I’m sure if you’ve been practising yoga for a little while you’d agree with me that one of the aims of the practice is to establish awareness of our unconscious habits - both physical and emotional - and make the invisible, visible.
Yoga inspires us to be responsive, alive, awake to the constantly fluctuating immediacy of our individual reality.
And when we do wake up to what’s real - we can see it doesn’t live by a schedule, that we are in a constant state of ebb and flow.
As a female yoga practitioner for almost 30 years, it has been a radical awakening aligning my asana practice to that of my menstrual cycle for the last 10 years. Not only has this allowed me to better connect with my body, but it's given me permission to push harder when I feel that burst of energy while also honouring those times when I want to snuggle up under a blanket.
Rather than trying to force or push through, I feel as though I am truly living in my flow.
In many ways this was an unlearning, undoing so much of what I had learned in my training to be a teacher, it was as though an intuitive knowing came through when I stopped trying to fit myself into a style, a method or even a set schedule. Now that's not to say I don't love structure - because I do, it's just that this one is unique to me and has softer edges so that allow me to feel.
What's even more interesting is that when I surrendered myself into this rhythmic flow from the inside out...my asana practice also shifted - it became less rigid and much more fluid.
Want to sync your cycle to your asana practice? Here's how:
Days 1-5: Winter Energy - many women feel more introverted at this time and wanting to embrace stillness or go really slow so this is a wonderful time of your menstrual cycle to lean into the lunar energy that can be heavy and grounding with restorative yoga practices, include some yoga nidra as you get snuggly under a blanket. If yin yoga is more your style then do it with lot's of props as well as some meditation and soothing pranayama practices - avoid breath retention and heat building pranayama at this time of month.
Days 6-15: Spring Energy - this is where things start to awaken a little more, feeling into that budding energy of spring with a beautiful slow vinyasa flow that may be more floor based but with lot's of rhythmic movement - I love enjoying Chandra Namaskara - Moon Salutations as a really lovely way to energise and move my body but without the heat building that comes from Surya. Otherwise I'll enjoy a mix of slow flow and yin asanas at this time of month as the energy starts to rise!
Days 15-17: Summer Energy - a short but oh so sweet summer where we often feel called to be out and about, interacting with the world around us! For many women, this is peak energy where we can lean into sense of confidence - a great time to hit up a group yoga class, perhaps try something different or make the most of this peak energy with playful inversions and arm balances - or even just upping the pace of our flow with some cranking tunes!
Days 17-28: Autumn Energy - think of this phase of your cycle as digestion, in the first part of this phase you'll still have that burst of energy to carry you through the first half of this phase where you can enjoy some strength based flows and experiment with more dynamic postures and flows, but as you move into the last half of this phase it's likely you'll feel that subtle shift calling you towards calm and guiding you towards slower grounding flows as your cycle wanes.
Want to discover how to attune more deeply to your unique rhythms?
Join my 200 Hour Foundational Yoga Teacher Training, a unique program that embodies feminine wisdom, practices and philosophies - attuning you to your own rhythm from within! My next training takes place in February 2025 with only 8 places available.
If you're looking for something shorter, Lunar Sadhana: Yoga for the Feminine is my 20 hour training for teachers and students to embody Chandra Namaskara, Mandala flows as well as Mythology and so much more!
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