Cramping periods

One thing that pills have trouble in curing is the menstrual cramp. You can pop as many pills as you want but the pain will subside only when it wants to. Sometimes, there is no such thing as relief, once the pain starts. Here are some quick relief measures for 'those' days of the month...

Yoga   Yoga mudra – Sit in Padmasana. Place the palms on the heels. Exhale slowly and bend forwards and touch the ground with the forehead. If you retain the pose for a long time, you can breathe as usual. Or come to the former position and inhale. Instead of keeping the hands on the heels you can take them to the back. Catch hold of the left wrist with your right hand.   Paschimuttan asana – Sit with your legs stretched out in the front. Breath out and slowly bend forward, trying to touch your feet without bending your knees. Hold this pose for the count of 10 and exhale while returning back to normal position.   Bhujangasana – Lie on your stomach and let the lower part of your body, from toes to navel, touch the ground. Place palms on the ground, next to your chest and slowly raise the head like a cobra.   Shallabhasana – Lie down on your stomach, place your arms on your sides and stretch them backwards, palms facing up. Rest chin on the floor and look ahead. Raise legs and waist with fists clenched.   Kapotasana – Slide knee forward between the hands. Slide the right foot over the left and slide the left leg back, lowering the hips to the floor. Press down into the palms at the side of the body, inhale and reach the crown of the head up, lengthening the spine. Hold for 3-6 breaths. To release, support your weight with the hands and slide the knee back. Repeat other side.   Pawanmuktasana – Lie on your back and draw your knees to your chest. Put your arms around the knees and hug them retaining this position for 8-10 breaths. Release slowly.   Bhadrasana – Take a sitting position stetching both legs in front, hands by the side, palms resting on the ground. Fold both the legs slowly at knees joining both the soles with each other. Hold legs at ankles with hands and bring them towards you till they reach under the perineum. Knees should remain on the ground and back erect.   Bhastrika – Take a deep breath in and breathe out forcefully through the nose. Do not strain. Kapalbhati – Inhale deeply through both the nostrils and exhale forcefully in series of short breaths. By Usha Karnik, yoga teacher   Acupressure The pressure points for uterus and related areas lies on the sides of one's wrists. Activating and massaging these points help relieve one of menstrual cramps. By Devendra Vora, acupressure specialist   Sujok Menstrual cramps originate from the uterus. Therefore, keeping in mind the Sujok way of working, the corresponding area on the palm or the foot should be stimulated or fixed with red pepper seeds.   The corresponding area happens to be a little off-centre from the base of the middle finger and the ring finger on the palm or the foot. By Amarjit Singh Narula, Sujok specialist   Ayurveda 1) Boil one teaspoon of jeera and one teaspoon of coriander seeds (dhaniya) in two cups of water. Keep boiling till the quantity is reduced to half a cup. Take this 2 – 3 times a day. 2) Have one tablespoon of drumstick-leaf juice every morning, starting off five days before the period. 3) Add four pinches of hing (Ferula Foetida) and a small piece of ginger to a cup of butter milk and drink it 2 – 3 times a day.