"Sadhana of Rest and Replenishment"
Celebrate rest with a New Moon restorative practice for your menstrual cycle
In Bri. Maya Tiwari’s book The Path of Practice, she refers to practices honoring the New Moon as the “sadhana of rest and replenishment.” Prioritizing rest and rejuvenation is a radical practice for most modern women. As I wrote in Harnessing the Energy of the Moon, Ayurvedic tradition emphasizes the alignment of women’s menstrual cycles with the lunar cycle and the New Moon as a time for menstruation and rest.
Modern women have a hard enough time resting at all. One of my favorite yoga teachers, physical therapist Dr. Sarah Court, posted a while back on Instagram about her former life as an actor in a tampon commercial. In the commercial she rode a horse and enjoyed other physical activities. Companies selling feminine care products love convincing you that when you use their tampons you gain the freedom to continue living an active lifestyle while you’re bleeding. There are a few things that are problematic with this messaging, but most importantly I think it’s interesting that they are trying to convince you that you don’t need to rest in the first place. This is a sneaky message masquerading as “women’s empowerment” when really it’s another example of men and male-dominated industries telling women what to do.
There are plenty of reasons why ancient traditions don’t need to continue—many age poorly with changing societal norms. But resting during your period is a tradition that needs to be resurrected. I recently had a conversation with a mother at my son’s T-ball practice. She is from India and when I casually mentioned something about resting during menstruation she scoffed and schooled me on the history of the patriarchal Indian culture in which men felt menstrual blood made women “impure.” The tradition of women “resting,” according to this woman, was the direct result of a man’s attitude about women bleeding—it was gross and they didn’t want women near them while it was happening. This cultural context was both surprising and not and made me think twice about the role of rest. It’s hard for me to rest ever, let alone make it a priority while I’m bleeding. Plus there’s the fact that I don’t want people to know that I’m bleeding because I’ve internalized this “less than” mentality around menstruation. Everyone has somehow decided that it’s best to just ignore this massively important and uniquely womanly monthly privilege because it’s too much of an inconvenience.
My biggest problem with the narrative around staying active during menstruation is that the ability to be active is a form of freedom. This mindset makes resting during your period akin to a prison sentence. And while you may be one of the 80% of women who experience pain and discomfort before or during your period, the idea that rest is a form of imprisonment is a highly toxic mindset for all humans in general. Humans need rest. Resting makes you stronger, more capable, more creative, and happier. But it’s not your fault if you struggle with rest. Demonizing rest is the societal norm in the West (and perhaps a growing sentiment in the modern East as well).
It’s time to change how we feel about “that time of the month”
I beleive women need a mindset shift around their periods. I know I did. I used to hate “that time of the month.” As I’ve started to chart my periods, pay attention to my symptoms, and simultaneously learn more about the lunar cycle, I’ve come to be grateful for my menstrual cycle. I look forward to the opportunity to take dedicated rest.
Rest is freedom just as much as activity can be a form of freedom, when you’re making the choice that is best for you and your body.
Instead of my period being a reason for me missing out on all the fun, it’s my monthly reminder that it’s okay to say no, hold boundaries, slack off, and prioritize rest in my daily practices. Instead of tackling the mound of dishes piling up in the kitchen sink, I might choose to ignore it for the time being and go read a book instead. Or I might ask for help, a novel concept that so many women I know, especially mothers, struggle with. “Can you do the dishes tonight, dear husband? I need to rest.”
In a Women’w Wellbeing workshop I attended last fall, Indra Mohan spoke of the Mother Goddess as the source of all creation and the importance of embracing her energy in our lives by honoring and nurturing our menstrual cycle.
“We are blessed and privileged to be born as women,” Indraji said
How’s that for a mindset-altering affirmation?
According to Indraji, it used to be that women in India would take complete rest for the first three days of their menstrual cycle. Men would take on the duties of cooking and cleaning (or more likely it just wouldn’t get done…). Whether or not this was a form of patriarchal shaming like my T-ball mom friend suggested is beside the point. You can scoff at the idea of rest or you can embrace it. You can fight against the patriarchy by trying to be more like the men or you can fight against it by embracing your womanhood and harnessing your strengths. Based on my personal experience of trying to play with the men for most of my life, I’ve decided I prefer the latter approach.
Updating ancient tradition
Because we don’t live in ancient India, we must adapt traditional practices to fit our modern lifestyle. Indraji allowed that we must do the best we can. In Ayurveda, it is believed that the body needs extra rest and attention during the menstrual cycle because of all the energy that is expended expelling bodily tissue. Getting rid of a piece of your body each month is no easy task! Instead of taking a 3-day vacation away from all womanly duties—which, let’s face it is is just impossible especially if you’re a mother of young children—try to prioritize rest for the first day or two of your menstrual cycle. In addition to physical rest, make time for mental rest too.
What you can do:
Give yourself permission to do the best you can
Have compassion for yourself
Tell your family, friends, and kids that you’ll be resting for a day or two (especially the men and boys in your life—it’s time they stopped pretending like bleeding out your vagina every month doesn’t exist or pertain to them)
Read a book
Take a nap
Watch TV or a movie
Get together with your female friends to rest together (but only if it won’t add more stress in your life)
Ask for help (hi hubby, grandma, friends 🙋🏻♀️)
Practice gentle pranayama (breathing) practices
Meditate
Practice Restorative Yoga (see the practice below—it’s 30 minutes of goodness)
Keep your schedule as simple as possible
Go to bed early
Sleep in
What to avoid:
Don’t exercise or practice any flowy asana
Avoid extra. Say no to anything extra that comes up in your schedule and don’t do any extra activities other than what is absolutely necessary for that day
Reduce stress as much as possible
Why no inversions during menstruation?
A note for avid yoga practitioners and teachers. I’ve always wondered why most yoga teachers warn against doing inversions during your period. It’s one of those statements casually thrown around as an afterthought but never truly and satisfactorily explained with any logical reasoning. I’m a why person. If you’re going to tell me to do or not do something, I need to know why and the reason needs to be sound. It can be backed up by science or it can be backed up by ancient tradition and culture, but it has to hold weight. I never found a yoga teacher who could give me a good answer as to why inversions were contraindicated for menstruation. Judith Hanson Lasater came through for me. In her book Relax and Renew she writes:
“From the Western point of view, when the body is inverted, gravity causes those vessels supplying blood to the uterus to be partially blocked by the width of the uterus droppingn toward the four. This may cause the menstrual flow to lessen or even stop for a brief time, perhaps a few hours, and then resume with a heavy flow.”
That makes sense but there is no citation to any research confirming this. When I looked it up, I couldn't find any reputable study on the topic, but I did find this August 2007 article on Yoga Journal by Dr. Timothy McCall, Yoga Journal’s medical editor at the time, that discusses the topic further.
“[F]rom a medical standpoint, the belief is based mostly on speculation. Women are often warned that if they invert during their period, “retrograde menstruation” could occur. That is, blood could flow in the opposite direction and lead to endometriosis, a painful condition in which small clusters of uterine cells grow in the abdominal cavity. One study, however, found that retrograde menstruation naturally occurs in 90 percent of women, most of whom never develop endometriosis. So we do not know for sure if inversions increase retrograde flow or whether the backward flow increases the risk of endometriosis.”
The no inversions during menstruation cue, then, is not coming from a legitimate medical concern. There is, however, also an Eastern perspective that deals with the body’s energy rather than physiology.
Lasater explains in her book:
“From the Eastern perspective, inverted poses block the apana energy from the pelvis…”
The rationale here is that any blockage of apana (downward flowing energy) would hinder the release of the menstrual blood. Since there is no good reason for why you’d want to keep the menstrual blood in, the logic goes that you might as well do everything you can to get it out. Dr. Timothy McCall addresses this in his article as well explaining:
“From a yogic perspective, the reason for not inverting during menstruation has to do with apana, the hypothesized downward pranic force that is said to help facilitate things such as bowel function, urination, and menstrual flow. The concern is that reversing this normal energetic movement could interfere with the period, leading to a cessation of flow and possibly heavier bleeding later on.”
Again, all possibilities and hypotheses. I understand the rationale behind the apana energy theory. When I was two weeks past my due date with my son, I kept trying to stimulate my apana energy to do everything in my power to get him outta there! In that instance, there was no way I wanted to invert and slow down the process. My personal opinion regarding menstruation and inversions is why invert when you’re prioritizing rest? Invert when you’re body is not otherwise occupied with trying to release unneeded bodily tissues. But you can do what you want. I don’t think it’s going to hurt you.
A Restorative Practice for Your Cycle
Below I’ve shared a 30-minute Restorative Yoga practice you can do while you’re bleeding. This practice is inspired by Judith Hanson Lasater. She offers an entire section in her book on practices for women, including a practice for your Moon Cycle. She says:
“Far from being a “curse,” menstruation can be a quiet, reflective period—a time for each woman to honor the miracles of her body’s potential for renewal.”
We live in a fast-paced world. If you’re not into lunar cycles, goddess energy, and fluffy feminism, that’s fine. At the very least, let your menstrual cycle be an internal chime reminding you to take a step back and rest. You deserve it, you need it (we all need more rest), and it’s not going to hurt you.
For those of you wise women who are no longer menstruating, you can still align your inner rhythms with the rhythms of the lunar cycle. Use the lunar cycle as your celestial timer for prioritizing rest and practice for the first 1-3 days of the New Moon.
This restorative practice emphasizes open hips and relieves tension from the low back. You will need the following props:
1 bolster or large pillow (a couch cushion or body pillow works well)
2 yoga blocks or large books
1 strap or large belt (optional)
3 blankets
Eye pillow or rolled hand towel (optional but highly recommended)
Enjoy!
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The Practice
The 30-minute Restorative Practice below is available for all paid subscribers. Paid subscribers get the extra goodies that allow you to take what you’re reading here and put it into practice in your own life. The guided yoga practices, tools, and techniques I share behind the paywall will help you feel calmer, more empowered, energized, inspired, motivated, relaxed and connected all at the same time.