According to webMD.com, the majority of American women in their menopausal years are experiencing hot flashes some years before, during and some years after menstruation ends. While hot flashes are common during a woman’s menopausal years, they surely aren’t normal. Consider this statistic:
Compare that to 23% in Thailand, 17% in Japan and 0% in the traditional Mayan culture. In fact, the Japanese language has no word for hot flashes. Does this statistic make you think that there must be a relationship between how we live our lives in terms of diet, lifestyle, and mindset, and how we experience menopause?
While hot flashes typically don’t hold women back living their lives, they surely are uncomfortable, annoying and at times… well, embarrassing. Some women also report that their self-confidence suffers especially if they find themselves in a male dominated environment.
If you are someone who is bugged by hot flashes you likely want to know what to do about it. According to Dr. Claudia Welch MSOM who is a doctor of oriental medicine and has been working with women in private practice for decades says that hot flashes are simply a sign of deficient yin quality i.e. not enough cool, soft, moist and tranquil qualities. Yin is equivalent to brahmana in Ayurveda. Thus hot flashes are quite simply remedied by nourishing your body and mind. Yes!!! it can be that simple. Replenish your yin (that is to say Brahmana in Ayurveda) and your hot flashes will go away.
Here are 4 cool tips how you can replenish your yin and say bye bye to those nagging hot flashes.
When resources run dry hot flashes get more severe. Do nice things for yourself and your body every day to increase the brahmana (yin) qualities in your body and mind. Take a bath, do daily oil massage, do yoga.
The morning is an especially appropriate time to take care of yourself as it sets the tone for the rest of the day. Thus following a nourishing Ayurvedic morning routine is very advisable. When you ‘feed’ yourself in the morning, you are likely to be more uplifted and energetic for the rest of the day.
Stop trying to be superwoman. It’s actually not all that cool, although it appears to be that way. Being superwoman feeds your fire too much (pitta), leads to burnout and dries up tissue. This causes your body to flash like a traffic light; it is trying to get your attention…to get more deep quality nourishment.
Do 15 minutes of alternate nostril breathing daily to calm the nervous system and bring harmony to the hormonal system, if that is too difficult, just do ten deep belly breaths daily. Breathing harmonizes the yin (nourishing) and yang (depleting) qualities in your body which manifest on a physiological level as hormones. Bringing balance to yin and yang brings balance to your hormones.
The mind has a direct and immediate effect on the first tissue layer of the body, which is called Rasa Vaha Srota (don’t worry, you don’t have to remember that :). This first tissue layer feeds Ojas (you do want to remember that one), which is your internal strength and vigor. It is your ability to withstand stress. On the most physical level, it is your immune system. Strong Ojas is necessary for your body and mind to be in perfect balance. Thus keeping the mind positive and uplifted also keeps the body in perfect balance.
Mind = affects 1st tissue layer
1st Tissue layer = affects Ojas (internal strength and vigor)
strong Ojas = Perfect Health
Thus by keeping the mind healthy we create perfect health in the body.
