Restorative Yoga Poses for Period Pain Relief

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In the quiet days before your period, your body is already doing the heavy lifting. Estrogen and progesterone begin to drop sharply, signaling the uterus to prepare for release. This natural, powerful shift sets off a cascade of changes—most notably, the uterine contractions that help shed its lining.

This is when many of the familiar premenstrual symptoms start to show up: the bloated belly, the breast tenderness, the mood swings, the ache that settles into your muscles like fog.

And then, once your period arrives, the menstrual cramps make their entrance—tight and pulsing through the belly and lower back like a slow drumbeat. Period cramps are a whole-body experience, even though they’re rooted in the abdomen.

Ah, the joys of the entire menstrual cycle. 🙂

There are many ways to ease the hormonal shifts that flow through each phase of your menstrual cycle (I go deeper into that in my post about following a cycle-syncing diet). But sometimes, when you’re knee-deep in painful cramps and waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in, you just need some gentle, physical relief.

That’s what this post is here for.

Let’s talk about the restorative yoga poses that can help ease menstrual pain—offering softness, space, and a little sanctuary for your body when it needs it most.

What Causes Menstrual Cramps

To understand why it hurts, we have to look beneath the surface—into the woven landscape of muscle, blood, and nerve. That drop in hormones prompts the body to produce prostaglandins, chemicals that trigger uterine contractions and heighten inflammation. These contractions are like deep muscle spasms, rhythmic but intense, and if prostaglandin levels are high, the cramping can be sharp and relentless.

But the pain doesn’t stay neatly confined to your womb. The uterus shares nerve pathways with the hips, lower back, and even the tops of the thighs. So when it contracts, it’s common to feel tension radiate outward—pulling at the pelvis, tightening around the spine, and pooling in the legs. It’s all connected. Fascia, ligaments, and muscle wrap around this area like a corset, so when one part tightens, the whole system responds.

Then there’s the matter of circulation. Contractions reduce blood flow to the pelvic region, which increases pressure and soreness. Think of it like a traffic jam in your lower belly—oxygen and nutrients can’t move freely, and everything becomes congested. Add in water retention from fluctuating hormones, and you’ve got a recipe for bloating, stiffness, and that heavy, dragging sensation through your core and limbs.

Muscles like the psoas, piriformis, glutes, and spinal extensors can grip in response to both pain and posture—especially when you’re curled inward or hunched from fatigue. Even your breath shortens. Without realizing it, you’re holding tension in your belly, your back, your jaw. Your body, trying to protect you, ends up locking things down.

Why Yoga Helps With Period Pain

This is where your yoga practice becomes a balm to your menstrual cramps. Not the fiery, sweat-drenched kind, but the kind that slows you down and meets you exactly where you are. Restorative yoga offers a soft landing—an invitation to be held rather than pushed.

These gentle poses don’t just stretch muscles. They support circulation, encourage lymphatic flow, and create space in the pelvis, spine, and abdomen. When the pelvis is elevated or gently opened, blood flow returns. The nervous system begins to unwind. Fascia softens. With every supported exhale, you’re inviting the body to shift out of defense mode and into a quiet, healing rhythm.

The sequence we’ll explore uses bolsters to cradle the body and coax relief from the places that ache: the low back, the belly, the hips, the legs. These shapes offer light compression, subtle traction, and deep rest. Open hamstrings and soft hip folds reduce the tension that can tug at the pelvis. Gentle pressure across the sacrum helps settle the nervous system.

Each pose becomes a message to your body: You’re safe now. You don’t have to hold so tightly. You can rest. And in that rest, the soothing begins.

Yoga Poses For Period Cramps

These yoga positions aren’t about pushing or fixing, like yoga classes in the US often promote—they’re about softening. About giving your body permission to be exactly as it is, and creating the conditions where it can ease out of tension and into rest. Each shape below is a quiet gesture of care for your hips, belly, back, and legs—anchored by breath, supported by the earth, and softened by the bolster beneath you.

Here is what I use in this practice: Manduka Bolster, $78 on Amazon & Manduka Cork Blocks – $46 for set of 2 on Amazon.

Supported Child’s Pose

Supported Child’s Pose is a resting shape that gently cradles the belly while opening and lengthening the muscles of the back, hips, and pelvic floor. It creates a gentle compression through the abdomen, which can aid in reducing pelvic congestion, increase blood circulation to the reproductive organs, and offer relief from uterine cramping.

In this position, the erector spinae—the muscles that run along the spine—lengthen and relax. This helps relieve tension in the lower back, an area often affected by menstrual discomfort due to shared nerve pathways with the uterus. As the spine rounds and softens, the quadratus lumborum and deeper postural muscles release, which can soothe the radiating tightness that often creeps into the flanks and sacrum during premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

At the same time, the hips are flexed and slightly abducted, gently stretching the gluteus medius, piriformis, and iliacus muscles—areas known to become tense during hormonal shifts. With the torso supported and the pelvis resting close to the ground, the pelvic floor muscles (including the levator ani and coccygeus) can begin to release their habitual holding. This release signals to the nervous system that it’s safe to soften, down-regulating the body’s stress response.

The forward fold also facilitates a subtle massage to the abdominal organs, including the uterus, by drawing the breath into the back body and diaphragm. This gentle inward pressure encourages blood flow to the reproductive organs, improving oxygenation and potentially reducing the pain caused by prostaglandin-triggered uterine contractions.

How to do it:

Place your bolster lengthwise on your mat. Come to your knees with your big toes together and knees wide, and gently lower your torso over the bolster. Allow your belly to rest fully into the support—no need to hold it in. Let your arms drape forward or to the sides, whichever feels most restful. Turn your head to one side, and after a few minutes, switch directions to keep the neck balanced.

As you settle, imagine your breath filling the back of your ribs and slowly expanding into your low back and hips. With each exhale, let your spine melt, your belly deepen, and your whole body begin to trust the ground beneath it.

Reclined Butterfly with Bolster Under Feet, Then Spine

This pose is like an open-window breath for the pelvis. Reclined butterfly (Supta Baddha Konasana) offers a passive stretch to the adductors—those inner thigh muscles that often tense in response to discomfort—and gently widens the sacroiliac space at the base of the spine.

By propping your feet, you take tension off the knees and hip joints, creating a soft cradle for the pelvis. Meanwhile, reclining over the bolster behind you lifts the heart and spine, encouraging parasympathetic nervous system activation—the rest-and-digest response. This not only reduces stress hormones like cortisol but also improves blood flow to the uterus, ovaries, and digestive organs.

The openness through the chest and abdomen encourages diaphragmatic breathing, which calms the nervous system and gently massages the internal organs, including the uterus and intestines. This can help relieve bloating and gas, common companions to hormonal changes.

How to do it:

Set one bolster horizontally for your feet and a second lengthwise behind you. Sit with your lower back toward the spine bolster. Bring the soles of your feet together and allow your knees to fall out to the sides, resting your feet on the foot bolster. Gently lean back and lie down over the spine bolster, using a folded blanket under your head for support if needed.

Let your arms open beside you, palms up. Soften your jaw. Let your belly rise and fall without resistance.

Savasana with Bolster Under Low Back

A subtle backbend, this variation of Savasana helps lift the sacrum and iliac crest just enough to decompress the lower belly. That gentle lift relieves intra-abdominal pressure, especially helpful if bloating or cramping has made lying flat uncomfortable.

Supporting the pelvis and abdominal muscles in this way creates space through the lower vertebrae and encourages the iliopsoas to release—one of the primary muscles that shortens during stress or pain. The bolster also presses softly into the lower back, offering a feedback loop to the brain that promotes safety and rest.

The result? Easier breathing, better lymph flow, and a deep sense of surrender.

How to do it:

Lie on your back and slide a bolster underneath your sacrum and low back—just at the base of your spine. You should feel supported but not hyperextended. Let your legs stretch out long and your arms rest open beside you. Close your eyes, soften your gaze inward, and allow gravity to do the work.

Belly Down with One Knee Bent and Propped on Bolster

This prone shape is grounding, anchoring your nervous system in the safety of the earth beneath you. It soothes the sacral plexus and eases compression in the lumbosacral joint.

By bending one leg and resting it on a bolster, you gently stretch the psoas—a deep hip flexor that links your spine to your femur and often tightens in response to pain, stress, or sitting for long periods. The hip opens externally while the torso is supported in a neutral, relaxed state, allowing both release and circulation to flow to the low back and pelvis.

This position also helps calm the vagus nerve, a major player in the body’s relaxation response.

How to do it:

Place a bolster diagonally on your mat. Lie down on your belly, turning your head to one side. Bend one knee and bring it out to the side, resting it on the bolster in a relaxed, frog-leg position. Let your arms rest wherever they feel comfortable—beneath your head or gently to the sides. Stay here for several minutes, then slowly switch sides.

Seated Forward Fold with Bolster Under Knees

This classic forward fold lengthens the entire back body, including the erector spinae, hamstrings, and calf muscles. With a bolster under the knees, the ischial tuberosities (sitting bones) are better grounded, and the lower back can gently round without strain.

The folding action also brings soothing pressure to the belly and encourages introspection and breath awareness. Forward bends calm the sympathetic nervous system and activate the parasympathetic, helping to reduce anxiety, irritability, and fatigue that often accompany PMS.

Adding a bolster for support makes the pose accessible even on days when everything feels heavy and tight.

How to do it:

Sit tall with your legs extended in front of you. Place a bolster beneath your knees to soften the backs of the legs. Fold forward gently from the hips, allowing your spine to round naturally. You can rest your hands wherever they land, or place a second bolster on your thighs to support your head. Let your breath move down the spine, like a soft wave retreating into stillness.

Savasana with Bolster Under Legs (Lengthwise)

This deeply restful variation of Savasana, or corpse pose, is ideal for the final moments of your practice. Elevating the legs with a bolster supports the popliteal fossa (back of the knees) and encourages lymphatic drainage from the lower body. It can help relieve bloating, reduce swelling in the legs and feet, and ease low back strain by slightly tilting the pelvis.

The body reads this shape as safe—your spine is neutral, the legs are gently lifted, and the heart can soften. It’s a full-body invitation to let go.

How to do it:

Place a bolster lengthwise beneath your legs, from the heels to just past the knees. Lie back with your arms relaxed at your sides, palms up. Let your feet fall open naturally. Close your eyes and allow your body to melt into stillness, breath by breath.

Other Ways To Relieve Cramps

Yoga offers a sanctuary during your cycle, but it’s just one part of a holistic approach to menstrual comfort. Here are additional gentle practices, each supported by scientific research, to help ease discomfort and support your body through its natural rhythms.

1. Gentle Movement

Engaging in light physical activity, such as walking or stretching, can alleviate menstrual cramps. Exercise increases blood flow and releases endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, which can reduce the perception of pain. ​

2. Use A Heating Pad

Applying heat to the lower abdomen or back can relax uterine muscles and improve blood flow, providing relief from cramps. Studies have shown that heat therapy is effective in reducing menstrual pain. ​

3. Prioritize Rest

Allowing yourself to rest during your period can be beneficial. Research indicates that rest can help manage the severity of menstrual pain and improve overall well-being. ​

4. Eat Foods That Support Your Cycle

Incorporating magnesium-rich foods like leafy greens, nuts, and whole grains into your diet may help reduce menstrual cramps. Magnesium plays a role in muscle relaxation and can decrease the production of prostaglandins, which are associated with pain. ​

5. Reduce Your Stress

Stress can increase your premenstrual symptoms, including period pain. Practices such as meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness can lower stress levels, which in turn may reduce the severity of menstrual symptoms. High stress has been linked to increased menstrual discomfort. ​

6. Try Herbal Remedies

Certain herbs have been shown to ease menstrual cramps by relaxing muscles, reducing inflammation, and supporting hormonal balance. Here are some of the most researched and widely used options:

• Chamomile: Contains anti-inflammatory compounds like apigenin, which may help reduce prostaglandin production and relax uterine muscles. Buy on Amazon.
• Vitex (Chaste Tree Berry): Supports hormonal balance by influencing the pituitary gland and increasing progesterone, which may reduce PMS symptoms like breast tenderness and mood swings. Buy on Amazon.
• Red Raspberry Leaf: While there isn’t much modern research to support that red raspberry leaf helps with cramps, it has been a widely used herbal remedy for period cramps. I personally drink this tea in the days leading up to my period and also on my first days of my period and find relief when I drink it. I would recommend this based on my personal experience and also based on ancient wisdom on natural remedies. Buy on Amazon.

Final Thoughts

These physical postures offer pain relief for your period cramps in the moment, when you need it most. But to really make the biggest impact on your entire menstrual cycle, I recommend reading through my post about cycle syncing your diet. You’ll learn about the basic concepts that Alisa Vitti outlines in her book In The Flo, which has completely revolutionized the way women manage their cycles.

Otherwise, give these poses a try the next time you’re experiencing period pain. And check our weekly schedule to see when the next Yinyasa class is, which is where we move through these yoga poses for a full hour.