How to Find Menstrual Harmony with Yoga
Aiko 
I teach how to get in touch with and blossom the power of each inner season through yoga practice and lifestyle.
My approach to yoga is different from the ones you may have heard of or practiced till now. Below I will explain what I mean, and I’m honored to have your precious attention.
Yoga means union, but union with what? First you have to be united within yourself in order to be able to unite outside, with Mother Nature, with other people and animals, and with the universe. I always say to start from where you are, in your body.
As many women, in my life I have experienced several hormonal and womb-related issues. I’m a person who tries to understand things on a deeper level. I’m not satisfied to simply from someone that things work in a certain way. I do my research; I try to find a master in the topic, and then I try to understand, with the awareness that I may be wrong, and that there is always more to learn.
After having been diagnosed with over 20 cysts in my left ovary and about 10 in my right, three of which were very large, my journey to connect with my menstrual cycle began. I was 24 at the time and tried different kinds of natural treatments to avoid surgery. And yes, I avoided by understanding and working on my internal relationship with my father. As soon as I realised what my body was trying to tell me, the cysts dissolved by themselves.
This coincided with the beginning of my real yoga journey. I had been practicing asanas before, but I didn’t really know what yoga was. I traveled to India and started studying the philosophy of yoga, what is behind these asanas (poses) we’re doing and what’s the final goal of yoga. There is a lot more to say, but at this point, I just wanted to share with you in brief about how I got here.
While studying yoga I learned also the basics of Ayurveda and tried to apply it in my teaching and personal practice, doing yoga following the seasons of the year, the moon cycle and so on.
Very soon, for health reasons, I learned that the menstrual cycle has its own inner seasons; wow. This explained so many things, so many behaviours I had. Everything made sense, and I was so happy to learn more and more about this.
Your menstrual month moves through an inner winter, spring, summer, and fall, and then back to winter again, just like the seasons of the year. Each phase introduces a unique set of resources and psychological challenges to help you develop and embody your power. You strengthen your metaphorical muscles, these parts of your power, and you construct the inner container to hold and express your complete magnificence, or Wild Power, by overcoming these trials. In this video I speak more in detail about this topic.
Yoga teaches to balance your body and energies, works a lot on your meridians, and we should use it carefully. The yoga that developed in the west was born to strengthen male bodies. We, women, don’t function in the same way, so we can’t just copy and paste the same practice.
As Krishnamacharya (guru of B. K. S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois) teaches and I always repeat: yoga has to adapt to you, not you to yoga. That’s why I created a program for women to learn and practice yoga following our menstrual cycle. To learn to flow with our bodies and needs.
Being aware of your menstrual cycle is a way of decoding and knowing yourself at any given time, as well as a fantastic aid in energy and stress management. Going hand in hand with this awareness, yoga is a wonderful tool we can use to harmonise our hormones and lifestyle. This is why I combined these elements into a unified method, and you are most welcome to learn about these things with me. Again, start from where you are, inside your own body.
Categories: : Inner Seasons, Menstrual Cycle, Menstrual Harmony, Yoga
