Painful Periods & More Can Be Stopped With These Yoga Poses

Do these free Sequences to to help with painful periods.

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Painful periods stopped when I started yoga. In fact, I had minimal menstrual issues from then on.

Many other women doing yoga have told me the same story.

A healthy menstrual cycle is very important for a woman’s health and general well being.

The female body is much more elastic than a man’s body.

This elasticity can cause a distortion in the skeletal and muscular structure of the female body causing women to experience bouts of pain and tenderness, particularly at the time of menstruation.

Many women also experience premenstrual tension, including pain, stiffness in the limbs and lower back, mood swings, feelings of irritability, anger, aggression and depression.

So I have included poses below to help with each stage of the menstrual cycle.

During menstruation many women experience discomfort, bloating, cramping, overheating, skin rashes, constipation, heaviness and lethargy; plus often feeling disconnected, or not grounded.

It is the time of the month when women should slow down, rest more and take life a little easier.

There are so many demands on women from work and family that many women often ignore the need to rest. Instead, they push through tiredness and pain.

Giving your body the respect it deserves, will help you maximise performance in all aspects of your life. I suggest you look at yoga as a way to build a routine into your life that naturally maximises all aspects of your mental and physical health… forever!

It is important to use your yoga practice to honour this time of the month and do less, especially in the first few days, when the flow is heavy. Not only will you appreciate the benefits that will flow from using your yoga practice to restore balance, but so will your friends and family!

Yoga sequences for painful periods

The following sequences come from Geeta Iyengar. She was a masterful yoga practitioner, and an ayurvedic doctor in India. She also wrote some now classic yoga textbooks. Over the years, she has helped many female yoga practitioners find a way to restore balance to their bodies, mind and emotions. In the process, any menstrual issues they experienced, also disappeared.

During menstruation the emphasis is on forward extensions, supine (lying) poses to open the chest and help release pressure in the abdomen), seated poses, and supported setu bandha Sarvangasana. (These poses are explained and illustrated in the drawings below).

Note that inversions (upside down poses) should not be done at this time. If a woman has a “normal” menstruation, and no health problems like cysts, fibroids, or heavy bleeding; she can also do some standing poses with the help of a wall, ledge or balcony rail. There should be no jumping into and out of standing poses.

These are the poses that helped me stop all painful periods, plus the other menstrual difficulties I had. Try them whether your not your you have painful periods. There is much to be gained from yoga, for all aspects of women’s health.

Click on the pictures to see how to do the poses. You can easily click through them using the arrow at the bottom of each image.

Premenstrual Tension

(Click on the pose sketch, to enlarge it).

  • Baddha Konasana
  • Upavista Konasana- support
  • Supta Buddha Konasana
  • Matysasana – or supta swastikasana
  • Forward Virasana
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana
  • Dwi Pada viparita dandasana- 7-10 mins -cross bolsters
  • Salamba Sirsasana & Salamba Sirsasana (Upavistha Konasana &Baddha Konasana if able to do)
  • Salamba Sarvangasana
  • Halasana
  • Setu bandha Sarvangasana 7-10 mins
  • Cross Legs Forward / head support
  • Pranayama- Ujjayi 1 & 2, Viloma 1 & 2

For the first 2/3 days of the period, especially if you have painful periods

  • Supta Buddha Konasana
  • Supta Matysasana – or supta swastikasana
  • Supta Virasana
  • Forward Virasana – trunk supported
  • Janu Sirsasana- Trunk supported
  • Triang mukhaikaipada paschimottanasana-trunk supported
  • Ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana-trunk supported
  • Baddha Konasana – seated supported
  • Upavistha Konasana – seated thenCentre L the R trunk supported
  • Dwi Pada viparita dandasana – supported or Cross bolsters
  • Setu bandha Sarvangasana – supported
  • Savasana

Towards the end of menstruation

  • Virasana/ Adho Mukha Virasana-along bolster
  • Swastikasana along bolster
  • Janu Sirsasana- head support 1min
  • Triang mukhaikaipada paschimottanasana- 1min
  • Ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana- 1min
  • Maricyasana 1 – 1 min
  • Bharadvajasana 2- 1 min
  • Paschimottanasana -1 min
  • Upavistha Konasana 1 min
  • Bharadvajasana 1 – 1 min
  • Baddha Konasana – back to wall – 5 mins
  • Padmasana 1 min ( if you can do)
  • Viparita Dandasana ( cross bolster 5 mins)
  • Setu Bandha sarvangasana / legs straight then in baddha konasana
  • Virasana (forward)
  • Savasana

If no fatigue, the following standing poses could be put into a sequence

  • Supta Virasana _or Supta swstikasana -5 mins
  • Supta Baddha Konasana- 5 mins
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana- head support
  • Adho Muhka Svanasana – Head support / hands to wall
  • Tadasana
  • Urdhva Hastasana
  • Arm movements -l to open the chest like Urdhva Baddanguliyasana , Namaskarasana, Urdhva Namaskarasana, Gomukasana
  • Utthita Trikonasana(foot to wall / top hand to waist , bottom hand supported on a block)
  • Utthita Pasvakonasana (foot to wall / top hand to waist , bottom hand supported on a block )
  • Ardha Chandrasana – back to wall
  • Prasarita Padottanasana / support / concave back if back ache / abdominal pain rest 2 over stools
  • Uttanasana /toes turned in / feet wider than hip width apart / arms can be interlocked / head can rest on chair
  • Viparita Dandasana(cross bolsters)- 7-10 mins
  • Baddha Konasana- back supported – use chair
  • Upavistha Konasana – can have back support / chair & then rested Upavistha Konasana
  • Parsva Upavistha Konasana
  • Janu Sirsasana-head supported
  • Triang mukhaikaipada paschimottanasana-head supported
  • Maricyasana 1 -head supported
  • Paschimottanasana-head supported
  • Setu bandha Sarvangasana – supported 7- 10 mins
  • Swastikasana -forward head support
  • Savasana

Post Menstruation

  • Supta Baddha Konasana
  • Forward Virasana
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana
  • Uttanasana
  • Prasarita Padottanasana
  • Salamba Sirasana (Baddha Konasana in Sirasana, Upavistha Konasana in Sirasana)
  • Dwi pada  Viparta Dandasana-cross bolsters
  • Janu Sirasana
  • Baddha Konasana
  • Upavistha Konasana
  • Salamba Sarvangasana
  • Halasana
  • Janu Sirasana
  • Savasana
  • Pranayama- Ujjayi 1, 11, Viloma, 1, 11

Try yoga. Painful periods & more are highly likely to disappear

Yoga helps every stage of a woman’s life, including for menstruation, pre-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause years.

When I started yoga, after many years of difficult menstruations, all my menstrual issues disappeared. Then I avoided any menopause issues at all.

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