Abdominal Asana for Women

Practice of Abdominal Asana by Women

Geeta S. Iyengar

Geetaji was asked a question at an Australian convention on what precautions should be taken when teaching abdominal asana to women and why these precautions should be taken? The lady was confused as her family members did abdominal exercises during menstruation. 

They are absolutely wrong. Ladies did abdominal exercises even when they practice yoga and clots after clots used to come out. Not knowing why, they thought they were throwing it out. I said “No abdominal exercises”; the clots stopped coming out. It just became a normal flow. There is a strain again on the cervical region when the clots are coming out. The tenderness of the skin is disturbed. That is one thing. When your inner feelings tell you that you have to rest, why don't you rest? At least there are a few hours where you feel - let me be just quiet; let me just sit. You can't exert yourself. Everyone feels like that. So, why not follow nature's request. As you have to answer nature's call is it not nature's request that you be quiet for a while? 

Lying down on the floor, extending the arms over the head and moving the legs up and down leads to contraction of the abdomen. During menstruation, when moving the legs up and down, the abdomen hardens while taking the legs down. While taking the legs up there is a contraction, the abdomen is pulled upward, gets puffed and you have to push it down in order to bring the legs down. That means all the time you are exercising there organically. All the time you are contracting, extending, contracting and extending. 

During menstruation it will certainly not help. Your flooding will be more. During the menstruation, some abdominal pain, backache; and dysmenorrhea are common. You may not suffer with dysmenorrhea but still you get some body pains and aches. So, when it is already there you should not irritate that area. 

When in periods and there is an indication like too much bleeding, that means already it is bothering inside. It will not help to take the legs up and down. It is common sense! 

Now, if you are not in periods and want to do it - there is a way! You don't just take the legs up and down. In my book I have mentioned don't do abdominal exercises unless you have done proper standing poses; and unless you have done some inversions like Sarvangasana, Halasana. Standing poses and forward bends prepare for the abdominal exercises and inversions counter balance any strain. If there has been any pressure created in the abdomen, if you pressed yourself down doing abdominals, then with the inverted postures you at least bring it back to its place. This is common sense.

If somebody is not following our method then explain that if you have to do abdominals, such as legs up and down 90 degrees, do standing poses and forward bends so you have enough strength. Then do inversions so you can remove the strain that comes; counter balancing so that you do not injure yourself. When someone argues with you, then you have to know why.