The Hormonal Body – What Yoga Teachers Need to Understand with Dr. Manasa Rao

Hormones are something we hear about constantly.

Cortisol. Estrogen. Thyroid. Adrenal fatigue. Perimenopause.

And yet, very few yoga spaces speak about hormonal health with clarity, depth, or responsibility.

In this episode of Let’s Talk Yoga, I sit down with Dr. Manasa Rao to explore how yoga has always understood balance within the hormonal body — just through a different language.

Where modern endocrinology speaks of glands and feedback loops, yoga speaks of prāṇa, chakras, rhythm, and regulation. Rather than positioning these systems in opposition, we explore how they intersect — and how this understanding can transform the way yoga teachers approach their classes.

In this conversation, we unpack:

• What hormonal balance actually means from a medical and yogic perspective
• The relationship between stress, cortisol, and nervous system dysregulation
• How lifestyle, sleep, breath, and daily rhythms influence endocrine health
• The connection between chakras, subtle body theory, and glandular function
• Why yoga cannot “fix” hormones — but can support regulation and resilience
• The importance of moving away from symptom-chasing toward deeper listening

We spend meaningful time exploring women’s hormonal transitions — from menstruation to perimenopause and menopause — and why these phases require more nuance in yoga spaces.

Too often, women are taught to override their cycles, push through fatigue, or treat natural transitions as dysfunction. Dr. Rao offers a grounded and compassionate lens that invites rhythm instead of resistance.

For yoga teachers, this episode is essential listening.

Understanding the hormonal body helps you sequence more intelligently. It shifts how you approach restorative work, breath practices, strength-building, and recovery. It deepens your sensitivity when working with women navigating cyclical or transitional changes.

This conversation moves through both the physical and subtle layers of the body. It bridges science and philosophy without diluting either. And it reminds us that yoga is not about controlling the body — it is about aligning with its intelligence.

If you teach women, live in a hormonally changing body, or want to bring greater literacy into how you teach yoga, this episode is rich, layered, and worth revisiting.

Because hormonal health is not about perfection.

It is about rhythm.

And yoga has always been a practice of rhythm.

Episode Highlights:

• Are hormones a modern concept, or something yoga has always addressed through a different language?
• Hormones as internal messengers and their connection to yogic ideas of prana, ojas, tejas, and balance.
• How yoga works across the physical and subtle bodies to regulate internal harmony.
• The relationship between chakras, glands, and pranic flow, and where confusion often arises.
• Why hormonal balance is the body’s natural state and how modern lifestyle disrupts rhythm.
• Cortisol, stress, and the importance of restoring rhythm rather than suppressing hormones.
• Pranayama as a key regulator of the hormonal and nervous systems.
• How to think about different pranayama practices, including ujjayi, with more discernment.
• Pratyahara as a lifestyle-based practice rooted in routine, rhythm, and sensory regulation.
• Understanding women’s hormonal transitions, including menstruation, perimenopause, and menopause.
• Menopause reframed as a phase of reorganization and inward movement, not decline.
• How yogic practices can support different phases of the menstrual cycle.
• The importance of personalization and sensitivity when teaching hormonally affected students.
• Body-to-mind versus mind-to-body, and why dissolving that duality matters.
• The central takeaway: hormonal health comes from listening, alignment, and rhythm rather than fixing.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

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