Are you feeling crampy, bloated, or exhausted? Try these restorative postures before and during your menstrual period to support quieting your nervous system. Your body will appreciate the nourishment!
Restorative child’s pose
Restorative child’s pose is a beautiful posture to practice while you are premenstrual, menstruating, or if you are experiencing pelvic pain. It calms the sympathetic nervous system, opens the hips, and lengthens the low back.
Modifications
Hip pain: pad with additional pillows or blankets under the head, between the abdomen and thighs/bolster.
Knee pain: pad with additional blankets between the heels and the buttocks
Reclined goddess pose
Reclined goddess pose is a wonderful, chest-opening posture that encourages downward flow, while supporting and grounding.
Modifications
Restrictions in the chest/arms: pad under each forearm
For more focus on hip opening, take out the bolster under the knees and replace with a strap. Place the strap around your sacrum (low back) and circle it around your feet to maintain a butterfly position.
Restorative fish pose
Restorative fish pose offers a delicious back extension with the chest-opening and grounding properties. This yoga postures is shown with her knees bent, but you might prefer your knees straight. See what works best for you!
Modifications
If your back is sensitive to extension, you may prefer Reclined Goddess or chose Child’s Pose or a side-lying restorative postures.
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Originally published 8/3/14.
[…] five minutes breathing in a restorative yoga pose and imagining the tension melting away from your body can be wildly effective in resetting the […]