Menopause and Ayurveda
Ayurveda has a strong foundation in promoting and improving women's health. Its holistic approach considers women's unique needs and challenges throughout their lives. It can help women achieve a healthy foundation and wellness by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs with natural remedies and techniques. Whether managing menstrual pain, balancing hormones, supporting fertility and pregnancy, or pre and post-menopausal symptoms, Ayurveda offers safe and effective solutions that benefit women of all ages. It emphasizes prevention and self-care, including a nutritious diet, regular exercise, and stress management. Ayurveda empowers women to take control of their health and live their best lives.
Ayurveda brings a holistic method to health that recognizes three significant life milestones—childhood, adulthood, and elderhood. Every stage is associated with one of the three doshas (vata, pitta, kapha).
Childhood (Brahmacharya Ashram) is a time full of growth, body structure, and acquisition of basic knowledge. Ayurveda associates this stage of life with kapha, the grounding dosha quality of earth and water.
Adulthood (Grihastha Ashram) is the time of attainments and actions associated with pitta, the active dosha of fire and water.
Seniorhood (Sannyasa Ashram) is a period of letting go of the constant need to achieve and compete. It is associated with vata, the moving dosha quality of air, and ether.
Menopause is transitioning more into the vata-dominated period of your life, where aggravation of the Vata Dosha sometimes leads to an imbalance in all three doshas – Vata, Pitta, and Kapha giving rise to "Dhatu Kshaya" or decline in body tissues, and imbalances discussed earlier, being a gradual consequence of ageing.
On a positive note, Ayurveda also looks at the deep reflection, insight, and wisdom brought up this far, creating a feeling of relief—knowing that our significant responsibilities have been taken care of and we are now fully ready to shift awareness within and share the immense knowledge accumulated over the years. This stage of life is an excellent opportunity to get to know ourselves and, make time for self-care, introspection, and bring grounding through meditation.
Signs of Menopausal Imbalances based on the Doshas
Menopause includes myriad issues as the body transitions into a different phase of life, hot flushes, vaginal dryness, sexual dysfunction, sleep trouble, mood swings, memory and concentration concerns, dry skin, breast pain, migraines, anxiety, impaired balance, osteoporotic fractures, or signs related to cardiovascular disease. There may also be specific mind stressors causing nervousness, insomnia, and depression. Ayurveda explains pain, fever, and mood swings linked to srota blockages which are the subtle channels within the body.
Menopause causes estrogen deficiency causing long-term higher stress hormones (cortisol), which deplete the sex hormones, causing vaginal dryness and dysfunction. Women using ERT (estrogen replacement therapy) may develop estrogen-dominant symptoms such as weight gain, water retention, and mood swings.
Stress renders a lower response to hormones and provides hormonal imbalance. In Western terminology, this means high or low cortisol levels, a deficiency in sex hormones, thyroid problems, and adrenal burnout.
Vata Type Menopause
Since Menopause develops during the Vata phase of life, symptoms will always be primarily of high Vata, such as increased nervousness, anxiety, or sleeplessness.
Pitta Type Menopause
Women with Pitta-type menopause will experience anger, irritability, short temper, and frequent or pronounced hot flashes or night sweats.
Kapha Type Menopause
Women with Kapha-type menopause will experience heaviness, sleepiness, lack of motivation, weight gain, or holding water.
How can Ayurveda help with Menopause?
Ayurveda uses nature-guided methods and herbal sources to revitalize the body as the women transition to this natural phenomenon of Menopause. These practices can help balance hormones and reduce symptoms like night sweats, mood swings, and insomnia without artificial interference. Freshly prepared food, a balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, regularity, taking time to nurture yourself, massage, yoga and meditation, and herbs and supplements that support hormonal balance can help women navigate the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of Menopause.
Diet and lifestyle recommendation for Menopause
Eating a healthy fresh food diet, exercising regularly, and managing stress with meditation, ayurvedic oil massage, and a good night's sleep all provide the foundation of staying healthy in mind and body during this stage of women's life.
Introduce a Vata-Pitta pacifying diet if your dosha focuses more on this bio-energy. Regular warm, light, freshly cooked meals and consuming good fats or oils in foods elevate dryness in the body.
Reduce or avoid eating dry, cold, fermented, left-over foods, processed foods, refined sugar, heavy creams, and red meats.
Minimize the consumption of alcohol and caffeine, or avoid it altogether, if you can.
Regular, mild-moderate exercises like yoga, walking, tai chi, more energetic workouts like cycling, swimming, or running, and weight training can improve levels of testosterone which will help support the libido and combat mental fog. Meditation can also bring a grounding quality and enhance mood.
Calm Vata by creating regular routines around your sleep, food, work, exercise, and family time.
Daily self-massage with warm oil called abhyanga and nasal medication (nasya), where you place some drops of oil in each nostril, can assist with hormonal balancing.
Ayurvedic Detoxification (Panchakarma) for Menopause
Panchakarma promotes detoxification and removes toxins from the body. Ayurvedic doctors can tailor panchakarma based on the patient's history, doshas, and ailments.
Medicated ghee is orally administered for a few days to prepare the stubborn toxins (Ama) accumulated in the body to surface and ready to exit.
Purgation (Virechana) effectively calms the aggravated pitta doshas and blood tissues. Ama exists here during the purgation process.
Depending on the patient's health, Enemas (Basti) calm the aggravated Vata dosha during the menopausal phase.
Herbal medicated nasal oil (nasya) helps with the symptoms of the prana vata and opens the free-flowing channels of the senses.
Shirodhara therapy involves pouring herbal oil over the scalp or forehead to calm and balance the nervous system for improved well-being.
Although these tips are valuable, seeking guidance from a medical doctor is always advisable. The Ayurveda method provides a natural and secure approach to managing this stage of life without any negative consequences.
References:
https://www.ndtv.com/food/ayurveda-for-menopause-4-foods-to-include-in-your-diet-1836597
Online Diet Consultation in Ayurvedic Abu Road. http://www.ayurtejayurvedic.com/diet-consultation