Most woman struggle with menstrual concerns each month. With fluctuating hormones, mood swings, bearing the pain of monthly cycle, experiencing conditions like PMS, PCOD & PCOS, most women go through their own struggles dealing with her monthly cycle. The irony is that women accept these concerns that accompany the monthly cycle and consider it a natural phenomenon. Women keep living with their menstrual troubles for a lifetime trying to find a cure & treat the concerns with medications in most cases. Most women are unaware that their reproductive health is so intricately connected with how they look, feel and experience life, where the connecting factor is the hormones. Hormones in balance keep the menstrual health perfect, make a woman look & feel her best, and keep her in a joyous mood.
Hormones love rhythm & discipline in daily life and as per traditional Yoga & Ayurveda understanding menstrual health is way bigger than just a few days of shedding blood each month that comes with accepted PMS! The ancient wisdom of Yoga & Ayurveda lays down the understanding of menstrual concerns as a cyclic phenomenon, where the female reproductive physiology shifts four times each month with the hormones rising, peaking, falling & beginning to rise again each month to induce the monthly flow. These four phases of menstrual cycle make a woman feel & experience body-mind health differently in each phase depending on how the interplay of these hormones is happening within.
The ancient wisdom emphasizes on body’s need to adjust to this fluctuating monthly cycle controlled by the hormones. Yoga & Ayurveda talk about balancing this rise & fall of hormones by bringing rhythm in our lifestyle, diet & movement practices and align ourselves with these four phases by introducing Yogic & Ayurveda practices apt for each specific phase of the cycle. Creating harmony with these phases of monthly cycle & aligning yoga practice with the rise & fall of hormones holds immense power to support the female physiology at the root level, improve energy levels, boost moods, improve feminine health, impart beauty & slowdown aging & impart a sense of inner wellbeing.
4 Phases on Menstrual Cycle
1. Menstruation Phase: This phase is dominated by the downward flow of energy & this time fosters creativity & flexibility. Nervous system during this time is prone to nervousness and instability and the energy is out of balance that manifests as PMS, headaches, indigestion, constipation, fatigue, anxiety and insomnia. It is day 1-7 of menstruation where day 1 of bleeding marks the beginning of the menstrual phase. This phase lasts 3-7 days and varies according to age & health condition of a women. Internally the uterus is shedding its lining that gets built up throughout the month, and blood loss & low estrogen & progesterone may make you feel more tired. Estrogen & progesterone levels are at its lowest during this phase of menstrual cycle causing fatigue and inward inclination. Immunity is low during this time around, body may be bloated, mood swings may happen, and the body needs to slow down. Yoga postures for pelvis and reproductive organs must be performed during this time. Good yoga postures for this time include Yogi Squant (Malasana), Butterfly Pose (Baddha konasana), Reclined Butterfly Pose (Supta baddha konasana), Bridge pose, reclined spinal twist, Cat & Cow Pose, Alternate nostril breathing and full body stretch.
Since the female body loses blood and iron during menstruation, it is important to eat iron rich foods during this time including dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and spinach.
2. The Follicular Phase: The beginning of this phase is considered from day 1 of bleeding and lasts upto 13 days and ends in ovulation. Internally the body creates a hormone during this time, known as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) that signals the ovaries to create eggs for the ovulation phase, each of which is housed inside a “follicle” causing the uterus lining to grow and thicken. Estrogen rises during this time which thickens the uterus lining encouraging body to ovulate. Energy levels increase during this phase and body has enough energy to perform intense & challenging yoga postures such strength building postures including planks and warrior series, inversions like headstand & handstands, muscular and core strengthening practices such as asanas of Sun salutation series.
Diet during this phase must be adequate in foods that provide energy such as more carbohydrates for energy versus fat or protein. It is good to stick to foods with complex carbohydrates during this time including fruits, whole grains and starchy vegetables like potatoes.
3. The Ovulatory Phase: The most energetic phase of the monthly cycle, this phase begins 14th or 15th day of the menstrual cycle and lasts 3-5 days between day 12 to 17 of your cycle. Internally the body is ready to release mature egg from one of the ovaries in preparation for fertilization. The egg leaves the ovaries and travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus. Estrogen levels peak from the follicular phase with increased levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) that triggers the body to start ovulating. Testosterone levels peak, giving high energy and libido. Yoga postures that generate heat and focus on vinyasa flows with lot of muscle involving postures are great during this phase. Backends such as chakarasana, camel pose, balance and strength building postures such as planks, tree pose, core strengthening postures such as leg raises, abdominal twists such as ardha-matesyendra asana are all great for this phase of menstrual cycle.
Diet in the ovulation phase must be rich in carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. Diet must include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidant-rich foods and foods with vitamin D and folic acid. Foods containing adequate nutrition for this phase include flaxseed, chia seeds and walnuts are rich in essential fatty acids. Foods like blueberries, blackberries and dark leafy greens are rich in antioxidants to support nutritional needs in this phase.
4. The Luteal Phase: This phase begins nearly on 21st day from the first day of bleeding and lasts until period starts. Internally, the rise and fall in progesterone encourages uterus lining to shed, and the actual bleed occurs during menstrual phase. If the mature egg isn’t fertilized, progesterone and estrogen both drop, as our body prepares for the start of the menstrual cycle. The remains of the follicle that remain in the ovary develop into the corpus luteum, which produces the luteal hormone. The progesterone phase involves preparation of uterine lining to receive the fertilized egg. This is the time for rest and relaxation, and we must focus on restorative yoga practices such as holding forward bends like paschimottanasana, vipreet karni, pranayama, the Yogi Squat (Malasana), Bridge Pose, Hip Opening such as happy baby pose, butterfly pose and yoga nidra.
Fat & protein needs of the body are high during this phase as fats help produce hormones leading to the next cycle. Good foods during this time include nuts, avocado, protein-rich foods such as beans, lentils and sprouts.
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