Can you do yoga during your period? We check it out!
Yoga next to Pilates is one of the more popular activities lately. And very well! Because it has a lot of advantages and since the pandemic you can find a lot of attractive classes taking place online. But is it safe to practice yoga during menstruation?
Practicing yoga has many advantages. It helps to make our body more flexible, relieve back pain, relax, control our breathing and thoughts. Moreover, we have different types of yoga: more intensive, making us sweat, but also gentle forms. But is it possible to practice yoga during the period? Many menstruating people ask themselves this question.
Yoga and PMS
Yoga is great for PMS, it helps to relieve tension, relaxes our body, supports the fight against stress and anxiety that may arise during this time. It supports our physicality, but also our psyche, which react differently to the state of premenstrual tension.
Yoga during the period
However, what about menstruation itself? There are different opinions. But I remember, even from the time before the pandemic, that in my yoga school there were special classes for people at this very moment of the cycle, that is dedicated to people who have their period. There were carefully selected exercises that did not increase pain or bleeding, but often helped to relax the body and get along with it during this time. And for me that was undoubtedly the first sign that yoga and period are not mutually exclusive. Do you have to exercise a certain amount of caution though? To choose specific poses, like in my classes?
Some of us feel so bad during menstrual bleeding that we only dream of sleeping through the time, waiting, not having to do anything. And I think that listening to your body, responding to its needs as much as possible seems to be the most sensible thing to do. Other people feel fine and don’t want to give up their daily activities. It turns out that when it comes to yoga during your period, you should first and foremost (as above): listen to your body. When our condition is so good that we don’t want to give up the mat practice, we should still remember which positions are safe at this time. We advise against so called inverted positions, in which the head is below the hips. These include, for example: standing on your head, candlestick or plough. It is also better to avoid too much abdominal tension (because it can increase bleeding and pain in the lower part of this body) and strong twists. But of course everything depends on us and our body, its capabilities!
Yoga for menstrual pain
Yoga teachers emphasize that yoga is a wonderful medicine. It helps us to calm down our thoughts, eliminate stress, tension and various kinds of pain. So yoga during period can be helpful as much as possible, if only to relieve menstrual pain. When it is of a high intensity, it is better to rely on breathing, meditation, not to force the body additionally. In the following days, on the other hand, it is possible to practice the so-called menstrual yoga, i.e. a set of positions, such as: snake, cat, fish, pigeon and camel, or a cobbler’s position lying down (it helps to relax the uterus). It is important to slow down and try not to tense the abdomen. Such gentle exercises can not only help us to relieve pain, but also to clear our uterus faster. And above all, repeating like a mantra, listen to your body, do what makes you happy and does not cause discomfort.
Sometimes it is worth to break through, find strength and do gentle exercises to see for yourself that you can win with menstrual pain. And after all, we feel better, we have more energy. It is worth trying.
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