Yoga through midlife changes is about flexibility of body and strength of mind. Midlife is a difficult phase for a woman. I didn’t realise it until I went through menopause myself. I tried everything to feel better until I found yoga. The best part is that yoga has no barriers. You, I and anybody can start at anytime from anywhere.

During midlife there are so many changes going on inside our body that it’s difficult to handle outside changes. We are daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, aunts and friends. How do we take so much responsibility and become excited even at middle age?

Well, ladies, it does’t have to be that way. Yoga can help you, like it helped me to navigate through midlife with ease and peace. 

Challenges of Midlife

In childhood and youth we have enough energy to go on with life without many issues. By the time we reach midlife we are so freaking tired! 

Middle age is the time of life when women are going through MAJOR transitions. Hormone levels like Estrogen and progesterone are lowering. (Our natural defence against stress.) In the mean time we have cortisol levels on the RISE. Meaning more stress.

The life that we knew starts to change. No, change isn’t all bad but it’s a LOT, more so when everything happens at the same time. It creates a lot of stress.

We (southern women) were never taught stress management by our parents. A lot of us developed bad coping mechanisms like smoking, excessive drinking, binge watching and over eating. (Especially food that increase dopamine like sugar and processed foods)

We learnt not to talk about uncomfortable things because “No body wants to hear you complain.” So we bottle up and suppress emotions and think something is wrong with us. Thus, suicide rates are highest in women aged 45–64.

Women every where are feeling this way. There’s no shame in accepting it. That is exactly why we need to start practicing yoga. It balances the changes happening to us on the inside and helps us be calm and composed on the outside.

How yoga changes behaviour in midlife?

In midlife our roles change. We are taking care of our parents or raising teenagers or grand kids which can be mentally taxing. It doesn’t mean they are bad or we are doing anything wrong. It’s a lot for a tired middle aged woman. Plus we are handling hormonal imbalance and/or a divorce and/or a job that is unfulfilling and/or the loss of our support system. 

Let’s find out how Yoga can help you with your midlife changes

• Yoga, fitness and health in midlife– It’s a known fact that yoga helps you to be fit and healthy. The asanas keep you flexible and increase metabolism. Yoga improves posture, flexibility, strength, balance and body awareness. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Thus, you can be more involved with your kids, grandkids and friends and not circling around the hospital.
• Yoga, brain function and memory in midlife– During yoga, your brain cells develop new connections. Changes occur in your brain structure as well as function. It results in improved cognitive skills, such as learning and memory. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language. (Neuroplasticity). Thus, you can be the interesting and intelligent grandma that the kids love being around.
• Yoga, hormonal changes and stress in midlife– The breathing exercises in Yoga slow you down and creates calmness within you. Slowing down reduces stress and helps your nervous system to relax and rejuvenate. That in turn regulates your hormones. It can help you get rid of bad coping mechanisms for stress. It also helps reduce illness, fatigue, mental exhaustion and suicides.
• Yoga and emotions in midlife– Meditation gives an outlet for built up emotions. Mood swings happen a lot in midlife due to hormonal changes, family, society, life, jobs and health issues. Yoga produces endorphins and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). These are feel good chemicals which helps with depression and anxiety.

Conclusion

Now, you must have realised the importance of yoga in midlife. Yoga can help you to keep yourself physically fit and healthy. It can also help you to maintain a sound mental and emotional health while navigating through midlife.

To help middle aged women like you, I host a yoga class at 6 am everyday. We are a community of middle aged women determined to lead a fulfilled life. In our 6 am yoga class we learn about different yoga asanas, breath work and meditation. We talk about midlife, our day to day problems and how we overcome those. I urge you to take an action and invite you to join my community of strong women to lead a better life.

A life with monotonous troubles and emotional burden or a peaceful life with a community to have your back. What will you choose?

Time is ticking⏳

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