The Impact of
Bi-weekly Yoga Classes on Menstrual Cycle of College-Aged
Females
Submitted
for publication
A. Wheeler
Department of Kinesiology,
California State University- San Bernardino, San
Bernardino, CA
Healing Yoga Foundation, San Francisco
Key
Words: Yoga, Menstrual Cycle
Objective:
Yoga in
the west has often been sought out as a workout routine
with the additional benefits of creating a calm and focused
mind. The benefits of a regular yoga practice can also
create health and healing for many systems of the body.
This study was designed to obtain preliminary information
about the effectiveness of yoga on balancing college
women’s menstrual cycles in the areas of menstrual cramps,
low back pain, unstable emotions, feelings of depression,
having food cravings and experiencing relationship problems
just before and during the menses.
Methods: Seventy-two
female
college
students aged 18-46 (m=22.4) were asked to fill out a
questionnaire pertaining to their menstrual cycle patterns
at the beginning of a 10-week yoga class. The class met
twice a week for 90 minutes. The class was taught in the
tradition of T. Krishnamacharya and had a strong focus on
the synchronization of breath and movement. At the end of
the 10-week quarter, students were asked to fill out the
same questionnaire regarding the patterns of their
menstrual cycle. The students were asked to use a Likert
scale (1=low impact on life and 10= high impact on life) to
estimate if the following areas impacted them just before
and/or during menstruation: menstrual cramps, low back
pain, unstable emotions, feelings of depression, having
food cravings and experiencing relationship problems. Data
was analyzed using SPSS 14.0 with paired-sample t-tests at
a 95% confidence interval.
Results:
The
students reported the impact of menstrual cramps at the
beginning of the quarter to be, on average, 5.0. After
10-weeks of yoga this had changed to 4.4, but this was not
a statistically significant change. Low back pain began at
4.4 and went down to 3.5 and this was significant t(67)=
2.8, p<.000. The impact of unstable emotions was
reported as 5.5 at the start and 4.4 after the 10-week
program, statistically significant t(67)= 3.5 p< .000.
The students reported feelings of depression to be 4.3 at
the beginning of the quarter and 3.4 at the end with a
t-test of t(67)= 2.7, p< 05. Food cravings measurements
were statistically significantly as they changed from 5.5
to 4.3, t(67)= 4.1, p< .000). Relationship problems were
reduced from 4.2 to 3.1 with a t-value of t(67)= 3.4,
p<.001.
Conclusion: These
data demonstrate that a twice a week group yoga class does
have a significant impact on the menstrual cycles of
college aged females. Positive changes in low back pain,
emotional state, depression level, food cravings and
relationship problems were shown. Changes with respect to
severity of menstrual cramps were not shown to be
statistically significant.
