Yoga Poses For Period Pain, & Video

Learn what pose to do for each of your 4 menstrual stages of the month

Yoga poses for period pain eased and reduced all the symptoms of menstruation I had.  Doing yoga for heavy periods helped ease and manage heavy periods.

With the help of my teachers, I also learned to structure my yoga over the month into the four useful stages I outline below, as well as in the video.

Before I tell you about each stage, I want to outline some background on why yoga works so well. I’ll start with a “back to basics” overview of what is going on in our female bodies.

The video in this post is also a pictorial summary of what I outline below. It also contains pictures of many of the yoga poses for period pain that I will mention.

Your brain, hormones & ovaries are “linked”. Each month, just one egg is released from your ovaries. Over the month, the internal lining in your uterus grows.

If your hormones “tell” the uterus there’s no pregnancy, then the lining of the uterus is expelled by bleeding.

Leading up to menstruation, various hormonal change prepares for pregnancy. In particular, estrogen & progesterone adjust over the month.

Iyengar yoga uses a unique staged approach

Here’s how to synchronise yoga with your hormone changes.

In short, the message is to do different poses, or variations of the poses, for each of the four stages of your menstrual month.

This approach is unique to Iyengar yoga studios like Flametree. That’s because it was developed by a famous yoga teacher called Geeta Iyengar.

At Flametree, a so-called Iyengar style studio, we provide modifications of poses, and some particular sequences of poses, such as I outline below.

By the way, my view is that most women don’t need to do more than quietly and discretely modify some key poses, or avoid other poses, at particular times.

When bleeding is about to start, energy is a challenge. Other issues can include moods, irritability, period bloating, back pain, and  headaches.

In my case, before I started yoga, I also had plenty of period pain, tiredness, period cramps, & heavy periods.

When I finally found yoga, I learned to do these different poses, or variations of poses, for the following four different stages of menstruation.

With this “recipe”, I cut all my symptoms of menstruation. In the process, I also was doing appropriate yoga for heavy periods.

What a find it was. Here’s what I learned to do in each stage.

Please note it is generally understood the the start of Menstruation is seen as Stage 1 in the monthly cycle. I have put it as Stage 2 to help you understand how to manage the premenstrual stage.

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First: Yoga for period pain in the pre-menstruation stage.

In this stage, sore or swollen breasts can be issue. Plus anxiety and constipation can be a concern.

I also found I had to be careful about addictive foods, especially those with sugar. Again, the mindfulness I learnt from yoga helped with mindful eating, and being intentional, or disciplined about food.

In short, as you see more of in the video:

• Start to use yoga props for support
• Do more supine, or lying poses.
• Use seated poses to help manage energy.

In this post, I’ve now outlined an extended set of yoga poses for premenstrual symptoms. There are pictures you can easily follow, so you can do the poses regularly.

Second Stage. Menstruation itself

Now, in ayurvedic terms, your body is “hotter”. Again, avoid eating high sugar food.

Cramping & back pain can also occur.

The recipe of yoga poses for period pain, as well as managing this stage in general, is:

• Do a few standing poses, with some modifications as needed
• Use seated forward bends and supine (lying) poses
• Do backbends to lift your spirits, and to extend your chest
• Avoid inversions at this time.

In a separate blog post, you’ll find many additional pictures and discussion of the poses Flametree recommends for this second stage.

Third stage: Immediately after menstruation

In this third stage immediately after your period finishes, adjust your yoga like this:

• Use inversions to “dry out” the uterus
• Build to stronger backbends; and
• Work towards a more mixed and normal practice.

For much more on poses to do after your period ceases, see the Flametree set of poses specifically for this time.

Fourth and “normal” stage of your month

In this fourth and normal stage, usually over two weeks or so, do a mixed yoga sequence, including any more challenging poses you wish to attempt.

In particular, do poses to keep your hips flexible.

Among other things, be aware that if you are highly flexible in the hips, you can actually over-stretch in some poses in ways that will not necessarily work well for your pelvic or back health.

Summary: How yoga for period pain eased all symptoms of menstruation

Another advantage of using these sorts of yoga poses for period pain was learning to work with my hormones.

Again, although I did not know at the time, I was also preparing for working with my hormones in the menopause phase of my life.

In the process of working with yoga for heavy periods, and more, I learnt much more humility and compassion for myself.

In turn, this helped me pace myself. I got as much or more done, but did it at the right time, and in a way that worked in with my hormonal stages.

One outcome was that I was less stressed. I got regular rejuvenation, and time for useful reflection.

As a result, my overall physical, mental, and emotional health improved. If you follow this staged approach, or work with a yoga studio that does, I’m sure you will too.

Video

The video written in conjunction with this post further explains my four stages of yoga poses for period pain, or menstruation symptoms.

Most of all, you can do all this naturally, in ways that has no risk of other issues later.

In another post, I’ve written more about my story of how I dealt with periods time, the poses I used, and some of my worries about period suppression.

Menstruation sequences

I’ve also given you several free sequences of poses for doing all I have outlined above. Use the free menstruation pose list, or join one of our classes, or both.

If these deals are not exactly what suits you, check out all Flametree Yoga packages.

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Use yoga to manage all symptoms of menstruation that are an issue for you.