Menopause Yoga for Strength and Longevity
Postcards from a fab week in Brighton including the newest not-Banksy 😂
Throwback to this time last week when I was deep into 30 hours of Menopause Yoga (MY) Strength and Longevity training with my teacher Petra Coveney and an amazing group of women in sunny Brighton.
As the founder of Menopause Yoga and author of two books on the subject, Petra’s commitment to informing and empowering women through this season of life is super inspiring.
And so it is that over the last twelve months or so, she’s been breaking new ground once again by developing and sharing her latest work that brings resistance training and yoga together in one practice.
Having upskilled earlier this year by qualifying as a Level 2 Gym and Fitness Instructor with the University of Brighton at the age of 60, Petra’s now sharing this knowledge to help more women feel fitter, stronger and more empowered.
Let’s talk about yoga and strength
There’s a lot of conversation in the yoga world at the moment as to whether this approach to practice is, in fact, yoga.
Some have argued that adding in strength work dilutes the essence of what yoga is, ie a work in, rather than a work out. Whereas others, like Petra, Lizzie Lasater and Jason Crandell are advocating that strength as an essential component of long term, sustainable practice.
This is especially important for midlife practitioners, including women - like me and if you’re reading this, maybe you too 😊 - in menopause and post-menopause who lose muscle mass due to declining oestrogen levels. Perhaps naturally then, this is the view that’s resonating the most with me currently.
Without a doubt, yoga improves mobility, flexibility, balance, mind-body connection, nervous system regulation and offers some strength gains but if we want to protect bones and maintain muscle mass into our sunset years then incorporating strength work will be beneficial.
Accessibility and choice
Of course, you could opt to keep your strength work separate from your yoga practice but I always like to think it’s good to have choices. Plus, introducing strength and resistance techniques in a yogic way can make them accessible and available to more people - including for those of us who’ve never felt quite at home in the gym!
This isn’t to say that all yoga classes need to include a strength building component - sometimes a slow flow or stretch might be just what our nervous system needs - but why not empower ourselves with the choice if we can?
Benefits of an integrated approach
Whatsmore, when we combine aspects of both practices, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts and we can access double the benefits, some examples include …
Resistance training supports joint stabilisation and mobility, as well as stronger muscles.
Yoga stretches can help develop and maintain overall muscle health.
Nervous system integration through yogic relaxation techniques can reduce cortisol after exercise. This is especially important for women in menopause and post-menopause as we can’t switch cortisol off quickly because of low oestrogen.
MY Strength & Longevity accreditation
All this to say, I’m delighted to have been one of Petra’s pioneers by taking part in the first in person cohort for this training and passing!
I’m looking forward to exploring everything I learnt on the course in my own self practice and to sharing these techniques with women across Liverpool.
For now though, I’d love to know what you think about this topic so drop me a line with your thoughts and / or to be kept in the loop about future MY Strength classes 💪🏻💗.
