Table of ContentsView AllTable of Contents8 Poses and TechniquesHow Yoga HelpsRisks and SafetyTips
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
8 Poses and Techniques
How Yoga Helps
Risks and Safety
Tips
Yoga is a complementary therapy that may help reduce the pain associated with endometriosis. Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the uterine lining (endometrium) develops outside the uterus. The condition can cause significant pelvic pain, infertility, and reduced quality of life.
The condition most often affects people of reproductive age (15 to 49). While there is no cure for endometriosis, some people find relief with surgery. Surgery, however, can be quite invasive and doesn’t always lead to relief.Yoga can helpendometriosis-related pain through poses, breathwork, and meditation.
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Poses and a Relaxation Technique for Endometriosis
The following poses and relaxation technique may helpcalm endometriosis pain.These can be done easily at home without engaging in a full yoga class.
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To do the pose:
Supine Spinal Twist (Supta Matsyendrasna)
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Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose (Viparita Karani)
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Restorative Goddess Pose
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Garland Pose (Malasana)
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Reclined Hero Pose (Supta Virasana)
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Reclined Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
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This pose is similar to restorative goddess pose without the props:
Yoga Nidra
Yoga nidra is a yogic breathing and meditation technique that can help youachieve restwithout a full night’s sleep.This practice can help you enter a state of deep relaxation. Here is a shortened version you can try at home:
How Does Yoga Help with Endometriosis-Related Pain?
Yoga is a gentle or vigorous physical activity that can be done regularly and canhelp lower pain levels. People who live with chronic pain and engage in regular physical activity experience reduced pain.
One theory is thatendorphins(the body’s natural feel-good chemicals) are released into the blood with activity. With this release, the perception of pain lessens.
Breathwork
Drawing focus to the breath can take the mind off the pain. One small study found that breathwork, called pranayama, helped people deal with the pain.
Breathworkalso promotes relaxation. Slow, deep breathing has been shown to promote pain relief. Yoga’s focus on slowly inhaling and exhaling may be especially helpful for people in too much pain to move.
Meditation
Meditation, the inward practice of drawing your thoughts to one singular point of focus, can help reduce stress and anxiety. Stress can worsen pain. Reducing stress can help reduce pain.
By focusing on one thing, like the breath, mantra, or a simple sound, the brain doesn’t have the chance to wander, worry, and stress.
Ayurveda and YogaAyurveda is considered the world’s oldest traditional medical system. Developed in India, Ayurveda’s core concept is finding balance in the body. Yoga is often a component of treatment in Ayurvedic medicine.
Ayurveda and Yoga
Ayurveda is considered the world’s oldest traditional medical system. Developed in India, Ayurveda’s core concept is finding balance in the body. Yoga is often a component of treatment in Ayurvedic medicine.
Risks and Safety Considerations
When beginning a yoga practice, there are some things to consider to ensure safety and reduce the likelihood of exacerbating the pain from endometriosis.
Although regular exercise can reduce pain, some people find that engaging in vigorous exercise exacerbates their pain, especially if they are new to an exercise.For this reason, the more vigorous forms of yoga such as vinyasa, power yoga, and ashtanga may be best avoided.
People who have recently hadabdominal surgery to diagnose or treat endometriosisshould ask their healthcare provider when it is safe to resume physical activity.
Adenomyosis and YogaAdenomyosisis a similar condition to endometriosis, in which endometrium glands develop in the middle muscular layers of the uterus.People with adenomyosis can also practice yoga for pelvic pain relief and stress reduction.
Adenomyosis and Yoga
Adenomyosisis a similar condition to endometriosis, in which endometrium glands develop in the middle muscular layers of the uterus.People with adenomyosis can also practice yoga for pelvic pain relief and stress reduction.
Tips for Practicing Yoga With Endometriosis
Just as not everyone’s experience with endometriosis is the same, the parts of yoga that bring relief won’t be the same either:
Listen to Your Body
Finding the perfect balance between doing too much physical activity that worsens pain and doing too little activity that causes pain to remain may take time and experimentation. Check with yourself after each yoga session and note whether you feel less or more pain.
Do What Works for You
For some people, deep stretching poses may help relieve pain, and meditation is the only thing that provides relief for others. Simply because someone else finds relief in a certain pose or practice does not mean that you will find the same relief. It might take some experimentation to see what works best for you.
When attending a yoga class or doing any of the poses listed here, move slowly. This way, you can stop at any point that you feel just enough stretch or release to find pain relief but not too much that you’re causing pain.
Summary
Yoga can help with endometriosis pain through physical movement, breathwork, and meditation. However, for some people, a vigorous practice like vinyasa, power, or ashtanga yoga may cause more pain and should be avoided. Instead, a gentle practice of simple poses can help.
Other tips for practicing yoga with endometriosis include listening to your body, paying attention to what works for you, and moving slowly.
11 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Chauhan S, More A, Chauhan V, Kathane A.Endometriosis: a review of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis.Cureus. 2022;14(9):e28864. doi:10.7759/cureus.28864Gonçalves AV, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.The practice of Hatha yoga for the treatment of pain associated with endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(1):45-52. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0343Pandi-Perumal SR, Spence DW, Srivastava N, et al.The origin and clinical relevance of yoga nidra.Sleep Vigil. 2022;6(1):61-84. doi:10.1007/s41782-022-00202-7Sachs MK, Dedes I, El-Hadad S, et al.Physical activity in women with endometriosis: less or more compared with a healthy control?Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(17):6659. doi:10.3390/ijerph20176659Gonçalves AV, Makuch MY, Setubal MS, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.A qualitative study on the practice of yoga for women with pain-associated endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(12):977-982. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0021Joseph AE, Moman RN, Barman RA, et al.Effects of slow deep breathing on acute clinical pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.J Evid Based Integr Med. 2022;27:2515690X221078006. doi:10.1177/2515690X221078006Ravins I, Joseph G, Tene L.The effect of practicing “endometriosis yoga” on stress and quality of life for women with endometriosis: AB design pilot study.Altern Ther Health Med. 2023;29(3):8-14.Jaiswal YS, Williams LL.A glimpse of Ayurveda - the forgotten history and principles of Indian traditional medicine.J Tradit Complement Med. 2016;7(1):50-53. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.02.002Sluka KA, Frey-Law L, Hoeger Bement M.Exercise-induced pain and analgesia? Underlying mechanisms and clinical translation.Pain. 2018;159 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S91-S97. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001235Moawad G, Fruscalzo A, Youssef Y, et al.Adenomyosis: an updated review on diagnosis and classification.J Clin Med. 2023;12(14):4828. doi:10.3390/jcm12144828Saxena R, Gupta M, Shankar N, Jain S, Saxena A.Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain.Int J Yoga. 2017;10(1):9-15. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.186155
11 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Chauhan S, More A, Chauhan V, Kathane A.Endometriosis: a review of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis.Cureus. 2022;14(9):e28864. doi:10.7759/cureus.28864Gonçalves AV, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.The practice of Hatha yoga for the treatment of pain associated with endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(1):45-52. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0343Pandi-Perumal SR, Spence DW, Srivastava N, et al.The origin and clinical relevance of yoga nidra.Sleep Vigil. 2022;6(1):61-84. doi:10.1007/s41782-022-00202-7Sachs MK, Dedes I, El-Hadad S, et al.Physical activity in women with endometriosis: less or more compared with a healthy control?Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(17):6659. doi:10.3390/ijerph20176659Gonçalves AV, Makuch MY, Setubal MS, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.A qualitative study on the practice of yoga for women with pain-associated endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(12):977-982. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0021Joseph AE, Moman RN, Barman RA, et al.Effects of slow deep breathing on acute clinical pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.J Evid Based Integr Med. 2022;27:2515690X221078006. doi:10.1177/2515690X221078006Ravins I, Joseph G, Tene L.The effect of practicing “endometriosis yoga” on stress and quality of life for women with endometriosis: AB design pilot study.Altern Ther Health Med. 2023;29(3):8-14.Jaiswal YS, Williams LL.A glimpse of Ayurveda - the forgotten history and principles of Indian traditional medicine.J Tradit Complement Med. 2016;7(1):50-53. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.02.002Sluka KA, Frey-Law L, Hoeger Bement M.Exercise-induced pain and analgesia? Underlying mechanisms and clinical translation.Pain. 2018;159 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S91-S97. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001235Moawad G, Fruscalzo A, Youssef Y, et al.Adenomyosis: an updated review on diagnosis and classification.J Clin Med. 2023;12(14):4828. doi:10.3390/jcm12144828Saxena R, Gupta M, Shankar N, Jain S, Saxena A.Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain.Int J Yoga. 2017;10(1):9-15. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.186155
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Chauhan S, More A, Chauhan V, Kathane A.Endometriosis: a review of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis.Cureus. 2022;14(9):e28864. doi:10.7759/cureus.28864Gonçalves AV, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.The practice of Hatha yoga for the treatment of pain associated with endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(1):45-52. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0343Pandi-Perumal SR, Spence DW, Srivastava N, et al.The origin and clinical relevance of yoga nidra.Sleep Vigil. 2022;6(1):61-84. doi:10.1007/s41782-022-00202-7Sachs MK, Dedes I, El-Hadad S, et al.Physical activity in women with endometriosis: less or more compared with a healthy control?Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(17):6659. doi:10.3390/ijerph20176659Gonçalves AV, Makuch MY, Setubal MS, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.A qualitative study on the practice of yoga for women with pain-associated endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(12):977-982. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0021Joseph AE, Moman RN, Barman RA, et al.Effects of slow deep breathing on acute clinical pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.J Evid Based Integr Med. 2022;27:2515690X221078006. doi:10.1177/2515690X221078006Ravins I, Joseph G, Tene L.The effect of practicing “endometriosis yoga” on stress and quality of life for women with endometriosis: AB design pilot study.Altern Ther Health Med. 2023;29(3):8-14.Jaiswal YS, Williams LL.A glimpse of Ayurveda - the forgotten history and principles of Indian traditional medicine.J Tradit Complement Med. 2016;7(1):50-53. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.02.002Sluka KA, Frey-Law L, Hoeger Bement M.Exercise-induced pain and analgesia? Underlying mechanisms and clinical translation.Pain. 2018;159 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S91-S97. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001235Moawad G, Fruscalzo A, Youssef Y, et al.Adenomyosis: an updated review on diagnosis and classification.J Clin Med. 2023;12(14):4828. doi:10.3390/jcm12144828Saxena R, Gupta M, Shankar N, Jain S, Saxena A.Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain.Int J Yoga. 2017;10(1):9-15. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.186155
Chauhan S, More A, Chauhan V, Kathane A.Endometriosis: a review of clinical diagnosis, treatment, and pathogenesis.Cureus. 2022;14(9):e28864. doi:10.7759/cureus.28864
Gonçalves AV, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.The practice of Hatha yoga for the treatment of pain associated with endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2017;23(1):45-52. doi:10.1089/acm.2015.0343
Pandi-Perumal SR, Spence DW, Srivastava N, et al.The origin and clinical relevance of yoga nidra.Sleep Vigil. 2022;6(1):61-84. doi:10.1007/s41782-022-00202-7
Sachs MK, Dedes I, El-Hadad S, et al.Physical activity in women with endometriosis: less or more compared with a healthy control?Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023;20(17):6659. doi:10.3390/ijerph20176659
Gonçalves AV, Makuch MY, Setubal MS, Barros NF, Bahamondes L.A qualitative study on the practice of yoga for women with pain-associated endometriosis.J Altern Complement Med. 2016;22(12):977-982. doi:10.1089/acm.2016.0021
Joseph AE, Moman RN, Barman RA, et al.Effects of slow deep breathing on acute clinical pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.J Evid Based Integr Med. 2022;27:2515690X221078006. doi:10.1177/2515690X221078006
Ravins I, Joseph G, Tene L.The effect of practicing “endometriosis yoga” on stress and quality of life for women with endometriosis: AB design pilot study.Altern Ther Health Med. 2023;29(3):8-14.
Jaiswal YS, Williams LL.A glimpse of Ayurveda - the forgotten history and principles of Indian traditional medicine.J Tradit Complement Med. 2016;7(1):50-53. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.02.002
Sluka KA, Frey-Law L, Hoeger Bement M.Exercise-induced pain and analgesia? Underlying mechanisms and clinical translation.Pain. 2018;159 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S91-S97. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001235
Moawad G, Fruscalzo A, Youssef Y, et al.Adenomyosis: an updated review on diagnosis and classification.J Clin Med. 2023;12(14):4828. doi:10.3390/jcm12144828
Saxena R, Gupta M, Shankar N, Jain S, Saxena A.Effects of yogic intervention on pain scores and quality of life in females with chronic pelvic pain.Int J Yoga. 2017;10(1):9-15. doi:10.4103/0973-6131.186155
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