Yoga For Fertility
Pregnancy, and therefore, fertility, is a normal, healthy state of being for women. This can be forgotten in a society full of books, articles, supplements, and advice. In today’s world, getting pregnant can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, as it is many times made up to be a process that takes massive planning and preparation.
As Maisie Hill explains, “conceiving is not a talent for you to master, it is a biological reaction, but when it doesn’t happen, it impacts your confidence in other areas of your life”. In this post we will be talking about lifestyle tips, and yoga suggestions for gaining and maintaining fertility. The biggest message to remember is that fertility is an optimal state of health for women of menstruating age. Therefore, much of the following information will be aimed towards gaining an optimal state of hormonal health.
Fertility is a normal, healthy state of being for women.
Lifestyle
In order to become pregnant, a woman needs to make sure two things are in optimal states - her body and her mind. The body can be prepared by eating a balanced, well-rounded diet, getting enough food, managing stress in all areas of life, and through certain yoga poses. As for the mind, Alisa Vitti of The Woman Code asks “What are you willing to shift in your life in order to be an ideal vessel for conception?” She explains that for many women who are working incredibly hard in their lives, the body and mind is not ready to receive and care for a full term pregnancy, and that can have a massive effect on fertility.
When the mindset is shifted to slowing life down, it allows for more space. Vitti goes on to explain that, “when you slow down, you send a signal to your endocrine system (the HPA axis, in particular) that there’s no physical threat to your well-being and that your body is in prime condition for a developing fetus to thrive.” One way to practice putting the importance of your health first is to check in with yourself, “When a new opportunity arrises, ask yourself, Will this activity charge my battery or drain it?”
Biology
The number one cause of infertility is ovulatory disorders. And before you let that make you nervous, most ovulatory disorders develop through thyroid disfunction. Thyroid disfunction is caused through a chronic imbalance in hormones. Avoid chronic imbalance, and avoid ovulatory disorders. The number one reason for hormone imbalance is stress. Each of the suggestions below can be used to naturally support a balanced endocrine system through stress management, hormonal support, and lifestyle suggestions.
Yoga suggestions
“Yogasanas prove beneficial as a measure of safe guarding against failure to conceive owning to defects of the ovaries, glands, or fallopian tubes. Hence it is recommended that every woman should begin to practice Yoga before conception, not only to improve maternal health, but also to ensure sound health for future generations.” - Geeta Iyengar
By gently constricting and releasing glands along the endocrine system, yoga can help balance hormones naturally. Some aspects of fertility focus that yoga naturally delivers are:
Increasing blood flow
Opening tight hip ligaments and muscles
Reducing stress
Balancing hormones
Practice the sequence below on its own or add it in to your daily movement practice to receive the benefits of fertility focused yoga poses and practices.
Heart to Womb Space Breaths
Take 5 slow breaths bringing hands up the body to the heart on the inhale, and pressing the palms down back to the womb space on the exhale.
Balasana to Table Top
Alternate slowly from an all fours position to bringing the hips down to the heals. Repeat 5-10 times.
Trikonasana
Hold triangle pose with hand on the heart and feel the line of energetic connection from the womb space to the heart.
Hip Circles
Get playful and take some hip circles and figure 8’s in all directions.
FREE Fertility Focused Yoga Recording
If you’d like to follow along to a recording, click below for a FREE 20-minute yoga for fertility and libido practice.
Lifestyle suggestions
In addition to adding the above yoga practices to your life, try the lifestyle suggestions below.
Make the best use of your pre-ovulatory and ovulatory phases of your cycle. This may mean needing to find new activities that are exciting to you, while building in a healthy lifestyle.
Practice menstrual cycle awareness this practice can allow you to move, shift, and experience each phase of your cycle to reclaim the variety of aspects that make you, you. This practice often allows women to slow down enough to allow their body to come back into more of a rhythm creating a more steady fertility cycle naturally.
Find a balance in your exercise routine. Exercise is great for increasing serotonin and dopamine in the body, however, too much exercise can cause stress. Find a balance between high energy activities, slow supportive movement, and complete rest.
Put your mental and emotional health first. Seek out therapy, support groups, or activities that boost your health in these areas and see the benefits in other areas of your life.
Involve your partner in your journey. If you have a partner, allow them to be there for support. Together you can make healthy choices in all aspects of your lives and start to make room to slow down together.
Become conscious of what you’re putting in your body. Food, caffeine, supplements or medications that are unnecessary or don’t agree with you can cause stress on the body. Check in and see if you are honestly making the healthiest choices for you.
Make sure you’re having a consistent period. Your period is a sign of health and that you are ovulating. Using the fertility awareness method is one form of birth control that can increase your body and fertility awareness.
Slow wayyyyyy down
“Say no to commitments that push you over the limit of what you’re able to accomplish without feeling completely burned out, so that your cortisol levels stay balanced and your adrenals stay healthy” - Alissa Vitti
Feed your creativity. Whether or not you are conceiving a baby, women birth things every day. Feeding your creativity supports the mindset of fertility in all areas of your life. Bring your focus towards your creative outlets whether that is cooking, gathering people together, art, or creating possibilities for others and yourself.
Transition off of hormonal birth control - it can take up to 2 years for the uterine lining to return to it’s natural thickness, enough to support an implanted egg.
“Being on the pill…reduces your ability to absorb key vitamins and minerals that are essential to fertility and pregnancy (folic acid, vitamins B2, B6, B12 vitamin C and E, and the minerals magnesium, selenium, and zinc) so it may take time for the body to stock back up on these minerals.” - Maisie Hill
“Bri Maya Tiwari, an Ayurvedic healer, says that if you pamper yourself on the first full day of your period - no work, no worries, no cooking, no cleaning - your reproductive health will improve enormously” - Sparrowe
Next steps
I work with women 1:1 for 3 months to teach knowledge and wisdom of women’s hormonal health, alignment with the seasons of the moon, hormonal cycles, and the seasons to live a cyclical and balanced life that you and your family can count on. Learn more about working 1:1 with me.
Further reading and resources:
Yoga: A Gem For Women by Geeta S. Iyengar
Yoga For A Healthy Menstrual Cycle by Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden
Period Power: Harness Your Hormones and Get Your Cycle Working For You by Maisie Hill
Period Repair Manual: Natural Treatment for Better Hormones and Better Periods by Lara Briden
