How does your menstrual cycle and hormonal fluctuations affect your breath?

For the purpose of this blog post, I am using a 28 days cycle, with the understanding that all cycles are unique to each individual and there is huge variability.

Breathing well is at the foundation of our yoga practice. I often remind those who attend my classes that as soon as we feel our breath change, it is a communication from our bodies to our minds. Our breath is often felt in different parts of our bodies when we are practising asana; for example in balasana (child’s pose) there is a restriction around the belly area, and we may feel our breathe predominantly in the back of our lungs.

Dysfunctional breathing (or not breathing well) reduces carbon dioxide in our bodies and we need it to support optimal uptake of oxygen. Shallow breathing, fast breathing, upper chest breathing, mouth breathing all result in our body not optimising oxygen uptake. This can appear as symptoms such as brain fog, headaches, muscle cramps, yawning, sighing, breathlessness, dizziness, dry mouth, anxiety, palpitations, pins & needles, twitching muscles, cold hands, tense/tight/sore neck, chest or jaw.

However, for those who experience a monthly cycle, the fluctuations in hormones are an added strain on the breath.

Around days 10-22 of your cycle when progesterone increases, so does your breathing rate. Progesterone is a respiratory stimulant which simply means your breath gets faster.

This can translate as your breath being predominantly in your upper chest, also known as shallow breathing. You may notice a sense of breathlessness or air hunger around this time; a feeling of not getting enough air or oxygen.

When we breathe more (increase in breaths per minute) then our carbon dioxide decreases. At this point in your cycle as progesterone increases, carbon dioxide can decrease as much as 25%. Any extra stress on the body, when carbon dioxide levels are already lower, will mean the breath gets faster. This leads to pain perception increasing (we have a lower pain threshold) as well as a possible increase in anxiety and fatigue.

So, for many people, their Premenstrual syndrome (PMS), perimenopause, asthma, chronic fatigue, long covid symptoms increase just before their period.

You may find it helpful to think of your cycle in seasons…see infographic below with further information.

Winter: days 1-7: oestrogen & progesterone are low when you have your period. This is when we should slow down and do less. Hibernation

Spring: days 7-14: body is preparing to release an egg and so oestrogen levels are rising. Like Spring things are blooming again.

Summer: days 14-21: This is when oestrogen peaks, progesterone peaks around day 21 and testosterone is rising. Like Summer time, it’s time to do more with more energy.

Autumn: days 21-28: Oestrogen decreasing. Begin to slow down

What can you do? Practise breathwork. The more we practise, particularly slowing the breath down, the less likely hormones will interrupt breathing well. Just as Dr Dan Siegel says ‘by creating a mind state, it can then become a mind trait.’ The more we practice breathing well, the more likely it will happen intuitively unconsciously. However, we must remember, breathwork is a practice. It’s a practice we should do each day even for a couple of minutes to ensure we are optimising our breath to support our wellbeing.

You can read more about breathing here: https://www.theyogacrow.com/breathe

Patrick McKeown writes in chapter 12 of The Breathing Cure how breathing is different for women. I also really like Maisie Hill’s books on the menstrual cycle and perimenopause, she delves deep but also has a free resource on her website where you can sign up for her emails and get the 'chart my cycle’ pdf to print out:

The Balance app is great way to track symptoms/periods/mood/activity/sleep etc….in perimenopause.

Join me on Wednesdays at 11am for my Breathe class with 360 Mind Body Soul

108 Sun Salutations for Edinburgh Community Yoga

This morning I connected with others from Edinburgh Community Yoga (ECY) to practice 108 sun salutations in person at Beetroot Sauvage. Many others joined us online, guided by the Meadowlark team. Thank you to all who sponsored me and supported this fundraising event. The aim was for me to raise £108 and you helped me to reach £248; collectively ECY raised £8541.

My ego was challenged as I took Balasana (child’s pose) a few times instead of Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward dog), admitting my body needed a moment of rest. Being present and observing my mind and my physical body was a reminder of yoga philosophy - svadhyaya (self study). At times movement rather than stillness was needed in downward dog, alongside finding an inner stillness that was guided by my breath. Eventually finding a sense of peace in savasana, active rest, as the support of the earth through my yoga mat gave me permission to rest and restore, after a strong practice.

I’m thankful to be part of the teaching team at ECY who’s invaluable work support so many individuals and groups. Their mission aligns with my belief that yoga is an inclusive practice that should be accessible to all. A practice that is kind, full of compassion, can support healing and is free from bias, prejudice or discrimination. 

Committing to practise 108 Sun Salutations for me, was a reminder to find inner strength whilst supporting others who may need guidance on their path. We are all connected and in that comes with it, a sense of community and the path of karma yoga.

Why 108?

108 is an auspicious number, it is a number which can be divided by the sum of it’s digits, a Harshad in Sanskrit, which means joy-giving.

There are 108 beads on a mala necklace, which in a yoga practice, is used to guide a meditation practice through chanting or repeating silently 108 times.

In Ayurveda, the medical side of yoga, there are 108 marma (accupressure) points that lay on the surface of the body.

There are 108 nadis, energy channels, that come together at the Anahata (heart) chakra.

In Sanskrit, there are 54 letters, each can be seen as feminine or masculine, so 108 in total.

There are 108 Upanishads one of the sacred yoga philosophy texts.

108 is a number that is highlighted in Buddhism and Hinduism. There are 108 texts in Tibetan Buddhism, and 108 names for each deity in Hinduism.

Stonehenge is 108 feet in diameter.

The diameter of the sun is 108 times the diameter of the earth; the average distance between the earth and the sun is 108 times the sun’s diameter'; the average distance from the earth to the moon is 108 times the moons diameter

Personally it brings to mind my maths teacher, Mrs Kay, dancing around the classroom when we discovered the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci was the nickname of the Italian mathematician Leonardo de Pisa. She explained how this could be seen in nature through the golden ratio - the spiral sequence of leaves and petals on some plants. Nature’s formula: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610. This sequence adheres to the #goldenratio When you divide any number in the sequence by the number before it, the result is close to phi (1.618) every time. Decimal parity breaks down numbers into single digits; the number 377 is broken down to 3+7+7= 17 1+7=8. When the first 24 numbers in the Fibonacci sequence are broken down to decimal parity the same 24 numbers are repeated in a sequence. When you add the 24 numbers together you get 108.

Mrs Kay would have had no idea my maths classes with her would resonate with me 30 years later in my yoga practice!

My Tattoo - Vijayalakshimi

I often get asked questions about my tattoo. It’s Hindi and the script spells out Vijayalakshimi, my middle name.

Vijaya means victory and in this form of the Goddess Lakshmi (there are eight) it symbolises victory in all aspects of life. Not just victories in battles or war, but also in life’s major and inner struggles. Life’s ups and downs. In images, Vijayalakshimi is seen sitting on a lotus or padma wearing a red sari with a discusor chakra, conch shell, sword, shield, noose/pasha and lotus. The discus or chakra represent the mind, the conch shell purity, brilliance and auspiciousness (often associated with sound of the universe om); the sword & shield symbolise a mother’s ability to protect her own child; the noose symbolises the soul and is the force through which the soul finds the path of truth and enlightenment; the lotus symbolises beauty and non-attachment (aparigraha).

She also has her right hand in abhaya mudra and her left hand in varada mudra. Abhaya mudra (raising your right hand to chest level with the palm facing forward) is used to dispel fear and develop courage. The first yama (moral discipline), that Patanjali writes of in the Yoga Sutras, is Ahimsa - non-violence. The stronger a person is, which includes their inner emotional and mental strength, the easier it is to live a life of non-violence. Varada mudra (pointing the left hand downward and turning the palm to face forwards) signifies compassion, charity and sincerity whilst expressing the connection between giving and forgiveness. Someone who gives will be forgiven, someone who fogives will be richly blessed. Forgiveness always also means being able to forgive yourself.

Practising these together I use a mantra:

‘I acknowledge the goodness in all living beings as well as myself and forgive myself and all living beings for unkind action and unkind words’