Menopause and Yoga

Balancing the Root Chakra to Alleviate Hot Flushes during Menopause with Earth's Natural Energy - By Julie Jarvis

Reading time: 3 minutes

Grounding, the practice of connecting to Mother Earth by walking in bare feet on sand, grass, the forest floor etc, balances the energy of the first Chakra, Muladhara (Root/Base Chakra), to provide physical stability and security. It helps the mind to feel safe and supported, reduces stress and anxiety, and helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

The Chakra energy system was first found in Vedic texts in ancient India around 1500-500 bc. It has a rich and complex history stretching across a number of centuries, but is a concept and belief system that remains popular and continues to be studied and practised today.

The Root Chakra is located at the bottom of the spine, where the sacral-coccyx joint sits. It is represented by the colour red and by a lotus flower of four petals. It has long been believed that the Root Chakra regulates the lower back, adrenal glands, blood, skeleton, feet, knees, hips, teeth, nails and spine.

Now recent medical research (Sinatra et al 2023) has found and confirmed that this ancient tradition provides a number of physical benefits that can assist with hot flushes, the most common symptom reported by women going through the menopause transition.

Grounding provides direct skin contact with the earth which allows Earth’s electrons to spread over the skin’s surface and into the body. These electrons are present on the Earth’s surface due to natural weather patterns, such as thunder, lightning and solar wind around the globe. When these electrons conduct with our bodies, positive physiological benefits result, such as reduced inflammation, improved heart rate variability and a beneficial impact on blood viscosity (thickness).

Importantly for managing hot flushes, studies have also shown that grounding helps to synchronise hormonal rhythms in the body, reducing levels of cortisol and helping to improve sleep patterns.

As hot flushes are a response to changing hormone balances in the body - particularly between the hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal and thyroid glands (the HPA-Thyroid axis) - when hormonal rhythms are synchronised via grounding, hot flush symptoms can be eased.

Grounding helps to reactivate our ancient cooling system, helps to balance hormones, and reduces inflammation.

It is a natural, non-intrusive therapy, available for free!

Add 15-30 minutes of regular barefoot walking* to your menopause solution toolkit.

Let’s tackle menopause symptoms naturally.

*commission earned from this link