You can practice Kundalini yoga any day, everyday, on your cycle or pregnant.

In these special cases of the woman’s biological experience, there are menstrual cycle and prenatal suggestions for your optimal health. Below is a primer for how to practice Kundalini Yoga while on your period or pregnant.

During your cycle:

The first three days of your period are the heaviest flow times. As the body is cleansing and renewing, it’s best to avoid postures that counteract downward flow. That’s why on days 1-3 of a woman’s cycle it is suggested that she avoid breath of fire (do long deep breathing instead), any inverted posters (ones where your head is below your heart) and any hard work of the naval point (leg lifts, stretch pose or crunches).

If Sat Kriya is part of your daily practice, put it aside for the first three days of your period. Resume your Sat Kriya practice on day four of your cycle and double your time to make up for your few days off. By day seven you can return to your normal time.

Beyond these adjustments Kundalini Yoga is safe and nourishing to practice during your cycle. There are even specialized yoga sets for soothing symptoms such as fatigue, irritability and cramps. Above all, use your own deep intuition during this time; your natural rhythm knows best.

Prenatal Kundalini Yoga:

Similarly, Kundalini yoga can be practiced while pregnant. It can help smooth hormonal flows, keep you in top-tier prenatal shape and give you the psychic courage and strength to go through the birthing process.

In the first three months of pregnancy breath of fire is an option if it feels good to you. After the first trimester heavy naval point exercises, breath of fire, Sat Kriya and pulling root lock are discouraged. This is because your body is releasing hormones that allow the muscles to move and separate more easily and heavy naval point work can damage your abdominal musculature and disturb the baby.

For stretch pose, you can practice by lifting only one leg at a time with long deep breathing. Legs can also be held straight up in the air so long as the pelvis and hips are on the floor.

Inversions can be practiced up until the 5th month of pregnancy or when they begin to make you feel dizzy. If you are pregnant, any time you feel dizzy during a kriya, it is advised to stop, catch your breath, and begin again once you regain balance.

Substitute poses on the stomach, (like cobra or bow pose), with the camel posture.

As soon as you find out you are pregnant, begin practicing 6 minutes of squats daily and walking 5 miles a day. Over the nine months, this will give you the muscle tone for “pushing” the baby out.

At this time, you can also start listening to, learning and chanting the Mul Mantra and the Ant Na Siftee mantra. These mantras cut the karma of the child in the womb. You can amplify your efforts by running these mantras in your house 24/7 using a mantra box. Click here for instructions on how to set them up.

As soon as you can, it is ideal to find out the sex of the child. The pH of the womb affects the brain hemisphere development differently for boy and girl babies. If you find out the genetic sex of the child early, you can begin practicing the different meditations to assist the child in developing neo-cortex grey matter.

Cold showers are encouraged up until the 7th month to strengthen both your nervous system and the nervous system of the child in the womb.

Early morning meditation can be both blissful and highly angelic. In all cases, listen to your body and modify times and postures as needed. Enjoy this thrilling time in your womanhood.

Intuitively Guided:

In all cases, Kundalini Yoga is about developing your intuition so that you can be guided by your own inner compass. If you are ever in a class or practicing at home and something feels off, feel free to sit out a posture and instead hold at your third eye the image of yourself completing that part of the kriya. For all other special cases regarding female biology, refer to the guideposts above.