Yoga is essential for women at every stage of life. Their capability to handle challenges and stress, whether emotional or physical, highly depends on your health. Yoga makes one more aware of the strengths and weaknesses while exploring the new horizons in fast paced life.
Yoga is especially helpful to alleviate the lower back pain common in women before menstruation, during pregnancy and towards menopause.
A regular yoga routine has ability to even out periods and alleviate the anxiety and depression common at ’that time’.
Yoga asanas which strengthen the abdominal muscles are good for reducing common women’s problems related to lower abdomen.
Yoga is a relaxing experience and carries with it an overall sense of well being.Yoga is exclusively time for yourself! Take a break from the demands of being a career woman, wife and mother and be yourself!
Yoga during Menstruation
It is time for you to take it a little easier, especially the first 3 days. Do not do any strenuous practice during this period. Do the postures gently. It is recommended to avoid the inverted postures. However, experienced yoga students may feel comfortable doing their regular practice.
Give more time to your meditations. Listen to your body and practice accordingly. Some of the postures, along with deep breathing that are helpful in reducing menstrual discomfort are:
The Triangle (Trikonasana)
Stand with your feet about 3-feet apart
Rotate the right foot 90 degrees to the outside.yoga women
Rotate the left foot 15 degrees to the inside
Align your right heel with the centre of the left foot
Stand erect, pressing the feet firmly into the ground. Balance yourself
Breathing in, stretch the arms out to the sides, palms facing up
Breathing out, bend to the right side. Keep the arms in a straight line, with the right arm reaching for the right foot and left arm reaching for the ceiling
Turn your head to look up at the left palm. Rotate your torso to have the chest facing the opposite wall. (If you are bending forward toward the floor, come up a bit and focus on bending sideways.)
Hold
Breathing in, pull yourself up with the strength of your left arm
Repeat steps 2-10, bending to the left side
Breathing out, bring the arms down
Benefits:
Stretches the sides of the body
Tones the arms, legs, and abdominal organs
Improves flexibility of the spine and hips
Two-Legged Forward Bend (Paschimottanasana)
Sit up with the legs stretched out straight in front of you, keeping the spine erect and toes flexed toward you
Breathing in, raise both arms above your head and stretch up
Breathing out, bend forward from the hip joints, chin moving toward the toes. Keep the spine erect focusing on moving forwards towards the toes, rather than down towards the knees
Place your hands on your legs, wherever they reach, without forcing. If you can, take hold of your toes and pull on them to help you go forward
Breathing in, lift your head slightly and lengthen your spine
Breathing out, gently move the navel towards the knees
Repeat this movement two or three times
Drop your head down and breathe deeply for 20-60 seconds
Stretch the arms out in front of you
Breathing in, with the strength of your arms, come back to the sitting position
Breathe out and lower the arms
Benefits:
Stretches lower back, hamstrings and hips
Massages and tones the abdominal and pelvic organs
Tones the shoulders
Butterfly posture
Begin by sitting on the floor and bring the soles of your feet together
Clasp your feet with your hands, straightening your arms and sitting up very straight
Close your eyes and begin raising and lowering your knees, as a butterfly would flap its wings (hence the name)
Continue this movement for 30-60 seconds and then relax
For instructions on how to do these postures, visit the ‘Yoga Poses/Postures section’ These postures massage the lowerback, spine, abdomen, pelvic and abdominal organs.
Benefits:
Stretches lower back, and hips
Massages and tones the abdominal and pelvic organs
