From blues to bliss: Ayurveda offers another method of dealing with menopause

In the beginning, there was woman. As part of her life cycle, there was menopause. With menopause came hot flashes, insomnia and mood swings. As the stresses of life increased, the complaints became more severe and a hunt for solutions began--wild yams, vitamins, drugs and especially hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Until recently, more than 40 percent of all menopausal American women used some form of HRT. However, it remained a treatment of doubtful merit--HRT had its benefits, but the risks? Nobody was sure.

Then, a major study, "Risks and Benefits of Estrogen Plus Progestin in Healthy Postmenopausal Women," conducted by the Women's Health Initiative and released last July provided definitive evidence that HRT can do more harm than good. In fact, it can considerably increase a woman's risk of heart disease and invasive cancer. In light of this startling revelation, it makes even more sense to focus on alternative approaches to managing menopause.

Among the alternatives is Ayurveda--a 5,000-year-old system of healing. Its time-tested principles are now invaluable gems in the world of natural healing. In her book A Woman's Best Medicine for Menopause, Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D., examines how Maharishi Ayurveda, a form of Ayurveda revived and popularized by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (who brought transcendental meditation to the United States in the 1950s), approaches menopause. Although Lonsdorf wrote her book many months before the HRT study's release, her words now seem prophetic: "It is fast becoming clear that the very treatment we're led to believe will grant us healthy golden years can actually cause some of the diseases we fear most."

Menopause Re-defined

Trained in both cutting-edge medicine at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Institute and experienced in Maharishi Ayurveda as the medical director of the Raj, America's premier Ayurvedic center, Lonsdorf is qualified to assess both modern and ancient ways to deal with menopause. She suggests changing your view-point--don't see menopause as a door closing behind you, but as a window opening in front of you. Nevertheless, women do seek relief from the physical symptoms of menopause. Her solution? Since the process of menopause is natural, its treatment should be as well.

How Ayurveda Sees Menopause

Lonsdorf explains that Ayurvedic healers view people as a sum of three inseparable parts: body, mind and soul. Therefore, even the smallest physical symptom of menopause is intimately connected with the entire personality. Ayurveda determines personality in an interesting and insightful way.

Are you restless, dynamic, quick, light or moody? If you answered "yes" to any of these, your personality is dominated by the energy of motion--symbolized by air. In Ayurvedic terms, you are a Vata type of person. If you are intense, strong, creative and demanding, you have the energy of metabolism--symbolized by fire. This makes you a Pitta type of person. Although the Pitta dosha is dominated by the fire element, it also possesses the qualities of water. If you are sweet, slow, soft, steady and stable, you represent the energy of structure, symbolized by water and earth--your type of person is a Kapha. Together, Vata, Pitta and Kapha are the three doshas, loosely called "body" or "personality" types.

Ayurveda believes each stage of human life is governed by a particular dosha. As children, we are dominated by the Kapha dosha, which is associated with the soft, sweet and moist qualities of earth and water. This is why children are carefree, gentle, have dew-fresh skin, supple joints and lustrous hair.

As we enter youth, the fiery Pitta dosha takes over, making us more energetic and intense due to its qualities of fire and water. During this period, skin, hair and joints are still naturally lubricated but need more care. The Pitta phase is also the peak reproductive period of a woman's life.

Then, we step into the mature years and the Vata dosha becomes dominant. This dosha has the qualities of air, which is dry and restless. Thus, as women enter menopause, dry skin and mucous membranes, some thinning of hair and bones as well as an increased tendency to worry emerge as classic signs of increased Vata. Ayurveda does not view these conditions as inevitable and believes they can be avoided if steps are taken to keep your Vata calm and balanced. According to Lonsdorf, this is easy to accomplish with general healthy living.

Stop Stressing and Start Living

"Menopause does not happen one fine day," reminds Lonsdorf: "It's a very gradual process, as part of which the ovaries stop producing estrogen. In this fact lies an important clue for every woman--take advantage of the slowness of menopause and prepare to meet it!"

"The period between ages 45 to 55 is a critical decade," says Lonsdorf. "During this time the foundations of your future health are laid." By this period in life, most women have already misused their bodies quite a bit. Fortunately, this damage can be controlled--even reversed. Here are Lonsdorf's tips on how you can reverse years of wear and tear: