62
august/september 2019yogajournal.com.auYoga for Hormonal
Imbalances
Though menopause itself is simply the moment
that menstruation stops, the transition generally
takes several years. This phase is called
perimenopause and typically occurs in women
between the ages of 45 and 55. During
perimenopause, fluctuating estrogen and
progesterone levels can trigger a myriad of
uncomfortable symptoms. Among the most
common are hot flashes, anxiety and irritability,
insomnia, fatigue, depression and mood swings,
memory lapses, and an erratic menstrual cycle.
Few women experience all of these, but an
estimated 55 to 65 percent of them do experience
some mild menopause-related problems, says
Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, of the Harbour UCLA
Research and Education Institute in Torrance,
California. About 25 percent report almost no
disruption to their daily lives, while
approximately 10 to 20 percent suffer severe and
often debilitating symptoms.
Hormonal fluctuations generally accompany
women’s passages into each new biological stage
of life; with them often come various
discomforts, such as acne and mood swings at
puberty, morning sickness during pregnancy,
and postpartum depression. “Menopause is no
exception,” says Dr Nancy Lonsdorf, author of
A Woman’s Best Medicine for Menopause.
Before the onset of perimenopause, a woman’s
menstrual cycle is set in motion each month by
the hypothalamus, a small structure at the base
of the brain that regulates many bodily functions,
including appetite and temperature. The
hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to
produce important hormones for reproduction,
and those hormones in turn stimulate production
of estrogen and progesterone in the ovaries.
During perimenopause, the ovaries and pituitary
gland engage in a kind of tug-of-war. The ovaries
decrease hormone production, while the pituitary
gland, sensing low hormone levels, continues to
spur on the ovaries. This frenetic struggle causes
erratic hormonal fluctuations—too much
estrogen, which revs the body’s motors, followed
by spikes of progesterone, which slows the body.
“Hormones are very powerful; they affect just
about every tissue of the body,” Lonsdorf says. “So
it’s no wonder that various conditions can arise as
the body tries to adjust to these hormonal shifts.
For instance, when the brain is affected by erratic
hormone patterns, sleep, mood, and memory may
all be influenced, and when the uterus is
stimulated by sporadic hormone patterns,
irregular bleeding occurs, and so on.”
Typically, a woman experiences the first signs
of this hormonal fluctuation about six years
62 before her menstrual periods end. These PHOTO: 143902093/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
august/september 2019yogajournal.com.auYoga for Hormonal
Imbalances
Though menopause itself is simply the moment
that menstruation stops, the transition generally
takes several years. This phase is called
perimenopause and typically occurs in women
between the ages of 45 and 55. During
perimenopause, fluctuating estrogen and
progesterone levels can trigger a myriad of
uncomfortable symptoms. Among the most
common are hot flashes, anxiety and irritability,
insomnia, fatigue, depression and mood swings,
memory lapses, and an erratic menstrual cycle.
Few women experience all of these, but an
estimated 55 to 65 percent of them do experience
some mild menopause-related problems, says
Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, of the Harbour UCLA
Research and Education Institute in Torrance,
California. About 25 percent report almost no
disruption to their daily lives, while
approximately 10 to 20 percent suffer severe and
often debilitating symptoms.
Hormonal fluctuations generally accompany
women’s passages into each new biological stage
of life; with them often come various
discomforts, such as acne and mood swings at
puberty, morning sickness during pregnancy,
and postpartum depression. “Menopause is no
exception,” says Dr Nancy Lonsdorf, author of
A Woman’s Best Medicine for Menopause.
Before the onset of perimenopause, a woman’s
menstrual cycle is set in motion each month by
the hypothalamus, a small structure at the base
of the brain that regulates many bodily functions,
including appetite and temperature. The
hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to
produce important hormones for reproduction,
and those hormones in turn stimulate production
of estrogen and progesterone in the ovaries.
During perimenopause, the ovaries and pituitary
gland engage in a kind of tug-of-war. The ovaries
decrease hormone production, while the pituitary
gland, sensing low hormone levels, continues to
spur on the ovaries. This frenetic struggle causes
erratic hormonal fluctuations—too much
estrogen, which revs the body’s motors, followed
by spikes of progesterone, which slows the body.
“Hormones are very powerful; they affect just
about every tissue of the body,” Lonsdorf says. “So
it’s no wonder that various conditions can arise as
the body tries to adjust to these hormonal shifts.
For instance, when the brain is affected by erratic
hormone patterns, sleep, mood, and memory may
all be influenced, and when the uterus is
stimulated by sporadic hormone patterns,
irregular bleeding occurs, and so on.”
Typically, a woman experiences the first signs
of this hormonal fluctuation about six years
before her menstrual periods end. These PHOTO: 143902093/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM