Useful Holistic Health Tips for Menstruation

The painful and ill effects of menstruation plague a vast number of women, but there is plenty of help out there without having to resort to over-the-counter painkillers. In this article, I discuss the different varieties of holistic remedies that will help minimize the discomfort of your menstrual cycle.

Crystal Healing

Crystals have been used in healing for over a millennia. They work through the use of vibrations and resonance¹. They have been used in shamanic healing by the Native Americans, in Eastern Traditional Chinese Medicine and Indian Ayurveda. What I believe to be the best thing about crystals is that they treat the cause instead of masking the symptoms like most pills do, plus they are a lot more friendly to your liver.

The best stones for menstruation are: citrine (balances hormones and battles fatigue), moonstone (helps with discomfort and tension), chrysocolla (alleviates cramps), jet (alleviates cramps), magnesite (treats cramps), malachite (cramps), infinite stone/light green serpentine (pain relief), labradorite (balances hormones and relieves tension), and opal/use dark colors (alleviates PMS).

Stones cane be placed directly onto your skin, preferably around the womb area, for as long as needed or they can be used in making gemstone water.

Gemstone Elixirs

Another thing, which I have found most useful, is making gemstone remedy water, sometimes called gemstone elixirs. All this entails is taking the stone, which suits your needs and place it in a glass of water. Make sure the stone is not water soluble or toxic, if it is, place it in a smaller glass container and then place that into the water. Place the bowl in direct sunlight for around twelve hours before drinking; if the stone is one that will fade in sunlight (as a good number of them do), then placing it in direct moonlight is a fine alternative.

This places the properties and energies of the stone into the water. Any of the aforementioned stones would be great. I love taking a moonstone and placing it in my bottled water, I can start feeling the relief within 15 minutes.

Herbal Remedies

If Crystal Healing is a little new age for you, then you might want to try the healing power of plants. Herbs that are good with helping ease menstrual cramps are: red raspberry leaf, bethroot, silverweed, cinnamon, allspice, angelica, ginger, bee balm, lemon balm, black haw, arbor vitae, elecampane, horsetail, milfoil, motherwort, pennyroyal, rue, shepard's-purse, chamomile, feverfew, rosemary, thyme, tansy and valerian².

A mixture of St. John's Wort and red raspberry leaf (in equal parts) will also help alleviate cramping. Celery seed, as well, has been known to help bloating issues ³.

Caution: Always do research on herbs and talk to a licensed natural health practitioner before ingesting any of the aforementioned plants.

Yoga

Exercising is an excellent way of reducing fatigue and pain. The effects of Yoga on the body are amazing and this relaxing and exhilarating practice has many positions, which I find very useful when tackling menstrual related issues. When I do Yoga I use Gertrud Hirschi's 'Basic Yoga for Everybody' kit⁴. This comes with a book and position cards. The names I will be calling the asanas are from this set and may not be called the same in every yoga tradition. I won't be describing each pose, as it's hard to get the message across without pictures, so I encourage you to either get a book or video or even look the poses up online. A great Website for you to use is ___.

Note: Please check with your physician before attempting any of these. Make sure your body can handle it.

· Twist from Side Sitting Posture (sometimes called the Spinal Twist) Twists are cooling and rejuvenating⁵. Twists also help to relieve tension and from personal experience these really help with my cramps and also helps to relieve any emotional tension I may be hoarding during this time.

· Crocodile III. I first saw this pose on Oprah and I've been using it since. Along with Corpse pose it's fantastic as it calms and centers you.

· Relaxation (sometimes called the Corpse Pose). This pose is heavenly. It helps so much with stress and mood swings.

I find that a good combination with the above practices as well as drinking plenty of water and eating low sodium foods really helps my menstrual cycle to become easier to deal with.

Sources & Notes:

¹ Hall, Judy. The Crystal Bible: A Definitive Guide to Crystals. Ohio: Walking Stick Press, 2004.

² Coon, Nelson. Using Plants to Heal: An American Herbal. Pennsylvania: Rodale Press, 1979.

³http://kittyshaman.tripod.com/herbmagick.html

⁴ Hirschi, Gertrud. Basic Yoga For Everybody. Massachusetts: Red Wheel/Weiser, 1998.

⁵ Wood, Bliss. Empowering Your Life With Yoga. New York: Alpha Books, 2004.