Teaching and Practicing Yoga During Your Cycle

It’s that time of the month! You know, those 4-7 days of staying in the comfiest clothing, craving chocolate, and the need for warmth in our bellies. Our periods. The cycle that unites us as women is a love/hate relationship we’ve had with our bodies since we were in our pre-teens. Every part of our cycle signals us to organize our day a certain way. It dictates when we should conceive, when we are at our best, and when to rest. The body never stops communicating, and our cycle is our biological secretary. 

It makes sense to attune our yoga practice to our phases. By doing so, we’ll know when to do a power yoga session, when to ease up to practice a bit of hatha, and most of all, we’ll know when to take a step back to practice a bit of yoga nidra or yin to balance us out. This article will teach just that. We won’t just show you how to survive your yoga classes during your period, we’ll teach you and your students how to thrive in every part of their cycle. This article will be divided into each phase of the menstrual cycle. We will explain what is going on in our bodies during each one. After that, we will move forward to the type of yoga or teaching technique you can use accordingly.  

Phases of a Menstrual Cycle

Menstrual Phase: Days 1 to 5 or Days 1 to 7

This is when we are at our lowest point in the month. Physically, we are fatigued, we experience cramps, bloating and headaches or migraines.

Emotionally, we feel like staying in, we don’t want to be bothered, or as I’d like to call it, we're in hibernation mode.

Why is this? Our progesterone and estrogen levels are at their lowest

How does this affect our practice? This is our cue to be kind to ourselves. We can use these days to practice the spiritual side of Yoga, sitting/lying poses, or practice some passive stretching asanas from Yin Yoga, Child’s pose, bound angle pose (sitting or lying/supta), Puppy pose, Assisted fish pose with blocks, or a yoga wheel etc. The point is to do poses that stretch out without stressing out. Use props to the fullest; allow ourselves to be assisted.  

How do we teach during this phase? Apart from doing more verbal cues, you can also repeat the classes you’ve already done or have memorized. For example, in my Vinyasa class, I usually do Sun and Moon salutations. I’ve memorized this sequence; it targets the entire body, and the asanas are familiar to the majority of my students. Most importantly, never forget to give options to take an easy pose or a Balasana if your students aren’t feeling up to it.   

Follicular Phase: This starts with the period and lasts 14 days

After 5-7 days, our period stops. We start gaining our strength back, we also start feeling more like ourselves. We may even have that confidence boost coupled with increased positivity and motivation. This is the time when we start making plans.

When my period ends, it feels as if the sun has come out after a storm. Do you feel this way too?

Why is this? This is because our estrogen levels begin to rise. 

How does this affect our practice? This is the time to get back on that horse. Now that we are feeling stronger, this is the time to try out more physical types of yoga or asanas. Usually, I raise the bar slowly by doing single-leg balance poses such as Dancer’s pose or variations of extended hand to foot poses. Then, as I get closer to the ovulation phase, I try some arm balances. Other types of yoga to try during the follicular phase are: Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Rocket, Power yoga, and Aerial yoga. Enjoy the ride. 

How do we teach during this phase? This is when we can prepare sequences that challenge our students. We can try a more dynamic class or longer holds. We  can do the peak pose method, wherein we prepare our students for one advanced pose or transition. Another option is to prepare a Ladder Sequence or the Add-on Method. This is when we start with one pose ( Pose A). Hold for 3-5 breaths. Then repeats with an additional new pose to hold for 1 breath and the 3-5 breaths for the new addition ( Pose A + B). Repeat the cycle until you have a full series of asanas to go through.   

Ovulation Phase: Days 15 and 16 or lasts 24-28 hours

This is the pinnacle of our cycle. It’s the reason we have periods in the first place. Physically, we are at our strongest both physically and energetically. We have increased libido, and we also have a higher pain tolerance. Emotionally, we are at that point when we feel most attractive. In turn, this is the time when we feel like putting on our good clothes, we want to be seen, and most of all, we feel empowered. For some of us, this is the phase when we feel like conquering the world. For others who are trying to conceive, this is the time to be with our partners. 

Why is this? Our estrogen and testosterone are at their peak. 

How does this affect our practice? This is the time to intensify your flexibility poses. Let’s take advantage of our fully optimized state to challenge ourselves. Go for that king Dancer, go for that handstand, practice your scorpion pose. By doing this, we can break our practice barriers and also prepare our bodies if we are trying to conceive during these days. After all, you want to be at your best out of the yoga studio as well.  

How do we teach during this phase? In this phase, we can continue as we did during the middle part of the follicular phase to the end. Raise the challenge for our students with some peak poses like Pincha Mayurasana or prepare a ladder sequence with a vinyasa after each round. If you are an aerial yoga teacher, you can do a continuous sequence with transitions that come out as a choreography. Take advantage of this moment as it is the shortest part of the cycle. 

Luteal Phase: Days 17-28 

Hello PMS. While our bodies are preparing us to have babies, my question is, why does it have to hurt so much whether we’re pregnant or not? Physically, we are miserable. We start feeling bloated, and we crave salty or sweet treats, and skip yoga class. Emotionally, we change our emotions like the wind, coupled with anxiety or sadness. During these days, we are a hot mess.  

Why is this? While there is a sudden rise in progesterone, which has a calming effect at the start, it falls alongside our estrogen levels that detonate our premenstrual symptoms. 

How does this affect our practice? The theme during this phase is to power through while picking your battles with our body. There’s not much to it but this. We roughly have 12 days before our period starts. It’s a long time.

We have responsibilities as teachers and business owners. By choosing not to give power to our symptoms, we claim ourselves during this difficult phase. In our practice, we can still practice dynamically, but if we need to pause in between, we listen to our bodies. As for our cravings, replace them with a healthier option. 

How do we teach in this phase? This would be a good time to combine teaching verbally while checking and adjusting our students if needed. We can also use our pranayama and savasana time to take a few breaths for ourselves. After all, we may be teachers, but we are still human. Taking those mini breaks for yourself immensely helps. 

In real life, we have to keep adjusting our classes to suit our students more than ourselves. That doesn’t mean we have to neglect ourselves either. Our cycles, as well as those of our students, won’t always be in sync. Nevertheless,  when we can read ourselves better, we give better options for our students at whatever stage they are in the month. I hope this article has served you well. 

Take care and good luck Momoyogis!