How to Do Yoga Poses for Menstrual Cramps
- 1). Know which poses to avoid. Many teachers recommend avoiding inverted poses during menstruation. Twisting poses and poses that engage the abdomen should also be avoided to ease menstrual flow.
- 2). Practice cat and cow pose. Get on your hands and knees with your back in a table top position. Inhale, gaze up and drop your belly. Your chest and sitting bones should raise slightly. Exhale and reverse the pose. Gaze towards the floors and round your spine towards the ceiling like a Halloween cat. Alternate between these two poses for several minutes. It is a great sequence to soothe pain in your back.
- 3). Understand that child’s pose calms the mind and the belly. Kneel on the floor and sit on your heels. Bring your forehead to the floor or a pillow. Breathe deeply for several minutes.
- 4). Wind releasing poses ease are quite effective at easing stomach pain. Downward facing dog, child’s pose Variation (with your buttocks lifted off your heels), and Vatayanasana. To do Vatayanasana, lay on your back and lift your right leg into your chest. Curl your spine and bring your head to your knee. Repeat on the other side.
