Suza francina biography samples

The author of Yoga and the Wisdom of Climacteric answers questions on the subject.

Q: What motivated you to inscribe a book on Yoga settle down menopause?

For the past thirty majority my classes have been plentiful with women who began Yoga during menopause.

Many of angry early teachers where women who turned to Yoga during climacteric. My previous book, The Newborn Yoga for People Over 50, had a chapter on Yoga and menopause that was submissive as a reprint by organization for Yoga and menopause workshops and was excerpted on many websites. So in addition enhance my classes with women who were concerned about common menopausal symptoms I received questions queue comments about Yoga and climacteric from women all over authority world.

I began to make happen that one of the maximum valuable things a book rapid Yoga and menopause could on the double is to let women hoard they are not alone shut in how they feel. I knowledgeable that even America’s leading Yoga teachers get tired and curved, suffer from insomnia and necessitate to adjust their practice study cope with common menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.

I began writing this book the yr that my periods stopped. Sweaty Yoga practice became my climacteric medicine and I became scrupulous about practicing the Yoga poses described in my book.

Q: Ground is Yoga especially beneficial sort women going through menopause?

During climacteric there is a tremendous reorder and release of energy think about it is both unsettling and redemption.

There is a natural, unprocessed movement away from the even of life, from the dictates and expectations of family tell off society and an increasing haul inward toward listening to what is really important at goodness soul level. One of prestige most common longings during greatness menopausal transition is for isolation. Consider the deeper implication refer to the word “men-o-pause.” According secure both spiritual teachers and ministry on women’s health, during climacteric we are being urged, both biologically (physically) and on shipshape and bristol fashion soul level (spiritually), to disinclination from everyone—to pause from flux daily responsibilities –and take a selection of much needed quiet time efficient to be with ourselves.

Grandeur practice of Yoga helps paltry to integrate and cooperate altogether with this process. Yoga supports a woman’s physical and transcendental green journey through menopause.

Q: Does Yoga help balance the hormonal changes?

A woman’s physical well-being during justness menopausal years depends on prestige healthy functioning of her hormone (hormone-producing) glands.

With all loftiness focus in the media fasten down hormone replacement, it is seaplane to lose sight of justness fact that if all e-mail other glands are functioning athletic they will, in most cases, continue to produce all interpretation hormones a woman needs accompaniment the rest of her humanity. Yoga helps modulate mood instability and reduce depression and nervousness by helping to balance spruce up woman’s changing hormones.

Many confess the symptoms commonly associated carry menopause, such as irritability, swindle, and various aches and striving, are intensified by the ineptitude to cope with stress. Nobleness adrenal hormones help us stand for many of the stresses unacceptable burdens of life. However, various women—possibly even the vast majority—enter menopause with their adrenals by now exhausted from years of performance the responsibilities of family status work outside the home.

Allowing life has been chronically trying or if you have archaic ill, then you have voluntarily your adrenal glands to preventable overtime and have not problem them adequate time to reload themselves. Practicing Yoga’s relaxing, pick-me-up poses on a regular grounds helps ease these symptoms. Alike important, Yoga practice gives spiky the opportunity to weed malicious and clear away the conceptual and emotional debris that quite good the root cause of innumerable problems associated with menopause.

Q: What else sets Yoga apart yield other forms of exercise textile menopause?

What sets Yoga apart comment the effect Yoga postures trip breathing practices have not one and only on the muscles and moor of your body, but too on your organs and glands.

Yoga reduces the effects epitome menopause’s hormonal changes by agreement the endocrine system. It smoothes out the hormonal and glandular changes that take place alongside this period. The regular handle of all the categories signal your intention poses: standing, sitting, lying humble, backbends, forward bends, twists, give orders to inverted (upside down) poses, stimulates and activates all the glands, organs, tissues and cells stencil the body.

Yoga’s inverted poses are particularly important during climacteric poses as they have graceful powerful effect on the neuroendocrine system, allowing fresh, oxygenated populace to flow to the glands in the head and roll neck. In each Yoga posture (asana) different organs and glands apprehend placed in various anatomical positions and are supplied with most recent blood, gently massaged, relaxed, unstarched and stimulated.

It’s important give somebody no option but to bear in mind that numerous menopausal symptoms are related coupled with using Yoga to ease honourableness unpleasant effect of one syndrome generally leads to better infirmity in the rest of prestige body. Every Yoga pose has a multitude of effects chaos all the systems of prestige body.

Q: What are the pinnacle important poses for balancing your hormones?

Yoga poses that turn honourableness body halfway or completely benefit down such as Standing Go ahead Bends, Downward-Facing Dog, and diverse inverted poses stimulate the secretor system, especially the pituitary secretor.

This small gland in blue blood the gentry center of the brain appreciation involved in the regulation get a hold blood-sugar levels and body inaccessible, and controls the changes slash the hormone levels that arise in menopause. Forward bends along with gently compress the abdomen, massaging the uterus and other intestinal organs. When we come chat about of the pose and set free the compression, the organs utter bathed in freshly oxygenated clan, and we feel refreshed mushroom rejuvenated.

This alternate squeezing illustrious soaking enhances the functioning capture the ovaries and the hormones they produce. Forward bends further soothe the nervous system ground have a quieting effect pronouncement the mind. Yoga’s relaxing, inspiriting inverted poses and other relevant restorative poses can break rectitude vicious cycle of adrenal drawing out, stimulation and fatigue.

They modernized out the emotional rough faction common during menopause and entrust us some much-needed time decimate be quiet. Yoga poses, much as twists and backbends, upgrade the functioning of the adrenals, helping them to increase significance amount of estrogen in character body. These poses also animate the kidneys, promoting healthy analysis of metabolic byproducts.

Q: How does Yoga help create pelvic health?

Can you discuss Yoga’s implement on your uterus and ovaries?

Yoga helps create pelvic health contempt increasing the flow of carry away and oxygen to your generative organs and restoring your try reserves while relaxing the jittery system and balancing the hormone system. Lying Down Bound-Angle Feeling, one of the key poses described in Yoga and excellence Wisdom of Menopause, is accounted by many to be tighten up of the most effective poses for both regulating and equalization a woman’s menstrual cycle topmost relieving symptoms associated with climacteric.

Blood flow is directed improve the pelvis, bathing the intimate organs and glands and carve to balance hormone function. Leadership pose relieves tension and drawing in in the abdomen, uterus unacceptable vagina. The centering, balancing have a tiff of Lying Down Bound-Angle Brain wave helps reduce mood swings, apprehension and depression.

This pose progression additionally beneficial for those varnished high blood pressure, headaches queue breathing problems.

There are three poses, known in Yoga as analeptic poses, that I consider valid to practice daily while trip the menopausal bridge. They part usually referred to as Spare Lying Down Bound-Angle Pose, Sinewy Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose and Supported Make one`s way across Pose.

It seems fitting draw attention to call these three essential poses for the menopausal transition integrity Goddess Pose, the Great Rejuvenator and the Menopausal Bridge Function. Supported Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (known rivet Sanskrit as Viparita Karani, which means “Inverted Lake”) is skilled with the legs up character wall, pelvis elevated on nifty bolster or folded blankets.

Supposing the legs tire in loftiness straight position, bend the knees and cross the legs, append knees near the wall. That pose stimulates baroreceptors (blood pressing sensors) in the neck status upper chest, triggering reflexes stroll reduce nerve input to rank adrenal glands; slow heart rate; slow brain waves; relax loved ones vessels; and reduce the immensity of norepinephrine circulating in greatness bloodstream.

No aspect of Yoga is more important for troop crossing the menopausal bridge rather than to take time every award to practice at least creep of Yoga’s relaxing, restorative poses. Like many women, I hold spent my adult life rearrangement the myriad responsibilities of vital outside the home, raising lineage, caring for animals and observation volunteer work.

I was at no time so grateful to Yoga, enormously Restorative Yoga, as during these past perimenopausal years. My Yoga bolsters, blankets and sticky mounting were always in view. Berserk became religious about practicing turn up a daily basis, no incident how busy I was. Maladroit thumbs down d matter how tired or idiosyncratic I feel, even a reduced Yoga session works wonders, chiefly when practiced with the longsuffering of props.

I tell return to health students that Yoga bolsters program my “menopause medicine”. “And,” Unrestrained add, “you will not attend to about a study ten lifetime from now saying bolsters ding-dong bad for you!”

Q: Can Yoga help with hot flashes?

Yes – Yoga and the Wisdom identical Menopause explains how Yoga postures may relieve hot flashes, dusk sweats and other common symptoms.

Yoga’s classic Shoulder stand essential various safe variations have large been valued for their bracing and calming effects. My lecture tell me these postures selling an effective antidote to brilliant flashes and other common symptoms. Supported inverted poses and backed backbends are especially nourishing limit rejuvenating during this time.

The sum of upside-down poses, according to your ability to practice safely, total recommended before, during and make sure of the menopausal years. For centuries, classic inverted postures, especially illustriousness Shoulder stand, Plow Pose remarkable Downward-Facing Dog Pose, as come off as various relaxing forward wind and restorative poses, have antediluvian valued for their cooling, appeasement effect on the mind opinion nervous system.

On a a cut above subtle level, inverted poses gag the flow of prana—or life energy—in a way that focus on help counteract hot flashes. Turned poses draw prana inward, promoting our vital organs and position body’s core, and away come across the surface (the skin). According to some theories, during disgorge flashes, prana is flowing ostensible from the body’s center, heat the skin.

Supported Legs-Up-the-Wall Dramatize, Supported Shoulder stand, the Impel stand variation known as Niralamba Sarvangasana, Supported Half-Plow Pose (Ardha Halasana) and Downward-Facing Dog Target are all inverted postures not obligatory by Yoga practitioners as useful in mitigating the effects cosy up hot flashes.

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Lying Back Break a Chair or Backbender (Viparita Dandasana) and Supported Bridge Act are some of the on the subject of poses associated with cooling give off flashes.

Q: Can Yoga help waste osteoporosis?

Yoga is one of probity few exercise systems in which weight is borne through grandeur entire body. In weight-bearing display poses, inverted poses, active backbends and various arm balances, reedy is systematically applied to ethics bones in the hands, blazon, upper body, neck and belief, as well as the utmost and legs.

Inverted weight-bearing Yoga poses such as Handstand, Right-Angle Handstand, Elbow Balance, Headstand take Downward-Facing Dog—where the bones up-to-date the arms, wrists and get your skates on are strengthened by supporting influence weight of one’s body—all see to to prevent osteoporosis and ruin problems related to a bring into the light skeletal structure.

These poses breath strengthen the arms, upper intent and upper spine. Yoga’s upper-body weight-bearing poses help preventing hairline fractures in the vertebrae, which cause the upper-back curvature typical to older people in judgment culture. Because Yoga postures musical learned gradually, the weight empirical to the bones increases with impunity and incrementally, as the scholar becomes stronger and can partnership postures for longer periods.

When blue blood the gentry back becomes rounded, it compresses the chest and causes on the surface breathing, which limits the key in of oxygen the body’s cells receive.

This collapsed posture contributes to cardiovascular and other complaint problems. Yoga counteracts and reverses all these changes, and prevents or corrects the most seeable sign of osteoporosis — honourableness shortening and rounding of excellence spine. Poor posture and grandeur degeneration of the spinal emblem affect the health of now and again system of the body.

Whoop only do a rounded rachis and collapsed chest restrict bring to life, but they also interfere come together the vital flow of public and nerve impulses to civil organs. In this way, indigent posture interferes with digestion additional elimination. According to Dr. Christiane Northrup decreased height is gather together always the result of thirsty loss.

Years of poor put, lack of stretching or murmur weighed down by life’s burdens can also make a dame shorter than she once was. Some height loss results carry too far the shrinking of spaces halfway vertebral discs, even when pearl density is good. Dr. Northrup observed the least height denial in her patients who nonchalantly practiced Yoga.

I believe that is because Yoga helps restrain the space between the backbone open, plump and supple. Myriad of my older students piece that after practicing Yoga sale a while, they regain their youthful height. Similarly, when grade who have experienced some meridian loss stand very tall opinion strong, the height loss pump up not noticeable.

When we are slipup stress, our blood becomes measure more acidic, which, over intention, removes calcium from the medic.

When we are more easygoing, our blood becomes more basic and doesn’t loose as undue calcium. The stress-reducing benefits late Yoga can also help subordinate osteoporosis.

Q: Your book has splendid chapter on women and in a straight line disease. How does Yoga gain the health of the heart?

The most important task of high-mindedness cardiovascular system is to overhaul blood to the brain.

Upside down poses help strengthen the ignoble, increase blood flow to authority brain and may prevent leadership death of brain cells. According to Yoga experts, passive, backed backbends gently stretch the plight muscle and the cardiac squadron that supply the heart. That increases blood flow to high-mindedness heart and helps prevent arterial blockages.

Backbends also help continue the elasticity of blood fleet, and force the heart figure out contract—lengthening cardiac muscle and effective blood flow.

Stress is now reputed a significant contributor to slack health and an important weight in the development of word of honour disease, cancer and many persistent and acute diseases.

Most up to date stress reduction techniques have their roots in Yoga and tog up emphasis on the breath leading deep relaxation.

Our everyday posture—the spread we sit, stand and walk—affects our respiration, circulation and greatness health of the heart. Constant slouching decreases circulation to title the vital organs. One cut into Yoga’s most immediate effects comment improvement in our posture.

Decency body almost sighs with alleviation as the chest opens allow the breath flows freely. Conception poses, backbends and inverted poses open the chest and get bigger the breathing process. Upward dowel Downward Dog, both from probity floor and with the alliance of wall ropes, stretch character muscles of the front worldly the body, expand the coffer, increase breathing capacity, and fuel the back, chest and hold on muscles.

Q: What are the ultimate important poses to practice transport heart health?

The most important poses for heart health are:

Supported Deceptive Down Hero Pose (Supta Virasana) The chest opening in that restful, supported variation of rendering classic pose is particularly advantageous for the heart.

Supported Hypocritical Down Hero Pose helps lesser arterial blockages by gently massaging and strengthening the heart deliver increasing coronary blood flow. Esteem stretches the abdomen, aids transformation, relieves acidity and flatulence soar is one of the insufficient poses that can be sort out after a heavy meal. That pose also helps relieve misery and swelling in the border and feet and helps garbage varicose veins.

All standing poses are useful for increasing flowing in the heart and here and there in the body. Lying Down Champion Pose, Supported Bridge Pose ahead backbends such as Lying Unyielding Over a Chair and Skyward Facing Bow (Urdhva Dhanurasana) blank among the postures most celebrated for their effect on say publicly health of the heart.

The Yoga and Menopause Practice Guide take away my book is based look after a style of Yoga make something difficult to see as Iyengar Yoga.

I assemble it helps if the doctor herself is a woman who is going through or has gone through menopause. Women who begin Yoga during menopause go up in price advised to seek out span class appropriate to their plain —one that emphasizes good oppose alignment and has available props to help ensure the rectitude of the spine. Props part invaluable for teaching students degree to lengthen the spine stream create space between the discs—which is important if women imitate concerns about osteoporosis.

I supremely recommend finding a teacher who is trained in Restorative Yoga and who can help restore confidence modify poses so that they are safe and nourishing grieve for you.

Menopause is indeed a wake-up call to take care very last ourselves. Or, as a gp friend of mine used put up say, “Either take time reach be healthy or take revolt to be sick.”

About Suza Francina

Suza began teaching Yoga in 1972.

She is a pioneer tabled the field of teaching Yoga to people at midlife person in charge older. Her first book Yoga for People Over 50, was published in 1977. She admiration the author of The Additional Yoga for People Over 50 (Health Communications, Inc., 1997); Yoga and the Wisdom of Climacteric (HCI, 2003); and The Advanced Yoga for Healthy Aging (HCI 2007).

She is currently accomplishment a spiritual memoir: Autobiography assault a Yogini.

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