Yoga across your cycle
Moving with your body’s rhythm — honestly, and without the hype.
I teach yoga, and I coach women* on working with their cycle rather than against it. This page is where those two meet. I’d like to be straight with you about what we know, what we don’t, and how I’ve built a monthly rhythm you can actually use.
What the research actually says
Yoga has good support for two things in particular: easing the symptoms of PMS and reducing menstrual pain. In one recent trial, women who practised yoga reported less premenstrual distress and better quality of life than those who did not — enough for the authors to recommend yoga as a way to reduce PMS and raise quality of life (ErdoΔan et al., 2024). Most of the firm evidence sits here, around PMS and dysmenorrhoea.
What the research has not (yet π) established is anything about yoga tailored to each phase of the cycle. Rigorous trials that test different practices timed to the menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, early- and late-luteal phases simply don’t exist in the peer-reviewed literature. I’d rather tell you that than pretend otherwise
But β and this matters β absence of evidence is not evidence of absence
Women are under-researched. Even the European Commission’s Gender Equality Strategy 2026–2030 (published in March 2026) names the deficit: "women’s health experiences and conditions — from menstruation to menopause — have not had enough attention in health research or in treatment".
Where I stand
On this, I follow Dr Stacy T. Sims — exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist (Stanford, later the University of Waikato), author of 'ROAR' and 'Next Level', and the voice behind “women are not small men.” A few things I take from her work:
— Female physiology is meaningfully different from male, and research done on men does not simply transfer.
— Sex hormones have real, plausible effects — on thermoregulation, fuel use, central fatigue and protein turnover — which is reason enough to adjust movement and nutrition across the cycle.
— Variation between individuals is large.
So: track yourself, and respond to your own patterns.
β
My position is simple: I’d rather act on the best available physiology now than wait for a perfect randomised trial that may be years away — as long as I’m honest with you about which is which.
A monthly rhythm to move with
A practical note first. For easing PMS and menstrual pain, the strongest evidence points to consistent practice across the whole cycle — not only movement during your period. The 2017 study I lean on used 30 minutes, twice a week, for twelve weeks; other studies that worked ranged from daily 20-minute practices to a weekly 60-minute session. Regularity, more than timing, seems to carry the benefit.
Within that, here’s the rhythm I suggest. Of these, Menstrual Restore rests most firmly on published reviews; the others are built on the available physiology and on the CS-C principles, offered as informed invitations rather than rules. Track yourself, and keep what works for you.
An invitation
Think of this less as a prescription and more as a starting point — a way to get to know your own rhythm, with movement that meets you where you are in the month. If you’d like to explore it together, you know where to find me.