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It is commonly perceived that women should not practice inversion yoga poses during their menstrual cycles. However, the number of people with such an opinion is evenly matched by those who think that there is no universal harmful impact of doing inversion yoga poses during menstruation.
Negative Impact of Inversion Poses Done During Menstruation Cycles- Some Arguments
* Those who theorize that inversion poses tend to negatively affect a woman's body consider endometriosis (medical condition in women in which endometrial cells are deposited in areas outside the uterine) as a negative impact of it. However, studies carried out in the past have debunked this theory.
* It has also been argued that doing inversion yoga poses during menstrual cycles increases the risk of vascular congestion in uterus (a condition of excessive menstrual flow). However, there is no clear consensus upon it as scientific studies haven't been able to give a concrete answer to the question.
If the above line of argument is true then women who should experience vascular congestion the most are those who tend to remain in an inverted pose for a long time. This means that inversion poses can not be universally banned. Women should be allowed to make a choice and then take full responsibility for it.
* The debate then still takes place between those who really know about yoga and its impact on the body. Opinions differ between them as well. According to some yoga teachers a woman's body experiences a dip in energy levels during the menstrual cycles. Hence, yoga poses requiring high input of energy (such as inversion poses) should be avoided by them.
The wisdom of the words of a teacher can not be denied. However, experience tends to prove them wrong sometimes. The same is also true in this case. Many women have expressed that contrary to the idea of low energy levels during menstruation, their energy levels actually went up when they were experiencing their menstrual cycles.
Advice To Women: What To Do When Experiencing Menstrual Cycles
There is still no scientific report that can corroborate any of the above theories. Further, menstrual cycles do not have the same psychological and physical impact upon all the women. They tend to exhibit different levels of comfort and discomfort.
Further, there are contradictory practices within yoga in which one type of inversion is not allowed (Headstand pose ) but the other is allowed in some other cases (Downward-Facing Dog ). Hence, it would be wrong to take a universalistic stance and ban inversion poses for women experiencing menstrual cycles.
The correct course of action to follow would be to give them the following advice and then ask them to make their own choice. The advice is that they should decrease the time they spend in inverted yoga poses to bare minimal.
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