Most women do not know that over 74 percent of all people will at some point develop foot problems. Unfortunately most of this percentage are women. Commonly women begin to suffer with foot problems as they enter peri-menopause.  This is a time when the structure of the body begins to change. The joints begin to stiffen and the bones begin to show their age. This means that the feet will notice these changes more rapidly because they are an extremity receiving less circulation and because they are stuck in shoes for so many hours daily.

 Women tend to wear various levels of heels throughout their younger lives. The feet are held in shoes that often narrow in the toes. With enough years in these fashionable shoes, the toes will begin to take the form of the shoes worn the most. This means that by the time you reach peri-menopause and beyond the feet have been formed to the shoes most often worn. Because women do not think about the need to get their shoes out of their feet, the feet slowly but surely become stuck and no longer have their full function. They actually begin to calcify to the form of shoes. The little toes narrow in and so do the big toes. The metatarsal bones which are the long bones narrow in too, making it difficult for the muscles to reach the toes where they end cutting off toe function. The toes are actually meant to help the feet thrust forward. Being stuck in shoes they actually stop doing their function. The restrictions placed on the feet over all these years finally begin to create the discomfort that so many women feel.

When we are younger the bones and soft tissue are moveable and flexible and so it is easy to wear all these shoes that we love to wear. It can be horrible for women to find that suddenly they can no longer wear certain shoes.

I have heard women often say to me that they can not believe that I am wearing high heels. My response is often to smile and say, "I wear them because I can." I have been developing programs over the years which keep my feet in shape so that shoes do not become an issue. The Yamuna Foot Fitness and the Yamuna Save Your Feet are programs that teach you how to rebuild healthy foot function. I always tell people not to wait until they have foot problems to take care of their feet. Beginning young to take care of your feet means that chances are that when you reach peri-menopause and the years beyond you will not suffer from foot problems. 

We live in a world where everyone is aware of the need to stay fit and yet there is little education offered about how to keep your feet in shape. Learning how to improve your foot function and keep it throughout your life is essential. It is a major key to longevity.

Having foot problems is not fun. Limping around because your feet hurt is not a sexy look. Aging gracefully is what we all want to do and healthy feet are key to keeping young and fit. One of my suggestions is to get your shoes out of your feet when you come home from your day. I have developed something called the Yamuna Walking Test. You can find it on YouTube. Your feet get stupid in almost every shoe you put on even if you think it happens to be a healthy shoe. You need to free your feet from any shoe form so just practice The Walking test and get every part of your foot moving. Your feet will thank you. Walking barefoot in your home  or in grass is also very important as long as you are mindful to use every part of your feet. The feet need to be free to work and support the rest of the body. 

I think women need to be able to really see what is DOWN THERE in their bodies. When you actually take a look at how close your bladder, reproductive organs and intestines are to each other, no wonder why women can have so many problems. You do not have to have been pregnant to suffer from prolapses in any of these organs. Poor posture, collapsing over years in your body, carrying all your weight in your hips and thighs, carrying tightness and tension in your pelvic area, squeezing your legs together tightly, along with no education on how to defy gravity, most women will at some point during peri-menopause or beyond, begin to experience a bit of bladder leakage and/or have referred pain to anywhere in the pelvis/hips, have intestinal problems, or pelvic floor issues.

 

Let's look at the visual of our internal organs so your logical mind perks up and understands what directives to help your body with. I highly suggest that any woman wanting to get pregnant or has just been told she is pregnant pay very close attention.

The uterus and cervix lie just above the bladder. As the fetus grows the uterus spreads out to allow for growth. The bigger the fetus grows, the more pressure is placed on the bladder, and intestines. In fact, both the small and large intestines get pushed around to accommodate the growing baby. If a woman does not train herself to stand up as tall as possible she begins to use the baby as a ledge where she rests the chest and entire upper body on the baby. This immediately places more pressure down into the pelvis/hips, the bladder,  the intestines, the lower back and of course, the babay. In the last trimester often pressure into the pelvis can also cause circulatory problems into the legs and feet, also.

This all can begin while building up to the actual delivery date. Once the baby is born, if a natural birth, then you have just pushed the baby out placing enormous pressure on your bladder and rectum. If you have had a C-section, the scar tissue and all the months of weight bearing down into the pelvis also leaves the bladder quite dropped and now with the help of scar tissue it can get stuck and stay stuck to the pelvis. 

No one ever tells women they can and need to lift all their internal organs back to where they once were. How can organs really remember how to move themselves back to their original positions? Why don't women actually ask themselves this question?

Women who have never been pregnant also begin to feel their permanent weight bearing into the pelvis posture as they begin their hormonal changes. More frequent urination, waking in the night several times to pee, sneezing, laughing  or coughing and suddenly leaking.

In short:

All women need to work on their postures as early in life as they can. It is not about getting tight, strong and fit in the classic fitness classes. It is about thinking and creating a body that lifts upward in life without tension. The feet connect to the earth, this is healthy use of gravity. As the feet are grounded, they allow the rest of the body to build itself upwards. This is not difficult once the mental image is clear in your mind. All of the Yamuna work can help with this

Mothers need to be strong examples for their children so good posture can be passed on from generation to generation. If you have experienced any of these issues during your pregnancies, your daughter does not have to repeat them if you CHANGE, IMPROVE, and EDUCATE HER.

LEARNING HOW TO LIFT AND HOLD YOUR BODY IN GOOD ALIGNMENT AND UPRIGHT can help your internal organs stay healthy throughout your life. This is a major key to longevity. 

With the pressure lifted out of your pelvis, pregnancy will be easier and healthier on your body and the baby's.

Your body weight will shift to be more equally distributed. This will improve your structure, prevent lower back, and hip problems, and prevent bladder and reproductive organ problems.

 

 

 

 

 

Since we are hearing a great deal about pelvic floor dysfunction these days this is an important topic to write about here. The female pelvic floor is made up of the pelvis, the tail bone, muscles, ligaments, fascia, and nerves which all help to support the bladder, uterus, vagina, and rectum to function and maintain their correct positions. There are bigger muscles that can control the ability of these smaller muscles to function. The bones that make up the hips are your pelvis and thigh bones. When the thigh bones narrow in to the pelvis they can create tightness and pressure into the pelvic floor and also contract the hamstrings, adductors, quadriceps, and external rotators. What this all means to those of you who don't know any anatomy is that when all these muscles of your thighs get too tight, your hips narrow in, this can actually stop allowing the muscles of your pelvic floor from functioning. 

Many girls are told to keep their legs together tightly at all times. A lifetime of doing this and the pelvic floor becomes dysfunctional from being in a permanent state of contraction. Next comes marriage and a baby and if the baby can actually be delivered vaginally, these muscles suffer serious traumaPostpartum. They often contract stronger while healing. and atrophy can begin. Everything becomes tighter and yet prolapses develop. When the baby pushes out so can the bladder, uterus,  or rectum.  All the muscles in the area can contract due to the trauma even when prolapses occur. Women often think that everything is simply hanging out of them and all muscle tone is gone.Due to the prolapses the pelvic floor and larger muscles contract more. This actually prevents the organs from being able to lift back up. Everything is pressuring down into an area that had always been tight. Now it is assessed as weak and dysfunctional. These diagnosis really do not help women. The abdominal muscles which once helps to support the internal organs are fairly useless directly after giving birth so if there is no abdominal muscle support everything is dropping into the pelvic floor. SO WHY WERE YOU NOT TOLD ALL ABOUT THIS BEFORE YOU EVER GOT PREGNANT? WHY DID YOU NOT RECEIVE LESSONS ABOUT HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR PELVIC FLOOR AND ALL OTHER NECESSARY MUSCLES TO KEEP YOUR HIPS, LOWER BACK, ABDOMEN AND PELVIC FLOOR  STRONG BEFORE YOU GOT PREGNANT OR STARTING GOING THROUGH MENOPAUSE? 

 

WOMEN need to be informed as to what pro-active things they need to do to begin to rebuild their bodies not just their pelvic floors. When you have a baby growing inside your body all your vital organs begin to be moved to make room. Do you really think they magically know how to replace themselves where they once were? As the baby comes out so do the organs all follow. Women need to know that when you lift the bladder and the intestines you begin to lift the weight off of the pelvic floor. This will immediately relieve the pressure and discomfort. It is not difficult to lift and replace organs in their correct positions. Women just need to know that this is possible. Women of all ages need to know there are pro-active remedies for maintaining and building the body back.

Included here is a basic simple exercise to do to wake up your pelvic floor.  This pro-active self help work is for women of every age. If you start young to stop tightening your thighs and body in, and keep your pelvic floor toned with the thigh bones the width of the pelvis, your pelvic floor muscles can work. Widening the sit bones and the tailbone backward helps you to create a solid pelvic foundation. it will ease menstrual discomfort, help prepare women for pregnancy, and help postpartum and throughout menopause and beyond. Follow this simple video. Repeat it daily for 1 week and see the differences. Please write in your commnets

From speaking with women throughout my 40 years of working with people I have listened to many women during the various stages of their lives struggling with issues and not really finding the answers they were looking for. There are always medical sites that give women information based on studies and science, but this information as I call it “safe” because it has the medical endorsements behind it is very often ineffective leaving women frustrated because they listen and try to do what is recommended and the results just are not good enough.

I have listened to women through all these stages. Very often they have no one to talk with or to share these feelings. They are often embarrassed to discuss their issues with friends or other women. When a woman has to live with a problem in secret with nowhere to turn except her doctor it can be very disheartening and lonely. 

I have felt for a long time that there was a need for a safe place for women to share, get information, and learn they are not alone. To find out that other women have the same issues and experiences that you do, and to learn what they are doing about it creates community and it breaks open the possibilities for sharing on almost every topic with other women.

Since There are very important things to discuss on every phase of a woman’s life cycle sections will be created so you can go to the area that is most relevant to you now. Some entries will be for women of all ages and most will target a specific time in the life cycle.

As an older woman who gave birth to my daughter over 37 years ago at home naturally, I have lots of good advice for pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum as well as for the peri-menopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal woman. The longer I live, the more I learn and the more I know it is possible to get better and better in my body, mind and spirit while aging.  I believe this is possible for most women if they begin to share honestly and opening with other women what the issues are they are experiencing. The more we stay together and support women at every age, the better younger women can pass through the various natural life cycles. If you suffered through menopause and found your way it is important to share everything that helped you with women who are much younger. As older wiser women it is our job to ease the way for younger women to age more gracefully and to not have to continuously repeat the same life change difficulties that historically most women simply accept. Silence between women just does not work anymore. It never did.

I have listened to women over the years tell me they used to look like me. I always laugh about this because I have basically been the same weight for most of my life. The common 10 pounds that women dread happens because women continue to look to the classic fitness standards and recommendations for weight loss. Burning calories for weight loss actually stops working about a decade before menopause. The cardio workouts that always worked when you were in your 20s, 30s and early 40s  actually cause you to gain weight over time. The continuous impact to all the joints slows down the metabolic rate of the body. The reflexes in the feet are no longer boosting the body energy, the spinal nerve roots which enervate organs  are slowing down due to all the continuous compression and impact to the spine. In short, all the years of high impact exercise causes weight gain at menopause. You simply must change the way you work with your body at this age. You need to work to get the impact out of the bones, and joints. You need to work to stimulate the reflex points in the feet to boost your metabolism. You need to work directly into the abdomen to stimulate and boost digestion and begin to turn your digestive organs back on. In short, you have to directly penetrate into your body parts and stimulate them.  Why not start younger? While you are working out in high intensity add some of the Yamuna work into your workout and avoid shutting down your body due to all the impact. This is where Yamuna Body Rolling, Foot Fitness, and Save Your Body Parts series can absolutely turn the body back on and improve metabolism, increase range of motion, and improve bone quality and muscle tone.

Perimenopause can begin anywhere from the late 30s, and into the early 50s. There is no exact time that women begin to go into menopause. What I  always tell women is that it is important to begin preparing for menopause in the late 30s and throughout the 40s. A woman recently said to me when I said this that she doubted women would listen in the 30s and 40s when they are feeling great. My answer to her was that I absolutely listened and began to strengthen my endocrine, immune, circulatory and musculoskeletal systems at the beginning of my 40s. I had worked with women for so many years as a herbalist and bodyworker observing symptoms of change and listening to their complaints and frustrations and helping them through their menopause years. I saw what worked for some of them and not for others. I could feel their bone quality change. I could feel their joints tighten. I listened very carefully to how menopause was affecting their lives. With all of this experience with women, I simply embarked on building my body to it would ease through menopause. I went through a relatively pain-free and easy menopause without hot flashes, a 10-pound weight gain, joint problems or depression. I definitely noticed my memory lapse, which is a classic part of menopause and I still work on that today during post menopause.

So... I highly recommend that women start young to be able to breeze through the menopausal years. What worked for you when you were younger simply stops working. The entire being is asking for you to change the way you do things.

10 Most common menopausal symptoms you can prevent if you get smart in your early 40s.

Women are not usually told they need to prepare for menopause. They often hear other women complaining of hot flashes, or becoming sleep deprived. Why are they not told to begin working on avoiding all of these symptoms years before the onset of menopause? It does not have to be a birth rite to suffer these things like so many other women.  I think women seem to just want all women to experience the same things they do. Women do not need to accept these symptoms as just part of the hormonal changes brought about by menopause.

I believe that if women have the information prior to menopause they can elect to do something positive to minimize the so often dreaded menopausal symptoms.

Get ready for this list. You might already be manifesting some of these so you can nip it in the bud.

1. Irregular periods 2. Hot Flashes 3.Vaginal changes 4,. Urinary problems from frequent urination, to urinary infections, to a decreased ability to hold their urine.5. Weight gain 6. Mood swings 7. Insomnia 8.Loss of libido 9. Bone and joint problems 10. Memory lapses.

There will be dedicated blogs on each of these symptoms later on.

 Irregular periods - Women assume that irregular periods will come the closer they get to menopause. What I have found is that the more regular you have always been the more common it is to simply stop menstruation easily. Women who have had a history of irregular periods and painful periods with heavy flow will most likely have a harder time moving into peri-menopause. The more you begin working with nutrition and diet to balance your hormones and become more regular, the easier shifting into menopause can be. I highly recommend checking out Alisa Vitti 's Flo Living. Her programs and information can help you regulate and balance your hormones and menstruation which will greatly improve your chances of easing into menopause.

Hot Flashes - It is important for women to know that you do not have to suffer through hot flashes. Healthy women who have had healthy menstrual cycles, eat well, and stay in shape can breeze through menopause asymptomatic of hot flashes. However, you need to start working on your quality of menopause you wish to have at least a decade before peri-menopause begins. If you think menopause just happens you most likely will experience all the classic symptoms. How you eat, the nutritional supplements you take, and how you keep your body in shape a decade before menopause begins can truly determine the quality of life change you experience at menopause. 

Vaginal changes - As estrogen levels decrease the elasticity of the vagina and the juicy quality we all want to maintain are greatly altered Some women become completely dry and having sex becomes very painful. The quality of muscle tone and skin changes, too. Again, the message is, you must begin working on how to care for your vagina a decade before the onset of menopause. Diet, nutrition, and strengthening  and toning the pelvic floor is key. In a later blog, I will discuss practical ways to keep your vagina toned, and naturally lubricated.

Urinary problems plague almost every women during and post menopause. Women who have had children have a greater tendency to suffer from prolapsed bladders, causing frequent urination, incontinence, and bladder infections. Women need to learn that they can lift their bladders and intestines postpartum. There are absolutely common sense ways to lift the bladder and every women needs to know how. I will write a separate blog just on this later on.

Weight gain - The classic 10 pounds of weight gain is every woman's nightmare. Women go back to the gym working out harder and harder and they don't lose the weight. What women need to learn is that the body is changing and so the approach to caring for your body must change. The body metabolism decreases, but this is actually a metabolic decrease in all the organ functions. Running on a tread mill will not boost your metabolic rate of digestion. Basically, you have to stop whatever workouts once worked for you and approach your body more intelligently. Much more on this subject later.

Mood swings - Throughout our hormonal lives we experience mood swings especially during different times in  our menstrual cycles. If your diet and nutrition, are focused on helping you prepare and ease through menopause mood swings can be greatly decreased.

Insomnia -  This is a very common symptom of menopause. When you begin to notice you are having trouble sleeping look into nutritional and herbal support to get you through this period. Also, the more physical activity you are, the better you will sleep.

Loss of libido - This is very common and it does not have to occur if your diet and nutrition are keeping you in balance. The more you experience all these other symptoms, the more you will experience this, too. However, if you are in a long term relationship and it is getting a bit stale and not fulfilling you, you will experience the loss of libido much more. As women are going through menopause, there are so many shifts in consciousness that very often sexual energy is put lower on the priority list. It does come back so fear not.

Bone and joint problems - Frozen shoulders are one of the most common joint problems that occur. Women often describe that it began all of a sudden. The pain is severe and the shoulder movement is greatly limited. Doctors usually give cortisone injections and tell woman that in a year it will go away. What is important here is that women need to begin caring for their joints at least a decade before menopause stages begin. If you think fitness and going to the gym is what this is all about, think again. High impact exercise throughout life can greatly increase your chances of having joint problems during and post menopause.

Memory lapses - This is very common. You will notice a friend starting to tell you something and all of a sudden she is blank. Menopausal women can laugh when this occurs because we recognize this in ourselves and other women. Again, there are nutritional and herbal supplements that can greatly help with this. It does not have to escalate.

 

There is so much new information today about what not to do and what to do. I say what not to do first because it seems like there are just so many more don'ts today.  I think a lot has to do with women having children later in life and in the higher risk category.  The classic wisdom through the ages that has helped so many women through each trimester of pregnancy seems to be getting lost. Women have been historically in charge of the birthing process and giving pregnant women tips to get through each month. Presently, it seems like more pregnancies are being seen as a medical condition that needs to be taken care of by doctors. 

Pregnancy is a time when the body goes through changes very quickly. The body is more sensitive and a woman can begin to really get in touch with how the pregnancy begins to alter her body very quickly. The first trimester the breasts begin to get much more tender than during any premenstrual breast tenderness. They begin to expand quite quickly. I remember teaching physical education to young children and having to cross my forearms under my breasts so they could stay still and not hurt. No one ever warned me that I would be feeling so tender. This  was alarming to me. I have always had small breasts and pre-menstrual tenderness was hardly ever an issue. I also began to get out of breath walking up the 3 flights to my apartment. I secretly  believed that I had lung cancer. I was a yoga teacher and should never have been out of breath at 24 years old.  I could never admit this  fear to anyone because I was the healthy yoga teacher. I was secretly scared and never talked about it to anyone. Who could I have possibly shared that with?   The morning sickness was very minimal and of course, this every woman has heard about. The eating of a biscuit actually did work quite well.  If I had had a list of all the possible symptoms during the first 3 months, I would have been more relaxed. If there was a place to go and talk with other women it would have saved me months of worrying that something was wrong when it was simply a naturally occurring symptom.

Back then, if you were over 30 you were considered "high risk." You were not accepted into birthing centers!

Today there are doulas and birthing centers and yoga and Pilates classes for pregnancy. Pregnancy has become a big specialty and a money maker. Women tend to go to the classes for pregnant women when they are pregnant. Naturally, it makes sense, however each pregnancy is different because each woman has her personal history. I have taken pregnancy classes with a pregnant friend and we were both bored. You want to think the class is for you but it has so many cautionary limitation put on you that you actually believe  you must be careful. I remember standing on my head for 15-30 minutes every morning and night to prevent any circulatory issues in my feet and legs. It worked for me, but today inversions are not recommended. They happen to improve circulation, take pressure off the lower back, pelvis and bladder. Now women are told this is a no no. What happens if you are young, healthy, and a yogi who has been doing inversions for years? Why would it suddenly become bad for you? You must think beyond what the general information tells you and see what feels right for you, or find a pregnancy helper that you trust and that helps you make sense out of all the information out there.

I remember that literally the last day of my first trimester I was filled with a new heightened energy that lasted throughout the rest of the pregnancy until about 2 weeks before delivery. Again, no-one ever told me that this was a sign that I was now in my second trimester. Literally all the symptoms from the first trimester were gone. The message here is that you need to trust yourself and do your own research and make your own decisions that feel right for you.  AND find other women to talk with who have already had children. Best to speak to women who have already been there and see how they did things. See what best advice they can give you. You  might get bits and pieces of  useable information from each woman.

Women often just get pregnant. The idea of planning a pregnancy is nonexistent. Other women actually decide,  now is time to get pregnant. Often couples decide it is time to start a family based on their finances, jobs, and living situation. I frequently meet couples who decide it's time to have children based on everything outside the woman’s body.

I once had a 4-month pregnant couple come to see me.  She had  2 herniated lumbar discs and 2 cervical herniations. She was in agony. I asked her of she had these problems before she got pregnant. She answered, “yes” due to all the hours she sits at her desk as a computer tech person developing software.  I asked her if she had done anything to try and fix this before she got pregnant and her answer was negative. As a couple, they decided they were ready without taking her body’s readiness into consideration. Needless to say, she had a horrible pregnancy due to problems that were pre-existing. After spending the afternoon during one of my advanced trainings with my practitioners she felt much better. I told her to come into my studio once a month during the next 5 months. She didn’t come and then suddenly in the last month she was desperate to come back. After the pregnancy, she was basically incapacitated and finally came back to see us once the c-section had healed.

What’s wrong with this picture? When you decide you are ready to get pregnant the first thing you have to do is check in with your body. All the areas of your body that you know are weak or more vulnerable or have had injuries, need to be worked on and improved. If you have a habit of eating junk food or foods that you know are not good for you, you need to work on this so your nutrition is good before you get pregnant. You need to work on your feet and develop a great foot care program so you have a strong foundation. You cannot work on your feet the first 3-4 months of your pregnancy so get them in shape before. The feet and ankles tend to swell in the last trimester so get them working well before you even think about getting pregnant.

Having a healthy pregnancy is not due to luck. It is due to how healthy your body is before you decide to get pregnant, so get started on this now.

Since most girls are not given choices and are not spoken to about what to do when they get their first period, most girls tend to do whatever their friends are doing. But, what happens if you do not have friends who talk about these things? Or what happens if girls are simply too timid to discuss these topics? The assumption that all this information is provided to all girls in school or by their mothers is simply not true.

I remember that in my days most younger girls were recommended to use pads. Tampons or whatever insertables that existed were for older girls, women or mothers. I, however, was athletic and for me the idea of having this thick pad between my legs was gross. Being on the track team and loving to run and high jump, made this thick pad just get in my way. I very quickly figured out that I would just have to steal tampons from my mother. The first time I put one in it was such a relief. 

Since my mother and I never spoke about these things I knew eventually she would realize that hers were missing. I decided to use my own money to buy my first box. It was so embarrassing going into the drug store. I was hoping no one I knew would see me. I had no idea what to buy. I didn't know they came in sizes so I just bought exactly what my mother used. Then I had to go to the cashier and pay. I was mortified. How could I even look up to give the money to the cashier? I was so hoping it would be a  woman. This at least would be less humiliating. As she was giving me my change I never looked up at her. I quickly left the store hoping that no one had seen me.