Hormone Balancing Yoga
Hormonal swings are powerful and often unexpected. One second you’re feeling energetic and the worlds your oyster. The next, Karen from work is plotting against you and you’re deep into a whittakers limited edition. I can relate and have certainly had my fair share of emotional meltdowns, of course - most for no reason.
As women, hormones are a huge part of our emotional and psychological makeup. If your hormones are out of balance, then you’ve probably experienced one of these undesirable symptoms - PMS, acne, weight gain, fatigue, depression, decreased sex drive, anxiety, nervousness, the list goes on but you get the jist of it.
Some of these symptoms at times can be completely debilitating. The good news is, you can heal yourself naturally by making certain choices and yoga is one of them.
WHAT IS HORMONE BALANCING YOGA?
It is a yin style practice of yoga that focuses on nourishing certain organs in relation to your hormones. This assists in hormonal messengers being realigned and coming back into balance to function more effectively.
For example, your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys, holding sphinx pose for 2-3 minutes activates the meridians (energy lines) associated with the glands and starts a detoxifying process on your hormones – cleansing and nourishing.
3 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD GIVE IT A GO
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Less Pre-menstrual Symptoms
Balancing your hormones means less of the pre-menstrual symptoms and more time to enjoy your body and let’s be honest, life! Your emotions are governed by your hormones which affects your mental and emotional health. Hormones in balance means emotional and mental health in balance. Oh bliss!
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Better Stress Management
Stress is in our everyday lives, but by using yoga and breath work in your practice you can lower your stress hormone cortisol. This results in a calm nervous system hence a relaxed body and mind. With a daily practice - even if it’s just a 5-minute breath work session - you can teach yourself how to manage stress when you feel it rising in your body.
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Detoxifying
Toxicity is in our environment, food, clothing, products, materials and pretty much everywhere. We use certain yoga poses to detoxify the organs allowing fresh chi and blood to flow through the body. This cleansing approach revitalises the hormones and encourages a better hormonal messenger service throughout the body.
MY FAVOURITE 5 HORMONE BALANCING POSES
- Childs Pose with bolster - breathing into the spine releasing and allowing. Helps calm the central nervous system and massages the abdomen and reproductive organs.
- Sphinx, seal, twist, child’s pose - this applies gentle pressure to the stomach, helps stimulate the functions of the ovaries and nourishes the stress management team – adrenal glands.
- Seated Forward fold with bolster and legs extended - releases tension in hips and lower back, promotes alignment of reproductive organs, strengthens ovaries and alleviates menstrual cramps.
- Bharadvaja’s Twist and cosmic egg between – detoxifies, massages digestive and reproductive organs. Helps to loosen the muscles around the spine, lower blood pressure and soothe the nervous system.
- Goddess Pose with 3 blocks, 1 bolster, 1 strap and 1 blanket - a restorative pose that calms the central nervous system, opens the chest and stimulates thyroid and adrenal glands. It also helps with menstrual cramps and headaches.
So, why not give it a go? It’s a gentle approach in aiding the balance of your hormones through yoga. Karen isn’t really plotting against you at work, I promise.
Want to find out if you have a hormonal imbalance? You can now test if you do at home - read more here.
ABOUT MELISSA
Hi, I’m Melissa Vranjes, a deeply passionate yoga teacher on a journey to empower women through body awareness, hormone health, sexual wellness and speaking about topics that aren’t discussed enough in our community.
I have trained in Mexico, Bali, India, England and Spain. I facilitate women’s workshops in Auckland and have an exciting new workshop coming up called ‘A Journey Into Your Body Image’. This workshop is focused on embracing your power as a woman and loving your body as you are now. I see it time and time again, when women come together something special happens and this is why I do this work.
Join the journey and community of women on my Instagram page @melissavranjesyoga.