Coping with menopause with yoga and meditation

October is Menopause Awareness Month -- every woman will live it, yet not all recognize the signs or know how to cope with it.

Local health and wellness experts share an unexpected menopause treatment: Yoga.

Alejandra Gonzalez is a local yoga instructor who did her studies in India, and brought her knowledge of healing properties in yoga that can help women going through a significant change in their bodies.

"It's a unique connection with the breath because you connect the mind with the body," says Gonzalez, owner of KIN Yoga and Wellness Center.

Although menopause is natural in women's lives, losing their period and fertility can take a toll on them mentally and physically.

Especially for those who experience premature menopause -- which is before the age of 40.

"Yoga was the only tool that I had to help my anxiety," Gonzalez adds.

An OBGYN from The Hospitals of Providence says it can be stressful if a woman has other conditions with symptoms that mimic those of menopause, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

"It's a change of their quality of life," says Dr. Simran Malhotra. "And so they may not have enjoyment as much in doing the things that they used to do, due to their mood changes or other things like their hot flashes impacting them almost daily for some women."

But that's not all. Women can also experience:

• Night sweats
• Insomnia 
• Vaginal dryness
• Loss of muscle mass
• Increase of fat in the abdominal area

It even impacts emotions and identity, something Gonzalez says that meditation can help with.

"It helps to first of all, knowing who you are, accepting who you are," she says. "And from there, I think it helps you a lot with detachment about all those ideas that we think we are."

OBGYNs like Dr. Malhotra also recommend hormone replacement therapy, which may help women whose menopause create hormone imbalances.