Ayurveda and Yoga for Managing Hot Flashes at Night

Understanding Hot Flashes and Night Sweats

Hot flashes and night sweats are common symptoms experienced during menopause.

What are Hot Flashes?

• Hot flashes are sudden feelings of intense heat that spread mainly through the face, neck, and chest. They may cause you to sweat and your face to turn red. These sensations usually last for a few minutes but can sometimes persist for longer.

What are Night Sweats?

• Night sweats are hot flashes that happen at night. They can be so severe that they drench your pyjamas and sheets, waking you up from sleep.

Why Do I Get Hot Flashes?

Change in the internal control systems of your body is the reason that you experience Hot flashes.

Estrogen and progesterone, which rule your feminine body, undergo a decline during menopause, which causes certain unpleasant sensations. Hot flashes are the most commonly encountered distressing symptoms of menopause.

Do I Experience Other Symptoms Besides Sweating During Hot Flashes?

YES! Hot flashes can cause headache, increased heartbeats (palpitations), fatigue and anxiety. Not all women experience all of these. However, a combination of any of the above-mentioned symptoms is common.

How Long Will I Experience It? Will It Stay With Me Forever?

The unpleasant sensation of sweating all of a sudden and pulling out the layers of bedding and clothing in the middle of the night leads to anxiety and unsatisfactory sleep. Generally, an episode of hot flashes lasts 1-4 minutes and may occur several times during the day.

Hot flashes may begin around peri menopause and last up to 1-2 years after menopause. In a small fraction of women, it may last up to 5 years after menopause.

Triggers Of Hot Flashes

A List of factors has been identified to cause/trigger hot flashes. Some of the most common ones are listed below:-

• Warm environment
• Hot drinks
• Spicy food
• Caffeine
• Warm clothing
• Tight clothing
• Alcohol
• Smoking

Understanding what environmental and dietary habits trigger hot flashes can help in reducing the frequency of episodes.

Now, you do understand that these changes in your body are way beyond your control and may frustrate you to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. Such difficult times often force women to seek medical advice from a healthcare provider. HRT is the gold standard in the management of menopause. Concerns regarding its efficacy and safety led to a search for alternative methods for managing it.

How To Manage Hot Flashes In A Holistic Way?

Ayurveda considers episodes of hot flashes as an imbalance of two bio energies - pitta and vata. Pitta is primarily involved in the rise of body temperature, and vata causes short, frequent attacks of hot flashes.

The science of Ayurveda considers resetting body balance by a combination of appropriate diet, medicated drinks, yoga and Ayurvedic supplements. Here, we would like to share some important Ayurvedic methods and natural remedies to manage hot flashes and night sweats. These simple home remedies can help you manage the symptoms of menopause.

Ayurvedic foods that can help reduce hot flashes:

• Rice porridge with coconut milk
• Ash gourd
• Squash
• Ghee (as an add-on to warm porridges)
• Gooseberries
• Fenugreek
• Coriander
• Green gram
• Brown rice
• Grapes
• Dried raisins
• Aloe vera
• Pomegranate seeds
• Figs
• Dairy products (low fat) - if your gut tolerates it!

What you should avoid according to Ayurveda

• Red chillies (flakes/ powder)
• Sour foods (pickles)
• Carbonated beverages
• Caffiene
• Salty foods (crisps/ fries)
• Deep-fried foods
• Vinegar

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is crucial in overcoming any health issue. Ayurveda advocates a list of healthy practices that can help you maintain a healthy body and healthy mind (hyperlink for Dinacharya)

Some of the healthy practices that can fit your daily schedule are:

• Oiling - Medicated cooling oils designed to manage internal body heat are proven effective remedies to beat hot flashes. Oil can be applied on your head (Siro abhyanga) and feet (Pada abhyanga) regularly before you shower.
• Medicated foot dips - easy, effective and risk-free! Soak your feet in a tub of medicated water to help you cool down and de-stress. This inexpensive technique has a proven effect on improving your sleep as well!

Herbal teas for hot flashes

Are you a tea lover? Finding it difficult to stop having tea? Here are some Ayurvedic teas that serve as herbal remedies for hot flashes and are great replacements for regular tea, and offer a lot of health benefits!!

• Coriander cold infusion
• Fenugreek tea

Dr. Naveen observed that during his experience on dealing with women with hot flashes, Coriander cold infusion worked wonders in reducing the intensity and frequency of hot flashes.

Hydration is very important during this phase of life. Ensure that you take a minimum of 1.5-2 litres of water every day!

Ayurvedic herbs to reduce hot flashes!

• Satavari -Asparagus
• Asoka - Saraca asoka
• Aswagandha - Indian Ginseng
• Triphala - 3 berries -
• Licorice
• Indian Sarsaparilla
• Guduchi - Giloy

To know more about these herbs, get in touch with our Ayurveda experts at Nirva!

Cool down yoga and breathing practices!

Daily practice of simple postures and mindful breathing within the comfort of your home or outdoors can help you beat the anxiety and unpleasant sensations that you have been experiencing since perimenopause.

Try some of these tried and tested postures to cool yourself

• Savasana
• Padmasana

These yoga postures help in calming down your mind and help in dealing with the unpleasant sensations of hot flashes. Studies show that women who practised yoga at least 5 times a week dealt with hot flashes considerably better.

Guided breathing techniques called Pranayama are also beneficial in dealing with hot flashes. Seetali pranayama, which is intended to cool down core body temperature, is widely advised by our Yogas experts to help women deal with hot flashes.

Did it feel good to know that you are not alone in your experiences and confusion regarding how to manage hot flashes naturally? We hope you will try out changing your lifestyle and include healthy food items and observe the change within you.