Whether she’s just starting yoga, pregnant, or navigating menopause, the right kind of feminine, fertility-focused yoga can be a powerful tool for women. Yoga practice can help reduce stress and improve hormone balance, preparing the body to become pregnant.
Regular practice can also relieve symptoms such as hot flashes and bloating.
Pregnancy
For many women, the idea of becoming pregnant brings both excitement and stress. Yoga can ease some of the discomfort associated with pregnancy by balancing hormones and decreasing stress. It also has been shown to reduce the need for pain medications.
In one study, researchers found that pregnancy yoga reduced anxiety in women who were carrying a small-for-gestational age (SGA) fetus. The women were given a daily schedule of yoga sessions that included physical movements and breath-control exercises for 60 minutes, twice per week.
Pregnancy yoga is a form of exercise that incorporates breathing, stretching and strengthening exercises, and meditation. It can help increase the flexibility of the pelvic muscles and may prevent lower back pain during pregnancy. It is safe to practice up until the seventh month of pregnancy. This is when the risk of complications begins to rise. It is important to consult a physician before beginning any yoga program. A 2021 American Heart Association report found that women are likelier to take up group fitness classes, such as Yoga, than to hit the weights alone.
Menopause
Menopause is a time of huge shifts for a woman. Yoga helps to balance hormones and nourish the nervous system as well as giving women the philosophical tools to embrace this phase of life with self-acceptance, dignity and humour.
One study showed that 60 minutes of yoga per day for 10 weeks reduced the psychological, somatic and urogenital symptoms that occur during menopause. However, this was a very small study and needs to be replicated with larger studies before definitive conclusions can be made.
Other practices such as Barre – a combination of ballet, yoga and pilates with small controlled pulsing movements – can also help women to stay strong through the menopause. This type of movement is ideal as it builds strength gradually and without impacting the joints.
Postnatal
Once a woman successfully achieves conceiving a baby, she enters the brief but intense and very sacred stage of pregnancy. The right kind of feminine, fertility-focused yoga can help her prepare for and navigate the marathon that is birth.
Postnatal yoga is thoughtfully designed to support the recovery process from childbirth, helping women reconnect with their bodies and find balance as they adapt to life as new mothers. It commonly comprises low-intensity stretches that target tightened areas as a result of caring for a newborn, breathing exercises, and gentle core and pelvic floor engagement activities.
Yoga can also ease muscle tension in the neck and shoulders which is often a problem for new mums, and tone the abdominal muscles which may have been stretched or weakened during pregnancy or birth. This is particularly beneficial for women who have diastasis recti as it helps to re-strengthen the core muscles without making the problem worse. Strengthening the core muscles can also help to improve posture, boost energy and promote relaxation.
Women’s Health
Today’s women juggle many roles and face unique health challenges. Yoga can be a powerful tool to help manage these challenges and build a strong, healthy body.
From puberty through menopause, women’s bodies experience a variety of hormonal fluctuations. A regular practice of yoga can balance these hormones and make symptoms like PMS or menstrual cramps more bearable.
Women have a natural affinity to yoga, as evidenced by the fact that it attracts more women than men. This is probably due to the fact that women are more in touch with their emotions and body.
Women are also the target audience for most modern yoga marketing. In fact, it’s very difficult to find a yoga studio or retreat that isn’t geared towards women. This is likely because women are a better demographic for the type of products and services that yoga offers. Yoga magazines, clothes, essential oils and aromatherapy products and tropical beach resort retreats all sell better to women than men.