Yoga has long been recognized for its therapeutic benefits, particularly for women. Whether you're managing menstruation, navigating menopause, or experiencing migraines, yoga can be an effective way to support your body and mind. In this guide, we’ll explore how yoga for menstruating, menopause or migraine can help alleviate discomfort and promote overall well-being.
As you explore these yoga practices, you'll learn how specific poses can target pain, reduce stress, and enhance the body’s natural ability to heal. Let’s dive into the various benefits of yoga during these stages of life.
Why Yoga is Beneficial for Menstruation, Menopause, and Migraines
Yoga is more than just physical movement; it’s a holistic approach that includes breathing, stretching, and meditation to promote mental and physical health. During menstruation, menopause, or while experiencing migraines, yoga can offer relief by relaxing the nervous system, releasing muscle tension, and increasing blood flow.
Yoga While Menstruating:
During your menstrual cycle, you may experience discomfort such as cramps, fatigue, and bloating. Yoga offers poses that can ease menstrual pain, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. These gentle movements help improve circulation and release tension in the pelvic area, which can alleviate common period symptoms.
When you are menstruating, it's essential to avoid high-impact exercises. Instead, focus on poses that are gentle and restorative. These allow you to nourish your body without overexerting yourself during your period. Yoga practised while menstruating can help improve mood, reduce cramping, and ease emotional fluctuations that sometimes occur during menstruation.
Yoga poses for menstrual pain are designed to target the pelvic area, offering relief from cramps and bloating. These poses often include gentle twists, forward folds, and deep stretches that help relax the abdomen and lower back. Regular practice can make a significant difference in how you experience menstrual discomfort.
Yoga Poses for Migraine:
These are focused on releasing tension from the shoulders, neck, and head. Tight muscles in these areas are often a trigger for migraines. Incorporating specific poses that relax these muscle groups can help reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines. Deep breathing and mindful movement are essential parts of these yoga practices.
Yoga for Menopause:
As women transition through menopause, they may experience hot flashes, mood swings, and sleep disturbances. Yoga is a great way to support overall health during this time. Certain yoga poses can balance hormones, relieve stress, and encourage relaxation, providing much-needed relief from menopausal symptoms.
6 Yoga Poses to Relieve Menstruation, Menopause, and Migraine Symptoms
Incorporating specific yoga exercises into your routine can help alleviate discomfort related to menstruation, menopause, and migraines. Below are 6 yoga poses that will support you through these stages, focusing on pain relief, relaxation, and stress reduction.
1. Yogendra Marjaryasana-Bitilasana (Cat-Cow Pose)
This gentle spinal flow is great for relieving stiffness in the neck and back, common issues for those experiencing migraine. One of the yoga poses for menstrual pain and migraine is this simple movement, which encourages the release of tension and stimulates blood circulation throughout the body. This is one of the few yoga poses that can be practised during menstruation.
How to do it:
- Sit in Vajrasana.
- Come forward, resting forearms on the floor in front, keeping elbows outside the knees and palms resting at shoulder-width level.
- Gently move the palms forward by one-palm distance and simultaneously, come on the knees and raise the torso.
- Spread knees and toes to align with respective palms (toes pointing out).
- Inhaling, raise the head to look up and simultaneously press the lower back down, maintaining gaze, in line of vision (without rolling the eyeball up). Hold the posture while retaining the breath, for double the count of inhalation.
- Exhaling, equal to inhalation, tuck the chin in and raise the
- torso upward to form an arch, while suspending the breath for double the exhalation.
- Inhaling, come back to the starting position.
- Follow the breathing rhythm of 3:6 or as per individual comfort.
- Practice 3 rounds before returning to the starting position (Vajrasana).
- Individuals with severe osteoarthritis, neck, shoulder and spine injury, inflammation in knees or hips should avoid this asana.
Caution: Avoid if you have severe osteoarthritis or injuries.
2. Yogendra Paschimottanasana (The Posterior Stretch)
A very effective yoga pose for menstrual pain, Yogendra Paschimottanasana stretches the lower back and hamstrings while also releasing tension in the abdomen. This forward bend can provide soothing relief for menstrual cramps and discomfort. This pose when done regularly helps deal with period pain, however may not be ideal to do during periods.
How to do it:
- Sit on a mat with legs fully stretched, feet together and toes facing upwards.
- Keep the spine erect, shoulders and neck firm in its place.
- Hands beside the body, palms facing down.
- Raise both the arms besides the chest, folded at the elbows, parallel to the ground, palms facing down. Inhale normally.
- Exhaling, bend forward, drawing in the abdomen, simultaneously arching the spine, stretch the hands to hold the big toe.
- Gently pull the elbows down, close to the body, to touch the floor and bend the head to bring the forehead to the knees.
- Rest the forehead (eventually the crown of the head) in the space between the knees and maintain this posture, breathing normally (final position).
- Return to starting position: Raise the head and letting off the toes, gently straighten the back and bring the hands to the sides.
- Practice once–maintain the final position for 30 seconds, gradually taking it up to 1 - 2 minutes with regular practice. Breathing should be normal–slow and rhythmic.
- Individuals with hypertension, heart ailments, hernia, pregnancy, during periods, peptic ulcers, abdominal inflammations, serious spinal disorders, myopia, glaucoma and serious eye disorders should avoid this asana.
Caution: Avoid during periods or if you have hypertension, heart ailments, or hernia.
3. Yogendra Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
Yogendra Bhujangasana opens the chest, stretches the abdomen, and provides relief for lower back discomfort. It’s a great yoga exercise for menopause, as it stimulates energy and can reduce fatigue during the menopausal transition.
How to do it:
- Lie on the stomach, on a mat, legs drawn straight, feet together, heel touching and toes pointing outwards.
- Fold the arms at the elbows kept close to the body and palms down, resting beside the chest.
- Rest the forehead on the mat.
- Slowly, raise the head and the neck a few inches and then inhaling, gradually lift the shoulders, thorax and the upper part of the abdomen, slowly and rhythmically.
- The deep muscles of the back are to be used to give a gradual but a full backward curve to the spine, thus, slowly raising the vertebrae one by one - the pressure on the spinal column travelling down the curve step by step as each vertebra is made to rise and adjust – feeling a marked contraction first at the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and then at the sacral portions of the spine, culminating into a very deep pressure of the tail-bone.
- Maintain this pose, breathe retained.
- Exhaling, slowly and carefully lower the back, thorax and neck to return to starting position.
- Care needs to be exercised in relieving the spinal pressure by stages. Accordingly, the coccygeal and sacral curves are relieved first by simultaneous and slow lowering of the trunk until gradually the upper portions, i.e., the lumbar, thoracic and cervical curves are completely relieved by stages.
- Practice 3 rounds, with a pause between rounds. Recommended counts for breathing rhythm - 3:6:3 seconds or to a ratio of 1:2:1, as per individual comfort.
- The static pose may be tried after mastering the dynamic variation. Hold the final position for a maximum of 2 minutes (start with 30 seconds)–breathing should be normal, slow and rhythmic.
- Individuals with hernia, hypertension, heart ailments, pregnancy, peptic ulcers and hyper thyroid shall avoid this asana. People with a protruding belly will have difficulty in assuming a prone position.
Caution: Not recommended for hernia, hypertension, and during periods.
4. Yogendra Ushtrasana (Camel Pose)
Yogendra Ushtrasana is an energising backbend that opens the chest and helps relieve tension . It can be especially helpful for managing mood swings during menopause. It also increases energy and improves circulation. While practising this asana regularly helps with the symptoms during menstruation, this asana should not be practised during menstruation but only uptil a week prior to it.
How to do it:
- Assume a kneeling position on a mat and support the body on the knees, with the toes curled in.
- Slowly, lean backwards, and take the arms behind.
- Fix the cup of fingers to the ground, with the fingers pointing outward and the thumb
- towards the toes.
- Keep the arms straight, eyes open, gaze fixed at a point.
- Inhaling, slowly lift the pelvis and push the body above the waist, outward and upward.
- Allow the neck to gently fall backward. Complete the first 2 steps, while inhaling.
- Maintain this posture, retaining the breath, for double the inhalation time (final position).
- Exhaling , gently draw back the upper torso and then straighten the neck. Releasing the palm, attain the kneeling position.
- Maintain the final position for 30 seconds, gradually taking it up to not more than 1 minute, with regular practice. Breathing should be normal–slow and rhythmic.
- Individuals with abdominal inflammations, ulcers and slip disc shall avoid this asana.
Caution: Not recommended during active menstruation as it involves significant abdominal stretching. Avoid it if you have knee pain, vertigo, or chronic lower back issues. Perform with caution if you experience dizziness.
5. Yogendra Halasana (Plough Pose)
Yogendra Halasana stretches the back and shou lders while helping to calm the nervous system. When practised regularly, it is a great yoga pose for menstrual pain for relieving lower back tension and calming the body.
How to do it:
- Assume a supine position; legs straight, feet together, and hands by their respective sides, palms facing down. Breathe normally.
- Exhaling, raise both the legs upwards and continue taking them backwards beyond the head, in a semi circular arc, to touch the floor, behind the head.
- Point the toes outward and keep the palms pressed down.
- Complete the above steps while exhaling.
- Maintain this position (final position).
- Inhaling, lift the legs up and then carefully lower the back. Gently bring the legs back to starting position.
- Maintain the final position for 30 seconds, gradually taking it up to 1/2 minutes with regular practice. Breathing should be normal–slow and rhythmic.
- Individuals with hypertension, heart ailments, pregnancy, peptic ulcers, respiratory disorders and cervical spondylitis should avoid this pose.
Caution: Not suitable during menstruation or pregnancy . Avoid it if you have neck problems, high blood pressure, glaucoma, or respiratory conditions. Always exit the pose slowly to prevent strain on the neck and back.
6. Yogendra Shavasana(Corpse Pose)
Yogendra Shavasana is essential for relaxation and stress relief. It can be especially helpful for those experiencing migraine symptoms or menopause, as it promotes deep relaxation and mental clarity. This pose can be practised when experiencing period cramps and will provide instant relief.
How to do it:
- Lie supine with the face towards the sky/ceiling.
- Relax the neck and head and ensure the shoulders are resting on the mat.
- Extend the arms 1 feet away from the body (by the sides) and the legs passively, kept 1.5 – 2 feet apart, to their full length.
- Keep palms facing upward or to individual comfort.
- Relax the facial muscles and lay motionless like a corpse.
- Close the eyes and follow normal rhythmic breathing.
- Avoiding any movement of the body, consciously switch off all nervous stimuli
- from all parts of the body simultaneously.
- Consciousness of the physical body should be necessarily and entirely forgotten.
- Maintain this state, incorporating semi-subconsciously, deep and rhythmic diaphragmatic breathing (final position).
- To release the posture gently open the eyes. Slowly lie on the right side for a few minutes before sitting up with the support of the arm. Try to maintain the mental state as long as possible.
- Practise for at-least 5 minutes daily.
- Individuals with psychological disorders like depression should avoid this asana.
Caution: Generally safe for everyone; however, those with severe anxiety or depression may find lying still for long periods challenging. Focus on maintaining mindfulness to avoid feelings of restlessness.
Conclusion
Incorporating these yoga exercises for menstruation, menstrual pain, menopause, and migraine into your daily routine can provide relief from pain, promote relaxation, and improve overall health. These 6 poses will help you find comfort and balance during menstruation, menopause, and migraine phases.
Regular yoga practice offers physical relief and emotional well-being, making it an excellent tool for women navigating these life stages. By choosing the right poses, you can alleviate discomfort and improve your quality of life, whether you're dealing with menstruation, menstrual pain, migraine symptoms, or menopause challenges.