Don't let PMS cramp your style when learning a few yoga postures will relieve your physical and mental discomfort, helping you sail through those difficult days each month.
PMS or Premenstrual Syndrome is an extremely common problem among women and almost 85% of women suffer from it. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is a hormonal disorder that affects women who are menstruating. This disorder happens one or two weeks before the actual menstrual cycle begins.Although this is a problem that is kept in darkness and women rarely open up about it but in many cases the suffering can be unbearable and agonizing thereby leaving the person drained and exhausted.
There are proven benefits of yoga for PMS and menstrual pain. Several yoga poses are proven to ease menstrual pain. It can also help your mind and body adapt to stress, anxiety and depression, making you feel relaxed and calm.
Symptoms of PMS
Yoga Poses to Relieve PMS
The symptoms of PMS vary from one woman to another, and they are so varied that it can’t even be properly explained or categorized and the symptoms that women experience may vary from cycle to cycle. There are a few common symptoms that are experienced by most women during the 10 days before the commencement of menstruation.
- Abdominal Cramps
- Bloating
- Tenderness and Swelling of Breast
- Headache
- Muscle Pain and aches
- Constipation
- Tension
- Unhappiness
- Depression
Simple Yoga Poses To Reduce PMS:
Child’s Pose
This yoga pose can be practiced all the time, but is especially helpful when dealing with PMS symptoms. It calms mild depression and anxiety and forces our normally externally-focused attention, inward. This yoga pose helps to slow the respiratory rate and relieve tension in the lower back, a place where many women store stress and become tight during just prior to and during menses.
Cat/Cow Pose
Start on all fours, and drop the belly down as you lift the chest, neck and face upward, arching your spine. Reverse the move by drawing belly into the spine and upward as you look back toward your thighs, rounding like a cat. This can be done with that beautiful pranayama you are maintaining so well. Inhale, cow pose, exhale, cat pose. Keep breathing and by the way, you look beautiful today! This flow will generate energy through the spine, stimulate organs, increase blood flow and relieve anxiety. If you are feeling frisky, roll the hips around a bit, look right, look left, just move with the breath.
Reclining Butterfly Pose
Release feet to the mat, bring the soles together and let the knees fall open. You can place the hands under the bottom for support, out to the side or over head. This is another hip opening pose that also relieves tension in the groin. It stimulates digestion and elimination therefore reducing feelings of belatedness and retention. Have you lost weight? That color looks phenomenal on you!
Wind Pose
Roll over to your back and hug both knees into the chest. You can roll side to side and back and forth to gently massage the low back and productive organs. Stillness is a wonderful choice as well. It should feel releasing.
Reclining Butterfly Pose
Fish Pose
Lie on your back and put your arms under your body. The palms should be underneath the thighs and face the floor. Now inhale and push your upper body off the floor with the help of the elbows to form an arch. In the ideal position, the head should lightly rest on the floor; the neck should be relaxed, and the entire strain should be on the back muscles. Legs should be relaxed but together. Hold this position for 10 seconds accompanied by deep breathing. Now come back to the normal position by inhaling and lifting the head to straighten the body.
Corpse Pose
This is a relaxation pose that is vital while practicing yoga. In the Corpse Pose, the body is in a neutral position, and it is very important to end each yoga session with Savasana in order to bring back the body to a state of rest and relaxation from the stress of high intensity yoga. It is a state that lets the body surrender to peace and tranquility. It helps in improving sleep, concentration, and increases the general level of productivity.
