The rise and fall, be it in life or career are dependent on the beliefs we build around ourselves. Similarly, there occurs rise and fall of hormones in a female body throughout life. How we deal with these fluctuations and beliefs is important.

     Menstruation /periods is the time when the lining of the uterus called endometrium sheds and causes bleeding. Hormones, both estrogen, and progesterone are at their lowest level during this phase. There exist many myths about menstruation in society, be it about doing physical activities or socio-cultural taboos to date. Recently I saw a Malayalam movie “The Great Indian Kitchen” based on social taboos associated with menstruation. The movie has beautifully depicted the socio-cultural taboos with menstruation and how that brings turmoil in women’s life. 

    Still many believes menstruation as curse in their life. As it makes the body weak by losing blood and restrict them from doing activities of their choice. But for me menstruation, is the “Essence of Life”  and something which explains the mere existence of human being can not make us weak. Our monthly cycle go through four different phases in 28 days. It revolve around the fall and rise of two major hormones estrogen and progesterone. Will not go into the details of female biology, my focus here is to demystify taboos associated with physical activities/ gym/ weight lifting during menstruation. 

 For some of us the phase of menstruation goes smooth while others suffer with dysmenorrhea, low energy levels, lower backache, and premenstrual symptoms (PMS) of mood swings, bloating, irritability, depression, fearfulness and what not!
  For me, day 1 of menstruation used to be no less than a nightmare. The low energy levels, feverish feeling throughout the day, irritability make it almost bed ridden for the day. Even marriage and pregnancy make it no better (studies suggest a inverse relationship of pain with these events!). Adding to my agony, a weird thought that all this suffering might be caused by a deadly infection which I can always pick (being in a profession where I see all sorts of patients with a life-threatening infections) made things worst only 😀😀.

Now, it’s been a year, since I’m exercising on a regular basis (thanks to my gym @hqfitnessarena_official and my coach @sattyfitnation for the discipline). To do aerobics, weight training, cardio, HIIT, cross fit. To my surprise, now I feel more energetic, have no weakness, no muscle cramps, and no depressive thoughts even during my cycles. I hardly notice PMS now, otherwise, just before the beginning of cycles, I used to be the avatar of furious Kali Maa (Indian Goddesses) 😃, full of anger and un-necessary shouting on my kids (can imagine my hubby’s condition😂. In fact, my daughter had started calling me an angry mom😔 (that was first adjective which she had written to describe me in her school). But things have changed now, bye bye PMS! no shouting but only feeling good physically and mentally😀😂. 
    Even studies have shown that mild to moderate levels of exercise/physical activities help in controlling such symptoms. Exercise leads to the release of endorphins which increase the pain threshold, relieve menstrual cramps, promote positive thoughts, and distract meddling thoughts. In fact lack of physical activity can cause heavier blood flow, longer periods, irritability, weakness, and high grade pain and fatigue. 
    Following exercises, I would suggest during menstruation for all the powerful women and caring men who are reading my blog, and believe me they have done wonders to me and am sure will do for you.

Benefits of exercise and weight training:

1. Planks as it helps in strengthening the back and ease the tension during the periods. An added advantage of planks is that they benefit your butt, hips, abs, chest, and arms.   

 2. Leg Lift/ Leg Raises: Leg lifts help in loosening up or easing down of your abdominal, back, and pelvic muscles.

 3. Side lunges: If you compare the side lunges with the normal ones, you’d feel that these are a little gentler. They are easy on the knees so won’t hurt more during the periods. Helps in easing down the cramps in the hips, butt, and thighs.

 4. Child Pose: The Child’s pose or Balasana is restorative and calming. It lengthens the spine which helps in relieving tension and tightness. Tt also opens up the hips and improves digestion which makes it an easy exercise during periods.

5. Lifting weights: Lifting medium-intensity weights is totally safe during menstruation if your body allows it.

“Don’t set limits to your life. Keep pushing and let’s feel proud of our unique bodies”