No one is a fan of the discomfort that comes with that time of the month
Every period-getting individual has their own way of coping — chocolate, heating pads, crying into a bowl of ice cream until the pain is over — but, according to science, yoga can now be added to the long list.
A review of studies that was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine looked at 15 studies and found that the overwhelming conclusion was that regular yoga helped reduce the severity with which an individual feels cramps.
According to the studies, “regular yoga practice” is defined as either daily or every-other-day practice.
“The authors of these studies suggest that yoga works on the autonomic stress response and also on how pain is experienced and interpreted, perhaps by stimulating the release of the body’s natural painkillers,” said review author Jennifer Oates, a lecturer in mental health nursing at King’s College London, according to TIME.
Yoga was also recently found to be a healthy coping mechanism for stress during pregnancy.
In addition to helping with cramps, the studies found that yoga also helps reduce the likelihood of bloating and other PMS-related symptoms.
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