ashtanga yoga menstruation...

[Guest guest]

I've been reading all the comments about menstruation and ashtanga and

finally feel that I should comment. I agree that it is important to listen

to your body and if you feel the need to do a practice then that is okay

however, sometimes you may not feel the effects of doing something that is

not healthy for the body immediately. And it just doesn't make sense

contradict the natural funtions of the body. When I started practicing

ashtanga I didn't believe there would be any problem practicing during my

period, I thought that I feel good (actually during my period I had more

energy than usual and pre-period I felt heavy and tired), so why shouldn't I

practice. As a beginner I don't think it effected me too much since I

probably wasn't fully contracting the bandhas and I couldn't hold the head

stand for very long and I wasn't doing intense back bends. However, about a

year and a half into my practice I went to practice the first day of my

period and by the end of my practice that day my period had stopped, and

didn't come back until the next cycle, 3 weeks later! Even with that, I

thought it was just a one time thing. A couple of months later, it happened

again. Since then I haven't practiced during the first 3 days of my

period, except for sometimes a very gentle home practice, without inversions

or bandhas. And I don't do any inversions or fully contract the bandhas

during the last 3 days. A few times when I have done inversions at the end

of my period I have found that it lengthened it by a couple of days (which

is a pain in the neck) and it didn't seem as healthy as when it ends when it

should.

Another note, when I asked my teacher about practicing during my period, way

back when I first started ashtanga, I told him that I didn't want to stop

practicing for almost a week of every month because I wouldn't improve my

practice as quickly. He was quite direct and stern when he told me that if

so and so (he named a few very advanced, well known female yogis) can stop

their practice and still be at an advanced level of practice, then so can

you! I still didn't listen to him (being as stubborn as I can be) until my

body finally told me that it wasn't healthy. Looking back at this

conversation, I realize that accepting that it is healthier to stop my

ashtanga practice during my period and continue a meditation practice is

part of the ashtanga yoga practice. Non-attachement to my practice and

honoring and respecting my body.

Well, I hope my story is interesting and helpful to a few of you. Namaste.

 

 

pfstrikes <no_reply>

ashtanga yoga

ashtanga yoga

ashtanga yoga Re: menstruation...

Thu, 19 Jun 2003 15:04:56 -0000

It may be helpful to ask not whether menstruation is an obstacle to

practice, but whether practice is an obstacle to menstruation.

Ashtanga is a little different than most styles of yoga. We have a

strong emphasis on near-constant uddiyana and mula bandha, which work

with prana, and against apana, and which would also contract and

compress a part of the body which is meant to be expansive by natural

design during that time of the month. Menstruation is governed by

apana, which is a natural outward rather than contractive physical

and energetic process in the body which needs to occur. There is no

point in working against the body during this time. My teacher

(direct student of Guruji for 30 years and female) can cite many

instances during her 20 years of teaching where when a stubborn woman

finally gave up practicing Ashtanga during her period, seemingly

unrelated long-term physical or other problems resolved themselves.

If you can't yet feel the differences in your body during

menstruation, go on faith. Do any other kind of activity, but not

Ashtanga yoga.

 

ashtanga yoga, jana <jana@s...> wrote:

 

I agree with sally. I decided some years ago that menstruation is

not an obstacle to my practice and I just listen to my body about the

practice. Having a menstruation doesn't make my body feel any

different so I can't think of any excuse or idea why I wouldn't

practice during that time of the month.

 

_______________

The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*

http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail