Can women practice yoga during menstruation?

I think everyone should be very familiar with the sport of yoga. Now more and more people are practicing yoga, especially female friends who like to practice yoga very much, because yoga helps with body flexibility, figure and so on, and long-term practice will also make a difference in temperament. But women have a common physiological problem, that is, can women practice yoga during menstruation? Is it harmful to the body?

1. Each of us has a different physical constitution. Some students will be very weak during their menstrual period, and are prone to back pain, dysmenorrhea, and poor physical condition. Such students will feel particularly uncomfortable in the first two days of their menstrual period. The best way at this time is to rest, or do restorative yoga poses, such as the supine bound angle pose. After the two most uncomfortable days, you can do some soothing yoga exercises without too high intensity to help your body recover. During your non-menstrual period, pay attention to strengthening your posture and breathing exercises, which can help improve your physical condition and avoid problems such as dysmenorrhea.

2. Some teachers think that these poses are also semi-inverted poses of the body, and practicing them during the menstrual period will easily cause menstrual blood reflux. However, in fact, menstrual blood reflux is mainly a problem of pressure in the body. In the Downward Dog Pose and Standing Forward Bend Pose, although the upper body and even the pelvis are in an inverted state, the position of our lower limbs has not changed, and the pressure in the body has not changed. Therefore, it is not easy to cause menstrual blood reflux. As long as your physical condition allows, and do not move up and down too quickly when practicing forward bends, you can practice it with confidence.

3. No! During this period, you can choose to practice or rest, which mainly depends on your personal preference. When continuing to practice, there are some asanas that you should be careful about, such as those related to inversions, abdominal contractions, and energy-boosting exercises, which are best not practiced. Because of physiological problems, this may cause you discomfort. Postures that cannot be practiced: All inverted postures (such as plow pose, headstand, shoulder stand, etc.), postures that squeeze the abdomen (such as back stretch pose, single-leg stretch pose), intense postures that require great body stress (such as wheel pose), etc. Stop immediately if you feel uncomfortable. You can do some standing or kneeling postures that are gentler on the body (such as yoga mudra, bowing pose, triangle pose, tree pose, cat pose, snake pose, etc.). It is not suitable to do inverted postures or postures that squeeze the abdomen during menstruation, as it will cause some menstrual blood that should be discharged from the body to remain in the body, affecting menstrual health. Avoid strenuous exercise during menstruation. You can practice some gentle stretching postures to massage your body. After the menstrual period is over, practicing more yoga (including postures such as inversion) can eliminate the symptoms of discomfort during menstruation and is beneficial to the body and mind. You should not do the headstand, shoulder stand, plow pose and other poses that cause blood to flow backwards. However, doing some yoga poses during menstruation can help blood circulation and relieve menstrual discomfort. For example, cat pose, tiger pose, butterfly pose, bound feet pose and garland pose are all suitable for menstruation.

In general, it depends on each person's physical condition. If your physical condition is good and you can withstand this kind of exercise, then we can do it. If we can't bear it, we can take a few days off. Everyone's physique is different, so the way to deal with it will also be different. In fact, during the menstrual period, in principle, you are required to rest more and not be too tired. If you want to exercise, you should do it within your ability.