Yoga for Menstruation | Irregular Menstruation

Irregular Menstruation Cycle

Menstruation is an important part of every woman’s life cycle. A woman begins to go through a series of hormonal changes during the menstruation cycle that occurs once every month. Unfortunately almost every woman is likely to experience a menstruation problem by way of anxiety, stress and several mood swings at some point of time.

Yoga for Menstruation

Yoga is often referred to as one of the healthiest and natural ways of treating menstrual problems. By practicing different forms of yoga on a regular basis, one can ensure pain relief and direct the body and mind towards a healthy being.

A regular practice of Hatha Yoga which is a blend of yoga poses, meditation, and deep breathing, paves the way towards a healthy, pain free life. It is often recommended for women to perform yoga during their menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause as it helps ease the discomfort during such phases. Even the PMS phase can be reduced with the help of yoga.

There are various exercises in yoga for menstrual pains ranging from delayed menstruation, to an irregular menstruation cycle. Poses like Dhanurasana or the bow pose, Virasana or the hero's pose, Janu Shirsana or head to knee pose, Baddha konasana or cobbler's pose, Pachimottansana or back to spine stretching pose, and Matysyasana or fish pose are basically aimed at increasing the flexibility of the spine, help tone abdominal muscles, reduce the stress levels, and restore the hormonal balance by regulation of the endocrine system. Some of the poses aid in re-energizing the energy centers in the body and helps balance body functions. One can perform some of these poses atleast 3 to 5 times a day and try and hold the body in the stretched position for at least 30 seconds.

What will help regulating the menstrual cycles in a better way would be the incorporation of a few breathing exercises along with these poses. For instance, Pranayama can prove to be very beneficial in regulating the menstrual cycles. Anulom Vilom or deep breathing through the nostrils in alternate rounds is very helpful in reducing the stress levels and cools the body off. Kapalbhati or forceful breathing by pressurizing the stomach can significantly work towards regulating ailments like thyroid, obesity and other digestive problems which prove to the factors contributing to the cause of irregular periods.

Along with yoga for menstruation, breathing exercises, a healthy diet at regularized times, reduction in the intake of meat and caffeine, especially red meat, can help tackle menstruation problems.