MANAGING MENOPAUSE: A HOLISTIC VIEW

Armed with over two decades of teaching experience, Delhi-based yoga practitioner Mini Shastri explains how best to deal with perimenopause and menopause.

- SMITA TRIPATHI

Harper’s Bazaar: Besides physical stress, how can we deal with the emotional stress of perimenopause? What are some of the natural remedies to make life simpler during perimenopause?

Mini Shastri: “You can’t have hormonal balance if you have high stress, it’s simply not possible. Overworking, chronic infections, excess exercise (yes!), mental strain, etc., can release stress hormones into the body. To reduce these potentially harmful hormones, include Pranayama, create a daily routine, practice yoga and include nerve/muscle relaxing restorative asanas at the end of your daily exercise routine. Meditate for 5-10 minutes every day! Try and establish a daily routine and adhere to it as much as possible. Uplifting habits nourish the nervous system, establishing a better hormonal landscape. This lowers accumulated stress and stress hormones such as cortisol, preventing it from dominating our hormonal landscape. The idea is to address stress in a way that it leaves us feeling balanced, not overwhelmed, or it will be another thing to stress about.

Some natural remedies around lifestyle, stress management and diet that support hormonal balance, and worked well for me are as follows:

• Choose a quiet time in the morning for around 20 minutes for breathing exercises. It acts as a balm on the wear and tear of the day gone by and provides us balance for what lies ahead.

• Follow this with some gentle stretches, twists and backbends.