"The average breathing rate is 15 to 16 cycles (inhaling and exhaling) per minute," he notes. "But with training, women can slow their breathing down to seven or eight cycles per minute, which can significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes."

Known in yoga as "belly breathing," the technique involves sitting quietly, focusing on the breath and slowly allowing air to completely fill the lungs right down to the abdomen. Many women discover that only their chest expands when they breathe, often because they've been taught to hold in their stomachs. One way to teach these shallow "chest breathers," to become deep abdominal breathers is to have them lie on their back and place a book on their belly. When they breathe deeply, the book will rise and fall.

Working with a yoga instructor is the most effective way to learn this technique says Freedman, who admits "we just don't know" why deep breathing can cool down hot flashes. Some experts point to the stress-reducing effect produced by the calming breath.

Other Techniques
Psychologist Alice Domar, director of the Center for Women's Health at Harvard Medical School's Mind/Body Medical Institute, says that many stress-reduction methods can help cool hot flashes. In her book, Healing Mind, Healthy Woman, she encourages women bothered by menopausal heat waves to try a variety of relaxation techniques -- including visualizing cool mountain streams and listening to relaxation tapes.