Why practice fertility yoga?

Fertility yoga has the power to help women conceive, and more importantly, helps them to survive the journey of infertility.  Fertility yoga helps to support and regulate your hormones and increases the energy and blood flow to heart and reproductive organs, which are all important pieces to the giant jigsaw puzzle that is trying to work out unexplained infertility. (If ever there was a more unhelpful term by the medical system).

Personally though, I think the greatest benefit that fertility yoga has to offer is its ability to reduce the level of stress hormones in your bloodstream. IE. helps you to RELAX and come down from the hyper stressed state that we often get ourselves into when we face difficulties conceiving, or after the loss of a baby.

Seriously, studies have shown the anxiety and depression levels of women struggling with infertility are EQUAL to those suffering conditions such as cancer, HIV and chronic illness.  So if you feel like you’re going slight mad while struggling with infertility, you are definitely not alone. 

Without going into all the crazy details of how stress affects your fertility (but don’t worry I have a full in-depth rant post planned at a later date) at its base level… when you’re stressed you’re giving your body the message that creating a baby at this time is not a good idea.

When you feel stressed your body releases adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones help send all of your blood and energy to your arms and legs, so you can run and fight should you need to. It also takes the blood away from your digestive system and reproductive system because they’re not really vital when your life is in danger.  HOWEVER your body has no clue whether you’re feeling stressed because there is a giant animal about to eat you or you have a billion things to do at work, or you’ve just been told by yet another specialist that that really expensive test they just ran found no reason for your infertility. The SAME hormones are released. And ultimately your body gets the message : creating a baby is not safe.

Not really a helpful message to send hey?

I know, I know… you’ve been told a billion times to relax… but how the HELL do you actually do that when this is something that is SO important to you?

Well. Did you know that the ONLY thing that Science has found to help bring us back from that stressed out state is … THE BREATH.

Yep. It’s totally free and you can do it right now. In fact, maybe you could literally stop reading and take a big breath into your belly and chest and fill your lungs up as much as you possibly can. And slowly exhale…. You feel a little bit better already don’t you?

So while I can’t guarantee that yoga will make you fall pregnant, I do wholeheartedly believe that it will help improve your chances.  And if nothing else, it will drastically improve how you feel throughout the whole process, help you maintain your relationships through the struggle and ensure your body is in the best health.

Oh and just in case you need another reason why fertility yoga is awesome the Harvard Medical School published a report on Fertility and Sterility showing that women are 3 times more likely to conceive by practicing yoga and other relaxation exercises than women who don’t. 55 percent of the participants in the group who were taught yoga, meditation, negative emotional releasing techniques, imagery exercises and nutrition conceived within one year. That’s WAY better odds than the standard average, which is really quite frightening to look at.

So why am I telling you all this? 

I loved yoga before my struggles with infertility. Now? I honestly don’t think I’d still be going without it. I’m so bloody grateful for this practice that has helped me to stay calm and grounded and heal from everything that has happened in the last year, and more recently my yoga practice has been focused on preparing my body to conceive again. (If you’re new around here you can read more about the last year here.)

I’ve had so many requests for fertility yoga so I created a little kickstart guide to get you started. You can download a copy of this free guide here.  

Once you’ve tried it, let me know what you think or if you have any questions. No one should have to walk this crappy journey alone. xx

Download your FREE Fertility Yoga Guide