Yoga for Women’s Health, Menstruation & Fertility

There is something quite different about the Iyengar yoga system for women. It’s the question

“Anyone on their menstrual cycle?”

As a child I was quite a tomboy, I didn’t play with dolls and was pretty adamant I could beat the boys at almost anything – you just had to ask me! I often thought about how much easier life was for boys plus my understanding of what it was to grow up to be a woman was not that appealing to me! As a veterinarian I was literally competing in a man’s world. Despite my class at university being almost 90% female, the vast majority of employers were male vets and the majority of clients would much rather pay to see the older male veterinarian than the young female veterinarian. Five years into my career I was still asked regularly by new clients if the vet would be in to see them soon – assuming that I was the nurse. (I once had to bring a male student vet in for a second opinion on a lump at the owner’s insistence – I later had to apologise for absolutely grilling him in front of them just to demonstrate my experience and his lack of…)

Anyway, like a lot of women these days, having a period was an absolute inconvenience and if I’m truthful prevented me from keeping up in the workplace and in life. It was hard enough working long days without a lunch break and being on call overnight, without adding backache and generally feeling terrible to the daily grind. In the Iyengar yoga method however, menstruation is kind of a big deal. You are supposed to tell your teacher before class that you have your period, what day you’re on and how you’re feeling. There are poses you aren’t supposed to do and you may even be given a completely different sequence to everyone else around you. At the beginning even admitting I had my period was a completely different way of thinking! Yoga practice during the week of menstruation omits any inversions, abdominal poses, active backbends and forward bends, closed twists and frankly hard work! Instead the practice focuses on more restorative poses in the first few days, laying back over a bolster, opening the chest and pelvis and creating space across the abdomen, plus supported forward bends with the head down on a blanket or bolster and plenty of quiet rest. Depending on your energy levels supported standing poses are practiced to open the abdomen and groins with the support of the wall and a block under the hand/s. Once the flow has stopped inversions are then reintroduced and are seen as important for restoring energy and hormonal balance. The practice physically forces you to stop and acknowledge that there is something pretty significant going on in your body. Instead of “just dealing with it” you are encouraged to practice some self care and appreciate that your body and energy will be different at this time. In my opinion – this was an absolute game changer. Not only do you feel better during your period without twisting and working your muscles strongly, but once a month you actually have to slow down your life. You actively de-stress. And in our modern, fast-paced and stressful world, I think even men could use a period from time to time! 

So over the course of a couple of years my approach to my monthly cycle totally changed. In the past I had continuously taken the contraceptive pill to purposely skip my period for months at a time (at my doctor’s O.K.!) When I finally came off the pill I had a total of two menstrual cycles in about 18 months. Luckily I was not interested in becoming pregnant at the time but imagine if I had been! How many women stop using hormonal contraception for the specific purpose of falling pregnant – what an excruciating wait once you decide to have a baby… Whilst following this Iyengar yoga practice I was able to observe and appreciate my natural monthly cycles. I had also started to track my period using an app and recognise what happens in my body (and my mind) at each stage of the month. I learnt that I could tell when I became fertile, when I was about to ovulate, when I would start menstruation, when I would generally feel energetic and strong and when I was more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety or even depression.

However, yoga practice for healthy menstruation doesn’t just involve ‘that’ week. Maintaining a steady yoga practice throughout the rest of the month is important and can help regulate your cycle plus set you up each month for an easier time during menstruation. How we practice inversions, backbends, twisting poses, standing poses… all of these things over the course of the month can influence the menstrual cycle. In fact after a stressful time two years ago my period was almost 10 days late and I was freaking out a little despite negative pregnancy tests. I started a week long yoga intensive with my teacher and two days in we practiced our first back-bending session. Well literally an hour later I had my period. A perfect example of how our yoga practice can directly influence menstruation.

The biggest change for me however was my perception of what it meant to be female. For the first time I was starting to change my view that men and women were equal. (My young feminist self wouldn’t have known what to say!) I was starting to embrace my ‘femaleness’. I began to appreciate that all of the things I used to think made women weaker than men are without a doubt our absolute strengths. Our ability for compassion and understanding, our tenacious and resilient nature, our ability to survive and often outlive men, plus our tendency for being more anxious and even neurotic – all of these traits are in fact in our very nature as women. And these traits shouldn’t be seen as negative as they are crucial to the survival and maintenance of our species! Now I’m not saying that women can’t have high power jobs, or that men can’t be sensitive beings, but I am saying that men and women are different and instead of women bending and breaking to try to fit in to a society geared towards empowering men, perhaps it’s time we stood up and proclaimed our female power on this earth! (There she is again!)

Something in me really shifted when I started to appreciate that being a woman is not just something to deal with but in fact a great responsibility. All of our perceived weaknesses can be seen and used as strengths to support and heal ourselves, our partners and family relationships, our communities and indeed influence and better the world we live in. It’s a big jump from simply admitting you have your period in a yoga class but the appreciation for women’s health in Iyengar yoga has literally been life changing for me. Every month now I take time out, I practice quiet restorative yoga and I relieve myself of the pressure to keep up with everything – the chores, the business and frankly dealing with other people’s needs above my own! And I am healthier and happier for it!

Now as an expectant mother I am so thankful for that shift in perspective and for my Iyengar yoga practice as I have a completely different appreciation for women (including myself) and how we differ from men – not worse, not better, but different. I’m also constantly connecting with my body and managing my stress levels and I believe that played a big part in conceiving naturally – something I know many women would give anything in the world for.

Interested in yoga? Try my FREE 15 minute relaxation download “Guided savasana.” 

Kelly Moriarty is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher and runs Green Body Gym & Yoga Studio in Cardiff, Australia.