Ayurveda and Yoga Special to Women
Ayurveda and Yoga offer us tools for inner and outer gardening. These tools have specific effects. Ayurveda always encourages us to ask βfor whom and whenβ a certain practice is recommended.
Women receive a flowering and blossoming cycle. Women have a heightened opportunity to connect with the power of Creation, and with the 5 great elements, the Pancha Maha-Bhuta, which are considered to be the source of all healing in Ayurveda. This cycle requires a redistribution of energetic resources.
Menstrual Cycle
A woman's menstrual cycle is a flowering and shedding cycle that provides her a direct connection to the Creator. As the moon influences the ocean tides, so it does a woman's cycle. When a woman has little relationship to the moon, she and her cycle tend to be more influenced by the women around her. The more a young woman learns to honor and explore her cycle, the happier her fertile years will be, the more likely she will be fertile, and the easier her transition through menopause will be.
INCORRECT LIFESTYLE DURING MENSES
Guess where I am in my cycle
Have no awareness of the moon
Numb out with alcohol, instead of tuning in to learn where pain might be and address the root cause of the pain (pain relievers are sometimes indeed needed)
Binge / fast before or during menstruation
Work hard during period, push through it, mask it, ignore it, suppress it
Hide my period
Travel
Try to process every detail of my personal life
Push myself to succeed at school and work, performance mindset
Sexual activity especially penetration
INCORRECT YOGA PRACTICES DURING MENSES
Long hard standing poses
Fast paced, athletic jumping yoga
Arm balancing, strenous strength requiring poses
Skip resting pose to rush to my next place
Heating practices like sun salutations
Invert my uterus in inversions like headstand, shoulderstand
Direct pressure on my uterus in bellly backbends like bow pose
Abdominal curls or exercises that contract my belly and force the down current
Vigorous breathing like clearing breaths (kapalabhaati)
Heating breaths like ujjaya, agni saara, right nostril breathing
INCORRECT AYURVEDA PRACTICES DURING MENSES
Oil massage
Deep tissue massage
Oil treatments of any orifice
Cleanses
Fasting
Excess sweet, sour, salty, pungent tastes in food and herbs
LIFESTYLE PRACTICES DURING MENSES
Chart my cycle each month to learn about my ovulation and menstrual cycle
Be aware of the moon, know the phases of the moon, walk under moonlight at appropriate times and seasons
More time in Nature, in beauty, in uplifting compassionate company, or alone
Rest during menstrual cycle
Skip sports and performance based activities; instead explore and reflect
Avoid hot weather and temperature extremes
Limit travel
Limit interpersonal processing
Stay home from school or work if needed
Abstain from sex
YOGA PRACTICES
Generally encouraged to skip all physical postures during the menses
If practicing yoga postures:
shorter time in standing poses
more relaxed, less determined, practice
more floor postures, including hip, pelvis and leg exploration, reclined twisting
longer resting pose, with sense withdrawal (eye pillow, headphones)
legs up the wall pose instead of full inverting
supported postures using props, such as supported bound angle pose
breathing practices that bring balance and calm (alternate nostril breathing, sense withdrawal or bumblebee breath)
cooling breaths, such as left nostril breathing (chandra bhedana) or curling the tongue for inhaling (shitali) or breathing in through the teeth (shitakaara)
AYURVEDA PRACTICES
Use hot water packs in days before menstruation
Oil based Intestinal cleanse (basti) with proper rest in days leading up to menstruation
Light energetic bodywork such as marma, acupressure, acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, reiki
LIght to medium direct pressure encouraging flow, over cotton clothing, such as shiatsu or thai massage
Baths with salts
Exfoliation using gentle dry brushing
Mud masks for pore cleansing
More sleep including early afternoon naps
Receive empathy
Eat mineral rich, easily digestible foods such as soups, juices, broths
Eat bitter greens to help cleanse blood (cooked in winter, fresh in summer)
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is different for each woman, each body type, and for each different pregnancy. Pregnancies created from different body types tend to be more complicated and require more adaptation by the woman to the growing fetus. In general, gentle yoga practice in regular level 1 yoga classes supports a healthy pregnancy with a few modifications.
INCORRECT LIFESTYLE PRACTICES DURING PREGNANCY
Being afraid or angry or unclear about pregnancy, resolve and commit asap
Being alone, unprepared, or uninformed about choices for delivery
Being overly fixated on how delivery must happen (with "convenient" scheduled C-section on one end of the spectrum and "I must have a natural home birth" on the other end of the spectrum)
I must do all things myself
Vigorous exercise, especially jumping and jarring movements
Fast paced multi-tasking lifestyle
Travel
Sex during first trimester
INCORRECT YOGA PRACTICES DURING PREGNANCY
Anything brand new, especially for thin women, during the first trimester
Vigorous, athletic practices
Arm balancing poses
Inversions including headstand, shoulderstand, handstand
Twists and forward bends without making room for the baby
Rapid or vigorous exhales
Anything that stimulates the downward current
Jumping or jarring movements
Rapid movements that might disturb the smooth breath (like sun salutations)
Belly backbends (cobra, bow, grasshopper) especially after the first weeks
Performance mindset
INCORRECT AYURVEDA PRACTICES DURING PREGNANCY
Fasting
Enemas (except after week 35)
Purgation
Excess Pungent, Bitter, Astringent tastes
Any new procedure or herbal supplement without proper professional consultation
LIFESTYLE PRACTICES DURING PREGNANCY
Find supportive, informed health care including a hospital enviroment (even if only for backup), an OBGYN, midwife, doula, massge therapist and women who have given birth
Tune into your body and its changes and modify your diet to the new healthy cravings
Learn to ask for help if you have not already
Take bodywork classes with your partner
Slow down and allow the "fruit to stay on the vine"
Avoid hot weather and temperature extremes
Limit travel
Limit interpersonal processing
Abstain from sex during the first trimester
YOGA PRACTICES
For vaata (thinner) women: generally any new kind of physical activity, including the standing postures of yoga, are not done during the first trimester
Shorter time in standing poses
Less determined, more relaxed practice
more floor postures, including hip and leg exploration, and reclined twisting
longer resting pose, with sense withdrawal (eye pillow, headphones)
resting pose on the side with bolsters for props under the head and top leg
legs up the wall pose instead of full inverting
supported postures using props, such as supported bound angle pose
chanting (the baby hears and feels vibration)
breathing practices that bring balance and calm (alternate nostril breathing, sense withdrawal or bumblebee breath)
toward week 35, learning the 3 part inhale (belly-diaphragm-chest) followed by exhale through the mouth
AYURVEDA PRACTICES
Menopause
Menopause transition will reflect the history of a woman's flowering years. The transformation through menopause is often accompanied by Pitta (fire-water) type symptoms, and so a general Pitta pacifying diet and lifestyle are encouraged.
YOGA PRACTICES
Overall, menopause offers an opportunity for a woman to honor her change to a more spiritual age.
Emphasize the inner practices of yoga
Cooling breaths using a curled tongue or gently sucking in through closed teeth
In yoga postures: longer, slower warm ups
Oily fluid movements within postures, focusing on correct joint movement
Do sweat, though pause and rest when overheating, including using a cool wet rag
Use a fan or open breeze for fresh air
Wear natural fiber light clothing
Exhale through the mouth when extra release is needed
AYURVEDA DAILY PRACTICES
Pitta pacifying diet (minimize alcohol, vinegar, acidic food; minimize sour, salty and pungent tastes)
Walk under green trees, shade, and near running water
Walk in early morning, late evening and at night under the moon
Use cool water behind the ears and through the brow
Light gentle breeze
Limit opinions of other people's business
Limit time outdoors during the hot time of day
Supplement with fresh aloe vera, and plant based estrogens such as shatavari as appropriate to body type and hormone levels
Learn alternative cleansing methods as the menstrual cycle subsides, as appropriate to body type, examples include oil based enema (vaata type), intestinal purgation (pitta) and lymphatic exfoliation or dry brushing (kapha)