an overactivation of the "rajas" energy, or "fire" element associated with transformation and change. In balance, this has plenty of good qualities, and when of balance, leads to digestive problems, impatience, headaches, sleeplessness and anger, as an example. This dosha type would be Pitta dominant.

What does this have to do with menopause?

You can also see these parallels in menopausal symptoms: hot flashes, insomnia, and digestive and liver changes due to changing hormones. Ayurveda suggests tapping into the power of opposites energies, in this case, to dampen a fire, you apply water elements (cool, downward flowing) and earth elements (heavy, hard, solid) to everything. So a Pitta dominant menopausal person needs to drink plenty of room temperature water (starting with lemon in the mornings) to prepare the digestive system for optimal functioning (agni), to practicing a more grounding asana (like child's pose, or restorative postures) and to eat easy to digest, warm foods with cooling qualities (ie; cilantro in a mild chickpea stew), to dress lightly, avoid overheated rooms, etc.

Apart from practical advice, movement and diet suggestions to ease a Pitta dominant type, Ayurveda suggests other lovely methods for "cooling", including self-massage (Abhyanga) using an oil that has qualities suitable for cooling Pitta (think: sunflower, olive or coconut oil). It's advised to warm it up and spend 15 mins in downward gentle strokes from top of your body to your feet. Not only does this lower stress, support the body's natural detoxification (lymph nodes, etc.), it can help balance the flow of energy, improve digestion (especially when you circle your hands over your belly in a counterclockwise direction), and it just feels good! Pleasure is important during transformation! Talk about self-love for your dry skin and as a way to connect to your beautiful self, something we often self-detach from to endure the difficult changes to our physical and mental selves. You can choose to take it another step and luxuriate in a warm bath (not too hot) or put on your abhyanga jammies and hit the bed for a really good night's rest.

Learn More & Retreats!

If you'd like to learn more about Ayurveda, I suggest starting with a quiz to determine your dosha (you are either Pitta, Vata or Kapha, or most likely a combination of two). You can also find plenty of resources here: The Ayurvedic Institute and one day, perhaps one day, I will find my way to this retreat in Kerala, India or this one with Dr. Vasant Lad, in Ashville, North Carolina. I can only dream.