A "Period" of Self-Care: Yoga During "That Time"

Do you feel like spending a whole day on the couch during your period, nursing your cramps and watching Netflix? Or are you the type who still goes on their 3 mile run and just packs some extra tampons? Even though we here at TCRA are working to eliminate cramps and PMS from the lives of our patients, it’s a fact that many of us still have some monthly suffering. And during that time, all sorts of advice may be thrown at us about what we should and shouldn’t do in terms of physical activity.

Exercising can help to reduce cramps, and can help to balance hormones, so it’s no wonder that one camp believes so vehemently that exercise during your period must be suffered through for the greater good of your body. However, the people in that camp also tend to be the ones who just aren’t experiencing that kind of debilitating menstrual pain to begin with (since they tend to be active enough for their symptoms to be reduced or nonexistent). Their slight discomfort at jogging on their period may be your gut wrenching pain.

Then, there are those who reside firmly in the camp of avoiding all physical activity during your period. (Netflix crew, I’m looking at you.) Because of the aforementioned benefits exercise can offer in terms of regulating and reducing the effects of the menstrual cycle however, this is not the camp that we recommend joining.

So then, what does help? A third camp believes that certain physical activities are better for you than others during your period. Don’t go running while on your period. Do cycle. Don’t do heavy weight lifting. Do swim. Don’t do yoga. Do do yoga.

Wait… what? What’s with that contradiction there?

Let’s talk about yoga on your period, still a point of dispute among yoga practitioners, and one of those topics that you can Google and get a hundred different conflicting results. So what could be bad about mixing your vinyasa flow with your Aunt Flo?

We’ll tell you more in depth next week why some people discourage yoga during your period, and why others just discourage certain poses.