Accessible yoga for menopause

• Almost eight million women in the UK are living with a disability
• Here nurse and yoga teacher Laura Bibby shares her favourite yoga poses that helped her through the perimenopause
• Poses include the mountain pose and seated eagle pose, plus tips on getting started

NHS nurse and yoga teacher Laura’s Bibby’s perimenopause coincided with a life-changing spinal cord injury.

An ambulatory wheelchair user, here Laura shares her favourite yoga poses that she adapted to help her through the perimenopause.

Almost eight million women in the UK report living with a disability.

Let that number sink in for a moment – it equates to almost one in four UK women.

While this includes all types of disability, it underscores just how many women will be living with additional challenges as they go through the perimenopause and menopause.

For me, pulling on my running shoes or unrolling my yoga mat had always been my favourite way to unwind and manage stress.

Reaching the perimenopause in the last couple of years has been the time I most needed the strength, fitness and calming influence of exercise.

But unfortunately, the changes to my hormones arrived not long after a devastating spinal cord injury in 2019 caused significant changes to my whole body.

RELATED: My story: menopause while living with disabilities

I was left partially paralysed from the waist down – and went from running 50k a week and working as a yoga teacher as well as a senior nurse, to using a wheelchair.

As I recovered from emergency back surgery, I underwent intense therapy and regained full use of my right leg.

However, my left leg still has reduced sensation, and I am an ambulatory wheelchair user – which means I can cover short distances with mobility aids such as crutches, but still rely heavily on my wheelchair.

During what was, of course, a deeply distressing time, I started to experience night sweats, insomnia, low mood and a crushing fatigue.

When I discussed this with doctors, it was often dismissed as symptoms related to the trauma I had just been through.

But when talking to other friends in their 40s, a lot of them were going through similar experiences and I realised it sounded like I was going through the perimenopause.

Managing the impact of my life-changing injury and my declining hormone levels swiftly brought me to the realisation that exercise was essential to my wellbeing– and I needed to adapt it to my needs.

As a yoga teacher, modifying my favourite poses to work for my body made perfect sense. I have shared my journey on Instagram @ Blue_Brick_Disability and it has struck a chord with other women who also have some form of physical disability

My Instagram followers have given me a network of brilliant women managing chronic health conditions who provide daily inspiration and support.

What we have found is that it can be really hard to get HRT prescribed when you have underlying health conditions. As soon as I say I have had a spinal injury, clinicians don’t want to prescribe any for me.

I’m an experienced advanced nurse practitioner who can prescribe as part of my job, so I was able to discuss and explain why I should have HRT prescribed and fully understood potential risk, but I still had to fight for it.

It is wrong and frustrating that it is hard to get the care for the menopause that we need, we are so much more than our disability and condition.

But I am finding that using HRT, exercise and a positive lifestyle approach is the best way for me to manage my menopausal symptoms, which are now improving.

Exercise helps us during perimenopause and beyond by boosting mood, managing weight, strengthening our bones, and reducing the rates of some forms of cancer [1].

Here I want to share some of my favourite yoga moves, that can be adapted according to your level of mobility. I strongly believe in yoga, and its benefits being accessible for everyone.

Always consult your doctor before starting exercises which are new to you.

Accessible yoga: tips on getting started

• anything is better than nothing when it comes to exercise. Just a few minutes a day can start to boost mood
• start gently if you have not exercised much recently. Little and often is better than going straight into an intense workout
• no special kit is required, these can often be done in bed or a chair
• consult your doctor first before practising any form of yoga
• always have a bottle of water to hand and wear comfortable clothing

Tadasana: mountain pose

Moving this strong pose, which focuses on stillness, to a seated position is the perfect starting point for your routine.

The awareness of the body is this beauty of these pose, and I find it brings clarity to the mind, gently engages and strengthens the core, helps balance emotions and reduce stress.

You should feel your spine extending and your head lifting. Imagine yourself growing taller in your chair. This will engage your core; a vital cluster of muscles needed to stabilise you.

How to:

1. While seated, have your legs in front of you with your knees above your ankles.

2. Sit up as straight as possible and relax your arms by your side.

3. Take a deep breath and, as you exhale, roll your shoulders back, pull your belly button in towards your spine and lengthen your neck.

4. Take another deep breath and as you exhale raise your arms in front of you.

5. Hold this pose for three to five breaths, then relax, take a deep breath and repeat.

6. Repeat three to five times.

Alternate nostril breathing

Alternative nostril breathing is a deeply spiritual and sacred practice that I find particularly beneficial at night when I’m lying awake struggling with insomnia.

It can be down lying down on the bed, sofa or even at work sitting at the desk and is perfect for calming your nervous system. I find it helps with anxiety and is the perfect pose for meditation.

How to:

1. Sit or lie comfortably.

2. Exhale completely and then use any finger on your dominant hand to close your right nostril.

3. Inhale through your left nostril. Then close the left nostril with your fingers.

4. Open the right nostril and exhale through this side.

5. Inhale through the right nostril and then close this nostril.

6. Open the left nostril and exhale through the left side.

Parivrtta Sukhasana (3 poses)

I always start the day with a set of these spinal twists to get my body moving. This position is normally done while seated cross-legged, but here I have created a modified version that can be done lying down.

This pose is great for digestion and for restoring and retaining the spine’s natural range of motion.

Easy lying spinal twist

Lie flat on a mat/bed

1. Pull the left knee into the chest, keeping the head, neck, and shoulders on the mat.

2. Extend your left arm out to your side, shoulder height, palm face up.

3. Use the right hand on the left knee to gently guide the knee to your right side as you gaze toward your left palm.

4. Try to keep your left shoulder on the mat; if it pops off, place a block/pillow underneath your left knee on your right side.

5. Gently guide the left knee back to centre, switch sides, and repeat on second side.

6. Feel free to keep both legs bent if you find keeping one leg straight too intense and allow your knee to rest on a block or blanket.

Arms crossed seated spinal twist

1. While seated, have your legs in front of you with your knees above your ankles.

2. Sit up as straight as possible and relax your arms by your side.

3. Take a deep breath and, as you exhale, roll your shoulders back, pull your belly button towards your spine and lengthen your neck.

4. Take another deep breath and as you exhale raise your arms in front of you and twist to the left side.

5. Hold this pose for three to five breaths, then relax, take a deep breath and repeat moving towards the right-side.

Arms and legs crossed seated spinal twist

1. While seated, have your legs crossed in front of you supported by your chair or a cushion.

2. Sit up as straight as possible and relax your arms by your side.

3. Take a deep breath and, as you exhale, roll your shoulders back, pull your belly button towards your spine and lengthen your neck.

4. Take another deep breath and as you exhale raise your arms in front of you and twist to the left side.

5. Hold this pose for three to five breaths, then relax, take a deep breath and repeat moving towards the right-side.

Garudasana: seated eagle pose

In the seated eagle pose, the forearms are twisted together, to gives a good stretch to the arms and the shoulder muscles, straighten the spine and remove stress from the shoulders.

This can be part of a routine or performed during the day if you have a few minutes to spare, and can be a good break on a hectic work day.

How to:

1. Sit cross legged on the floor or sit on a chair.

2. Bring the two hands together with the elbows close to each other.

3. Take the right arm around the left arm and make the right palm touch the left palm. At this point the two arms are inter-twined together like two snakes.

4. Keep the spine straight and relax the shoulders.

5. Gaze straight ahead. Breathe normally in this final position.

6. Maintain the position for as long as you are comfortable.

7. To release the position, un-twine the arms and bring the arms back to the thighs.

8. Repeat with the left arm twisting around the right arm.

For more information about Laura’s classes follow @warriorflowofficial, community based online support for accessible and adaptive yoga for everyone.

References

1. Grindler, N.M., Santoro, N.F. (2015), ‘Menopause and exercise’, Menopause, 22(12), pp. 1351-58, DOI:10.1097/GME.0000000000000536