Three days of a month for most women is tedious and extremely painful. Not just the body but the mind as well screeches out with the frustration of mood-swings. Menstrual cramps are common and its harsh effects are seen on the majority of the women holding their abdomen with a tightening stomach ache.
During this natural process of periods, a woman needs some form of remedy that can keep her mind as well as body balanced and resistant to uneasiness and pain. That being said, yoga asanas can be one of that remedy that will fit into the need of relieving every woman from this painful turmoil.
Yoga has proved being beneficial to cure various ailments. Thus, it would do a great job in holistically treating menstrual cramps. Every stretch and movement would have an immediate focus on the pain area.
This article aims at giving you an overview of the asanas that you can practice during menstrual cramps and an in-depth explanation as to how you should follow each step to perform a particular asana. Learn about all the important yoga asanas to practice during menstrual cramps and get a hold of your mind and body!
Read: Freak Yoga Asanas to Tone your Lower Body
Yoga Asanas to Get Rid Of Menstrual Cramps
It is always better to start practising yoga asanas for menstrual cramps before you get your periods than to do it right then when you get cramps. There is no harm with doing the asanas during periods too. What’s good about practising the asanas before periods is that you are likely to avoid being attacked by the menstrual cramps.
Make a note of a few of these points before doing any asanas during periods. It is good to be safe
- Do not exert yourself or stretch way too much if you experience discomfort while performing the asanas
- Sleep well the previous night if you are doing an asana the next day. Do not so asanas if you have not slept well
- Keep yourself hydrated in order to do perform the asanas
- Avoid inversion asanas during periods, be safe and do not let yourself get affected
- Do not overdo any asana. Just do it for the right amount of time
Yoga Asana 1 – Relax Your Lower Body With Child Pose!
A child poses if light and calming asana, it will slowly help you get relieved of all the menstrual pain and keep your mind calm as well as your body relaxed.
The reason this asana is beneficial is that you get to stretch forward in a way that your back and stomach are pressed upon to make you feel better.
Steps To Do A Child Pose
- Place a mat on the floor
- Get down on your knees and then sit on your heels with your buttocks touching the heels. Be comfortable in this position
- Take your hands at the back, keep it close to your tail bone by locking your fingers
- Slowly start to bend your body forward to and try to touch your forehead to the ground
Caution: Do not pressurize your body to be able to touch the ground with your forehead. Bend as much as your body agrees. Leave yourself free, do not keep your body stiff
This asana helps in stretching the hips, thighs, knees, back torso. It has a gentle effect on the body which is why it is recommended during menstrual cramps.
Yoga Asana 2 – Loosen Stiff Muscles With Forwarding Fold
This asana focuses on the calves, hamstrings and back. It is good to make you feel better of all the pain that is around your back and hips, your hips and spine get loosened.
You will have to push yourself a little to stand up on your legs because if you keep sitting or lying down you would not have any movement which in turn is bad for your stomach.
Steps To Do A Forward Fold
- Stand straight with your feet joined together.
- Left your hands up, place your right hand on your left hand’s elbow and place your left hand on your right hand’s elbow. Be comfortable and get the position right
- Slowly start to bend forward while bending your head, trying to touch your forehead on your ankles
You can follow this variation as well
Caution: Do not force your body to make the forehead touch your ankles. Do how much you can.
This asana will loosen all the muscles in your stomach that have got stiff because of the cramps. Additionally, it helps you feel mentally good, takes away all the weakness and anxiety that your body is experiencing, you get rid of all the indigestion issues, insomnia flies away and your liver and kidneys are stimulated.
Read: 5 Yoga For Muscles Strengthening
Yoga Pose No 3 – Press The Pain With Knees To Chest Pose
The other name for this pose is supine knees to chest pose. This is purely a pain relieving asana. Any pain in the stomach or any kind of indigestion problems getaway after practising this asana.
This asana is good to comfort your lower back as well because it hurts during periods. It is relaxing in the end when you lie down on the floor and keep your eyes closed in the presence of this asana. You would feel the relaxation on your abdomen with this asana.
Steps To Do A Knee To Chest Pose
- Extend your legs and arms by lying on your back
- Breathe out and bring both your knees close to your chest in a way like you are hugging your knees and keep your hands glued to the knees
- Be sure that your back is flat on the ground, your arms and hand are in line with your waist
- Comfortably position yourself on the ground and remain in this posture for a few seconds with your knees facing you
- Slowly start rocking from left to right on your back
Caution: If you are not able to clasp your hands completely it is okay, try as much as you can. Sometimes it so happens that it gets difficult to clasp your hands Do not be fast while rocking from left to right. Be as slow as you can It is always good to do this asana while you are lying down on a thick bed sheet
This asana should be practiced in the morning as it is a good medium to keep your mind and body clear and happy. This asana is the best way to release all the excess air in your stomach.
Yoga Pose No 4 – Energize The Inner Organs With Surpine Twist
You should be as relaxed as you can while you do this asana. The easy twists in this asana will take away all the pain from your abdomen and make you feel good. The other name of this pose is reclined lord of the fishes pose. Your back muscles and spine is stretched to the fullest, indigestion and stress issues disappear by practising this asana.
Steps To Do A Supine Twist
- Spread a mat and lye down flat with your arms resting on the ground
- Breathe out, hold your knees and bring them close to your chest
- Place your left leg on the floor with your right knee up in the same position
- Look towards the left and bring your right knee down(let it be bent in the same position)by overlapping it on the left leg
- Repeat this same procedure on the other side as well. One of your legs would remain on the ground while the other would be bent and you would stretch well on both sides
Caution:
- See to it that you do light stretches while you move towards your sides, do not overstretch and hurt your own self
- While you change sides, stay on your sides for a few seconds to make the asana effective
- Always breathe in when you are about to move to another side and breathe out when you finally stretch
This asana is effective to give you a relief from all the harmful toxins in your body. Besides that, your abdominal muscles get strengthened and lastly while you keep turning to your sides there is a better flow of blood all through the body.
Read: 5 Effective Yoga Asanas For a Flat Belly
Yoga Pose No 5 – Stimulate Your Belly Muscles With The Cat-Cow Pose
Cat cow pose asana is known to improve flexibility, give you a good posture and strengthen your lower body. Practising this asana during periods helps in making your abdominal muscles feel relaxed.
It is important to practice this asana so as to gain the right co-ordination between your hips, lower back and abdomen.
Steps To Do A Cat Cow Pose
- Place a mat on the floor and go down on your knees
- Place your palms on the ground and look straight in front of you
- See to it that your hands and shoulders are straight and in line with each other
- Push your buttocks behind by breathing out, look up in the sky
- Make your back and head straight by breathing in
- Repeat this procedure of remaining straight and pushing your back out at least 10 times
Caution: Do not push your back too much outwards because it can strain your lower abdomen and cause more pain in your lower stomach
Conclusion:
This pose is just like that of how a cat and cow are positioned. This asana is not only stretches your hips, thighs and knees. It is as well good for your neck, spine and shoulders because of how your body is positioned.
Yoga Pose No 6 – Lye Down Flat In The Corpse Pose
This asana is the best to take a breather in between all the other asanas. That said, if you are exhausted while performing the asanas and you need to take a short break, you should lye down flat on the ground. This asana is also known as Savasana.
This asana is always going to put you to sleep, relieves you of all the stress and anxiety, it keeps your mind and body calm and stable and lastly it teaches you how to peacefully just let go of all your thoughts and keep your mind undisturbed.
Steps To Do The Restorative Asana
- Place a mat on the ground
- Lie flat with your arms spread out and your legs slightly spread apart
- Keep your eyes closed and notice every part of your body in your imagination
- You need not focus on your breathing or concentrate while you are lying down, you just have to stay relaxed
The corpse pose is good during periods because after doing all the stretches you need an asana that keeps your mind and nerves relaxed. During this asana people tend to fall asleep as well.
To summarize it all, menstrual cramps tighten all the abdomen muscles and make it even more painful while a woman is already not feeling good mentally. Practising yoga in reality can help reduce pain in the stomach and make one feel mentally light.
It would be nice if you could practise these yoga asanas and avoid the menstrual pain before it comes and hits on your abdomen during periods. Do not let the strength in you go weak during cramps, face it to the best of your ability.
Battle against pain by performing yoga asanas during periods!
