I am new to yoga, only doing it less than a year. I have been doing at home practices to yoga journal videos, and I have taken a class during one semester.
I have heard many people say not to do inverted poses when menstruating. First of all, I was wondering which poses to stay away from, other than down dog? Why do I need to stay away from these? Also, most beneficial, I would like it if someone could give me the names of asanas to create a vinyasa that I can do when I have my period. At this point my yoga practice has been stalled for 1 week a month because I am wary of doing something that might actually be bad for my body because I don’t know any better. Please enlighten me 
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Thank you.
fiona:
You’re going to get different responses from different people in here. I’ve found varying opinion even among practitioners in the same studio.
The theory behind avoiding inversions during menstruation is that inversions reverse the flow of apana, or eliminative energy that menstruation depends on. The body’s trying to get rid of it and inversions hinder that effort. These poses might include any pose where the head is lower than the heart, such as headstand, handstand, shouldstand, etc.
Being a male I obviously have no experience with this first hand, but many yoginis I’ve listened to say they will continue to do inversions while on their cycle, and they report no ill effects. These same yoginis would also contiinue to practice asanas that are prohibited for pregnant women well into their third trimester. The point is that every individual is different. I usually tell my female students to do whatever feels best for them. If it feels wrong to them to do headstand while menstruating, they should honor that. If they’ve had no problems doing it in the past, then go for it.
As far as prescribing a vinyasa, it’s difficult to do in a medium like this. You mentioned you’ve used videos in the past to aid your practice. Continue to do so, using other sources as well, and design something on your own. Be creative, and most importantly listen to your body. If something doesn’t feel right, change it.
I know many styles of yoga can get rather dogmatic in their approach, believing there is only one right way to do things. But my personal belief is that everyone’s unique, and the practice should be flexible enough to honor that (no pun intended).
Sorry for the long-winded reply!
Orion
Thanks a lot! I’ll just listen to my body and see what it tells me.