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Women are commonly taught that they should avoid headstand, handstand, shoulder stand, and other yoga inversions when they’re on their period.
In fact, I conducted an informal survey of my social media audience, and 88% of respondents reported having been told this!
For as widespread as this claim is in the yoga world, though, is it accurate? Should we avoid inversions during menstruation?
First of all, this blog post is specifically addressing claims made about the physiological effects of menstruation on inversions.
The basic idea is that if we invert while menstruating, this change in orientation to gravity can reverse or stop menstrual flow (referred to medically as retrograde menstruation), which can be problematic.
But what does the science say about the physiology involved? Do inversions cause retrograde menstruation?
Well, contrary to popular belief, the downward flow of menstrual blood does not actually rely on gravity!
In fact, did you know that astronauts in zero gravity still have normal periods?
This is because the downward flow of menstrual blood is created by muscular contractions in the uterus called peristalsis, and these operate independently of the body’s orientation to gravity.
More questions about the “inversions stop menstrual blood flow” claim…
Even if this claim were true, why does the “no inversions” rule not apply to less obvious inverted yoga poses like halasana (plow pose), uttanasana (standing forward fold), and downward dog? 🤔
In all of these asanas, the pelvis is positioned above the head, so they are all technically inversions:
Why are these yoga poses OK to practice during menstruation, while handstand and headstand are not?
Hopefully this inconsistency in reasoning helps further highlight how invalid this old school yoga claim is! ❌
In the end, if your only reason for not inverting while menstruating is concern about reversing menstrual flow, rest assured that menstruation operates independently of gravity.
It’s a great idea for people to listen to their bodies when menstruating and decide for themselves whether inversions in yoga feel appropriate!
