Now and then in a mainstream yoga class, a teacher might mention menstruation, but only whenever there is a posture you should avoid or modify if you are currently on your period. Some might even suggest that you should let go of your practice on the mat completely while you are bleeding and that has always made me wonder about that oft-quoted piece of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, that states that if you practice yoga for a long time and without interruption, then you will achieve that longed-for state of equanimity and inner peace.
After reading that, you might think that Patanjali wasn’t considering women when he wrote the sutras and then conclude that either yoga isn’t for the average menstruating woman, or at least that Patanjali didn’t think so. We’ll never know what his intention was, but luckily in modern times, yoga has become so popular among women that there are lots of yoga mamas out there defining and redefining what it means to be a woman practicing yoga. That includes expanding the definition of ‘doing yoga’ to include gentle practices such as supported child’s pose, walking meditation, and seva (selfless work or service to others). Moms know all about that last one, because it’s practically the definition of motherhood!
But if you want some clear cut guidance for which postures are considered appropriate for all phases of the menstrual cycle, there are definitely books and websites full of suggestions, maybe so many that your premenstrual mind will go into overwhelm mode and convince you to sit on the couch and binge on yoga documentaries (does that count as yoga? you might wonder).
Let me give you a peek into one book that I recently read: Yoga for a Healthy Menstrual Cycle by Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden. The book presents an approachable, easy-to-use guide for incorporating yoga postures into your life to practice during menstruation and also to help address common complaints related to periods. Many people look for this type of how-to manual: tell me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. This book fulfills that need.
But there are times that I absolutely don’t want someone to tell me what to do because their advice doesn’t feel right in the moment. Those are times when I need or want to listen to my body, not to another person. Yoga for a Healthy Menstrual Cycle does encourage tuning into yourself, but there is no practical guidance for how to do that, only a suggestion that it is important.
Not to say that a book should do everything for everyone. That being said, this fairly brief and easy-to-read guide by Sparrowe and Walden is a good resource and perhaps a starting point for a woman who wants to know how to do yoga at all points of her cycle.
Some details to note: the practice depicted in the book was drawn from Iyengar yoga, which means it is prop-heavy and rich with detail and alignment cues. If you like books like Light on Yoga, this is somewhat like Light on Women’s Yoga. However, if you’re looking for more of the spiritual aspect of yoga or of menstruation (yes, there is a huge movement towards viewing menstruation as spiritual!), then rest assured that there is a whole treasure trove of resources for that, too.
Do I recommend this book? I do, but not as a stand-alone resource or comprehensive guide. It opens the can of worms that is yoga and menstruation, but it is not the can or the worms.