A Happy Period Ever After

Why Exercise Can Help You In Every Phase from Period Pain, to Peri-Menopause and Post-Menopause

The end of a menstrual period can feel quite momentous-- whether it's from this month's scheduled visit from Auntie Flow, or that of the forever kind. The permanent end of it stirs up a great swathe of emotions in women: relief, joy, and some not-so-fairytale-ish feelings of "Not OK." I've spoken to several expert lifestyle bloggers recently who live for wellness. A personal favourite is Simona Hendy whose passion and background come from the arts and media sectors. She’s worked with some of the biggest and most responsible brands in the world, making her ideally positioned to offer lifestyle support and advice. She recently moved from Barcelona to Bali and she is a personal trainer for clients worldwide. She shares tips and advice about her passions while having a lot of fun along the way.

Simona conducting Outside Gym class in Barcelona

What may have been taboo for many women for decades is talking about what's ok and not ok during your period, and of course the phase thereafter that monthly occurrence.

"When we’re scouting out ideas to help ourselves feel better during emotional ups and downs, exercise tends to be the last thing on our minds. It should in fact be our first. It's the one thing Nature has given us that we have control of: Our response and ability to move." - Simona Hendy

After speaking to hundreds of women at various phases of their lives, there is an eerily similar thread to how we cope with period pain and post menopause: Comfort foods and giving ourselves abject permission from the universe to do the self-care thing. Us women do this intuitively, it seems! Our normal go-to period pain and PMS remedies normally consist of hot water bottles, ice cream or bars of chocolate, duvet days and crying along to our favorite Disney film or Box Set. But there are actually a whole bunch of reasons (science-based ones, too!) why exercise can help you to have a happy period.

In this post, we’ll be covering all of the great results that exercise can have on your body during any phase, and why you should be putting on those yoga pants…

Reason #1

Exercise will boost your happiness

We all know about the physical impact that exercise can have on your body, but what about the mental impact too? Eating what we love releases neurotransmitters that make us happy, physically stimulating our brain's reward system. Some studies show that when you eat your comfort foods, your body releases feel-good hormones like dopamine. That is why comfort food cravings are most prevalent when you're feeling a bit down.

You’ve probably heard that exercise releases endorphins (the aforementioned happy chemicals) in your body. These happy chemicals are responsible for that buzzing feeling you get after exercise — you know, when you feel energized, motivated, and a whole lot perkier than you did before?

That’s because endorphins (and serotonin, another happy chemical) have a positive impact on your brain.

It works exactly the same when you’re struggling with mood swings and irritability. Endorphins counteract the hormonal imbalance that your body produces (and the extreme emotional responses as a result). So doing any sort of exercise (big or small, high-impact or low-impact) can help to balance out emotional extremes, and uplift your mood too.

So the next time you’re weepy about the end of possibilities, or crying over the latest episode of Outlander swaddled in your duvet, maybe it’d be a good idea to get outside and go for a gentle jog instead?

How "one with the world" does Simona look? Daily exercise is an elixir for happiness.

Reason #2:

Exercise increases your energy levels

You’d think that doing exercise would make you feel more tired afterwards, wouldn’t you? And yes, it does in the long run — next time you go for a big run or swimming session, notice how well you sleep that night. After a few days of it (We double dare you to do 7 Days), you may actually feel it happening: the immediate effect of how your body's endorphins cradle you to wellness in one welcome swoop!

We often suffer from low energy levels and feelings of sluggishness when we’re menstruating, and of course also when we are not. It’s not surprising — after all, there’s a lot happening to your body: painful cramps and sore muscles, not to mention difficulty sleeping and the fact that you’re losing blood for a week.

Adding regular exercise into your routine can counteract these feelings of tiredness, help you to get a better night’s sleep, and tackle feelings of stress that keep you up at night. This great blog post explains how in more detail — check it out.

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Reason #3:

Exercise reduces that WTF-am-I-pregnant-or-what tummy (a.k.a.bloating)

This is because our hormone levels change, which has an impact on how our body retains water. These hormonal changes also affect our digestive system, slowing it down and trapping excess gas (which adds to that bloated feeling), heavy and puffy

Aaah...The Birth and Death of Periods. Isn't Nature funny.

This is because our throughout our journey as women. Our hormone levels change ht, which has an impact on how our body retains water. These hormonal changes also affect our digestive system, slowing it down and trapping excess gas (which adds to that bloated feeling).

Exercise counteracts both of these causes of bloating.

By staying active, you’re encouraging your digestive system to keep things moving along, including trapped gas. And exercise shifts the water into cells in your muscles, which makes the cells more turgid and helps you to lose that soft, puffy feeling that water retention causes. Not to mention that sweating while you’re working out means that your body gets rid of excess water in the wrong places.

Just remember to stay hydrated if you’re exercising! You still need plenty of water to function properly, and this isn’t going to make you more bloated — it’s just going to help your body work better!

Periods can be a pain — in more ways than one. But, as you can see, exercise is one of the obvious ways that you can tackle everything from cramps to bloating to mood swings.

So the next time you’re due on, don’t forget to maintain your normal fitness routine, rather than hiding out with a hot water bottle for the week. You’d be surprised at the difference it makes to your body and your overall well-being!

For you Sporty ladies - we salute you! We seek to feature yoga teachers, fitness instructors and wellness professionals.

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