Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Namaskar,

By increasing the oxygen in the body and mind yoga can help achieve a sense of balance with the emotions and restore equilibrium to a body. As spiritual beings we always try to balance the health of our physical bodies. To help the transition through perimenopause and menopause dietary changes can be made. Probably the body will need less food. Fresh fruits and vegetables will help reduce feeling of heaviness in the abdomen. One should eat less processed food and more fresh ones. Its better to get fiber from foods rather than fiber supplements as foods are more nutritious. Sun foods (mostly fruits), Ground foods (rice, beans, and leafy vegetables) Earth foods (garlic, onion and ginger) should be consumed as well.

Each of these food types creates effects on the body and mind. Sun foods keep the body light and etheric. Ground foods help the body and mind to feel steady and focused. Earth foods are good for healing; provides energy and helps for cleansing the body of toxins.

A well balanced diet should be a combination of sun, ground and earth foods. In yoga foods are categorized as Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic. Sattvic foods are easily digested. (Fruits, steamed vegetables, lentils) Rajasic food stimulates the body. (Onions, garlic, and ginger) Tamasic foods deplete your energy, and make you heavy. Animal protein, deep fried foods, Tamasic foods should be limited or even avoided. A good diet would include mostly sattvic foods and Rajasic food.

Hot flashes fall under a category of physical symptoms known as vasomotor changes. Vasomotor changes are alterations in blood circulation that cause temperature fluctuations. From the perspective of yoga philosophy, a hot flash represents the release of kundalini (cosmic-life force) energy which rewires the nervous system.

OM