September 28, 2013

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

As women of a certain age can tell you, menopause comes with a variety of challenges. A new study from the Group Health Research Institute reveals that a 12-week yoga class and continuing to practice at home can help with some of those challenges, but not all.

The study, published online in Menopause, is part of a MsFLASH (Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health) randomized controlled trial. The results highlighted a link between yoga and a decrease in insomnia for menopausal women. There does not seem to be a link between yoga and the cessation or decrease of hot flashes or night sweats, however.

Many women suffer from insomnia during menopause, and its good to know that yoga may help them, said lead author Katherine Newton, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute.

Hormone therapy is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for hot flashes and night sweats, Dr. Newton said, and fewer women are opting for hormone therapy these days. The purpose of the MsFLASH trial was to see if three more natural approaches yoga, fish oil, or aerobic exercise might help ease these symptoms of menopause.

The researchers recruited 249 healthy, previously sedentary women at multiple sites, including Group Health, to do yoga, a moderate aerobic exercise program, or neitherand to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement or a placebo.

The research team found that aerobic exercise seemed linked to slightly improved sleep, a decrease in insomnia and less depression. Yoga also showed a link to better quality sleep and less depression. The effects of both approaches, though, were not statistically significant. The team found no link to improvement of hot flashes, night sweats, sleep or mood with the omega-3 supplement.

Read this article:
Yoga Provides Some Insomnia Relief For Menopausal Women

Certified instructor J.J. Gormley-Etchells is the instructor. Learn yoga poses for back care, shoulder and neck care, and hip and knee care. Registration required.

Yoga Therapy with JJ Gormley-Etchells, E-RYT-500

Participants will learn various techniques to help use yoga to begin the healing process. These techniques are quite useful and have been successfully applied for many students over the many years that JJ has been a yoga therapist (since 1994). JJ has unique ways of thinking about healing and aligning the body. You will learn to apply general and basic yoga therapy principles along with alignment techniques that JJ has picked up from various styles and traditions of yoga that she has studied.

You may register online or mail a check to Butterfly Yoga. Butterfly Yoga 3025 N State Street Jackson, MS 39216 http://www.butterflyyoga.net

JJ Gormley-Etchells has been a student of yoga since 1979 and a teacher since 1989. She began teaching teachers and using yoga therapeutically in 1994. She has studied from many traditions including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kundalini, Anusara and Viniyoga. She calls her yoga education well-rounded and draws from each tradition that which she loves.

Originally posted here:
Yoga Therapy Workshop: Teacher Training

Sep. 27, 2013 Taking a 12-week yoga class and practicing at home was linked to less insomnia -- but not to fewer or less bothersome hot flashes or night sweats. The link between yoga and better sleep was the only statistically significant finding in this MsFLASH (Menopause Strategies: Finding Lasting Answers for Symptoms and Health) Network randomized controlled trial.

"Many women suffer from insomnia during menopause, and it's good to know that yoga may help them," said lead author Katherine Newton, PhD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. She e-published these findings in Menopause, ahead of print.

"Hormone therapy is the only Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for hot flashes and night sweats," Dr. Newton said, "and fewer women are opting for hormone therapy these days." That's why MsFLASH tried to see whether three more "natural" approaches -- yoga, exercise, or fish oil -- might help ease these menopause symptoms. The study assigned 249 healthy, previously sedentary women at multiple sites, including Group Health, to do yoga, a moderate aerobic exercise program, or neither -- and to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement or a placebo.

Exercise seemed linked to slightly improved sleep and less insomnia and depression, and yoga also was linked to better sleep quality and less depression -- but these effects were not statistically significant. The omega-3 supplement was not linked to any improvement in hot flashes, night sweats, sleep, or mood.

Read more:
Yoga in menopause may help insomnia -- but not hot flashes