The Dr Louise Newson Podcast - 167 - The benefits of yoga (revisited) with Lucy Holtom

Episode Date: August 30, 2022

This week offers a chance to revisit a previous podcast conversation – or perhaps hear it for the first time. Lucy Holtom is an experienced Ashtanga yoga practitioner who has a particular passion for helping with women throughout all cycles of life whether it’s to help manage the fluctuation of hormones during menstruation, postnatal recovery, or perimenopause and postmenopause.  In this episode, Lucy and Louise discuss the different types of yoga, individual practices and the benefits they can bring. Lucy explains how her interest and experience in well woman yoga evolved and how she supports women in the perimenopause and menopause. Lucy’s 3 tips for those interested in trying yoga for the first time: If you want to try a class, look for recommendations from others and chat to different teachers to find what’s right for you. Wear comfortable clothing – you don’t need to spend money on new yoga outfits, just wear whatever you can move freely in. Go with an open mind and enjoy! Visit Lucy’s website at www.livingyouryoga.co.uk Follow Lucy on Instagram @xxlivingyouryogaxx This podcast episode was first released in October 2019

Welcome to the Newsome Health Menopause podcast. I'm Dr Louise Newsome, a GP and menopause specialist, and I run the Newsome Health Menopause and Wellbeing Centre here in Stratford-upon-Avon. Hello, today I've got Lucy Holtan with me, who's a yoga teacher, who I've met fairly recently. We've been doing yoga together here at the clinic, and also she's been teaching some of my staff, and some of the other people. So today I really wanted to explore a bit about yoga, what it is,

what it can do for us, why it's become so popular and almost trendy in some places. So, hi, Lucy. Hello, Louise. Thank you for agreeing to come here. We've just done a really great class with James Critchlow, who is going to come and do a session with us in the podcast soon. So just tell me about your background, Lucy. I started yoga. I taught myself when I was about 15. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I was quite young. My mum had this quite gruevy 1970s Vogue book that she kept. And in there, I just saw images of women doing all these different shapes. And I thought, oh, that looks quite fun. So I came from that, really, from a physical aspect, just copying.

Yes, you wanted to look like these people. Yeah, well, I just thought the shapes look quite fun. And I've always been quite playful and physical. Yes. And my background was in theatre as well. I used to work as a performer. Oh, okay. And as a physical theatre performer.

So it kind of stemmed really, I think, from that play just on my own at home. And then as time went on, I didn't actually go to my first class until I was 19. So you had four years. Four years of just teaching myself. And by then I think there was a couple of magazines that sometimes you used to do a bit of yoga. And I'd even taught a class in my PE class. We had to teach a class of anything. And I taught a yoga class randomly.

So, yeah, that was a bit down, I guess, for the time. But my first class, I was 19. and it was in a school hall I found out from a friend I was at university at the time and I always remember the lady that taught she must have been in her mid-60s and she just glowed

and she was quite amazing and yeah and I just started going to classes from then and trying all sorts of yoga really and so then what sort of yoga was that initially then initially it was just it was half a yoga it was stepping from one static pose

to the next there wasn't any flow in this practice and then we used to she used to do like a meditation practice of candle gazing which is really I mean at the time that felt for me really far I've never learned anyone or anything like this in my life you know um no one in my family ever did yoga so it wasn't it's all quite weird and wonderful yeah um so that it kind of yeah it was it popular then were the many people in the first so there were a few i'd say it's probably about 10 to 12 people I went with a friend um and uh she had done yoga before she had done yoga before she was She used to live in London and had done a bit more than me.

She was a bit older than me. So, yeah, there must have been about 10 to 12 people. I remember. We went for quite a long time, like a good couple of years. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. So then that was probably quite a few years ago, was it?

How long ago was that? Well, I went to talk. That was, I was about 22, 21, 22 years ago. Because then yoga wasn't quite as spoken about, was it? No. No. I'm sure if, I'm sure most universities now have yoga as quite standard. Yeah.

popular but then it wasn't. Not at all. Probably step aerobics and sort of high energy fitness. Definitely. And any sort of aerobics was really in, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And it's quite different, isn't it?

I know when I went, I started in yoga about 16 years ago. I just had my first daughter and I just wanted to get fit. And I was the only class that would fit in my schedule was this evening class and it was a stanga yoga and I knew nothing about any different types of yoga or anything. So it's quite the deep. So yes, we don't realize. And I went and the instructor said, you do realize this is the most physical, most strength, hardest form of yoga. And I looked at my friend and we just went, no, we didn't realize that to do a lot. He said, well, carry on. And I was in this lesson and I was

looking at all these people doing positions that, really I do now, including your headstands and just thinking, wow, how on a hell. And I came home to my husband and just said, this is amazing. But I'd never be able to do this. This is awful. But they all looked like they really enjoy. it was something very beautiful about watching people do yoga like you say with the positions and everything else so I have chipped away in my own little way over these years and and I it's really good for so many reasons so take us back because you know more about yoga than me but talk about what is yoga because for some women listening they it's a word isn't it yeah what does it mean well I mean it's quite the word yoga means to unite yeah so and yoga essentially

you're combining your body with your breath. Yes. And when you connect, you'll know yourself from doing, when you do your estranger yoga or any other types of yoga, when you combine your body with your breath, your mind will start to settle and focus on exactly what you're doing. It brings you into the present.

Which actually, most of us, as we know, we wake up in the morning, our inner monologue starts. Yes. Right till the second we go to bed. Absolutely. And sometimes if there's lots going on, or if we've got things going on in life that's particularly stressful,

that can feel quite overwhelming. Completely. So a yoga practice, it's a practice, so it doesn't happen like that straight away. But it starts to help you to really settle all that head stuff by bringing the body and the breath together with movement. And often, obviously, our body's doing one thing, our head's doing something else. We're breathing quite shallow. We're not, yeah, and then we get more exhausted. So the actual yoga itself unites your body.

with your breath and your mind. And it brings you into a present moment. So essentially, that's what you're aiming for in a practice. So the interesting thing is what you just said about you, when you go to like a class like a stander and, you know, you see all these amazing shapes. And so these people do you think, how do they do that? And eventually you find yourself on this nice journey to get there.

But there's no, what I think is amazing about yoga and what I love about it is that there's, there's no pressure. No, there's no rush. There's no competition. It's you, yourself, on a mat, doing what you can and actually what feels good. Yes, it's totally right because I am very busy and the thought of going to a gym to a class,

I just couldn't do. My schedule's too crazy, but I've got my travel mat. If I'm away, I can take that. Just had something about being on your mat and it's just you. Yeah. And even though obviously we do a class together, you're focusing on the here and now

and it's time for you. And once I start thinking about all the things I need to do, my balance goes. Yeah, exactly. You say you have to draw yourself in. Like you say, concentrate on your banders and your breath. And it's a very spiritual practice, really, isn't it? Yeah. Very different.

If I like road cycling, but you have to cycle quite a few hours to get the same energy or the same type of exercises you do doing an hour's yoga, almost. You have to do a lot. And that's good for headspace, but it's not the same. It's not that spiritual feeling. It's quite hard to describe if you haven't done it, isn't it? It is. And actually, the whole, the spiritual side of the practice, what I love about it is that it's

very personal to yourself. Totally. And even as a teacher, it's something that I don't teach anything like spiritual practice, but I will guide people into it and make them feel supported in their time on their own to use it how they want to. And that's how I've been taught, which is why I really honour that. So I've been really lucky. I've had great teachers.

But yeah, I think that spiritual side, it allows you to access it yourself within you. It's not something you take from outside or listen to what other people are doing. It becomes your own. So it's a real, yeah. And it can change, can do the same physical practice three, four times a week. But actually mentally it can feel quite different. Absolutely. And it really depends on where you are that day.

I think it's a very honest practice. Whatever you give to your practice, you. You get out. You can't cheat. We know. You can't cheat at all. You can't. Yeah. You can't cheat at all.

It almost tells you how you're feeling. I know just before we opened this menopause clinic, James kept saying to me, Louise, you're so tense. I can feel every muscle, you know, and my practice was just very rigid. It didn't flow very well. And then when something good happens, they have a good week. It's just a dynamic. So the openness. It's funny, isn't it?

It is. I think, and especially for women, I think, we notice it in the, you know, we notice it in you know, in our cycle and where we are. It's really significant. It really changes to that. So there's all the external factors. Yes. And then there's our internal, not just mental factors, but our physical factors as well.

Yeah. Yeah. So with yoga, there are different types. We've talked about estanga. Yeah. Explain just briefly the main types or even what estanga is or what's it. So, I mean, the Ashtanga, the Ashtanga physical practice, I believe there's five actually. series. I've been doing it 20 years and I'm only just touching the second series.

But yeah, but a lot of their postures from the second series you might do in a separate hatha yoga. So they are mixed. Yes. But for Ashtanga yoga, we primarily focus on the primary series from a beginner and onwards. And you, it's a sequence of postures as you know that are repeated and it's pretty much a 90 minute practice where you can do from start to finish. And you'll do your series of standing postures, which are used with the five breath count, with Ujii breath. Yeah. I don't think we to talk about Ugiya breath.

So I'll come up to, yeah, so the breathing part is always the most important. I think for any yoga teacher would say as well, you know, come out of the posture if you're not breathing, get your breath moving first, get the body moving with it to connect. So Ujiya breath, I always teach it and say it sounds like a little bit of either a gentle Darth Vader or on a more romantic level, it can sound a little bit like someone fast asleep next to you before they start snoring. It's a really good description actually. Yeah, it's quite obvious, isn't it? So it's like a throaty breath and there's some really good reasons to do this breathing technique.

It's known to soothe a nervous system. It's very soothing for your body. Your mind and your body. It always tricks it into a state. of relaxation actually so you can start to move the body freely. The actual sound of the breath, because it's audible, for yourself, it can often help drown out, I think, the chatter in the head. And I think when you're in a class, what's really beautiful is when you hear someone

next to you breathing, there's just like an unspoken connection. And I think that's what I love about yoga classes where you're practicing together. That's where it really kind of unites everybody, I think, and it's unspoken. Because it's weird, the first time I heard it, I was thinking, what's going on? And I'm like, I can't make that noise. That's really uncomfortable. And then, actually, sometimes I just breathe, if I maybe do your presentation, when I'm a bit nervous.

Yeah. I try and do yoga in the morning. But even just before, I will just focus on my breath and do it. And it just holds you in and focus as you, doesn't it? I actually used Uji breast with my second childbirth. Did you? Yeah. So I can see.

And you use, and for smear tests. Yeah. And have your teeth done. It's like a proper. settling. But it does. I mean, we can talk about meditation a bit, but a lot of people find it very uncomfortable doing meditation or they don't know how to or having that time.

But actually, it is a sort of premeditative stage. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, definitely. And it works really well with, so once you get that, once you get the breath and get it working, especially for like an ujiye breath, this throaty sound, again, it helps bring that attention into the present moment. And also in a stanga yoga, we use the banders, which you mentioned before. So explain what they are.

So banders, in English it means locks. So we talk about the mullah banda being a root lock, which for men and women is in different places. Yes. So for men, it's their perinium. And for women, you draw your vagina walls together and up towards the cervix. And that's like your root lock. So that's your bander. But it's not that you hold and squeeze with tension.

It's just an awareness that you're gathering that area in. Which is really good, especially for menopausal or perimenopause or women that pelvic floor isn't it? Yeah, definitely. And I think even, you know, like you said, after you've had a baby, it helps you just gather. It's working like a muscle, like any other muscle. It's a huge muscle. Really important muscle.

We don't realize a lot of women don't realize they have it until it doesn't work. Yeah, exactly. They're leaking, when they cough, sneeze or whatever. So to work on it when you're young It's fantastic. It's really important. Yeah. You don't, obviously people need to work on it when they've got problems,

but you want to try and prevent problems. Exactly. So that's great. So that's great. Yeah, that's the one. And then you have the Udiana Banda, which is in the abdominal area, which helps you tone the belly.

But I think what happens, when you start drawing that area in with the Mullabander, it gives that lower body and all around the, I guess, yeah, the lower body from waist below. It's like a real feeling of strength. actually working on those, well, locks, banners, it just holds that when we're working through our physical practice, if you think of like the lower body being nice and strong like earth,

it really helps you root that with the banders. And then sometimes, I don't know if we've done a little bit with James, where you tuck the chin in, so you have a lock in the throat, which is Jalaranda Banda. It's used quite a lot in the pranayama in the breathing practices. Right. And so we sometimes, you'll sometimes be doing that. throughout some of the postures.

So there that there's lots more banders. Sure. But they're the three main ones that we would sort of regard or talk about in Ashlanga yoga. And when I was originally taught, originally actually by one of James's students, he used to say you engaged the Mula Banda and the Udiyana Banda, and you breathe the Ujiye breath. And when you imagine those banders being like locks, they're holding energy in so that you, with the breath,

you get more energy to power through a practice. It helps you not feel asleep, tired, worn out. And at the same time, it creates more heat in the body. So the detoxifying process, getting with other toxins in the body, where it's more effective. It's wonderful, isn't it? I mean, it's quite amazing. It is amazing.

I mean, I was on a holiday recently, and one of the guys we met was just talking to my husband, and he was saying, oh, did you do any exercise? And poor my husband said, oh yeah, Louise does yoga. And he went, I was a bit of heavy breathing then. And I nearly hit him. And other people say to me, what, your pulse goes up. You're actually sweating. And they have no concept.

Well, we've got, as you know, we've got a shower here in the centre. And I often do yoga and then live and have a bit shower. And why do you need a shower? It's only yoga. I know. You can, you do. If you do it properly, you do get cardiovascular work. Yeah, absolutely.

And with Ashtanga yoga you do. Totally, yes. I mean, talk about other types. I was going to say the other. I mean, there's loads of other types that you do and don't get. sweaty. You can have your, you know, your Hatha yoga where there's no flow. All physical yoga, all asana comes under the umbrella of Hatha yoga. But whether there isn't a flow, but you can move through the static postures, which is fantastic actually. And that's, but I think flow has become

a lot more common. So people talk a lot about the vinyasa flow practices where your move is quite dance-like and you use the breath to continually move from one posture to the next. Then you have a yanga yoga, which our teacher James has also trained in, which is brilliant, and they use more of the props. And sometimes it can be quite more accommodating with a yanga yoga and use the props, because you can settle into a posture and stay there for a lot longer, which for some people could be quite frustrating. Yeah. So you're going to love it. So again, it's taste. I mean, gosh, I could go on about the big cram yoga, which is the very, where you get very hot, very sweating. Yeah. So it's not you who's really kind of.

come about, hasn't it? It's been around for a while, but it's obviously now you read so much more about it. It's quite trendy. It's quite trendy. It's mixed reports though. I've heard really mixed reports. Yeah. What's your take on it? So I tried Bikram Yoga probably about 15 years ago. I lived in London and I got a pass to go regularly and I didn't personally get so much from it. To me, it felt more like an aerobic workout where you're trying to achieve something and you're trying to get there and you're trying to get through the class and you're. And to me, that's not for me what I want it for a yoga practice. I'm not trying to get through it.

I actually just want to feel pleasure through the whole time that I'm devoting to. So that wasn't for me. I also, it was very hot and very sweaty, which is fine. And got into really further into positions, which was fine. But it just didn't, I didn't feel that quality that I get from the other practices that I've done there. The Ha'tha yoga's Ashtanga yoga, a yang. It was just, yeah, so different. I think it's also about choices.

I think it's definitely about choice. Some people say to me they do hot yoga and they get into all these amazing positions that they wouldn't be able to otherwise and they feel fantastic. And I know my first instructor was very much about pushing you into positions. You must do this, you know?

Yeah. And I came away and I just felt really uncomfortable. Whereas when I first met James Critchlow, he would say, Louise, take it, no, you're going fast too fast. Your breathing's too fast. And as you know, sometimes I am still a bit fast. But he's really...

He's great when you catch up with you. But he's really taking me back. And it's not about, oh gosh, being inadequate because Lucy's doing one pose and I can't quite get into it. It's like you say it's about you. And that works for me. And actually my pace of life, especially at the moment, it's so fast. Yoga pulls me back.

Whereas if I went to a hot yoga, it would probably make me go even faster, which I can't imagine my brain would explode. So, but some people like that. And I think it'd be great for some people that don't have that so much get up and go. Yes. And I think that's probably, it could be really good for someone. So I think it depends what you, you know, what you're looking for. Because the other side, the, like the Wild Woman yoga that I teach.

So talk a bit about that. So this is completely different. I mean, it is a yoga that you do and you probably wouldn't sweat from or need a shower after. it's very, very focused on bringing you into the present moment and actually getting you coming out of a thinking space completely into a feeling space. And the practices that I teach for this, I mean, it's just really interesting how it came about

if I can just go back. So my personal practice has been Ashtanga yoga pretty much for 20 years and I've gone in and out of Ashtanga yoga depending on what's happened in my life. Okay. So when I've had injuries, I've had injuries, I've practiced more relaxation techniques when I had babies before and after I practiced prenatal and then postnatal. And so it's all about finding, like we said, a yoga that's at you.

And when I started teaching, a lady asked me to start teaching at her house and I teach a group of women who are fantastic. And I still teach them on a Monday morning. And but one of the ladies, my friend Jane, she started getting symptoms of parimenopause. Oh, okay. But it became really noticeable in the classes. And all the things that she could normally do, she just said, I just, I'm so tired. And she was struggling. And when I'm just too much.

Just, yeah, and everything just, she was just exhausted and just didn't feel herself. And, you know, and I thought, gosh, there's got to be something around this. To still be able to come into a group environment and practice. But, and I was thinking we can do gentler practices, but it just felt like there was something more. And then I discovered. they called it Well Woman Yoga Therapy Teacher Training Course that I went on with

a woman called Umadins Mortuli and I trained with her for pregnancy yoga so I went and did this training with her and a lot of the practices would be said well you know these practices are brilliant for women that are perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal so it was really inspiring

so I kind of gathered up the practices that I thought these ones are good ones good stuff And I took them back and shared them with. And how do they go down? They love them. There's some hilarious ones. I had lots of hoops and giggles.

That's good. Which was fantastic because, again, it's making a yoga class a place where you're uniting people together and making it joyful. And at the same time, getting benefits from a physical practice. So they're very, it's quite difficult to explain. There's a lot of different breathing techniques that I have learned and that I share that can be used. like we talked about UGI breath, but there's other breathing practices that can be used for sort of

when you feel quite volatile emotionally. So there's practices using the breath that I teach for symptoms such as that. Once for severe anxiety, there's other breathing practices that I teach for that. So depending what people tell me how the symptoms, I'll sort of think, well, okay, this breathing practice, it might, might not, but it might work for you.

This is worth trying. Certainly, like you know, this is perimenopause and menopause symptoms really vary. And they change, especially when women are perimenopausal. So that's the time when periods are changing in nature or frequency and women start to experience menopausal symptoms. And some women are fine for months and then they can have symptoms. Yeah. They can be physical symptoms or emotional symptoms such as, you know, anxiety or no mood.

And I know when I had some perimenopause symptoms, as some of you might know, it took me months to realize they were related to my hormones. But my yoga practice was horrid. My joints were sore, my muscles were stiff. I couldn't get into the same postures. And I had no motivation either. So I really try and practice the primary series at least twice a week. And I just used to think, I can't bother.

I can't bother. I feel really. And then when I did, my practice was horrid. And, you know, estrogen's really important in our hormone, you know, really important hormone in our bodies and I hadn't realised that my levels were changing. And as I'm sure you know before the periods, women often have PMS,

can have a drop in their estrogen levels. So I don't know if you've ever experienced that. Yeah, so what I tend to do, I mean, my practice is at Ashtanga, but definitely sometimes I can feel quite energized pre-manstrually, actually. So my practice, I can kind of quite go for it. But as soon as I get my period, the last thing I want to do is a national yoga yoga practice.

So the well woman practice, I've adapted that and it's made me feel, like you said, the last thing you want to do is a yoga practice as such. But actually, one of the best things that you can do is carve out time to give yourself an element of a practice. And that's why the well woman practice is for me that I've had started to practice at home, which are very gentle. They're still very focused. there's still quite a nice flow and movement

but everything is a lot more sensual it's a lot more rhythmical which is quite interesting when you have your period and you start to feel quite and it is really interesting you connect with yourself it's very feminine

there's nothing you don't hold anything strong you don't strive to get onto into a posture it's very much about bringing your awareness completely into yourself and you kind of think, and a lady I taught the other day just said afterwards, I don't actually need to do

anything that I don't want to do right now after this practice. And she just said it's very nourishing. You just, and you just, it just settles you. And it's quite, yeah, it's very different. It's very hard to explain to talk about. But you get really good feedback. Get lovely feedback. I do sort of extended events as well, where I combine quite long practice. Like you talked about the joint problems that you have with parimenopause. So in the well woman yoga that I teach, we do a lot of joint release practices, which are quite repetitive rotations in wrists, in elbows, in shoulders, and hips, knees, everything. You can do like a whole 90-minute practice of this joint release work.

But it just, somebody said to me that had come to an event that I did, we did all the joint release, we did some flow, we did lots of breathwork, we did full relaxation. And she just said, I just feel like I've done. been unraveled. That's lovely, isn't it? That's the best feeling that you've wanted to feel. So, yeah, I kind of, although I'm very much a loving, striving, Ashtanga, this other side to a practice is just completely open. Yeah. It's interesting because, as you know, we've got this yoga studio here, which we're very fortunate. And when I was setting up the clinic, all the other doctors and people I speak to say, why on earth is you shouldn't do yoga? That's crazy.

I can't you use it for something else? Or why don't you do Pilates or something? I said, no, yoga's really important for me. I want other people to experience it. And as you know, we offer it to our staff. And again, they were saying, I'm not sure I'm a bit embarrassed. What do I wear?

What do I do? And one by one, they're always sort of chipping away at them, which is great. But I think certainly for a lot of women, and I know how I felt when I went to my first class, it's quite scary, isn't it? Yeah. You like her and go to a class full of women

who might be 20 years younger than you if you're perimenopaus are feeling a bit vulnerable so yeah you might feel a bit intimidated by that which is I mean yeah completely it's interesting you say though I think most of my clients at all my classes are pretty much between 30 and 70 if I'm honest I get the odd 18 year old that comes to my well-woman which is really nice she comes with her mum

and that's amazing doing something together it's amazing yeah and and she comes for different sort of reasons obviously but it can serve, she can take that really nice nourishment from a deep, gentle practice. Which is brilliant. I think it's so good. And there's no age limit, is there? Absolutely not. No, no. You notice like little kids doing it straight away. Well, I look at my children and I think, gosh, I wish I had started doing yoga when I was a lot younger. Because there are some postures I'll never do. We'll never get into because my hips are too stiff, my shoulders and I tip away, but it's hard.

If I'd started when I was a teenager. Well, I don't know. I know because I might have to disagree with it. I don't really. My practice now is far better than it was 25 years ago. I mean, I think with your practice, you get such a greater awareness. And although there might be a posture you think I could never do that, you thought the same with that 15 years ago. Yes.

And you're doing stuff now. So you never know. He's in the 60s. He went on his own. And he says his practice is better now than it ever was before. also it's really, it's really different. It is. And I think, well, I know what you're saying,

because your practice, oh, my practice certainly changed. Yeah, it does. It's not all about, which we've already said, getting into a posture. No, yeah. The way I get into it is different or the way I feel. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And I think that's what's really nice about the practice. It really brings you into how you feel. We get to, you know, switch off the head and go, actually, this feels really good. Or this feels like I could do this instead and we're not, yeah. Yeah. So it's good.

So, and then finally at the end we do a sort of relaxation, don't we? Which James always says is probably the most important part of the practice. And although we joke and we're looking forward to relaxation at the end, it is important, isn't it? It is. It is very. Yeah. It is almost a bit like a meditative process, isn't it? Yeah, it is.

And it's, you know, you kind of get told that that's when actually your practice really starts to assimilate. Yes. Because it's when you rest that everything starts to digest and be absorbed. and it's not always honoured enough, I don't think. And actually, I mean, shavasana is really difficult, whether you're guided in the relaxation or not, because quite often we lie down and we go, oh, that feels great.

And then our shopping list and our to-do list up. So it's a very difficult posture because actually you're trying to still maintain the same practice in your mind as what you had when you were moving. Yes, but you've got nothing to distract you. You've got nothing to distract you. So it's harder, but then you get more benefit. I'm constantly pushing.

thoughts away. I'm visualising those thoughts going out of my brain. Yeah. Yeah. And thinking about come in in 20 minutes time, but at the moment I'm going to have an empty brain and I have to visualise an empty brain to make it empty. Yeah, that's quite interesting. Yeah. Because I think I have different methods. I mean, I always try and just really feel into my body to see how it feels and keep coming into that. Because I know as soon as I start thinking on the same, it's like boom, d-a-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d- So brilliant. So brilliant. And I think we've covered quite a lot. for a short period of time. So just before we finish, could you give me three to sort of take home tips?

Maybe for people who are a bit nervous and not sure about yoga, what they could think. Okay, so I would say if you want to try a class, it's quite good to get a little bit of recommendation or word of mouth from somebody to find out what sort of style of yoga. Look it up to see what style of yoga is. And in all honesty, if you contact a yoga teacher, there would be more. than willing to tell you about what they teach and if their practices are appropriate for you and will serve you and that's probably the main thing the other thing is just wear comfortable clothing doesn't have to be the most beautiful cordonage it's just what you feel comfortable in and can move freely in and the final thing is I just think you know it's like trying anything just go and go with an open

definitely go with an open mind yeah just enjoy it yeah brilliant thank you ever so much that's great Thanks Lucy. For more information about the menopause, please visit our website www. www.menopausedoctor.com.uker.